LIBERALISM AND CONSERVATISM AND THE AMERICAN PUBLIC

This thesis uses data from the Center for Political Studies' National Election Surveys to examine how the concepts liberalism and conservatism are conceived of and used by the American public. The terms are seen, not as tightly constrained ideologies, but as broad, loosely defined symbols. While usually associated with economic issues or general philosophical principles, evidence is presented to show that the associations of these symbols change over time, usually in response to changes in the political environment. Differences resulting from population sub-group distinctions are also explored, and these too reflect different relationships to the political world.;Finally, ideological identification plays a role in candidate evaluation above and beyond the effect of closeness on policy issues. The less visible the candidate, the greater the impact of ideological identification, and the less the impact of specific policy positions.;Self-identification with the symbols liberalism and conservatism is shown to be both stable and based on "political reality." This "ideological identification" is as stable as party identification, and those who call themselves liberals are likely to take more liberal policy positions than those who call themselves moderates or conservatives, while those who call themselves conservatives are likely to take more conservative policy positions than those who call themselves moderates or liberals. Additionally, those who have economic associations for these symbols exhibit the greatest amount of consistency on economic issues, while those who have social issue associations have the greatest consistency on social policy issues.