Political Ideologies (Essay Sample)

Political Ideologies
Name
Institution
Political Ideologies
Political ideologies are a set of ethical ideals and principles that in a broader sense, offer a blueprint on how a society should be managed. Every political ideology consists of two dimensions including the goal that defines how society should be organized and the method that is most appropriate for use to achieve the desired goals (Stein, 2014). Different forms of government subscribe to different political ideologies. In existence, there are various political ideologies like absolutism, conservatism, imperialism, and liberalism among many others. In this paper, conservatism and liberalism discusses the Democratic, Republican, and Representative system of governance.
Conservatism systems of governance seek to maintain the status quo of the existing institutions and emphasize little government interventions. On the other hand, Liberalism believes in a representative government that allows freedom of speech as well as the state protection to its citizens. In addition, it strives to eliminate social classes and the privileges that come with the classes (Stein, 2014). Having an understanding of democracy is essential and it incorporates values such as social equality and mutual respect. A democratic government is a government usually run by the people mostly through elected leaders. Power is vested in the citizens because they have the power to elect leaders of their choice, which are in turn expected to look into the interest of the people through representation.
Notably, the Democratic system of governance has had a series of transitions because before they became the liberal party, they started out as the conservative party. Alternatively, the Republican subscribed to liberalism as a political ideology before they shifted to be conservatives while the Democratic has been linked to the liberal ideology. Social Liberalism strives to strike a balance between social justice, individual liberty, and the common good. Besides, it is aligned to the idea of social responsibility as well as argues that the government should look into the issues of access to education for all, healthcare, and poverty alleviation. A number of factors pose threats to the exercise of democracy. The right to vote is faced with increasing restrictions including complicating the voter registration process. It even goes a notch higher when voters are required to present their citizenship documents at the polls.
Coercion and persuasion often characterize Democratic, Republican, and Representative systems of government. This is especially noted during elections when the voters face coercion and persuasion to cast a vote in favor of a particular candidate. Therefore, this makes the election not to be free and fair, an idea that contradicts the logic of Democratic, which advocates free and fair elections. The widening gap between the rich and the poor is a major threat to democracy too. This is because the gap leads to social inequalities. Further, the rich are more likely to have their children attend the best school and receive a quality education as compared to the poor. The relative income of a son is likely to reflect that of the father (Cowling & Marx, 1998). Therefore, the problem does not only aid in propagating the gap between the rich and poor but it also promotes social inequality because the poor will always remain poor, with very little opportunities at their disposal for growth.
Democratic governments are more likely to be vulnerable to terrorism. The reason is the way they deal with terrorism and the process of incriminating terrorists. For example, the Totalitarian governments allow the use of extreme methods of collecting and presenting compelling evidence (Cowling & Marx, 1998). The methods can include threatening members of the family of the suspect to gain advantage. Moreover, the extreme methods of interrogation are allowed. Some of the reasons why Democratic, Republican, and Representative systems of government are more vulnerable to terrorist attacks include the fact that they tend to have weaker intelligence gathering capabilities that limit their ability to predict oncoming terrorist attacks before they actually strike. Moreover, the existence of civil liberties provides special protections for the citizens including suspects.
Democratic, Republican, Representative systems of government are considered governments that are more open politically. Therefore, loopholes for terrorists to get into the country are left not mended. Checkpoints are usually infrequent and unusual; thus, terrorists can easily get access into the country with no one to ask for their identity papers. In addition, weak borders provide an easy get into the country. The persistent problem of illiteracy is a constant threat to democracy as for one to be a disciplined and responsible democratic citizen, information and knowledge is essential (Meyer, 1984). The simple act of voting can be a little problematic if the voter cannot read an electoral ballot paper.
The backbone of a Democratic, Republican, Representative system of government is a strong judiciary. For there to be liberty, it is essential that the power of the judiciary is separate from that of the legislative and executive arms of government. A lingering challenge to democracy has been the inability to strike a balance between majority rule and the protection of individual and minority rights (Dionne, 2013). Finding solutions to the above-discussed threats to Democratic, Republican and Representative Systems of government is essential because they will not only strengthen the democracy of the country but also bring a great stability to the nation. First, the many restrictions placed on voters should be lifted to encourage many people to come out and vote. Secondly, relevant authorities should be vigilant during voting to ensure that the coercion and persu...