1. Freedom, Order, or Equality?
Chapter 1
Freedom, Order, or Equality?

3. The Purpose of This Text
To explain the workings of government
To enable students to evaluate policy decisions and relationships
Politics at home and abroad
Individual freedoms vs. personal security
Individual freedom vs. social equality

4. The Globalization of American Government
Concept of government has evolved
Initially territorial in nature
Idea of national sovereignty
Is U.S. sovereignty threatened by globalization?
International law via treaties
1982 Law of the Sea Treaty

6. The Globalization of Nations
Citizens and nations differ in degree of globalization
KOF study places U.S. at 27 of 181
Study available at
Student self-test at
The U.S. closely tied to both friends and former enemies in worldwide economic, social, and political network

8. The Purposes of Government
Citizens must surrender some freedoms to be provided services by a government
Governmental control vs. personal freedoms
Most willing to give up some freedoms for governmental benefits

10. The Purposes of Government
To maintain order
Hobbes – focused on peoples’ safety
Locke – wanted life, liberty, and property
Marx – believed the public should not own land or own businesses key to production of goods
To provide public goods
Usually for things not likely to be provided by individuals
Controversial as to what goods or services appropriate
And, more recently in the U.S., to promote equality
Some, but not all not all policies promoting equality redistribute income

11. A Conceptual Framework for Analyzing Government
Most governmental decisions based on a tradeoff in values
What values a government decides to pursue grouped in three categories:
Order
Freedom
Equality

12. A Conceptual Framework for Analyzing Government
Two categories for models of democratic government:
Majoritarian democracy
Pluralist democracy

13. The Concept of Freedom Two basic types of freedom:
Freedom of, or freedom to do things without constraints
Freedom from oppression or exploitation
These concepts also described as liberty and equality

14. Four Freedoms

15. The Concept of Order
Can be viewed narrowly as preservation of life and protection of property or broadly as preserving social order
Social order generally held to be the traditional or accepted way of doing things
Protections via police powers
Balance between protections and civil liberties sometimes difficult to achieve

16. Compared with what?

17. The Concept of Equality
Basic definition of political equality is one person, one vote
Some expand definition to include social equality, or equality in wealth, education, and status
Equality of opportunity vs. equality of outcome

18. Equality in the Military

19. Two Dilemmas of Government
Order and equality valuable, but require limitations in individual freedoms
Original dilemma was freedom vs. order; has evolved to encompass more issues
Personal safety, whether from attack or diseases like AIDS
Other issues such as capital punishment and access to controversial videos on YouTube

20. Two Dilemmas of Government
Modern dilemma is freedom vs. equality
Values clash when government makes policies to enforce equality
Equal pay for women and men
School busing
Discrimination based on many things, including DNA

21. Ideology and the Scope of Government
Opinions about the merits of various public policies differ greatly
Some persons have values and beliefs that produce contradictory opinions
Other persons have a consistent political ideology
Different political ideologies form a continuum

22. Ideology and the Scope of Government

23. Different Ideologies Totalitarianism Socialism Capitalism
Democratic socialism
Capitalism
Libertarianism
Anarchism

25. Liberals and Conservatives: The Narrow Middle
Practical politics in the U.S. ranges over the center of the ideological continuum
The extremes of political thought rarely argued in public debates
Most Americans either liberals or conservatives
Differences center on role of government

26. Liberals Versus Conservatives: The New Differences
Historical differences were government’s role in delivering public goods
Today, differences focus on the purpose of government
Conservatives support maintenance of social order
Liberals want government to promote equality

27. A Two-Dimensional Classification of Ideologies
Accurate classifications require looking at values of freedom, order, and equality
Libertarians value freedom more than order or equality
Liberals value freedom more than order, but not more than equality
Conservatives value freedom more than equality, but are willing to restrict it to preserve social order
Communitarians favor programs that support both order and equality

28. Ideologies: A Two-Dimensional Framework