PLSI 200
December 18, 2016
Question 3 From the beginning of the American politics, there have been different explanations on the conservative views and the liberal views. It is very easy to identify the difference between them by just looking their stance on the subjects like healthcare, tax, immigration, education etc. But the basic difference between them is the ideas about the role of government in the country. Both liberalism and conservatism, an essential concept in politics, had changed over the years but the fundamental ideas remained the same [1]. Conservatism is the philosophy that retains the traditional American value and believes in a limited government but individual freedom, while, liberalism is built upon …show more content…
Let’s start with taxation. Conservatives believes in tax cut and less financial spending. They think that rich should not pay the poor through taxation [2]. This is exactly why I said earlier that liberalism is more logical. Liberals wants the government to provide more services to the needy people, if necessary by increasing taxes. A liberal government usually does that by increasing the tax of the wealthy [2]. Conservatives think that more power should be given to the local or the state government and less power to the federal government. On the other hand, the liberals believe in a strong central government and limited power for the state governments. They also want the government to take care of the healthcare of the citizens [2]. I also like their ideas on education as well, because they support funding for public schools, reducing the class size, giving better education through good teachers etc. Conservatives wants competition in the school system where the parents have the right to choose the school according to the ratings. They believe that completion will improve the quality of education. But, in my opinion, instead of creating good quality education, this process will just make some really good schools and very poor schools with low number of students. A liberal government would support the legal immigration and think that the …show more content…
As I said earlier, in current American politics, this reflects both the major parties in the country; the Democrats and the Republicans. But, it does not mean that every Democrat is a liberal and every Republican is conservative. Both of these philosophies have its pros and cons. But, in my personal opinion, I would say that liberalism or a liberal government would be better for the nation, because they support civil and fundamental rights, and take more policies that are fair and just to the citizens as well as not harmful to the