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American Government / Unit 4   Gov 165 short lesson, about 20 seconds

The Ideological Spectrum

Captions available

The idea

Political ideologies sit on a spectrum ordered by how large a role government should play in the economy and society.

In practice

Toward one end, socialism assigns government a broad equalizing role; toward the other, classical liberalism assigns it little role at all.

Where people slip

American "liberal" and "conservative" are positions inside the spectrum, not its endpoints.

Your place on the trail

Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.

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