IDEOLOGY COMPARISON CHART
ideology	human nature	attitude towards government	ideal relationship between govt & economy	freedom	equality	justice	community
classical liberalism	optimistic (individual before group) humans are capable of reason and so should be given maximum negative liberty possible to exercise it.	Negative govt must be limited to ensure maximum individual negative liberty	Govt stays out of economy altogether since it is self-regulating. ideal type is free market capitalism	individual negative liberty *(highest priority)	private domain: natural inequality economy: equality of opportunity to compete, unequal outcomes political: every citizens has equal political voice	each individual keeps the profits from what s/he earns	private and voluntary, works best without government interference
welfare state liberalism	optimistic (individual before group)- humans are capable of reason and should be given   equal opportunity to be able to fulfill potential, aided by govt.	Positive govt acts as servant of people,  ensuring "level playing field" and  access for all to "American Dream"	Govt plays legitimate role in regulating economy to protect citizens from "market adjustments" & make sure economy runs smoothly	individual negative liberty balanced with positive freedom, ensured by state	govt- assisted equality of opportunity, unequal outcomes *(highest priority)	distribution of goods based on meritocracy, some distribution on basis of human need	tries to maintain a balance between private community and some govt support for community functions.
libertarianism	Negative (individual before group) humans capable of reason, but also of sin. The "excellent individual" will make good choices, others will learn from consequences of their actions	Negative government is single biggest threat to individual negative liberty; must be constantly pruned back	No legitimate role for government in the economy. Free market regulates itself and should be expanded as a mechanism for governing society into as many realms of society as possible.	individual negative liberty  *(highest priority)	equal opportunity to compete, unequal outcomes	individuals are entitled to keep the profits from what they produce. Any social distribution is unjust.	private and voluntarily chosen. No government imposition or interference.
communitarianism	negative (group before individual) humans are capable of reason, but also of sin. Strong institutions are needed to help form character & habits to use reason wisely	Negative govt undermines private communities by usurping functions & counteracting moral teachings. Govt should cut back on community functions & should best represent morality in public policy	economy is the foundation of community & culture. Capitalism & free trade should be regulated when it undermines private community & human values	positive freedom, regulated by private community in keeping w/ traditional values	complementarity of roles within community. Each person contributes in the way that s/he is best suited for. each person is of equal moral value.	from each according to his abilities to each according to his needs, regulated by private community w/o govt interference	membership determined by private community. obligations voluntarily carried out towards members of community *(highest priority)
socialism	positive (group before individual) (species being): humans should be contributing members of viable communities & engaged in creative labor.	Positive Government is "equalizer" & intervenes to protect the most vulnerable & to ensure "equality of Life chances" for all community member, broadly defined)	Govt plays legitimate mediating role in economy to ensure protection of every class of people and protection of the "public"..	positive freedom, ensured by government	every community member ideally ensured "equality of life chances"- whatever resources help to make that person fully participating member of community	distribution of resources based upon human need: from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs, regulated by govt.	broad & inclusive membership in community w/ functions administered by govt. *(highest priority)