You Decide Exercise

Ideology & Same-sex marriage

This exercise is designed to improve your understanding of ideology and where you would fit on the ideological spectrum. Furthermore, this exercise will illustrate some inconsistencies with the traditional definitions of conservatives and liberals. You will begin by defining traditional views of liberals and conservatives, based on the linear model of ideology (as discussed in the text). Then, you will take an ideology self-test based on a two-dimensional model. People often get confused about what liberals and conservatives believe, and this self-test will help explain both the beliefs of liberals and conservatives and why they believe what they do. This self-test takes a non-traditional look at differences between these ideologies, and opens up the possibility that there are other approaches (libertarian and communitarian). This approach and the two new ideologies are somewhat different from your textbook’s discussion of ideology.

1. According to chapter 6 of your text and boxes 6.1 and 6.2, would Liberals or Conservatives favor a larger role for government in our society?

2. In the gay marriage debate discussed in Chapter 6, people having which ideology tend to favor government intervention (such as a constitutional amendment) to prohibit gay marriage? Does this answer make sense using the traditional Liberal-Conservative ideological framework?

Go to http://idealog.org/ The Idea Log site and click on the Run IDEAlog button. Click on the tutorial button and walk through the tutorial, including the practice quiz questions .

3. In the practice quiz (on the tutorial), why is it difficult to place someone on the linear model who holds both beliefs at the same time?

4. How does IDEAlog’s new definition of a liberal differ from the traditional definition (as used in your textbook)?

5. How does IDEAlog’s definition of a Conservative differ from the traditional definition (as used in your textbook)?

6. Using this two dimensional model, which ideology (either Liberal or Conservative) would want the government to ban gay marriage? Does this fit better with the text’s explanation (in the chapter six Policy Debate) of who wants to ban gay marriage?

Go to The Idea Log site and click on the Run IDEAlog button. Take the ideology self-test, making sure to place the smiley face where you think you will fall.

7. Did you score where you thought you would?

8. What are the benefits of using this two-dimensional model as opposed to the linear (liberal-conservative) one?

Email your answers to your professor