Political Ideology Paper

648 Words3 Pages

The next presidential election will commence in 18 months and media channels are buzzing with announcements of upcoming candidates that will run for president. Current President Obama will not be able to run for another term so it is interesting to see who will be the running candidates. The media frenzy that occurs when a new president will be elected is extra special; many political issues that have laid dormant for the last eight years will resurface and the hot topics of the day will incite discussions among voters who will revisit their current political ideologies. According to Losco and Baker (2013) “a political ideology is an ordered set of beliefs…that usually stem from an individual’s philosophy about the nature of society and the role of government” (p. 140). The two main concepts of political …show more content…

This paper will discuss what the two concepts from the eyes of this writer. The basic beliefs and ideals that helped shape American government have split into two ideologies. Conservative and liberal. Overall, conservatives are known to be traditional, more hesitant or resistant to change, and normally trust old institutions (church, family values, traditional morals). Conservatives are less trusting than their liberal counterparts and believe that the government should not play a big role in providing social programs to help society. Liberals, on the other hand, tend toward an openness to change and advocates the government playing a more prominent role on social issues; liberals feel the government has a duty to help those who are less fortunate. Whereas conservatives believe in the free market, liberals believe that change can be made through government-sponsored social programs. People take these ideologies seriously. According to Magnum (2013), “…Americans rely on racial and moral issues when adopting a political ideology but not party identification.” (p.1222). People take to heart what it is to be a