Chapter 1 - Freedom, Order, or Equality?

Major Goal

• People with different values (or ideologies) are not stupid or misguided. Respect that differences exist and can be thoughtful, not merely irrational.

Purpose of government

• The original purposes of government are to:

  • Maintain order (keeping people safe and stable)

  • Provide public goods (things the market won’t efficiently supply, like defense, public infrastructure, etc.)

• Over time, governments have come to prioritize other values as well, which are often controversial:

  • Freedom

  • Equality

  • Social order (traditional norms of behavior):

Values in Conflict

• Core political values can conflict: order, freedom, and equality.

• Conflicts include:

  • Freedom vs. order

  • Freedom vs. equality

Order: two meanings

• Narrow sense of order: preserving life and protecting property; this is the original, widely accepted purpose of government.

• Broad sense of order: established patterns of authority and traditional behavior (morality); this broad sense is more controversial and subject to debate.

Freedom

• Freedom = absence of constraints on behavior; freedom to do something (liberty).

Equality

• Equality is used in two senses, serving different ends:

  • Equality of opportunity: government ensures the same opportunities to succeed (mostly uncontroversial).

  • Equality of outcome: government redistributes wealth and status to achieve economic and social equality (highly controversial).

Two dilemmas of government

• Original dilemma: freedom vs. order (narrow use of order).

• Modern dilemma: freedom vs. equality AND freedom vs. social order (broader conflicts with modern governance).

The Original Dilemma: Order vs. Freedom

• Context: USA example with emphasis on preserving order while balancing freedom.

• Visual cue used in the slide: “#STOP WATCHING US!” illustrating tensions between order/security and individual freedoms.

The Modern Dilemma: Social Order vs. Freedom

• Emphasis on tensions between maintaining traditional social order and protecting individual freedoms in contemporary governance.

Freedom vs. Equality (illustrative example)

• Example given: UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE FOR ALL as a policy frame reflecting the freedom vs. equality trade-off.

Ideology and the Scope of Government

• Ideology: a consistent set of values and beliefs about the proper purpose and scope of government.

• It answers the question: how much government involvement do you want?

• Key terms:

  • LESS involvement

  • MORE involvement

Conventional Wisdom on ideology

• Conventional labels: conservatives vs. liberals.

• Idea: ideology as a spectrum with LESS vs. MORE government involvement.

New Deal Liberalism: Second Bill of Rights

• Six enumerated rights proposed as fundamental to citizenship:

  • $1.$ A JOB

  • $2.$ AN ADEQUATE WAGE AND DECENT LIVING

  • $3.$ A DECENT HOME

  • $4.$ MEDICAL CARE

  • $5.$ ECONOMIC PROTECTION DURING SICKNESS, ACCIDENT, OLD AGE OR UNEMPLOYMENT

  • $6.$ A GOOD EDUCATION

Reaganomics

• Ronald Reagan quote: “Government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem.”

• Context: a conservative critique of government intervention in the economy.

Two dimensions of contemporary ideology in the US

• Economic policy: matters like tax rates, minimum wage, student loan relief, universal health care, etc.

• Social or moral policy (lifestyle decisions): issues like abortion, same-sex marriage, transgender rights, pornography, marijuana legalization, etc.

How much government do you want? (IDEology framing)

• Some slides present: LESS vs. It Depends vs. MORE.

Ideology placement: liberals vs. conservatives (economic focus)

• Economic Issues framing:

  • Liberals advocate a proactive government to solve social problems such as poverty.

  • Conservatives favor limited government, preferring private markets to solve social problems such as poverty.

Ideology placement: liberals vs. conservatives (social issues)

• Social Issues framing:

  • Liberals oppose government regulation of personal, moral decisions (people should decide for themselves).

  • Conservatives support government control of personal, moral decisions (government should uphold moral values).

Economic Worldviews: liberals vs. conservatives

• Conservatives emphasize individual choices, behavior, and talents; inequality is seen as an outcome of individuals’ actions; little government intervention is required.

• Liberals emphasize societal factors (racial, gender, class barriers); inequality is due to systemic factors and should be addressed by government policy.

Liberals vs. Conservatives on social issues (summary)

• Liberals: oppose government regulation of personal decisions; prefer individual freedom in personal life decisions.

• Conservatives: support government control to uphold traditional moral values and social order.

Other ideologies

• Libertarianism: opposes almost all government action except what is necessary to protect life and property.

• Communitarianism: embraces government action; seeks to promote both order and equality (historically linked to populist ideas).

Ideology: more on government size (LESS vs MORE) across issues

• Economic Issues: liberals & communitarians vs conservatives & libertarians

• Social Issues: conservatives & communitarians vs liberals & libertarians

The role of ideology in modern vs original framing (two axes)

• Freedoms and equality defined and debated within two contexts: the original dilemma (order) and modern dilemma (social order and equality).

The modern and original dilemmas summarized

• Freedom is a central value that often collides with either order or equality depending on the frame.

Moderates

• The average American identifies as moderate: neither liberal nor conservative.

• Many take middle-of-the-road positions or hold a mix of liberal and conservative views.

• Some identify as moderate because they’re unsure what “liberal” or “conservative” means.

Ideology and Party are related but different concepts

• Ideology: a belief system about the proper role and scope of government.

• Party identity (PID): group-based attachment and psychological identification with a political party.

• Ideology informs PID, and PID can influence ideology, but the two are not perfectly aligned.

Examples showing the complexity of ideology and party

• Presidents’ positions don’t always align with their party’s typical stance:

  • President Obama did not publicly support gay marriage in 2008.

  • President Biden supported abortion restrictions as recently as 2019.

  • President Trump expressed support for same-sex marriage and signaled openness to loosening federal marijuana laws.

A deep divide between politicians and the public

• Elected officials tend to be highly ideological and consistently liberal or conservative.

• Ordinary voters are less ideologically rigid; PID and social group attachments often trump pure ideology.

Why this is important

• Understanding these terms helps interpret American politics; this is the language of politics.

• Less than about 10% of Americans can define ideology.

• People with different ideologies are not stupid, misguided, or selfish; they simply make different value tradeoffs between freedom, order, and equality.

Not all policy issues fit neatly into this ideological framework

• Foreign policy and environmental regulation often defy simple liberal/conservative explanations.

• The framework is stylized and simplifies real-world complexity, but remains a useful guide for basic analysis.

The takeaways

• Freedom vs. order and freedom vs. equality are central value tradeoffs in political life.

• Ideology provides a lens, but individual positions can vary; PID and social identities also shape political attitudes.

• Recognize the diversity of views beyond simple left-right labels, including moderates and other ideologies like libertarianism and communitarianism.

• Understanding these concepts helps explain current political debates, policy outcomes, and the behavior of politicians versus the public.