What are the differences between democrat, republican, conservative, and liberal?

Question

I've looked at several of the same question in the Yahoo! Answers archives, but the answers were either on a complete bias or didn't really answer the question. I would like an honest, unbias answer. All the websites seem to have a slant as well.

I simply want to know what the main differences are between parties without smart*ss, bias answers. Is it possible to have political views without having loyalties to a party? I've never considered myself either, mainly because I don't know the difference. I've always voted on the issues, not along party lines. Thank you for your time. I really appreciate it.

I am completely aware of the fact that conservative and liberal are not parties, please don't insult my intelligence. However, alot of sites are meshing these terms with democrat and republican, so they obviously have a major part of party lines. Please either answer my question or ignore it.

Answer 1

"Liberal" and "conservative" are not parties, they are political descriptors. "Republican" and "Democrat" are the proper names for the two largest political parties in this country.

Answer 2

Voting on the issues is easy to say, but the fact is; most vote for the candidate.

If you are a Democrat, you are considered being on the left. I remember the that because lefty and liberal both start with an "L".

If you are a Republican, you are considered being on the right. I remember that because it's not left...lol.

The real difference in the two is not whether they are called left or right or far left or far right or even conservative (republican) or liberal (democrat), the real part of both parties is the platform they believe in: And, that's where voting for the issue becomes an issue.

I personally believe in limited gun control. The Democrats would like to see heavy gun control (not very liberal huh?). On the other hand, Republicans want no gun control (not very conservative huh?). Either way, I hope I was able to give you a small glimpse of the two parties we speak of the most.

If I happened to give any incorrect information I'm sorry, but what I stated is what I believe. Also, FYI; I'm a pre-Perot Independent.

Answer 3

I'm glad you asked. As per any Political Science-101 text book, the terms Liberal and Conservative have a specific criteria. Neither of which are implied by the common usage of the words today. This is because the media got hold of the terms and screwed them all up in the American understanding of them.
The Republican party is not "Conservative" at all, it fits the criteria of the term "Liberal".
The Taliban, the Amish, and Hasidic Jews, they fit the term "Conservative".
So what term best describes the Democratic party? Well, the Democratic party supports and implements all that is incorporated in the criteria for the term "Neo-Marxists".

Answer 4

Republicans and Democrats believe many of the same things, but they go about them differently.

Both parties believe equally in caring for the poor, but disagree on how to do it. Democrats believe in raising tax on the rich to pay for more handouts for the poor. Republicans recognize that when the rich get squeezed it's the poor who feel it. For this reason they try to keep taxes low across the board. Republicans don't believe in hand outs. Instead they try to help people to become self sufficient and be contribute to society.

Both parties want peace and security. Republicans go about it by proactively eliminating threats. Democrats prefer a watch and wait strategy. They take basic precautions and wait for potential enemies to attack. They don't believe in getting involve in world conflicts or helping other nations.

The Biggest difference between the 2 parties is their core values. Republicans tend base their actions and political philosophy on traditional Judeo-Christian values. Democrats don't really have any consistent core values. They pretty much believe whatever the Republicans Oppose.

Answer 5

Democrat and Republican are political parties. They are organizations that run candidates for partisan offices.

Liberal and conservative are ideologies, views, sets of beliefs.

On the whole, by and large, Democrats are liberal; Republicans conservative.

That doesn't mean that all liberals are Democrats or that all conservatives are Republicans.

For instance, a lot of conservatives have been moving into the Libertarian party.

A lot of people from both parties have switched to independent. Democrats have switched to Green.

If you want to know about the parties, go to their web sites and read their basic blurbs, where they lay out what they stand for (well, what they SAY they stand for).

A good dictionary, or other resource, (Wikipedia, perhaps) would explain the ideologies.

Yes, on this site you're going to get a lot of self-serving "mine is the Good Guys; theirs is evil" sorts of answers.

The terms 'conservative' and 'liberal' have in many ways become meaningless, as have 'right' and 'left' (right being conservative).

There are also such things as people who are socially liberal fiscal conservatives. (They don't think government should tell people how to live, and they believe in small government running on a balanced budget.)

Also, historically, all sorts of people have been members of one of the parties for all kinds of quirky reasons.

For instance, since Lincoln was a Republican, white, conservative southerners tended to be Democrat for a long time. (And southern blacks were Republican in reaction to that.)

When I was a kid (60s) there was a big split between the liberal, northern democrats and the "Dixie-crats" as we called them. The Dixie-crats opposed racial integration, for instance. So it was a very schizy party in my girl-hood.

Then there are other parties and other ideologies besides the 2 sets of 2 you name.

A lot of progressives (to the left of liberal, though often also considered liberals) are registered Democrats (like me, for instance).

It's not a simple, straightforward thing.

Politics is complex, involving a lot of very different things: social issues, economics, environment, foreign policy. That's a lot of stuff. People often don't fit in nice, tidy little boxes among all that variety.

And things change over time. When I was young, Democrats stood for the Most of Us. They were, for instance, pro-labor.

There were a lot of people who belonged to labor unions and so voted Democrat because of that, and the democratic party supported that movement.

Now, neither major party is for us, having both abandoned the vast majority of Americans to placate the very few very, very rich. (And hardly anyone belongs to a union -- part of our slide into a Feudal system of a few who own everything and the rest of us as their serfs.)

The benefit of belonging to a party is that you can vote in its primaries (which is why I'm still a Democrat).

Answer 6

A Democrat and Republican are people who vote in their respective parties' primaries... usually voting for the candidate of that party, no matter what. They both (not all) tend to see the world in black and white.

I could give you the real definition of a conservative and a liberal but everyone on here uses those terms incorrectly. Its a waste of time to define those terms. The definitions you will get will be insane so just sit back and laugh.

Answer 7

Basically: A Conservative wants the preservation of individual freedom without big government dictating their lives. Low taxes, but enough to take care of the real necessities, such as the fire dept., police, national security, the military to preserve the safety of the people. And to care for the mentally and physically disabled, and the elderly that are unable to care for themselves. Basically to maintain the foundation of this country. Republicans run the gamut from moderately conservative to conservative. Whereas Liberals and moderately Liberals would like us to live is a socialistic state, where government plays a major role in just about every aspect of your life.

Answer 8

It is really confusing. But the way I see it is liberals are the extreme of democrates and the conservatives are the extreme of rebublicans. One example is this; my dad is a rebublican but not a conservative one. He doesn't belive that abortion is ok, but he does belive that there should be the freedom to make your own decision. Conservatives belive abortion is murder no matter what and think that their should be no choice. I know it's a rough example and it may not be true for everyone, but that's kind of how it works.

Answer 9

Democrat- Modern Democrats beileve in Cradle to grave entitlements, Universal health care, Illegal Immigrant Amensty, Wealth redistribution and higher taxes to pay for their social programs

Republicans - Modern Republicans believe in Person Responasbility, Free Market Capitaism, National Security, Comprehensive Immigrant reform where Illelgals are focred to the back of the line behind legal immigrants, and Lower taxes to boost the encomony.

Liberals - The definition is someone who doesn't follow orthodox or traditional ideals. Very broad minded and tolerante.

Conservatives - Believe in preserving exsting policies and restoring traditional one. Usually based on Religious morals.

The definitions of liberal and conservative don't always apply to everyone. Some Liberals are staunch democrats and antiwar, some even antimilitary. Some Conservatives are Stanch Republicans and Anti Gay marriage and Anti Abortion in most cases, if not all, with exception of rape, incest and threating the womans life.

Answer 10

How much time do you have? Conservatism and Liberalism are schools of thought.

In the most basic form, a conservative believes in an individual providing for himself. That is not to say that they don't look to help those who are struggling but they generally don't want it to become habit.

In contrast a liberal believe in the collective approach to problem solving. They tend to look out for their fellow man a little more. In its most extreme form, liberal policies will start to impinge on personal liberties.

Just for the sake of contrast, moderates tend to stand somewhere in between these two extremes.

Answer 11

Republicans are considered conservative, and democrats are considered liberal. The difference comes in how they view the major topics of today

Pro-life (R) - Pro-choice (D)
Tax cuts (R) for rich - Tax cuts for poor, high taxes for rich (D)
Pro Business (R) - Pro Union (D)
Pro Pollution (R) - Pro environment (D)
Fringe religious type fanatics (R) - Fringe environment animal rights type fanatics (D)
NRA (R) - Gun control (D)
and it goes on...

When it comes to congress, you can hardly tell the difference which ever party is in power. Since every congress person elected seems to be a millionaire, neither party really has any idea how the normal citizen lives, and the politicians cater to the lobbyists with the most money.

Yes, I am quite cynical about our politicians.