Conservatism Vs Liberalism Essay

Liberals believe that government action should be taken to achieve equality for each and every citizen. They believe that the government has obligations it needs to fulfill, so government intervention is favorable, especially within the economy where it needs to regulate business and government programs. Conservatives on the other hand prefer smaller, slower changes. Rather than having the government involved in the economy, they prefer a laissez faire regulation of the market and businesses. One particularly distinctual factor of conservatives is that they believe in the concept of volunteerism and self-advocacy compared to the liberal belief that it’s largely the government’s responsibility to take care of its citizens. However, both liberals and conservatives are generally open to compromise and wish to work within the current system (“Conservative vs Liberal Beliefs”; Political Polarization in the American Public).
Often an …show more content…
This is most clearly seen during and after the liberal New Deal/Great Society and Democrat-dominated eras of the 20th century. Subsequent positive and negative feelings toward the liberal ideology played a decisive role in shaping individuals’ beliefs. The successive revitalization of the political conservative movement produced a shift in the political landscape that then did to the liberals what it did to the conservatives not long before (Zschirnt, 2011).
Left-right (or liberal-conservative) distinctions exist with historical continuity surrounding two ideas: advocating versus resisting social change, and accepting versus rejecting inequality. Conservatives are more concerned with preservation especially within the lines of hierarchy, privilege, and economy, while liberals are focused on change, have more egalitarian values, and are rather antagonistic to the status quo (Jost,