Politics

Teaching the Political Spectrum: Providing a Vocabulary to Understand Political Viewpoints

© 1999 by Greg Wilson. This document may be reproduced for non-commercial instructional purposes. If you are using this document in your classroom, please contact me to let me know about your experience with its usage. Contact me: Greg Wilson.

Education is an unavoidably political process. It involves the government deciding what future citizens should be taught about history, right and wrong, and what is valuable. It also involves ritual and indoctrination: how to defer to authority figures, how to be in the right place when the bell rings, how to stand in line and be quiet, how to complete assigned tasks satisfactorily at least 70% of the time, i.e., how to be "good" workers and "good" citizens. So the rules of the classroom have political ends, and the materials taught in the classroom also have political points of view. Sometimes these materials reflect a consistent political point of view of the person who designed the class, and sometimes they reflect a mixture of different points of view.

Teachers are often criticized for bringing their politics into the classroom and making their views the standard for getting an "A" in the class. The truth is, it is impossible for the teacher not to bring their politics into the classroom. Our political views are a major point of our personalities, how we see the world, and consequently how we explain the world. So even though most teachers try not to force their views on the class, it is going to happen to some extent. Even if we had robots teaching classes and not human beings, the robots would reflect the inputs of the persons doing the programming.

One way to encourage mutual respect of the political views of students and instructors is to develop a class vocabulary and system for recognizing the political viewpoint of different types of texts and arguments. People in the class can then think and talk critically about political statements without having to resort to reactionary or inflammatory language. Instead of saying, "That's a stupid idea." Students can say, "That's a conservative (or liberal) argument, and I disagree with it."

Below is a diagram of the political spectrum which represents how peoples' political viewpoints relate to each other. Liberal views are on the left and conservative views are on the right. People who fall in the middle hold beliefs that are a mixture of liberal and conservative views. Toward either end of the spectrum, views get more extreme. I will try to summarize some of the major beliefs held by each side and show how that viewpoint changes depending on where an individual falls on the spectrum.

Conservative Viewpoints

Personal Responsibility: People have a responsibility to follow the rules/laws/norms set by society. Stern punishments should be given to those who break the rules/laws/norms.
Traditional Values: People should strive to live by the traditional moral codes that our grandparents followed. There are many dangerous moral trends in society today that we need to reverse. Religion should play a larger part of peoples lives and the government should reflect religious values.
Laize Faire and Decentralized Government: The federal government should not regulate business practices, but instead should let free market forces keep order in the business world. The federal government should be as small as possible, and most power should be vested in the state and local government.
Maximum Benefit: If every individual maximizes their own benefit, everyone will be better off.
Property Rights: The government should pass and enforce laws that protect personal property.

These beliefs manifest themselves more strongly as we move farther right in the spectrum. Recently in the United States, conservatives have supported laws that would:

cut taxes (especially taxes that mostly effect businesses and individuals with higher incomes);
build more prisons and provide harsher penalties for convicted criminals;
remove restrictions on how landowners can use their own property;
make it more difficult or illegal for women to have abortions;
prevent states from recognizing gay marriages;
reduce federal legislation of business;
permit prayer in schools.

On the extreme right of the spectrum, we usually associate fascist politicians with foreign dictatorships. Fascist states usually direct extreme force toward their citizens in order to enforce rules, laws, and norms.

Liberal Viewpoints

Group Responsibility: The government has a responsibility to help those who are disadvantaged or down on their luck. The government should work to equalize opportunities for everyone and also provide support for those who are unable to support themselves.
Personal Freedom: The personal freedoms of people must be protected. When rules/laws/norms infringe upon freedoms, they must be changed.
Non-Traditional Values: Many traditional values represent old-fashioned ideas that are unfair to women and minorities. These traditional values tend to concentrate and consecrate power held by wealthy white men.
Activist government: The government has a responsibility to regulate business to protect workers, the environment, and the public from abuse.
Use of Property for Public Good: The government has the right to tell people how to use their personal property in order to maximize the public good.

These beliefs manifest themselves more strongly as we move farther left in the spectrum. Recently in the United States, liberals have supported laws that would

raise some taxes to pay for specific programs, maintain current tax levels, or redistribute the tax burden from lower and middle class citizens to upper class and business tax payers;
provide drug treatment and rehabilitation programs for criminals and at-risk youth;
prevent landowners from harming endangered species or sensitive habitats on their own land;
protect women's ability to have abortions and provide federal funding for women seeking abortions who cannot afford them;
extend federal civil rights protections to gays;
regulate how businesses treat their employees, and how they dispose of hazardous waste;
reinforce our countries tradition of separation of church and state.

Socialist governments like those found in Scandinavian countries have large activist governments; citizens pay large taxes and in turn the government provides many of the services that private industry provides for a fee in the U.S. There are few communist governments left in the world, but they are usually marked by communal and government ownership of nearly all property. In practice, many communist governments look a lot like fascist governments.

How Liberals and Conservatives Use the Same Words Differently

In America there are certain terms that we feel define what it means to be an American. For example, the terms "individual" and "family" are powerful, and many arguments use appeals to individualism or family values to persuade their audience. We can't assume, however, that the speaker means the same thing by these terms as we do. To liberals and conservatives, these terms mean very different things. So we have to listen and see if we are being tricked into agreeing to a larger argument based on slippery usage of terms.
Conservatives use the term "individual" to mean someone who takes responsibility for himself, is self-reliant, and does the right thing by following the rules. Liberals use the term "individual" to mean someone who is unique, independent, free spirited and vested with rights and needs that should be respected. The conservative concept of "family" tends to be based on authority and traditional values. The father is the head of the family; the wife defers to her husband; and the children are given structured rules to follow. If the children are disobedient, they are punished so that they learn to act responsibly. The liberal concept of the family is based on nurturing and equality. Children are seen as having needs that must be met so they can grow up into unique individuals. The parents are seen as equal partners.

Other terms are also likely to mean different things to people with different political viewpoints. When you are using or listening to persuasive speech, pay attention to how terms are being used and reflect on whether those usages agree with your own interpretations.