Where do you stand? The Political Spectrum

What Is a Party? A political party is a group of persons who seek to control government by winning elections and holding office. The two major parties in American politics are the Republican and Democratic parties. Parties can be principle-oriented, issue-oriented, or election-oriented. The American parties are election- oriented.

What Do Parties Do? Nominate Candidates— Recruit, choose, and present candidates for public office.

Inform and Activate Supporters Campaign, define issues, and criticize other candidates.

Act as a Bonding Agent Guarantee that their candidate is worthy of the office.

Govern —Members of government act according to their partisanship, or firm allegiance to a party.

Act as a Watchdog Parties that are out of power keep a close eye on the actions of the party in power for a blunder to use against them in the next election.

What is a Continuum? A person’s views on the issues help determine where they fall on the political spectrum. The labels used on the spectrum are not pure categories, but they make up a continuum, or value line, and citizens and politicians fall somewhere on that line depending on what they believe.

Factors That Determine Placement Two major factors shape political views. The first is how much change a person is willing to have within their society and government. The second deals with how much government involvement in the economy a person calls for. Others also bring in the question of how much freedom from government authority a leader is willing to give the people.

 Liberals are on the left side of the political spectrum and tend to favor progress and reform/change.  Conservatives are on the right side of the political spectrum and tend to favor tradition and limiting change.  Moderates are in the middle and tend to have views that are between these two positions, perhaps with some views on one end of the spectrum and other views on the other end of the spectrum, dependent on the issue.

 Liberal Support for greater government control/regulation in economic matters and less government control/regulation of individual matters.  Libertarian Support for minimal government control of both economic and social issues  Conservative Support for less government control/regulation in economic matters and greater government control/regulation of individual matters.  Totalitarian Support for complete government control of economic and social issues

LiberalConservative  Favor loose construction – a broad interpretation  Constitutional interpretation may change as modern society evolves  What are our standards today?  Favor strict construction – a narrow interpretation  Constitutional interpretation should remain constant through the years  What did the founders mean?

Ideology? Voter A: “I worked my way up from poverty to become the successful business owner I am today. I get frustrated when I think that my tax money goes to support people who won’t help themselves. I think part of the blame belongs with the media – they promote all the wrong values.” Voter B: “I really don’t care what other people do in their free time, as long as they don’t bother me. I sure don’t like it when the government tells me what to do with my money or in my own home – I’m certainly not going to turn around and do the same thing to my neighbors.”

Ideology? Voter C: “I really worry about the state of the world today. It seems like more and more kids are growing up in poverty and there’s no one there to help them. I think we need to do more toward providing healthcare and education programs for our young people.” Voter D: “These days, you can’t be too careful. I think we need to spend a lot more money on the national defense. I wish there was a police officer on every corner! The police could search my car all they want, since I don’t break the law. I also think the government should crack down on the media – their reporting gives our enemies an inside look at all our military preparations.”

Political Labels To see where you stand, you would have to figure out where you stand on a number of social (people-related), economic (money- related), and political (governmental) issues. First you need definitions of the terms radical, liberal, conservative, and reactionary. Some authors include the terms authoritarian and libertarian.

What is a Radical? Seen as being on the far left of the political spectrum, radicals call for wide-sweeping rapid change in the basic structure of the political, social, or economic system. They may be willing to resort to extreme methods to bring about change, including the use of violence and revolution.

What is a Liberal? be actively involved in the promotion of social welfare of a nation’s citizens. Liberals believe that the government should be actively involved in the promotion of social welfare of a nation’s citizens. They usually call for peaceful, gradual change within the existing political system. They reject violent revolution as a way of changing the way things are, often called the status quo. protect civil liberties, individual and human rights. It is the duty of the government to protect civil liberties, individual and human rights. Liberal policies generally emphasize the need for the government to solve problems.

Example Healthcare: Support free or low-cost government controlled health care. There are millions of Americans who can't afford health care and are deprived of this basic right. Every American has a right to affordable health care. The government should provide equal health care benefits for all, regardless of their ability to pay. Abortion: * A woman has the right to decide what happens with her body. * A fetus is not a human life, so it does not have separate individual rights. * The government should provide taxpayer funded abortions for women who cannot afford them. * The decision to have an abortion is a personal choice of a woman regarding * Women have the right to affordable, safe and legal abortions, including partial birth abortion.

What is a Moderate? Moderates may share viewpoints with both liberals and conservatives. They are seen as tolerant of other people’s views, and they do not hold extreme views of their own. They advocate a “go-slow” or “wait-and-see” approach to social or political change.

What is a Conservative? People who hold conservative ideals favor keeping things the way they are or maintaining the status quo if it is what they desire. Conservatives are usually hesitant or cautious about adopting new policies, especially if they involve government activism in some way. less government there is, the better. They feel that the less government there is, the better. “the best government governs least.” They agree with Jefferson’s view that “the best government governs least.” They believe in personal responsibility, limited government, free markets, individual liberty, traditional American values and a strong national defense. Believe the role of government should be to provide people the freedom necessary to pursue their own goals. Conservative policies generally emphasize empowerment of the individual to solve problems.

Example Gun Control: The Second Amendment gives citizens the right to keep and bear arms. Individuals have the right to defend themselves. There are too many gun control laws-- additional laws will not lower gun crime rates. What is needed is enforcement of current laws. Gun control laws do not prevent criminals from obtaining guns. More guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens mean less crime. Death Penalty: *The death penalty is a punishment that fits the crime of murder; it is neither ‘cruel' nor ‘unusual.' *Executing a murderer is the appropriate punishment for taking an innocent life.

What is a Reactionary? Sitting on the far right of the ideological spectrum, reactionaries want to go back to the way things were—the “good ol’ days.” Often reactionaries are willing to use extreme methods, such as repressive use of government power, to achieve their goals. The term “reactionary is generally negative. A positive way to say the same thing is “arch- conservative.”

The Political Spectrum

American Politicians on the Spectrum Here is how one website places important American political figures on the spectrum. You can take the quiz at

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