This is a short description of American political conservatism and liberalism. Often politicians, news reporters, educators, talk show hosts and "spin doctors" do not provide a clear definition of the differences. The following is also a list of generally who are conservatives and who are liberals, followed by some notes on Republicans and Democrats and then some frustrations of both in achieving their goals.

Conservatism

Conservatism is the belief that government at all levels—particularly the Federal Government—should be as small as possible and taxes need to be kept low. The main function of the Federal Government should be restricted to what is in the US Constitution under Article I, Section 8 which outlines the powers of Congress. These powers are mainly military and foreign affairs.

Conservatives believe that free-market capitalism is essential for the success of a democracy. The government needs to limit the regulation of business and keep taxes low. The forces of supply and demand--not government regulation--will result in high wages, good products and environmental protection.

Conservatives believe that most assistance to the needy should be from private charities and not so much from Government. A healthy economy will result in higher incomes and more people will donate to charities.

Since the 1980s, religious/evangelical conservatism has become more influential. This element of conservatism is based on the issues of values, morality and ethics. The main agenda for achieving a society with high values is the outlawing of abortion, allowing prayer in schools and a voucher system to allow more students to attend private schools.

Liberalism

Liberals believe in the free market system, but strongly believe that it takes a strong government to set rules and regulations for business (this liberalism contrasts to socialism where government runs everything). Government regulations and laws are essential to insure at least a minimum wage, safe working conditions, protection of the environment, product safety, rights of workers to join unions, civil rights and fairness in competition. Regulation of financial and security institutions is necessary to protect the investments of the public and prevent criminal abuse.

Liberals believe that private charities cannot meet all the needs of the disadvantaged in society and that government programs are necessary. Programs for senior citizens, children, the disabled and minorities have high priority. Medical care for all citizens is another priority.

Relating to values, liberals believe that government should have minimum interference with individual freedom, civil liberties, personal choice, and free speech, even if we must accept some outrageous—although legal—actions and statements by some people.

Who are Conservatives?

Conservatives tend to be the following:

• Owners and managers of businesses—particularly large corporations.
• Military officers.
• Religious conservatives who attend church frequently.
• Professionals such as corporate lawyers, accountants, engineers, and doctors.
• Senior citizens who are well off economically.
• Conservatives generally tend to be people who are doing well economically and do not want change.
• Men generally are more likely to be conservatives than women.

Who are Liberals?

Liberals tend to be the following:

• Non-management workers.
• Members of labor unions.
• Minorities.
• Senior citizens on fixed incomes.
• Social workers.
• Trial lawyers who assist people with liability lawsuits against corporations.
• Lower paid reporters who are covering local problems.
• Educators.
• Members of some religions such as Catholics and Jews.
• Jewish businessmen are normally conservative relating to business but liberal when it comes to social issues and civil rights.
• Women who advocate equal opportunity for women.

Republicans and Democrats

Today conservatives are generally Republicans and liberals are Democrats. But that has not always been true. For most of the 20^th Century, Democratic leaders in the US Congress were mostly conservatives from the South who held office for very long periods of time and gained chairmanships of key committees. Since the 1980s, most Southern conservative political leaders are members of the Republican Party. The Democratic conservatives have retired, switched parties or died.

During the early part of the 20^th Century, Republican liberals (progressives) were a strong political force. Progressives, under the leadership of Theodore Roosevelt, broke up corporate monopolies, expanded national parks and passed food and drug regulations even when opposed by leaders of their own party. During Eisenhower’s presidency, in the 1950s, Republican progressives lead the effort to expand government public works and supported civil rights. Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren, a Republican, lead a liberal interpretation of the Constitution with the best know case (Brown vs. Board of Education) outlawing segregation in schools.

Democrats would unlikely have been able to pass social programs like Medicare and civil rights without the support of Republican progressives due to the opposition from many Democratic conservative leaders.

Richard Nixon (who some political observers consider to be the last liberal president) approved the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and signed affirmative action legislation.

Today most liberals are Democrats, but there are many moderate and even conservative Democrats, particularly those belonging to the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC). However, throughout the 20^th Century the big social programs like social security, Medicare, aid to the poor, and civil rights were lead by liberal Democrats.

Today, the Republican party is dominated by conservatives, although there are some moderate Republicans who believe in such issues as environmental regulations and a women’s right to have an abortion.

The Frustration in Politics

For most of the 20^th Century, liberals/progressives set the agenda with conservatives being the "loyal" opposition. However, the large government programs resulted in high taxes and government bureaucracy. This resulted in taxpayer’s revolts, beginning in 1978 with the Proposition 13 property tax reduction in California and the election of Ronald Reagan as president. Liberals are frustrated because new programs, such as national health care, are expensive and the public resists the raising of taxes for such programs. Even a return to a more progressive tax structure, where the wealthy pay a higher tax rate is not popular. Liberals want to protect existing programs from elimination by conservatives, but find this difficult to sell as a main political agenda.

Conservatives have been frustrated in attempts to achieve a small government with low taxes because the elimination of popular programs will be necessary. The initial effort by the Reagan administration, with the support of a Democratic Congress, met the campaign promises of increasing the size of the military and providing tax cuts by borrowing money which kept the social programs going. But the borrowing alternative cannot go on forever because of the huge national debt and large interest payments needing to be paid by taxpayers.

Conservatives have found it difficult to pass legislation relating to values. While having more control of government and getting support on their positions from a large section of the population, they have not passed legislation to outlaw abortion, to legalize school prayer or to create a national school voucher system. These issues are very controversial.

Government deregulation of business has been somewhat successful for the last few decades. However, problems have arisen such as when the Federal Government had to bail out the failed, deregulated savings and loan industry. Recent corporation failures and corruption have lead to more Federal regulation of accounting practices.

Conservatives have also been successful in decreasing taxes. But there is opposition to tax large decreases for the wealthy, particularly if the result is little improvement to the economy and fewer higher paying jobs. Also decreasing taxes can result in increased deficits resulting in a growing national debt.

Changing the Direction of Government is Difficult

Changing the direction of government will be difficult in the future. Government can be compared to a pyramid with 95% of its base being made of solid concrete that represents the bureaucracy, which is difficult to change. The 5% at the top, representing elected officials, is like straw. The straw blows away from time to time (by the election process) and is replaced. The result that it is very difficult for elected officials to change the "huge concrete bureaucratic base".