Conservative vs. Liberal

 The epithet conservative or liberal is used to describe political and economic views and affiliations. The meaning of "conservative" or "liberal" could be different in different contexts - social, economic and political. They also differ in usage in different countries and over time. Here we compare liberal and conservative philosophies as the terms are used in American politics today, with some references to the UK and Australia.

Comparison chart

Conservative versus Liberal comparison chart

Political Views	Conservative Right-wing, anti-federalist. Prefer smaller government, less regulation, most services to be provided by the private sector in a free market, and a literal interpretation of the Constitution. Liberal Left-wing, federalist. Prefer more regulation and services like free universal health care to be provided by the government to all citizens.
Economic Views	Conservative Government should tax less and spend less. Cutting spending to balance the budget should be the priority. Higher income earners should have an incentive to invest (credits). Charity is the responsibility of the people. Liberal Government should provide more services to the less fortunate (like health care) and increase taxes if necessary. High-income earners should pay a larger percentage of their income as taxes.
Social Views	Conservative Opposed to gay marriage, abortion and embryonic stem cell research. Support the right to bear arms, death penalty, and personal responsibility as an individual. Liberal Gay couples to get equal rights like everyone else (e.g. marriage); abortion should be legal; support embryonic stem cell research. Support restrictions and regulation around the right to bear arms.
Personal Responsibility	Conservative Individuals should exercise personal responsibility and it is the governments role to hold them accountable even with severe penalties. Laws are enacted to reflect the best interest of the society as a whole. Liberal  The people should look to the government to provide a structure. Laws are enacted to protect every individual for an equal society sometimes at the expense of economic freedom if neccessary.

Social Issues

In terms of views on social issues, 

conservatives oppose gay marriage, 

abortion and embryonic stem cell research. 

Liberals on the other hand, are more left-

leaning and generally supportive of the right 

of gay people to get married and women's 

right to choose to have an abortion, as ruled 

by the U.S. Supreme Court in Roe v Wade.

With regard to the right to bear arms, which 

is enshrined in the Second Amendment to 

the US constitution, conservatives support 

this right for all US citizens, whereas liberals 

oppose civilian gun ownership — or at the 

very least, demand that restrictions be 

placed such as background checks on 

people who want to buy guns, requiring guns 

to be registered, and ban on automatic 

weapons that can be used for large-scale 

violence (as opposed to hand guns).

Economic Issues

The different schools of economic thought 

found among conservatives and liberals 

are closely related to America's anti-

federalist and federalist history, with 

conservatives desiring little to no govern-

ment intervention in economic affairs and 

liberals desiring greater regulation.

Economic conservatives believe that the 

private sector can provide most services 

more efficiently than the government can. 

They also believe that government 

regulation is bad for businesses, usually 

has unintended consequences,and should 

be minimal. With many conservatives 

believing in "trickle-down" economics, they 

favor a small government that collects 

fewer taxes and spends less.

In contrast, liberals believe many citizens 

rely on government services for health-

care, unemployment insurance,health and 

safety regulations, and so on. As such, 

liberals often favor a larger government 

that taxes more and spends more to 

provide services to its citizens.

Some good examples of this policy split 

are the Environmental Protection Agency, 

which liberals think is vital and some 

conservatives want to abolish or scale 

down, and the Medicare and Medicaid 

programs, which liberals want to expand 

and conservatives believe should be 

partially or completely privatized through 

a voucher system connected to private 

health insurers.

Historical "Liberals" in the 

UK and Australia

In the early part of the twentieth century, 

liberals -especially those in Britain- were 

those who stood for laissez fair capitalism. 

In more recent times, however, the 

nomenclature seems to have reversed. 

The exception to this is found in Australia, 

where the mainstream conservative party 

is called the Liberal Party and the main-

stream non-conservative party is called 

the Labour Party.

Political views and 

Core Beliefs

Political liberals believe that parties 

motivated by self-interest are willing to 

behave in ways that are harmful to society 

unless government is prepared — and 

empowered — to constrain them. They 

believe regulation is necessitated when 

individuals, corporations, and industries 

demonstrate a willingness to pursue 

financial gain at an intolerable cost to 

society—and grow too powerful to be 

constrained by other social institutions. 

Liberals believe in systematic protections 

against hazardous workplaces, unsafe 

consumer products, and environmental 

pollution. They remain wary of the 

corruption — and historic abuses, 

particularly the oppression of political 

minorities — that have taken place in the 

absence of oversight for state and local 

authorities. They believe the public welfare 

is promoted by cultivating a widely-tolerant 

and -permissive society.

Political conservatives believe commercial 

regulation does more harm than good — 

unnecessarily usurping political freedoms, 

potentially stifling transformative 

innovations, and typically leading to 

further regulatory interference. They 

endorse the contraction of governmental 

involvement in non-commercial aspects of 

society as well, calling upon the private 

sector to assume their activities. 

Conservatives call for the devolution of 

powers to the states, and believe locally-

tailored solutions are more appropriate to 

local circumstances. They promulgate 

individual responsibility, and believe a 

strong society is made up of citizens who 

can stand on their own. Conservatives 

believe in the importance of stability, and 

promote law and order to protect private 

property.

Liberals believe in universal access to health 

care; they believe personal health should be 

in no way dependent upon one's financial 

resources, and support government inter-

vention to sever that link. Political 

conservatives prefer no government 

sponsorship of health care; they prefer all 

industries to be private, favor deregulation 

of commerce, and advocate a reduced role 

for government in all aspects of society. 

They believe government should be in no 

way involved in one's healthcare purchasing 

decisions.

Psychological traits

Jonathan Haidt, a University of Virginia 

psychology professor, has examined the 

values of liberals and conservatives 

through paired moral attributes: 

harm/care,  

fairnesss/reciprocity, 

ingroup/loyalty, 

authority/respect, 

purity/sanctity. 

He outlines the psychological 

differences in the following TED talk:

Haidt has also written a book, The 

Righteous Mind, based on his studies 

conducted over several years on liberal 

and conservative subjects. Nicholas 

Kristof, an avowed liberal, offered an 

unbiased review of the book and cited 

some interesting findings such as:

• Morality for conservatives includes three attributes that are not as highly-valued by liberals: loyalty, respect for authority, and sanctity.
• Research suggests that conservatives are particularly attuned to threats, with a greater startle reflex in response to loud noises. Conservatives also secrete more skin moisture when they see disgusting images, such as a person eating worms--liberals respond less emphatically.
• Liberals prefer dogs who are empathetic, not subservient; conservatives seek dogs who are loyal and obedient.

Libertarians

Liberals should not be confused with 

libertarians. Libertarians believe that 

the role of the government should be 

extremely limited, especially in the 

economic sphere. They believe that 

governments are prone to corruption 

and inefficiencies and that the private 

sector in a free market can achieve 

better outcomes than government 

bureaucracies, because they make 

better decisions on resource allocation. 

Liberals, on the other hand, favor more 

government involvement because they 

believe there are several areas where the 

private sector -- especially if left 

unregulated  - needs checks and 

balances to ensure consumer 

protection.

The primary focus of libertarians is the 

maximization of liberty for all citizens, 

regardless of race, class, or socio-

economic position. On fiscal issues 

such as taxes and government 

regulation, libertarian positions are 

similar to conservatives. On social 

issues like LGBTQ rights, libertarian 

views are similar to liberals. On foreign 

policy, liberals and conservatives in 

America have generally had attitudes; 

but libertarians prefer to not be 

interventionists or empire-builders.