The fundamental differences between left-wing and right-wing ideologies

center around the the rights of individuals vs. the power of the government.
Left-wing beliefs are liberal in that they believe society is best served with an
expanded role for the government. People on the right believe that the best
outcome for society is achieved when individual rights and civil liberties are
paramount and the role — and especially the power — of the government is
minimized.

Examples of an expanded role for the government include entitlement programs

such as social security and Medicare, Medicaid, universal healthcare, food
stamps, free public education, unemployment benefits, strong environmental
laws, and other regulations on industries. Right wing ideology would favor
market-based solutions to the issues that these government programs aim to
tackle. For example, encouraging a freer marketplace for healthcare, driven by
consumer choice to drive down costs. Or privately held retirement accounts like
401(k) plans instead of government-guaranteed Social Security.

See also: Joe Biden vs. Donald Trump

Comparison chart

Left Wing Right Wing

Political Liberal Conservative
Philosophy

Economic Policy Income equality; higher tax rates
on the wealthy; government
spending on social programs and
infrastructure; stronger
regulations on business.
Lower taxes; less regulation on
businesses; reduced government
spending; balanced budget.

Healthcare Policy Believe that access to healthcare Oppose government-provided

is one of the fundamental rights
of all citizens. Support universal
healthcare, the Affordable Care
Act, expansion of Medicare and
Medicaid.
universal healthcare and the
Affordable Care Act. Favor
competition to Medicare from
private insurance companies;
oppose Medicaid expansion.

Immigration Pathway to citizenship for No "amnesty" for undocumented

Policy undocumented immigrants;
moratorium on deportations or
prosecutions of undocumented
immigrants who are young adults
and have no criminal record.
immigrants; stronger border
patrol and fence to check illegal
immigration. Belief that illegal
immigration is lowering wages for
citizens and documented
immigrants.

Education Policy Favor expanded free, public
education.
Believe parents who want to
home-school their kids or send
them to private school should be
able to get vouchers for opting
out of the public school system.
Generally not opposed to public
education.
 Left Wing
Abortion Generally in favor of unpenalized
access to abortion and of both
adult and embryotic stem cell
research.
Gay Rights Generally support gay marriage;
support anti-discrimination laws
to protect LGBT against
workplace discrimination.
Gun Rights In favor of gun control laws like
background checks or waiting
periods before buying a gun;
banning automatic weapons; and
disallowing concealed weapons.
Environmental Generally conservative,
policy preferring to ban economic
activity that may create jobs but
could potentially harm the
environment.
Voter ID Laws Against voter ID laws citing (a)
undue burden on lower income
groups causing them to be
disenfranchised, and (b) virtually
no evidence of voter fraud
actually occurring.
% of U.S. 23%
population self-
identifying
Associated Democratic Party, Green,
Political Parties Socialist
Associated The New York Times, MSNBC,
Media Washington Post, CNN
Ideologies Social Democracy; Federalism;
Socialism, Communism;
Collectivism; Marxism
Famous Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels,
Proponents of Einstein, Barack Obama,
Ideology Francois Hollande, Barney Frank,
Nancy Pelosi, Noam Chomsky,
Warren Buffett.
Core Beliefs Minority rights, economic equality,
gun control, environmental
protection, expanded educational
opportunity, social nets for those
who need them.
Right Wing
Generally against abortion rights,
support only adult stem cell
research.
Generally opposed to gay
marriage; opposed to certain anti-
discrimination laws because they
believe such laws conflict with
certain religious beliefs and
restrict freedom of religion.
Strongly opposed to gun control
laws; strong proponents of the
Second Amendment (the right to
bear arms), believing it's a
deterrent against authoritarian
rule.
Generally more permissive,
considering economic impact of
environmental regulation. Believe
the free market will find its own
solution to environmental
problems.
For voter identification laws to
combat voter fraud.
38%
Republican Party; Constitutional
Party
National Review, Fox News, Wall
Street Journal, Washington Times
Capitalism; Conservatism.
Ronald Reagan, Margaret
Thatcher, George Washington,
Winston Churchill, George W.
Bush, Mitch McConnell, Rupert
Murdoch, Rush Limbaugh, Tony
Abbott, Mitt Romney
Limited Government at National
or Federal Level. Local
Governments should have the
most control over decisions
affecting local population.
Individual freedom and personal
property rights.
Origins in France
The political terms left wing and right wing originated in the 18th century during the
French Revolution. They are based on the seating arrangements in the French
National Assembly — those who sat on the left of the chair of the parliamentary
president supported the revolution and a secular republic, and opposed the monarchy
of the old regime. The people on the left were in favor of radical change, socialism and
republicanism i.e. a strong French republic instead of the monarchy.

Those who sat to the right supported the institutions of the monarchist old regime or
Ancien Régime. The stronger your opposition to radical change and desire to preserve
traditional society, the more you were to the right. Tradition, institutional religion and
privatization of economy were considered the core values of the right-wing.

Social Policies
A variety of social issues in the U.S. divide the left and right. These include abortion,
the death penalty, drug policy, gay rights, women's rights, separation of church and
state, gun rights, and healthcare policy. In general, the left wing philosophy believes in
"one for all and all for one," looking to the government to support those who cannot
support themselves. The right wing, on the other hand believes supporting individuals
in need is not the most efficient way to optimize government resources, and relies on
the private sector and charitable institutions for the same.

Abortion
The left wing generally supports abortion rights, but does not outwardly and necessarily
believe that abortion is a good thing. Those on the right, largely due to religious beliefs,
would like to see Roe v. Wade overturned to make abortions illegal. Some majority-
right states have enacted legislation recently that would make it harder for women to
attain abortions while not outlawing it entirely.
The right wing believes that a fetus is a living person and that abortion is, therefore,
murder. Some people make an exception for cases involving rape and incest, but some
do not.

Left-wingers believe that women should have control over their bodies and that
outlawing abortion infringes on women's reproductive rights. Some also claim that
making abortions illegal will only force them underground, resulting in untrained, non-
physicians performing botched abortions and risking women's lives. Some other
arguments by the pro-life and pro-choice factions are described here.

Related issues

Some issues are closely related to abortion rights, including:

Embryonic stem cell research: People on the left support embryonic stem-cell
research, which involves the creation, usage and destruction of human embryos,
believing that the research has the potential to save and improve lives, and cure
many diseases. People on the right are horrified by what they believe is the taking
of a human life.
Religious rights of pharmacists: The right wing believes that emergency
contraceptive pills — commonly called "morning-after pills" — are similar to
having an abortion. So pharmacists who oppose abortions on religious or moral
grounds should be allowed to not dispense such pills. The left wing believes that
pharmacists are healthcare workers who should be required by law to dispense
any medication that a patient has a prescription for.
Contraception mandate in health insurance: One of the provisions of
Affordable Care Act (a.k.a Obamacare) was the mandate that all health insurance
plans must cover contraception. With strong opposition from the right wing,
especially the Catholic church, some exceptions for religious institutions were
made.

The Death Penalty

Many on the left believe that the death penalty is barbaric and does not deter crime.
Meanwhile, the right generally believes that certain crimes deserve death as a
punishment, somewhat akin to the "an eye for an eye" doctrine. A debate over the
fairness of the criminal justice system has emerged, with the left asserting that many
on death row may be innocent.

Opponents of the death penalty cite the following reasons for their position:

Several people on death row were innocent and have been exonerated. The
justice system is not perfect and it would be wrong to kill an innocent person.
It is inhuman to take a life, even that of a murderer.
Minorities and poor people are given the death penalty in disproportionately larger
numbers, so criminals with means can escape death row. It's not so much about
how heinous the crime is but how much the defendant can afford to spend on
lawyers.

Proponents believe that:

The death penalty is an effective deterrent against crimes, especially crimes of a heinous
nature.
The death penalty is an appropriate punishment for perpetrators of heinous crimes. The
alternative — life in prison — would only mean spending taxpayer dollars to keep them
confined, fed and provide healthcare services to them.
Victims and their families deserve justice; often they can only get closure when the perpetrator
is put to death.

Gay Rights
Almost without exception, those on the left support gay marriage, and other gay rights
issues like adoption rights and non-discrimination at work or in business.

Most on the right believe marriage is strictly an institution based on the union of a man
and a woman, and see gay unions as an aberration from the norm. People on the right
also advocate for the right of employers (especially religious institutions, including
Catholic hospitals) to choose not to employ gay individuals.

Another issue of divergence on gay rights is businesses choosing their customers. For
example, a florist in Washington state refused to do the flower arrangement for a gay
wedding. She was sued for discrimination. In a situation like this, people on the right
generally support the business owner while those on the left support the customers.

Religion
Some people on the political right believe that religious doctrine, such as the 10
Commandments, should play a role in government. Some on the right have sought to
have such Christian documents enshrined near government buildings, as according to
them, the government should abide by the Bible when it comes to social issues like
abortion and gay marriage.

A significant portion on the left identify themselves as atheist or agnostic. Regardless of

their religious beliefs, people on the left strongly believe in a secular government and
the separation of church and state.

Gun Rights
While some on the right are moving from strongly and wholly supporting the Second
Amendment to accepting a ban on assault weapons, many still stand firmly in support
of the right to bear arms. Their argument is that guns don't kill people; people kill
people, and every citizen should retain the right to defend himself. The right to bear
arms is enshrined in the U.S. constitution, and any attempt to regulate gun sales
infringes on this right.

The left is in favor of restricting gun ownership altogether, or at least banning automatic
or assault weapons. This video with its black humor is the left's take on the issue of gun
control.

Morality
University of Virginia psychology professor Jonathan Haidt has studied moral values of
people on different parts of the political spectrum. Here is a video of Professor Haidt
explaining his findings in a TED talk:
Media
It used to be that the right wing had a very strong talk-radio presence, while the left had
a strong presence in print media. In recent years, media outlets have formed to
appease either the left or right wings. Right-wing media includes Fox News, the Wall
Street Journal and Rush Limbaugh. Left-wing media includes MSNBC, the New York
Times, the Washington Post, Ed Schultz and comedians like Stephen Colbert and Jon
Stewart.

Politicians
While many on the left will vote exclusively for Democrats and those on the right will
vote for Republicans, many do so only because there are no other choices. Many on
the far-right or far-left would prefer politicians who represent the most extreme
respective political philosophy, i.e., full drug legalization, or the banning of all taxes.

Some notable far left figures include Ralph Nader and Massachusetts Senator
Elizabeth Warren, and on the right former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum and
former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

Self Identification
In general, the right wing outnumbers the left in the U.S. According to recent polls, only
23 percent of Americans identify themselves as being on the left, while 38 percent
identify as “conservative,” or members of the right wing. Even so, 23 percent is the
highest number self-identifying as being on the left at any time since 1992.

Demographics
Those who would typically identify as being on the right tend to live in rural areas and
suburbs, especially in the south, Midwest, and extreme rural west. Meanwhile, those on
the left tend to inhabit medium and large cities, and live along either the east or west
coast.

Those on the left also tend to be young, and many tend to be of a minority population,
including women. Those who identify as being on the right tend to be older, most often
Caucasian, and mostly male.