Exam 1: America in the Twenty-First Century

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Answers will vary. When it comes to ideology, Americans are often placed in two broad political camps: conservatives and liberals. The term conservative originally referred to persons who wished to conserve-keep-traditional social and political habits and institutions. The term liberal referred to those who wanted to be free from tradition and to establish new policies and practices. In today's American political arena, however, these simple definitions of liberalism and conservatism are incomplete. Both terms mean much more.Conservatism is a set of political beliefs that include a limited role for the national government in helping individuals and in the economic affairs of the nation, as well as support for traditional values and lifestyles. A key element in conservative thinking is the belief that the distribution of social and economic benefits that would exist if the government took little or no action is usually optimum. Conservatives believe that individuals and families should take responsibility for their own economic circumstances, and if that means that some people have less, so be it. Conservatives also place a high value on the principle of order, on family values, and on patriotism. Conservatism has always included those who want society and the government to reflect traditional religious values, and Christian conservatives remain an important part of the conservative coalition today.Liberalism is a set of beliefs that include the advocacy of active government, including government intervention to improve the welfare of individuals and to protect civil rights. While modern American liberalism can trace its roots to the New Deal programs of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the ideology did not take its fully modern form until the 1960s, during the Johnson administration. Johnson went well beyond the programs of Roosevelt with new economic initiatives, such as Medicare and Medicaid. These programs-and more recent health-care reforms-reflect the strong liberal belief that the social and economic outcomes that exist in the absence of government action are frequently unfair. Conservatives commonly accuse liberals of valuing "big government" for its own sake. Liberals reject that characterization and argue that big government is simply a necessary tool for promoting the common welfare.