When first considering the political arena, many people quickly shy away at all the various classifications of political ideologies. They ask questions, and hear only vague definitions of freedom and equality, mixed with subtle disparagement concerning the opposition’s closed-mindedness or godlessness. One might even think that studying history will enlighten us– until we learn the first party of the United States, the Republican Party, eventually changed its name to the Democratic Party. So, what should one think when hearing right wing, liberal and democrat? To better understand, take a look at the deeper currents that have long been a part of the political world.

Liberals, stemming from the Latin liber (meaning free), began as a group desiring to limit the power of the government. In the early days of political life, this would be a relatively simple idea: let us live as we please; power and authority should be diffused among many. This was clearly opposed to the conservative view that political wisdom was held in the long-standing political institutions, thus monarchies and aristocracies should remain in power. This was a battle between traditionalism (the conservative side) and organicism (the liberal side).
Monarchies of the time kept taxes high and placed many barriers on foreign trade, which inversely raised prices due to a restricted market. Consequently, liberals were associated with free markets and very low taxes. This ideology still characterizes liberals in England and much of Europe.

After the American Revolution, an economic revolution opposing high taxes and trade barriers, the waters became muddy. In the beginnings of America, the terms liberal and conservative were not used; rather, more common denominations such as Republican and Federalist were preferred. The election of 1800 clearly established the Republicans as a driving force in American thought, and federalism (the support of a strong national government- concentrated power) took a back seat.

It wasn’t until nearly a decade later, with the birth of communism and socialism, that the words liberal and conservative entered the American political vocabulary. Socialism advocated government control of the economy, which allowed for an equal diffusion of all wealth and social equality (this is evident in the word itself, with socialism tending to signify a common good, and consequently common ownership). Because previous liberals were inclined to align themselves with the minorities and the weak (a show of disdain for concentrated power in a ruling class), socialists and communists began to describe themselves as liberals. Conservatives stood on the other side, advocating private ownership and a significantly smaller government. Consequently, conservative began to be associated with the rich.

Caution must be exercised- this is not to say that all conservatives of that time were rich, but the rich understandably abhorred the idea of losing status.

Most likely influenced by socialistic thought, Franklin D. Roosevelt, a democrat, instituted The New Deal– a vast social initiative to combat the Great Depression. The New Deal instituted many elements of a planned economy – a slight redistribution of wealth ( e.g., Social Security), price floors (e.g., Minimum Wage), etc.

This act introduced the concept that the government has a role in providing. We also see a split in liberalism– one side remained on the side of free markets (unplanned economies) and low taxes, while the other chose the side of government intervention in the economy (mainly in the form of a mixed economy).

It is to be noted that both sides still advocated moral and social freedom. To make things more complicated, some conservatives began calling on tradition, not in the sense of existing institutions, but in previous institutions, thus falling in with the classical (European-style) liberals.

The next phase began in the 1960s, which boasted record highs of drug use and many calling on the need for certain moral laws. Due to the liberals’ long-standing antagonism to social codes, the moral activists became integrated with conservative thinking.

Conservatism (as opposed to liberalism, which had split), still held the belief that the government did not have a role in the economy. Only recently the Republican Party, traditionally associated with conservatism, began to actually expand government intervention in areas such as education and redistribution programs ( e.g., No Child Left Behind). Subsequently we have begun having people calling themselves traditional conservatives, in opposition to the government projects taken up by this new breed of conservative.

Looking back, we can see the evolution of terms and predict they will continue evolving, but the underlying currents will stay the same. Politics is clearly divided into foreign policy, ethics, and economics. Psychologists are beginning to label over-arching attitudes in all three of these areas. For example, authoritarianism refers to control, or imposition of one’s own values. This is manifested by such entities as an aggressive foreign policy, moral laws, and controlled economies.

Caution must be exercised once again– just because a person may be authoritarian in one category, does not necessarily mean they will be that categorized the same way in all three. One can have any combination of views in all realms of political life. Also, these things lie along continuums, as do most beliefs and traits.

You might ask, what does this mean for me today? Well, it basically means that whenever you hear liberal or conservative– you need to ask more. Maybe they are neo-conservative or crunchy conservative, socialist or libertarian.

Or maybe they are in the dark and label themselves based on perceived social connotations– they say they are liberal because they listen to The Beatles or conservative because they are Christian.

Whatever the case, words do not make informed citizen.

What does is a recognition of the deep currents that underlie political life.

- Chris White

Hodgson, Godfrey. The World Turned Right Side Up. New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1996.

Labaree, Leonard Woods. Conservatism in Early American History. New York: New York University Press, 1948.

Merquior, J.G. Liberalism: Old And New. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1991.

Morgan, Iwan W. Beyond the Liberal Consensus. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1994.

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