Ideological Spectrum

Liberalism(the left)

Conservatism(the right)

Radical Moderate Reactionary

Liberalism Defined• Gov’t action to achieve

equal opportunity & equality

• Gov’t’s duty to alleviate social ills, protect civil liberties, individual & human rights

• Gov’t should ensure no one is in need

• Emphasize need for gov’t to solve people’s problems

Conservatism Defined• Personal responsibility• Limited gov’t• Individual liberty• Traditional American

values• Strong nat’l defense• Emphasize empowerment

of the individual to solve problems

The Issues

AbortionLiberals

• A fetus is not a human life• Decision to have abortion is

personal choice of woman regarding her own body

• Women should be guaranteed right to safe & legal abortion, including partial birth abortion

Conservatives• Life begins at conception• Abortion is murder• Support legislation to

prohibit partial birth abortions

Death PenaltyLiberals

• Abolish the death penalty• Inhumane• No one who values life can

approve of death penalty• “Cruel and unusual”• Does not deter crime• Imprisonment is appropriate

punishment• Disproportionately targets

minorities• Execution risks killing an

innocent person

Conservatives• Punishment fits the crime• Neither “cruel” or “unusual”• Threat of death deters

crime• Should be a state-by-state

issue, not a federal issue• 2007: majority of Americans

favor death penalty

Affirmative ActionLiberals

• Past racism deprived minorities of same educational & employment opportunity as whites. Need to make up for that.

• Support affirmative action• Minorities lag behind

whites in all statistical measures of success

• Promote diversity in education & workplace

Conservatives• People should be admitted

to schools and hired for jobs based on ability

• Unfair to use race as factor in selection process

• Reverse-discrimination not a solution for racism

Gun ControlLiberals

• Second Amendment gives no individual right to own gun– Allows state to keep militia

(National Guard)• Easy availability of firearms

has aggravated crime• Guns kill people• Guns kill children

Conservatives• Second Amendment gives

individuals right to keep & bear arms

• “Guns don’t kill people. People kill people.”

• Gun control laws don’t thwart criminals

• You have right to defend yourself

• More guns = less crime

Same-Sex MarriageLiberals

• Marriage should be legal for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender couples

• All have right to marry• Prohibiting same-sex

marriage denies LGBT community civil rights

Conservatives• Marriage is between one man

& one woman• Opinions differ on a

constitutional amendment establishing marriage as union of one man and one woman

• Requiring citizens to sanction same-sex relationships violates moral & religious beliefs of millions of Christians, Jews, Muslims, & others

ImmigrationLiberals

• Support legal immigration & increasing # of legal immigrants permitted to enter U.S. each year

• Support blanket amnesty for current undocumented immigrants

• Undocumented immigrants deserve…– Gov’t financial aid to college– Visas for spouse/children to come

to U.S.• Undocumented immigrants do

jobs Americans don’t want to do

Conservatives• Support legal immigration at

current numbers• Do not support illegal

immigration• Gov’t should enforce

immigration laws• Oppose amnesty for current

undocumented immigrants• Undocumented immigrants

do not deserve same rights as those who enter legally

• Undocumented workers take jobs from citizens

The EnvironmentLiberals

• Desire clean water, air, & planet

• Industrial growth harms environment

• Global warming cause by increased production of carbon dioxide

• U.S. major contributor (produces 25% of world’s CO2)– Should enact laws to reduce

Conservatives• Desire clean water, air, &

planet• Environmental policies

destroy jobs & damage economy

• Climate change occurs over long periods of time

• Science has not shown humans can affect permanent change to Earth’s temp

ReligionLiberals

• Support separation between church and state

• Religious expression has no place in gov’t

• Support removal of all references to God in public & gov’t spaces

• Religion should not interfere with gov’t

Conservatives• Phrase “separation between

church and state” is not in Constitution– “Congress shall make no law

respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the exercise thereof…”

• As a result, Constitution does not prevent God from being acknowledge in schools & gov’t buildings

• Oppose removal of Christian symbols from public & gov’t spaces

• Gov’t should not interfere with religion & religious freedom

EconomyLiberals

• Gov’t should regulate economy

• Gov’t should protect consumers from big business

• Unlike private sector, gov’t motivated by public interest

• Gov’t regulation levels playing field

Conservatives• Free market capitalism

affords widest opportunity & highest standard of living for all

• Excessive gov’t regulation hampers economic growth

• Free markets create jobs

Education (School Vouchers)Liberals

• Untested experiment• More funding for existing

public schools– Raise teacher salaries– Reduce class size

Conservatives• Vouchers give parents right

to choose good school for their children– Not just those who can afford

private schools• Parents should decide how

and where to educate their child

Health CareLiberals

• Support universal government-supervised healthcare

• Millions can’t afford health insurance

• Uninsured being deprived of basic right to healthcare

• Support “Obamacare”

Conservatives• “Obamacare” (socialized

medicine) means everyone gets same poor-quality healthcare

• Rich will continue to pay for superior healthcare; all others will receive poor-quality healthcare from gov’t

• Healthcare should remain privatized

• Support Healthcare Spending Accounts

Homeland SecurityLiberals

• Oppose the PATRIOT Act

Conservatives• Wary of the PATRIOT Act

Social SecurityLiberals

• Generally oppose change to current Social Security system.

• Opinions vary on whether current system is in financial trouble

• Changing system will cause people to lose their SS benefits

• Support cap on Social Security payments to the wealthy

Conservatives• Current Social Security

system is in serious financial trouble

• Changes necessary to maintain system

• Support proposal to all portion of SS dollars withheld to be be put into account chosen by individual, not gov’t

TaxesLiberals

• Support higher taxes & larger gov’t

• High taxes enable gov’t to do good & create jobs

• Need high taxes for social welfare programs, to provide for the poor

• Can’t afford to cut taxes

Conservatives• Support lower taxes &

smaller gov’t• Lowers taxes = more

incentive for people to work, save, invest, and engage in entrepreneurial endeavors

• Money best spent by those who earn it

War on TerrorLiberals

• 9/11 caused by America’s arrogant foreign policy

• America needs to stop angering other countries

• Threat posed by terrorism exaggerated by President Bush for own political advantage

Conservatives• World toward which

Militant Islamists strive cannot peacefully co-exist w/ Western world

• In past decade, Militant Islamists have repeatedly attacked Americans & American interests here and abroad

• Terrorists must be stopped & destroyed

WelfareLiberals

• Support welfare• Need welfare to provide for

poor• Conservatives oppose

welfare & are not compassionate toward poor

• Welfare brings fairness to American economic life

• Without welfare, life below poverty line intolerable

Conservatives• Oppose long-term welfare• Provide opportunities to

make it possible for poor & low-income workers to become self-reliant.

• Far more compassionate & effective to encourage people to become self-reliant, rather than keeping them dependent on gov’t for money