A CitizenÆs Guide to American Ideology: Conservatism and Liberalism in Contemporary Politics

by Marietta; Morgan

• ISBN13: 9780415899000
• ISBN10: 0415899001
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-10-26
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Conservatives and Liberals often resort to cartoon images of the opposing ideology, relying on broadly defined caricatures to illustrate their opposition. To help us get past these stereotypes, this short, punchy book explains the two dominant political ideologies in America today, providing a thorough and fair analysis of each as well as insight into their respective branches. To help us understand the differences between the two contrasting ideologies, Morgan Marietta employs an innovative metaphor of a tree ”growth from ideological roots to a core value, expanding into a problem that creates the competing branches of the ideology. This approach suggests a clear way to explain and compare the two ideologies in an effort to enhance democratic debate. A Citizen "s Guide to American Political Ideologiesis a brief, non-technical and conversational overview of one of the most important means of understanding political rhetoric and policy debates in America today.

Author Biography

Morgan Marietta is Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Georgia.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. x
Introduction: Too Common and Too Rare	p. 1
An Ideology Tree	p. 4
Conservatism	p. 11
Conservatism: Premise Foundations	p. 13
The Core Value of Conservatism: Ordered Liberty	p. 20
The Central Question of Conservatism: The Glue Problem	p. 26
Conservatism: Branches	p. 30
Liberalism
Liberalism: Premise Foundations	p. 43
The Core Value of Liberalism: Social Justice	p. 51
The Central Question of Liberalism: The Oppression Problem	p. 57
Liberalism: Branches	p. 63
Comparisons and Controversies	p. 69
Emotions and Nightmares	p. 71
Value Divides	p. 76
Liberty and Equality: Consensus Values with Conflictual Meanings	p. 84
Issue Positions and Mutual Misunderstandings: Explaining Conservative and Liberal Policies	p. 90
The Origins of Contemporary Ideology: Explaining Neocons Versus Paleocons and Multiculturalists Versus liberals	p. 102
Conclusion: Conservatism, Liberalism, and American Democracy	p. 115
Suggestions for Further Reading	p. 120
Notes	p. 126
Index	p. 129
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