Liberal ideology is the driving force in current political matters and has shaped the United States prevailing Democratic and Conservative parties. Liberalism is defined most recently as a “political or social philosophy advocating the freedom of the individual, parliamentary systems of government, nonviolent modification of political, social, or economic institutions to assure unrestricted development in all spheres of human endeavor, and governmental guarantees of individual rights and civil liberties.” While these key focuses do reflect American’s general understanding of liberalism today, it differs quite a bit from its classical origin. Being a liberal in The United States is different than being liberal in many other countries. Classical liberalism, also known as American Conservatism, is still the majorities understanding of the ideology today.
Classical liberalism and modern liberalism share many similarities, considering they are both rooted in nineteenth-century liberalism, which was defined as “a political philosophy and ideology that prioritizes individual political rights, private property, and limited government.” Substantially attributed to political philosopher John Locke, classical liberalism was driven by his beliefs that those governed by a political power should approve of the leadership or it is illegitimate. Classical liberalism, or
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The current, more conservative Republicans seek to maintain the nation established by classical liberalism, while modern Democrats take on the modern liberalist ideals of continuing to fight for minorities, the working class, and LBGTQA citizens. In today’s America, the war within liberalism rages on, and soon differences within Republican as well as the Democratic Party will spawn new