Political ideologies shape policy debates and choices - The two major political parties in the United States, the Democratic and Republican Parties, correspond closely with liberal and conservative ideologies, respectively. These ideologies influence policy debates in the United States, which often concern the appropriate amount of government intervention in the economy or in social behavior.
Although there’s a strong correlation between an individual’s ideology and their party choice, many Americans hold a range of opinions on economic and social issues that don’t fit neatly onto a simple “left-right” continuum. For this reason, some political scientists have proposed a political “spectrum” that charts individual beliefs on multiple dimensions.
