Political Terminology -- Liberal and Conservative

With this article, I begin a series that will define and explain political terms such as liberal, conservative, democrat, republican, democracy, republic, capitalism, socialism, communism, and many other political terms that are often misconstrued or vaguely understood.

Liberal vs Conservative

The terms "liberal" and "conservative" are relative to a standard and therefore change over time as conditions change.  For example, if a nation is governed by a monarchy, and there is movement to remove the monarchy and replace it with a democratic government, those individuals supporting the movement would be labeled "liberal."  (The term liberal originates from the Latin, liber, meaning "free.")  Those who wished to retain the monarchy would be called "conservative."  (From the Latin conservare, "to preserve or retain.") 

Now, suppose the monarchy is finally replaced, and a democratic government is installed; then the "liberals" will have won.  Now, suppose after a generation or so, there is another movement to change the democratic government to a socialist government.  Then those in favor of the new movement would again be "liberals," and those wanting to retain the democracy would be "conservatives." 

The same definition is in force regardless of the kind of government that exists:  those working to change to government are the liberals, and those wanting to retain it are conservatives. 

American Liberals and Conservatives

Our Founding Fathers were "liberals."  They wanted to change their government from a monarchy to a democracy.  After they succeeded in declaring independence from the English monarchy and instituting a democratic constitution, our new nation came into existence.  We then had a democratic republic, not a monarchy.   

Because our nation has existed as a democratic republic for several generations, those who support the ideals of those liberal Founding Fathers are now conservatives, and those who wish to change our government’s basic principles are now liberals. 

Modern American Liberals

Modern American liberals are those who wish to change the democratic republic to a socialist form of government.  They do not use the term "socialist" because the term connotes negativity to most Americans.  But liberals promote the growth of government by high taxation and regulation, which leads to government control of every aspect of daily life.   

Socialism is the springboard to communism. According to Karl Marx, at the socialist stage from capitalism to communism, the government owns all means of production under a dictatorship until that means of production can be turned over to the "people." 

The Marxist-Leninist Theory, of course, may sound good, at first.  How utopian for all the people equally to own and profit from the means of production!  Yet, how utterly unfeasible, unwieldy, and impossible!  That is why the practical outcome of that theory has never been realized.  Historically, it stops at the government-as-dictator stage, as we see with Fidel Castro’s Cuba, Mao’s China, Stalin’s Soviet Union, and other nations suffering long-term dictatorships.

For more information about socialism, please see Socialism

Political Terminology -- Democracy and Republic

 

The terms "republic" and "democracy" are often used interchangeably.  The United States is a republic, governed by democratic principles.

 

Democracy

The term democracy comes from the Greek "demokratia" with "demos" meaning "people," and "-kratia" meaning "rule."  Political terms are highly charged and often volatile because they change over time; they may change drastically as events change.  Because the United States was born out of a monarchy, the terminology related to politics and government is gauged against the forms inherent in and against the monarchical form of government.

 

In a monarchy, all power is vested with the ruling family, particularly the king.  The king rules the nation’s citizens, who are his subjects, and he does not share power, unless he chooses to do so.  The king rules; the subjects obey.  Contrary to a "monarchy" is a "democracy" wherein the citizens rule themselves.

 

Therefore, a pure democracy would mean that each citizen of a nation would share equal power with all other citizens, and they would come together to vote on procedures that require cooperation. 

 

Such an unwieldy situation is obviously impossible; therefore, no true pure democracy has ever existed for any extended period of time.  An explanation that clearly demonstrates the unworkability of a pure democracy is the claim that 51% of the people could vote to kill the other 49%. 

 

Where democracy has been attempted, it has quickly turned into a "republic."

 

Republic

Under a pure democracy, all citizens would be constantly voting on issues.  They would have time for little else, and therefore the idea arises to choose individuals to represent a group of voters.  Thus arises the "republic."  Instead of constantly taking time out for traveling and discussing the issues to vote about, the citizens vote locally for a "representative" to vote in their place.

 

The United States government functions as a republic, but why is it also called a democracy?

 

Remembering the fluidity of political terminology, we understand that the term "democracy" is a general term meaning that "the people rule"—not a king, not a tyrant, but the people.  In order to facilitate the will of the people, they make a slight adjustment to the representative form of government. 

 

The people are still ruling, because the people elect their representatives; the representatives are not chosen by a totalitarian leader or appointed by a king.  Therefore, a republic is a democratic form of government because the citizens of the nation are the ones who elect their government officials.

A Brief History of the Republican Party

 

The first Republican candidate to run for office was John C. Frémont, and his campaign slogan was, "Free soil, free labor, free speech, free men, Frémont."  Frémont lost to Democrat James Buchanan.  The party was in its infancy at the time that John C. Frémont ran and was considered a "third party."  Even so, Frémont managed to receive a third of the electoral vote.

 

Formal Organization

The Republican Party began its formal organization on July 6, 1854, in Jackson, Michigan.  After passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which repealed the Missouri Compromise, disagreement arose regarding the expansion of slavery into the western territories.  The following groups voiced opposition to that expansion and other issues and began to fill the ranks of the newly forming party:  Northern Whigs, the Free-Soul Party, the Know-Nothing Movement, and Northern Democrats who opposed slavery.

 

The name "Republican" was adopted at the July 6, 1854, meeting; they felt themselves to be heirs to the legacy of Thomas Jefferson’s Democratic-Republican party.  In the 1854 congressional election, the new party won 44 seats in the House of Representatives, several Senate seats, and several state congressional seats.  So the new party was successful even at its beginning.

 

Issues that further united the party were:  (1) Repeal of the Kansas-Nebraska Act;  (2)  Support of a central route for the transcontinental railroad;  (3)  Support of the Homestead Act, and (4)  Support of high protective tariffs and liberal immigration laws.

 

Abraham Lincoln, First Republican President

The first Republican candidate to win election was Abraham Lincoln in 1860.  His election was repugnant to the South, and by the time of his inauguration in March 1861, seven states had seceded from the Union.  Although his inaugural address tried to placate, it had no effect on the South.  On April 12, 1861, South Carolina, the state that led the secession fired on Ft. Sumter, which had symbolized federal authority, and the Civil War began.  Despite contrary advice from his cabinet, Lincoln signed into law the Emancipation Proclamation, which abolished slavery.

 

Later the Republican Party was responsible for passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, outlawing slavery, the Fourteenth Amendment, guaranteeing equal protection under the law, and Fifteenth Amendment, securing voting rights for African-Americans.

 

First Major Party to Favor the Vote for Women

In 1896, Republicans were the first major party to favor women’s suffrage.  When the Nineteenth Amendment became part of the Constitution, 26 of the 36 state legislatures that ratified that amendment were under control of the Republican party.  The first woman elected to the House of Representative was Republican Jeanette Rankin from Montana in 1917.

 

Most of the presidents of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century have been Republicans.  Although the Democrats, including Franklin Roosevelt, dominated politics during the 1930s and 1940s, from 1952 to 1992—for 28 of those 40 years—the Republicans held the White House:  Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Bush.  Reagan and Bush can claim the distinction of winning the Cold War, giving the United States the position of the world’s only superpower.  And with the demise of the Soviet Union, the United States was instrumental in bringing freedom from oppressive Communism to millions of people.

 

References:

Formation of the Republican Party

The Republican Party - GOP History

Republican Party Philosophy 

A basic tenet of Republican philosophy is that the strength of a nation depends on the strength of each individual. This article gives the basic philosophical stance of the Republican Party as it exists today.

Individual philosophical systems may be easier to express than those of groups. If one has not yet articulated a philosophy of life for oneself, however, a look at the basic philosophical tenets of a group might offer a starting point for formulating a life philosophy. A basic philosophical plan can be useful in helping to decide the steps to take when a problem arises. If we have a plan, we can use its strictures to help decide our actions or what we might say, and even what we will continue to think and believe.

In this article, I will offer the basic belief system for the political thought known as Republicanism. I refer to Republican philosophy rather than Republican Party, because my discourse focuses solely on the underlying philosophical tenets, not necessarily on how the practice has evolved.

The Purpose of Government
A basic tenet of Republican philosophy is that the strength of a nation depends on the strength of each individual. Each individual is endowed by the Creator with the freedom to seek and achieve goals and is also obliged to respect the rights of others to seek and achieve goals. Each is endowed with free will which brings the responsibility to respect as well as compete.

The purpose of government is to ensure that the rights of the individual are protected, and at the same time the government must restrict its activities to providing only the services that individuals cannot provide alone, such a highway contraction, postal service, or national defense.

Best Government is Local
Republican philosophy recognizes that the best place for government to operate is locally at the community and state level where it can more effectively offer services that help individuals who may be unable to provide for themselves. While offering individual service, the ideal goal is to help those in need to become independent.

Total dependence on governmental services or the aid of others weakens the individual’s abilities and self-esteem. Therefore, with equal rights and equality of opportunity secured by the government, the individual should be also to exercise his/her free will to achieve personal and economic goals.

Importance of Individual Rights
Because our American strength as a nation has been enhanced by our Constitution, the rights of each individual are guaranteed, and the Republican philosophy encourages individual support for our laws and the court system. In its protective role the government has to be ever vigilant that excessive taxation and over-regulation, which bloat the government and make it sluggish in responding to its rightful duties, are to be avoided. A watchful citizenry is necessary to keep government accountable.

Strong National Defense
The Republican philosophy insists that a strong national defense system is required to keep the nation safe from outside forces. Recognizing that negotiation must always provide the first line of defense, it claims that it is safer and more effective to bargain from a position of strength rather than from a position of weakness. World peace depends on a strong America, and a strong America depends on strong Americans.

For a list of the principles that inform the Republican Party, please visit Republican principles, I am a Republican because . . . .:

Reference:
Republican Philosophy