William_T._Bianco,_David_T._Canon]_American_Polit

Sources of con ict in American politics 19

While progress has occurred on many fronts, including electing women to

political office, gender remains an important source of political disagreement and

identity politics. Though Hillary Clinton lost in 2016, the 116th Congress has more

than 100 female House members and more than 20 female senators. Even so, these

percentages are far lower than in the general population, and many other nations

have a higher percentage of women in elected office. Gender politics became even

more central in the first two years of President Trump’s presidency, starting with

the January 2017 Women’s March, which drew between 3.3 and 4.6 million people in

more than 500 U.S. cities, and continuing with the #MeToo movement that has drawn

attention to sexual assault (see Chapter 5 for additional details on contemporary civil

rights politics).

Ideology

Another source of differences in interests is ideology: a cohesive set of ideas

and beliefs that allows an individual to organize and evaluate the political

world. Ideology may seem most obviously related to political interests through

political parties, since Republicans tend to be conservative and Democrats tend

to be liberal. While this is true in a relative sense (most Republicans are more

conservative than most Democrats), few Americans consider their own views

ideologically extreme.^18

Ideology shapes specific beliefs. Conservatives promote traditional social practices

and favor lower taxes, a free market, and a more limited government, whereas

liberals support social tolerance, stronger government programs, and more market

regulation. However, the picture gets cloudy if we look more closely. Libertarians,

for example, prefer very limited government—they believe government should

provide for the national defense and should only have a few other narrowly defined

responsibilities. Because they are at the extreme end of the ideological continuum on

ideology

A cohesive set of ideas and beliefs

used to organize and evaluate the

political world.

conservative

The side of the ideological spectrum

defined by support for lower taxes,

a free market, and a more limited

government; generally associated

with Republicans.

liberal

The side of the ideological spectrum

defined by support for stronger

government programs and more

market regulation; generally

associated with Democrats.

libertarians

Those who prefer very limited

government and therefore tend to

be conservative on issues such as

social welfare policy, environmental

policy, and government funding

for education but liberal on issues

involving personal liberty such as free

speech, abortion, and the legalization

of drugs.

Libertarians, including some of

the very conservative members

of the House Freedom Caucus,

believe in very limited government.

Representative Mark Meadows (R-NC,

center), the chairman of the caucus,

and other members of the caucus led

the charge for an outright repeal of the

Affordable Care Act.

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