The introduction has a section talking about how many Americans use an ideological mental framework to help them sort out what they think government should and should not do. Most people think in terms of just one dimension (left or liberal and right or conservative). But the text gives a more complex framework that separates government involvement along two dimensions, whether government should be involved in matters of personal morality and whether it should be involved in matters of economics. This results in four different kinds of ideology (liberal, libertarian, conservative, and populist). A more complex framework can involve a whole range of different kinds of issues and come up with a larger number of groupings. A good example of this is in the Web exercise listed at the end of the introduction. Go to that site (http://typology.people-press.org/typology/)
and take the quiz and see where you get placed. Do you think this is an accurate placement for how you feel? Where would you place yourself in the four different groups that cover personal morality and economic involvement in the introductory chapter?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I guess I'll start! I took the quiz and it ID'ed me as a Liberal, which I certainly agree with -- I even ID'ed myself as "Very Liberal" on the last question!
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree with the placement, I personally feel that no label can cover everything. I tend to try to evaluate how I feel about issues as I encounter them, and even that may sometimes change depending on circumstances. While I do see myself as a Liberal, I sometimes do feel as though the U.S. government spends too much (especially recently with all the bailouts) and so I sometimes lean more towards Libertarian than Liberal.
-- Jessica Moore
After doing the web exercise, It placed me as a conservative. I dont think this accurate for the way i feel because I identify myself more on the liberal side.
ReplyDeleteOut of the four different groups, I would place myself as a Liberal because im open to new ideas and change for the progession of our society. Some examples include homosexuality being accepted as a lifestyle or the recent stimulus packages given to help education in our states
Amber Jamison
After I finished the web exercise, the results put me at a liberal. I agree with the results of the web exercise. Even way before taking the quiz I have always placed my self on the liberal side of politics.
ReplyDeleteGoing through the results of the quiz I looked at lifestyles, basic description and values of a typical liberal and each one was similiar to my own views and lifestyle.
I think the political world needs to be more accepting and open to new ideas for without optimisim I see us having not much more success without trying new things.
- Andrew Mewshaw
I took the test, it told me I was disafected. I do not agree with this and think that the answers should vary more than strongly agree and agree. I would say I'm more liberal but I wouldn't put myself solely in one group because I treat each issue individually
ReplyDeleteAlison Brady
The Typology test is a questionnaire that surveys an individual’s views on different political issues to predict which political group you belong to. The results indicated I am a Liberal, I agree with the label.
ReplyDeleteI feel that the U.S. government should be open to improvements. Let’s consider the financial system today and its problems. The stimulus package shouldn't have been given to those corporations and instead to the citizen of the U.S. Truthfully we are the people that keep this country running but almost always we are overlooked by our government. Sometimes the only way for change to be drastic we have to come together as those in our past once did. The issue on abortion can go both ways, but I believe let that women choose the fate of her fetus. Think about it! If this women knows she is not financially and/or emotionally stable for a child then why let her have that child. Oh, so that child can end up in the system. Not smart, because our system is already compiled with children who are in need of families.
See don’t the above entitles the words of a Liberal! This is why for years I’ve defined myself as a liberal. Don’t get me wrong at different times of the year I sway to different sides depending on the issues. But I certainly know I’m not a populist or conservative, since the American Government text noted that most African Americans are populist and have the morality of a conservative. Overall my perspectives resemble that of a Liberal.
~Dretecia R Pearson~
Webexercise #1. Find the names of your member of Congress and your two United States Senators, if you do
ReplyDeletenot already know them.
According to visi.com, South Carolina's congressmen are:
Senator Lindsey Graham (R- SC)
Senator James DeMint (R- SC)
Representative Henry E. Brown, Jr. (R - 01)
Representative Joe Wilson (R - 02)
Representative Gresham Barrett (R - 03)
Representative Bob Inglis (R - 04)
Representative John M. Spratt, Jr. (D - 05)
Representative James E. Clyburn (D - 06)
~Dretecia R Pearson~
After taking the typology test, my results showed that I was "disaffected." I do not agree with this at all. Sure, I may be a little cynical of our government, but I am a strong supporter of our current President and believe that things can change. I would say that I am more conservative than anything.
ReplyDelete-Katherine Edmonds
I feel that my results are very accurate. I have always considered myself to have some very liberal views as well as some very conservative views. The test reuslt that i recieved was consercative democrat. I believe that i am this way due to the current way that society pulls people into liberality and becuase I was brought up in a southern christian house hold with a father who was reitred military.
ReplyDeleteCharles "Chip" Dowdy
Yikes! I was very suprised by my results. The typology test showed that I was "disaffected" also....I am definately cynical about government, liberal in some areas, conservative in others....but disaffected???? I pay attention to things and care about what is going on in government....
ReplyDeleteAshley Wheeler
This is a very unusual class. Looking at the first 8 comments on ideology that have been posted thus far, I can already see that this is a very unusually class. We already have more people at least leaning in the liberal direction that in most American government classes I teach. Even if the rest of the class comes out as conservative, the class will be unusual.
ReplyDeleteI would add that the class is also unusual in terms of the level of knowledge you bring to the course. On the 16 general knowledge pretests I have received and graded thus far, the average score is in the mid 20’s and some were in the high 30’s. The usual class averages less than 10 out of the possible 63 correct answers! So this should be a very good class!
The ideology scheme based on the on-line quiz was quite complex and put you in the group that gave the most similar answers to the list of questions they asked. They tried to make up a descriptive label for the kinds of answers given in each group. You may not be a perfect fit, or even a very good fit, but this was the group that you were closest to. Of course, on any one issue you could be quite different from others in the group.
The more simple four ideology types in the text is easier to understand, but it too does not match everyone perfectly. Liberals (along with libertarians) do generally want government to be more involved in economic matters, but exactly how involved and on exactly which issues a great deal of disagreement can exist even among liberals.
Take for example, the issue of health care. this is usually seen as an economic issue because it is a significant part of the national government's budget and it affects the competitiveness of American companies who compete with companies in other nations where the government picks up everyone's health care costs rather than having it paid for by the company. As we take this course Congress is attempting to devise a new health care system that both reduces the rate of increase in costs and also covers more people. Most liberals would generally support this move, but how far should it go is another matter. Those at the extreme would want what is called a "single payer" system that completely replaces private insurance companies with some kind of government provided health insurance. Others, and Obama is in this second group, want a mixed system in which private health insurance companies are allowed to compete and test their often stated claim that they are more efficient and can provide better care than any government plan. Conservatives would reject either of these positions and only go so far as allowing some tax incentives to help people better afford private insurance—that is where McCain was. Libertarians would not want even that, and make health care entirely a private matter, probably not even forcing hospitals to provide care to accident victims who cannot pay.
So you can see how complicated this can be. Few people are perfect fits, yet at the same time ideology does help us sort out our own philosophies on what government should do.
One other comment. Dretecia in a comment above did the first Web exercise at the end of chapter 1. That was NOT necessary because I did not assign that in a blog posting. You only have to do the ones I specifically tell you to do, and that will be clearly stated on the schedule/assignments page and in a blog post here! Ok!?! Hope that is clear. It is great if you want to do some of these things, but you have plenty to do with just what is required!
I look forward to seeing the rest of your comments on ideology! Bob B
The results for my typology test was not very surprising. I am definitely liberal, some views are more so than others. I question the reasons behind many things that our politicans do but overall I support the leaders that we have in place.
ReplyDeleteShelette Johnson
After taking the typology test, I was described as an Upbeat. I feel this is an accurate placement for me, although, I disagree on the Upbeat's view of immigrants.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the four groups concerning personal morality and economic involvement, I have always considered myself liberal. However, with all the government bailouts, I am definitely borderline libertarian.
Jason Hoffman
Enterprisers follow news about government and politics more closely than any other group, and exhibit the most knowledge about world affairs." I would agree with that, but I'm an independent...it seems like the Enterpriser typology group is firmly on the Republican side of things. "strong support for the Patriot Act"? Not exactly. I have pretty specific ideas and don't fit into any of the groups perfectly, like most.
ReplyDeleteI would say that of the four groups from the introduction, I'm a Libertarian. Laissez-faire! And the certification by a private organization is working fairly in England, they have a company called Red Tractor that only puts their label on quality products. http://www.redtractor.org.uk <- America could definitely have something similiar, replacing the flaccid FDA.
Joshua S. Hopperton
My result for the "Where Do You Fit?" quiz was Conservative. I do not really keep up with the political aspects of the world, and this made it difficult to have an opinion about some of the questions. After reading the basic description, values, and textbook, I would have to agree with my placement.
ReplyDeleteMorgan Lockett
My results for the quiz said that i was a Social Conservative, before taking this quiz i had no idea that this even exisited. Although i do think that i care about more issues than just the social ones. I somewhat agree with this statement. Like the results said I do not necessary agree with the group on all the issues. Although i think that some of these issues are hard for me to agree with. However, i think that this placement would fit me in about 10 years when i am out of college and can FINALLY agree that i am financially stable like all the other Social Conservatives.
ReplyDeleteSarah Cartrett
The test said I was Disaffected. I believe this fits with me because there are certain values that I agree with and that found are found in each party. I view myself as a liberal because they believe the government should be involved in financial decisions but not in private matters, such as marriage or abortion.
ReplyDeleteNoemi Bauer
I would have to disagree with the results of this test. I believe that I am a liberial. I believe that the governement should have very minimal actions in the lives of other people. In my opinion we as a people should be abe to decide certain things for ourselves such as abortions. I don't believe that the government should be to tell a woman if she should or should not be able to have an abortion. But on the other hand, the government should have a say so in helping out the homeless and people who are unemployed. The governement should be there to help out the people when it comes to those types of issues.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth Haynes
My results said that I was disaffected. I agree with these results becuase I believe I fall somewhere between a liberal and conservative. After beginning to read the text I don't know as much as I thought and and very interested in learning more about american government and policitcs in genreal.
ReplyDeleteMelanie Ellman
The test said I was Disaffected. This fits me bacause I have mixed beliefs of the exptent government should be involved. I believe I am a liberal because I believe the government should be involved in finacial matters and in personal affairs only to an extent.
ReplyDeleteLeanne Josey
All but two of you have commented now, and the trend I noted from the first group continues. The disaffected's, which several of you fit into, may be a transitional group for you because of the high pressure and financial insecurity you face in trying to work you way through school. Hopefully that will change. Disaffected's distrust government, do not follow news very much, and generally do not know much about politics. Hopefully we will change some of that in this course! We can wonder if feelings toward government will change if the Obama presidency is successful in improving the economy--a really big "if." That will take a couple of years to see.
ReplyDeleteJoshua's comments on libertarians are quite consistent with the libertarian view. One of my former students became the head of this most interesting third party here in SC and even ran for governor under the libertarian label. They make a good case the private certification could replace government licensing and inspections. The difference would be that buyers or all services, including medical and food, would have to be more careful about products they buy, because dangerous ones could be legally sold. The flip side for this would be a wider range of available services/products, some of which might be quite good. Pure libertarians would also do away with all public education and let the market take care of that as well. The same would be true of drug laws.
In the case of illegal drugs, an interesting case is made by many people that legalizing drugs would undermine the drug rings that exploit the high prices for great profits and create all kinds of chaos in nations like Mexico and even Afghanistan. It could also greatly reduce prison populations, which are filled with people who violate drug laws. The idea would be to treat drugs like we treat tobacco, as a dangerous yet legal substance. But that goes too far for most people who have moral qualms about drugs. Bob B
I agree with my results from the Typology quiz. It labeled me as Upbeat and that is where I like to stand. Although I do not agree with everything our nation does, I generally have a poitive view towards most things.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to the four parts discussed in the introduction chapter I lean more towards conservative, but I still have my likes and dislikes with different groups.
-Lynlee Satcher
I agreed with the results from my typology quiz. It identified me as liberal, which is what I gravitated towards initially anyway. I agree that the government should keep an eye on the affairs of large business, to make sure that no one is unknowingly being taken advantage of, but I don't feel that it has any place in the personal matters of its constituents.
ReplyDelete-Matt Cabbil
Great -- now everyone has made a comment on this question -- I hope that everyone gets their comments in on time in the rest of the questions -- I am finding them quite interesting! Bob B
ReplyDeleteThe web exercise described me as Conservative and after researching the different categories, I disagree with the categorie that I was placed. I would have to say I'm more liberal that conservative.
ReplyDeleteNancy Mills
Oops -- sorry Nancy, I somehow missed missing your comment -- now they are all there. But what questions do you think caused you to get misclassified, Nancy? Bob B
ReplyDelete