To choose between Conservative and Liberal, rate them on the comparison parameters by entering scores (+ve or -ve) in the comparison tool.
The total points are automatically shown in the top row. This should help you decide.
In terms of views on social issues, conservatives oppose gay marriage, abortion and embryonic stem cell research. Liberals, on the other hand, are generally supportive of the right of gay people to get married and women's right to choose to have an abortion.
In terms of economic issues, conservatives favor lower taxes, a smaller government and less government spending. Liberals favor a government that taxes more and spends more to provide more services to the citizens. Economic conservatives believe that the private sector can provide most services more efficiently than the government can.
Political liberals are those who favor a larger, more powerful government with stricter regulation of industries and more government involvement in health care. Political conservatives favor a smaller role of the government in health care and overall regulation of commerce and other aspects of citizen's lives. They also prefer privatized health care rather than government-sponsored health care.
Liberals should not be confused with libertarians. Libertarians believe that the role of the government should be extremely limited, especially in the economic sphere. They believe that governments are prone to corruption and inefficiencies and that the private sector in a free market can achieve better outcomes than government bureaucracies, because they make better decisions on resource allocation. Liberals, on the other hand, favor more government involvement.
Jonathan Haidt examines the differences between liberals and conservatives on moral values like Harm/Care, Fairnesss/reciprocity, Ingroup/loyalty, Authority/respect and Purity/sanctity. It's rather long but very interesting.
