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Liberal/Progressive/Libertarian/Conservative:

Note: This is a very simplified version and can easily be debated. Books have been devoted to this subject. We'll try to add more references later.

The old, traditional meanings of the terms are: Conservative = slow to change, cautious, even opposed to change; liberal = open-minded, progressive (whatever that might mean).

Many argue that contrary to common opinion Republicans are not true Conservatives and Democrats are not true Liberals. This is another subject to be visited later.

Classification based on government involvement in Social and Economic Issues.

	Conservative	Progressive (Populist)
	Libertarian	Liberal

Conservatives believe in:

• Very loosely, economic freedom.
• Solving society's problems through individual action without government intervention.
• More centralized government for social issues (more prisons, promote the Drug War, more federal sentencing guidelines, etc.) and defense.
• Less central government control on economic issues.

Liberals believe in:

• Economic regulation. Taxation.
• Personal freedoms.
• Limited censorship.
• Local control of social issues such as drugs and crime

Libertarian:

• Less government intervention in both the social and economic realm.
• "social liberals and economic conservatives.

Progressive:
(Also called Populist, Authoritarian or Statist.)

• Government intervention in both the social and economic realm.

List at ontheissues.org

• Libertarian view: typically focusing on non-governmental solutions and private decision-making in both the social and economic dimensions. "Libertarian" is the philosophy that summarizes "socially liberal and fiscally conservative," although Libertarian Party members dislike that phrase.
• Liberal or leftist view: typically focusing on helping needy members of society, and using government to achieve societal good; government intervention only in economic matters.
• Conservative or rightist view: typically focusing on fiscal frugality, strength abroad, and moral integrity; government intervention acceptable in social and personal matters.
• Populist or progressive view: typically focusing on local solutions instead of federal action, on decentralizing power, and on religion as the basis for societal good;
• Centrist or mixed view: typically focusing on reforming or amending existing institutions rather than replacing them.

A 20-question quiz to figure out where you stand at OnTheIssues.org
quiz at the Libertarian Party site.
Another quiz to determine if you are a Democrat or Republican.

The party structure in those philosophical terms is as follows:

• Republican Party: Generally conservative, but the "Religious Right" is much more populist. Republicans from the Northeast and the West Coast tend towards libertarianism, while those from the South and Midwest tend towards poplulism.
  See Conservatives
  
• Democratic Party: Generally liberal, but President Clinton redefined the party as "New Democrats," which is much more centrist, especially on economic issues. Democrats from the South and West are known as "Blue Dog Democrats," which implies fiscal conservatism and moral populism.
• Green Party: Generally liberal or leftist, especially on economic matters, where most Greens are populists. The Green Party holds no national offices in the US, but the international Green movement has been successful at electing officials in Europe. 2000 Presidential nominee was Ralph Nader.
• Reform Party: Generally populist and centrist, but the Reform Party split into three factions during the 2000 elections. Pat Buchanan led one faction to a more conservative platform, and Ross Perot maintained control of a second faction. The only nationally elected Reform Party candidate, Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura, split from both of those factions as well. 2000 Presidential nominee was Pat Buchanan or John Hagelin, depending on faction.
• Libertarian Party: Libertarian, as its name suggests. One member of Congress, Ron Paul of Texas, formerly was the party's nominee for President, but he was elected as a Republican. This is the largest of the "minor parties," with some elected officials at the local level. 2000 Presidential nominee was Harry Browne.
• Socialist Party: Leftist and populist. One member of Congress, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, calls himself a Socialist, but is not associated with this party. 2000 Presidential nominee was David McReynolds.
• Natural Law Party: Populist and centrist. 2000 Presidential nominee was John Hagelin, who also represented one faction of the Reform Party.
• Constitution Party: Religious Right. 2000 Presidential nominee was Howard Phillips.

Conservatives:
See the Conservatives page
Demographic Shift
Unholly alliance (Conservatives - Christian Right - Anti-science)
Most Sinful Strates
Grassroots Political Organizations

See Also: Politics and the Environment

See What shapes political views (brains, genes, ...)

Political News and Opinion:
Top 15 Most Popular Political Websites at eBiz|MBA
[xx] Million unique visits per month a/o May 2015, (xx) rank Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post [110] (40)
Drudge Report [14] (192)
Salon [13] (108)
Politico [14] (485)
NewsMax [21] (297)
The Blaze [17] (268 K)
CSMonitor [4.0]
InfoWars [2.6]
The Washington Times [2.5]
RealClearPolitics - Opinion, News, Analysis, Videos and Polls [2.0]
Best Political News at about.com
Political Opinion Links at Yahoo
Liberal Humor - Liberal Blogs - FightConservatives.com
FiveThirtyEight | Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight uses statistical analysis to tell compelling stories.
Others on the blog page here.

Activism:
Change.org - Start, Join, and Win Campaigns for Change [1.5}
Credo Action Home [2.1]

More news sites:
Politics and Religion
Slate
Financial Times
Christian Science Monitor
Justice Talking a NPR program
New York Times
Liberal / Progressive:
The Nation
Salon
Sojourners: Christians for Justice and Peace
Conservative:
Town Hall

Are the Media Biased?
See Academic bias below

Big Issues:
Immigration
Immigrants
Politics and Big Tech
Politics and Religion
Anti-science - Liberals and Conservatives
Trump's Base - Anti-science, conspiracy theorists, Alt-Right, Evangelicals, White Suprematists, ..
Obamacare
Income Inequality - Income Disparity
Famous Trials and Supreme Court Decisions
Rights and the Supreme Court
Abortion
Donught Economics
California 2020 Election Propositions

See the polarization page See:
Politics and Science
Civil Discourse
US Political History

Are the Media Biased?
Academic Bias:
"The American College Teacher" a study done by UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute since 1990 shows a little under a 3 to 1 liberal bias in American college faculties.
2001 results:

far left	5.3%
liberal	42.3%
middle of the road	34.3%
conservative	17.7%
far right	0.3%

The trend is for conservatives to remain around 18% while the middle of the road group is shrinking and the liberal and far left are growing (from about 42% in '89-'90 to 52% in '04-'05).

In a 2005 study "Politics and Professional Advancement Among College Faculty", by Stanley Rothman, Smith College S. Robert Lichter, Center of Media and Public Affairs Neil Nevitte, University of Toronto, published in The Forum, faculty members were asked to place themselves on the political spectrum, and 72 percent identified as liberal while only 15 percent identified as conservative, with the remainder in the middle.
This study does not include Communtity Colleges (Community colleges are 33% liberal and 22% conservative), while the UCLA study includes them.
See: Leaning to the Left at Inside Higher Education.

Ratings of Legislators liberal/conservative:
OnTheIssues.org - Candidates on the Issues
American Conservative Union (ACU) Ratings of legislators
Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) Ratings at: ADA (pdf) and vote-smart.org
League of Conservation Voters Environmental Scorecards

Presidents Ratings

International: see International Politics
U.S. Image abroad

Books:
A Preface to Morals, by Walter Lippmann
God's Politics, Jim Wallis
Culture Warrior, 2006, Bill O'Reilly
O'Reilly makes a distinction between those who want "traditional values" and "secular-progressives", who he describes as those who target the affluent for most of the government's revenus, Less school discipline, hostility to religious values, and a foreign policy which would abandon the America first objective.

The New American Story, 2007, Bill Bradley

Other authors such as Al Franken on the left and Ann Coulter on the right are more controversial.

Other: