Paradoxical Party Politics

Paradoxical Party Politics

            The other day in section we were discussing the paradox of the American political party system. The context of the discussion was classical liberalism and conservatism and how they are much different from how we understand modern liberalism and conservatism. The problem I noticed is that both modern day liberals and conservatives in the United States share the same problem: that they are both “liberal” and “conservative” in the traditional sense. To start, conservatives stress small government and the strength of the individual, both of which would be traditionally liberal beliefs. However, extreme conservatives also believe that the government should regulate social aspects of life such as marriage, abortion and immigration. If they were truly “conservative” as their name suggests, they would believe in the total control of the government over the people and that the people were simply a tool of the government. However they believe in the strength of the individual when it is convenient and desire to control society when it is not.

            The modern day liberal behaves in the same way. They desire a higher level of government control over the economy and individuals while trying to be as lenient on social issues as much as possible. Again this view is in part classically liberal and part classically conservative. So how do we define our modern day political parties? I think that much of the problems stems from the fact that most people assume what they should be like based on what they are called. People of both political parties are guilty of being ignorant about what the other truly stands for. I’ve often heard hardcore liberals saying things such as “conservatives want to bring women’s rights back to what they were in the 1950’s” as well as extreme conservatives calling liberals “socialist” or that they want to “steal from the successful.” None of these sentiments are actually true, and neither party would view themselves this way.

To solve this paradox of American politics it is necessary to look first at what the beliefs of the parties are before making a judgment based on the names. Whether this would result in new names for the parties or new associations with different parties more close to the beliefs of voters, something should be done to combat the ignorance that plagues modern day conservatives and liberals. It is not unheard of for parties to switch names and retain their beliefs. A dominant party of American politics in the late 18^th century was known as the Whigs, however that party has disappeared, or changed names, since that time. However, the solution most likely to be effective is for third party politics to become more influential. If third parties were more likely to get elected, people’s political views would vary a lot more than they seem to in modern American politics. People would vote for the Green Party, Libertarians, and other third parties rather than focusing on Republicans and Liberals, or as they are better known in America: “Conservatives” and “Liberals.” This would be an escape of the paradox and would prevent people like Locke and Burke from turning in their graves at the suggestion that either party is truly conservative or liberal.

Justin Randall

Here is an article that perfectly displays the current division of American politics based on the understanding of Conservatism and Liberalism: http://www.askmen.com/entertainment/austin/young-conservatives.html