Roger Smith Liberalism Summary

Roger Smith has argued that, despite the influence of liberalism and republicanism on American political culture, neither ideology is as dominant as we might think. Rather, American political development has been influenced by "multiple traditions," including ascriptive forms of Americanism as well as liberalism and republicanism. Liberalism connotes the idea that the chief aim of the government is to secure individuals against arbitrary restraints, and republicanism epitomizes the idea that the sole end of the government is to secure common goods or interest. Furthermore, Smith argues that the current political culture of America is mainly dominated by the idea of ascriptivism, which is a political idea stating that humans need to develop …show more content…
Isn’t it the ubiquitous interest for both men and women to get equal amount of pay if they have the same job and do the same task? Americans, in general, have been advocating the notion of equity between gender, stating that men and women should be treated equally and receive the same degree of benefits. This notion can be easily applied to the concept of liberalism and republicanism, which states that the government should protect individuals against arbitrary restraints and secure individuals’ interest. However, the reality is far different from these ideal expectations. According to a Pew Research Center analysis of median hourly earnings of both full- and part-time U.S. workers, “women earned 83% of what men earned in 2015” . “Based on this estimate, it would take an extra 44 days of work for women to earn what men did in 2015” (Brown and Patten 1). As a result of this research, 77% of women said that this country needs to continue making changes to give women equality in work place. As such statistical evidence is being presented, Smith would argue that the pay gap between men and women perfectly encapsulates the idea of ascriptivism. It also substantiates that the concepts of liberalism and republicanism are not as dominant as one might think they are. Rather, Americans somehow rationalize the difference between men and women and render the phenomenon …show more content…
The ideas of liberalism and republicanism are not as dominant as one might think they are, and the political culture of America also contains some forms of ascriptivism that limit the rights of certain groups of people. Thus, the big takeaway of Smith’s idea is that this country does go backward sometimes. Certain groups are constantly being targeted and excluded from political culture, as evidenced from the examples above. The modern political culture of America accommodates multiple traditions, which include liberalism, republicanism, and