Whither the Conservative Movement pg. 1
In 2000, George W. Bush assured voters that he was a “compassionate conservative”. While many focused on divining what was meant by “compassionate”, some have lately begun to question whether the title “conservative” should be used to describe President Bush at all. Even the Heritage Foundation has begun to question if Mr. Bush’s policy actions are really in line with conservative ideology (Heritage, 2004).
The question is then begged: how would it be possible to tell if someone adhered to a specific ideology or not? Policy actions cannot be an accurate gauge because policies are generally the product of opposition and compromise. The best that could be said is that a particular actor “helped steer” a policy in a general direction or attached a specific amendment. Even so, actions may not be entirely subjected to ideological rigor but rather to political expediency.
An ideology, however, is a verbal construct. Although a person might have a general idea of how things should be, that general idea must first be put into words internally, and then put into words again externally as the idea is communicated to others. Rhetoric, then, is a major part of what makes an ideology possible, gives it cohesion, and allows it to be passed on to others. If so, then the use of rhetoric should provide indications about the ideological basis for a political statement.
The proper place for ideology in a discussion over American politics has been widely debated since the publication of The Nature of Belief Systems in Mass Publics in 1964 by Philip Converse. Over time, a general picture has developed whereby it was seen that political elites are highly ideological (Kritzer, 1978) but the general public is
Go on to Page 2
The question is then begged: how would it be possible to tell if someone adhered to a specific ideology or not? Policy actions cannot be an accurate gauge because policies are generally the product of opposition and compromise. The best that could be said is that a particular actor “helped steer” a policy in a general direction or attached a specific amendment. Even so, actions may not be entirely subjected to ideological rigor but rather to political expediency.
An ideology, however, is a verbal construct. Although a person might have a general idea of how things should be, that general idea must first be put into words internally, and then put into words again externally as the idea is communicated to others. Rhetoric, then, is a major part of what makes an ideology possible, gives it cohesion, and allows it to be passed on to others. If so, then the use of rhetoric should provide indications about the ideological basis for a political statement.
The proper place for ideology in a discussion over American politics has been widely debated since the publication of The Nature of Belief Systems in Mass Publics in 1964 by Philip Converse. Over time, a general picture has developed whereby it was seen that political elites are highly ideological (Kritzer, 1978) but the general public is
Go on to Page 2
© 2004 by Xpatriated Texan
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