Political Ideologies are the backbone of politics because they determine how a person should react to particular policies and which side of the political spectrum one should favor. The popular ideologies include liberalism, moderate, and conservatism, and a person has to conform to one of these.
These ideologies have varying underlying principles, and their differences are quite visible to politicians. Since politics drives development in a country and looks after the public’s welfare, it becomes pertinent to know a people’s stance in policymaking and governance laws together with their views on economic and security issues. This means that politicians play a vital role in determining people’s future and their livelihood.
In terms of politics, liberalism believes that the government must aid social and political change. It entails “a political and economic doctrine that emphasizes individual autonomy, equality of opportunity, and the protection of individual rights (primarily to life, liberty, and property), originally against the state and later against both the state and private economic actors, including businesses” [Source].
Conservatism, on the other hand, “is a political and social philosophy characterized by respect for American traditions, republicanism, support for Christian values, moral universalism, pro-business and anti-labor union, anti-communism, individualism, advocacy of American exceptionalism, and a defense of Western” [Source].
It can be viewed as “a political and social philosophy promoting traditional social institutions in the context of culture and civilization. Conservatives seek to preserve a range of institutions such as religion, parliamentary government, and property rights, with the aim of emphasizing social stability and continuity.”
“A moderate is considered as someone occupying any mainstream position avoiding extreme views and major social change. In United States politics, a moderate is considered someone occupying a central position on the left-right political spectrum”. Others argue that moderate use an ideology named “Liberalism conservatism” whereby they borrow from both the liberals and conservatives. People who believe in this line of thought using such an ideology for economic issues and social matters.
When it comes to social composition, liberals tend to respect everyone’s rights, and in this modern era, they have been fighting for equality for the LGBT+ community across the globe. Under conservatism, people believe that the society ought to abide by the status quo by showing “commitment to traditional values and ideas with opposition to change and innovation.” This means that conservatives are skeptical of changes poured down on communities, especially in this modern world where there is a high trend of cultural fusion and the element of a global village tying the whole world as one.
The moderate political policy rejects the idea of being “radical or extreme” regarding politics or religion. Persons from this pool are described as sitting on the fence and trying to play for both sides. They are also known for cherry-picking when to incline more to the liberal side or conservative side. Surveys showed that “more than a third of the American voters call themselves neither liberal nor conservative but moderate, indicating a substantial chunk of dissenters from the left-right paradigm.”
By accepting social change, liberals are viewed as open-minded and can bring progress in the country in terms of economic progress. They have been blamed for cultural and policy fusion, which threatens the uniqueness of a race. Conservatives are celebrated in this regard as they can comprehend what it means to be American and continue to abide by it. But intense criticism is laid against them for being adamant and clinging to certain outdated social ideologies, sometimes harmful to society. Moderates take up the liberal stance for economic issues and usually switch to conservatives regarding social matters.
Such core political ideologies dictate the blueprint of how a politically conscious person should live and contribute to the politics of a country.
