Conservative, Liberal and Libertartian views - Essay Example

Comparing Conservative, Liberal and Libertartian views Since the framing of the Constitution till now, there has been much controversy in the United States of America over the different civic stances of conservatism, liberalism and libertartianism. A civic stance is the general belief among citizens concerning their relationship with their government. Each stance has a specific view concerning a number of issues which end up formulating a specific belief about the government. The three mentioned civic stances have different views concerning the issues of: the size of the government and whether local or federal governmental body should be more important, how the government should regulate individual rights or liberties and the government role in economic policies.

Choosing among different issues of these civic stances involve trade-offs. Most of the Democratic Party is associated with liberalism while the Republican Party with conservatism. However, this is not a rule as some Democrats are relatively conservative while some Republicans are relatively liberal.Government Size and Role: Conservatives believe in small size governments with more local importance rather than federal.Government regulation of Individual Behavior:The government regulates human behavior through its regulations to ensure domestic tranquility to promote general welfare.

Conservatives expect maximum individual freedom by allowing the government to carry out tasks only which individuals can not do such as building highways, maintaining police and military forces. On the other hand, liberals believe the government should be kept under control. Some argued that income taxes should be abolished and roads should be built and owned privately.Conservatives think that individual freedom has gone too far and caused the loss of many traditional moral principles. They perceive that America has declined culturally with family breakdown, crime and increasing numbers of pregnant teenagers.

Government management of the Economy: The government intervenes in the economy by collecting taxes to finance social security, health care for the poor and elderly, high schools and highways. The government regulates environmental protection, safety of food and medicine, workspace safety and fairness among employees. Conservatives and libertarians agree that the government should not manage the economy. They think if the economy is allowed to work freely, it would generate equality by itself.

They require fewer government programs supported by tax dollars. Liberals assigns the government a more active role. They expect the government to reduce poverty and economic inequality by redistributing the wealth through welfare programs. Works CitedKelly Cherry. Writing the World. University of Missouri Press. 1995.