Some labels carry great power. The sports world offered us classics like "The Purple People Eaters" or "The Great Bambino." Meanwhile, though corny, some state nicknames succeed in conveying general themes, such as California's "The Golden State" and Indiana's "Crossroads of America."
On the other hand are the words "Republican," "Democrat," "liberal" and "conservative." These words have long been in use and are universally understood by those with even a passing interest in politics. Unfortunately, the words are also hollow misnomers.
Let's start with the political parties. The United States' government is a republic --- a form of democracy in which the people don't directly make decisions, but elect the officials who will. The Oxford Dictionary defines "Democrat" as, "an advocate for democracy," and "Republican" as, "one advocating or supporting republican government." Therefore, unless a politician advocates doing away with representative democracy, then by definition they are both a Democrat and a Republican regardless of their party. If the parties' names were "The Happy Party" and "The Warm Fuzzy Party," they'd be no more devoid of meaning (and come to think of it, it'd probably improve the spirit of bipartisanship)!
Similarly, "conservative" and "liberal" are both often misapplied. Let's ignore for now the positions normally associated with each ideology and consider the spirit of the words themselves. In a political context, "conservative" implies a desire to maintain the status quo and protect current policies, practices and customs from change. Meanwhile, "liberal" implies a greater willingness to change and embrace new ideas.
At best, these words are only sporadically accurate in describing the intention of those who are so labeled. For one thing, there are dozens of reforms that most conservatives would like to see made. A few examples would be the validation of a preemptive war doctrine, adjustments to Social Security and abortion law, and the reduction of bureaucracy. At the same time, there are issues that liberals would generally like to preserve and protect from change. Among these are Affirmative Action, abortion law, and gun control just to name a few.
But change looms on the horizon, as it appears one of these words may be headed the way of the dinosaur. Though it's a charge Republicans love to make, most Democrats shy away from classifying themselves as liberals. From an apolitical, historical point of view, this is a fascinating development for liberalism, which traditionally has been seen as the ideological equal to conservatism.
To its tactical credit, the Left is apparently aware of the negative connotation increasingly associated with "liberal" and is reacting. More and more "progressive" is appearing in places where "liberal" would traditionally have been. Though the shift represents little or no substantive change (many of the exact same people and ideas now described as progressive were previously called liberal) it is a wise decision politically. The Oxford dictionary defines "progressive" as "favoring or implementing rapid progress or social reform." It's tough to argue with that. Who opposes "progress?"
In the chess match that is American politics, if "conservative" eventually becomes stigmatized as "liberal" has been, the Right may attempt a similar move. Could "conventionals" or "shape-uppers" be imminent newcomers to the political lexicon? If the Right's hypothetical name change is destined to also be mere window dressing on the same ideology, then why not brighten everyone's day a little? Perhaps "Happies" or "Warm Fuzzies" wouldn't be so bad after all.
Write to Jake at jymoore@bsu.edu
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