Ideology and Political Choice: The Search for Freedom, Justice, and Virtue

Defining a political ideology as a guide to political action , reflecting a choice among values and decisions about the relative emphasis to give to them, this book provides a sweeping portrait of the political spectrum of the United States in the 1990s. Proclaiming at the outset his own progressive liberal leanings, the author announces his intention to survey the field with fairness and objectivity. Van Dyke recongnizes first the relevance of 19th century British politics to the current American debate, then proceeds to a detailed analysis of the history and prominent features of progressive liberalism, ranging from Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal, to Lyndon Johnson and the Great Society, to the present-day proponents of governmental activism in the service of liberty and equality. Next, he turns to the individualistic doctrines of libertarianism and public choice theory, before differentiating the five basic kinds of conservatism: conservative, economic, social, progressive and neo-. Contending that American ideologies are identified mainly on the basis of stands taken on domestic issues, Van Dyke provides a summary consideration of ideological positions on foreign policy issues, and then concludes his survey with an assessment of the neoliberal attitudes espoused by Bill Clinton and some observations on the reasons for ideological disagreements.