Business Regulation and Political Ideology

Consider freedom, order, and equality; each is a diametrically opposed goal in political ideology and free enterprise. Freedom could be understood as an absence of constraints on behavior. Order is adherence to safeguards that preserve life, protect property, and maintain patterns of society. Equality might both refer to equality of opportunity and outcome simultaneously in social and political areas. For example, to increase freedom, government may decrease order and decrease equality. Still, to increase order, government may decrease freedom and decrease equality. Moreover, to increase equality, government may decrease order and decrease freedom.

Libertarianism, Populism, Liberalism, and Conservatism each have differing views on the government’s role and purpose in restraining freedoms to promote order and equality, including the degree to which those freedoms can be traded for order or equality (Janda, Berry, and Goldman, 1995). Business related freedoms relative to individuals are likewise restricted to promote order in the markets or equality of opportunities in free enterprise to other individuals. Libertarians oppose government policies that interfere with personal freedoms to promote equality and order, even for business entities. Populists favor government policies that promote social equality while also favoring policies that promote order, which is manifested in different types of business regulation. Liberals favor government policies that promote social equality such as affirmative action while they typically oppose legislation, judicial opinion, or executive action that restrains individual liberties; businesses are likewise asked / regulated to implement those government policies in what amounts to unfunded mandates. Conservatives oppose government policies that interfere with free market forces for purposes of promoting equality but tend to favor government policies that promote social order and help business entities.

The traditional dilemma in American government has been to balance freedom and order while the modern day dilemma is to balance freedom and equality. When the government acts to increase order or equality within its jurisdiction, freedoms to engage in business enterprises are restrained accordingly. There are no absolutes with regard to the positions that holders of these ideologies will take, but a useful framework can be derived from the views that one holds toward government limiting freedoms and the purpose behind the government’s action. Libertarians are willing to relinquish very few freedoms to gain more equality or order; businesses are neither strongly aided or strongly regulated. Populists are willing to relinquish certain freedoms to gain more equality and order; businesses are not aided but strongly regulated. Liberals are willing to relinquish some freedoms to gain equality but willing to relinquish even fewer freedoms to gain order; businesses are weakly aided but regulated to implement equality of opportunity and outcome for individuals. Conservatives are willing to relinquish some freedom to gain order but willing to relinquish even fewer freedoms to gain equality, and, hence, businesses enjoy the most help and least regulation from conservative ideologues.

Reference

Janda, K., Berry, J.M., & Goldman, J. (1995) The challenge of democracy: Government in America, (4th Ed.). Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.