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Social Institutions: Exercise 5 - Power, authority and political views
Instructions:
Read the passage and click on the correct answer. If wrong, try
again. Scroll down if you do not see the Answer box. Click
here to review the key terms for this exercise.
The political views of the people in
the United States range from liberal through moderate
to conservative. Liberals support the idea of more government
involvement in people's lives. They would prefer to have a variety
of government agencies and programs that provide public benefits to
all, such as healthcare and unemployment benefits. In contrast, conservatives
prefer less government involvement in people's lives. The moderates
are somewhere in between.
The two major parties in the U.S., the
Democratic and the Republican parties, support some government involvement
in the lives of people. However, they disagree about the degree of
this involvement. For example, Democrats traditionally support greater
regulation of the economy, such as taxation, while Republicans favor
limited government action in the economy. With regard to social matters,
such as issues of the death penalty, gay rights and the treatment
of minorities, Democrats are more tolerant (open-minded), and they
believe that all categories of people should be treated equally. Republicans
tend to oppose the acceptance of gay families as well as special programs
for minorities, such as affirmative action. As a result, the Republican
party is viewed as more conservative than the Democratic party.
It is difficult to label the political
views of many Americans as liberal or conservative. Some people are
conservative on economic issues and liberal on social issues, and
vice versa. For example, rich people are often conservative on economic
issues because they want to protect their wealth. However, they are
usually liberal on social issues since many wealthy people have a
high level of education. The working people, on the other hand, are
conservative on social issues and liberal on economic matters. There
are many Americans with weak party identification who don't consider
themselves as loyal followers of one particular party.
Instructions:
Read the passage and click on the correct answer. If wrong, try
again. Scroll down if you do not see the Answer box. 
