A Citizen's Guide to American Ideology: Conservatism and Liberalism in Contemporary Politics (Citizen Guides to Politics and Public Affairs)

Conservatives and Liberals often resort to cartoon images of the opposing ideology, relying on broadly defined caricatures to illustrate their opposition. To help us get past these stereotypes, this short, punchy book explains the two dominant political ideologies in America today, providing a thorough and fair analysis of each as well as insight into their respective branches. To help us understand the differences between the two contrasting ideologies, Morgan Marietta employs an innovative metaphor of a tree—growth from ideological roots to a core value, expanding into a problem that creates the competing branches of the ideology. This approach suggests a clear way to explain and compare the two ideologies in an effort to enhance democratic debate. A Citizen’s Guide to American Political Ideologies is a brief, non-technical and conversational overview of one of the most important means of understanding political rhetoric and policy debates in America today. Annotation Conservatives and Liberals often resort to cartoon images of the opposing ideology, relying on broadly defined caricatures to illustrate their opposition. To help us get past these stereotypes, this short, punchy book explains the two dominant political ideologies in America today, providing a thorough and fair analysis of each as well as insight into their respective branches. To help us understand the differences between the two contrasting ideologies, Morgan Marietta employs an innovative metaphor of a treegrowth from ideological roots to a core value, expanding into a problem that creates the competing branches of the ideology. This approach suggests a clear way to explain and compare the two ideologies in an effort to enhance democratic debate. A Citizens Guide to American Political Ideologiesis a brief, non-technical and conversational overview of one of the most important means of understanding political rhetoric and policy debates in America today Conservatives and Liberals often resort to cartoon images of the opposing ideology, relying on broadly defined caricatures to illustrate their opposition.To help us get past these stereotypes, this short, punchy book explains the two dominant political ideologies in America today, providing a thorough and fair analysis of each as well as insight into their respective branches. To help us understand the differences between the two contrasting ideologies, Morgan Marietta employs an innovative metaphor of a tree--growth from ideological roots to a core value, expanding into a problem that creates the competing branches of the ideology. This approach suggests a clear way to explain and compare the two ideologies in an effort to enhance democratic debate. A Citizen's Guide to American Ideology is a brief, non-technical and conversational overview of one of the most important means of understanding political rhetoric and policy debates in America today. Introduction: Too Common And Too Rare -- An Ideology Tree -- Conservatism: Premise Foundations -- The Core Value Of Conservatism: Ordered Liberty -- The Central Question Of Conservatism: The Glue Problem -- Conservatism: Branches -- Liberalism: Premise Foundations -- The Core Value Of Liberalism: Social Justice -- The Central Question Of Liberalism: The Oppression Problem -- Liberalism: Branches -- Emotions & Nightmares -- Value Divides -- Liberty & Equality: Consensus Values With Conflictual Meanings -- Issue Positions And Mutual Misunderstandings: Explaining Conservative And Liberal Policies -- The Origins Of Contemporary Ideology: Explaining Neocons Versus Paleocons & Multiculturalists Versus Liberals -- Conclusion: Conservatism, Liberalism, And American Democracy. Morgan Marietta. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. This book explains the two dominant political ideologies in America today, providing an analysis of each as well as insight into their respective branches. The author employs a metaphor of a tree - growth from ideological roots to a core value, expanding into a problem that creates the competing branches of the ideology. This approach suggests a way to explain and compare the two ideologies to enhance democratic debate