The Ideology Of Liberalism

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The ideology of Liberalism advocates equality of opportunity for all within the framework of a system of laws.
It includes a belief in government as an institution whose primary function exists to define and enforce the laws. Liberals believe in government action to achieve equal opportunity and equality for all. It remains the duty of the government to alleviate social ills and to protect civil liberties, human rights and rights of the individual.

Liberalism involves a belief in the need for legislative bodies which represent the influential groups. Liberalism stays concerned with allowing a maximum of freedom for the individual within the context of a system of laws which limit interference with individual rights by government or by other individuals. Hence the liberal ideology also invariably involves a bill of rights to define the rights of individuals and to limit the power of government to interfere with those rights.
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Generally speaking, the Democratic party follows a liberal platform; the Republican party follows a conservative platform. The following table summarizes the current ideology of the parties (the links section gives additional detail on what each party stands

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