title: Conservatism and liberalism: a psychoanalytic examination of political belief.
abstract: A review of the historical development of conservative and liberal through reveals contradictory basic assumptions: the former views man as essentially evil by nature, and places its priorities upon self-restraint; the latter views man as essentially good, and with umlimited capabilities, and celebrates his efforts at creating a perfect society for himself. Three clinical vignettes are recounted in which the patient's intrapyschic organization found support from a hormonious political philosophy. It is suggested that conservatism and liberalism offer the individual an ideological resolution to the narcissistic injuries he experiences as a consequence of life's inevitable and developmentally determined disappointments.
mesh_terms: D002668:Child Rearing; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007207:Individuation; D008093:Literature, Modern; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009289:Narcissism; D011057:Politics; D011574:Psychoanalytic Theory; D012922:Social Change; D012924:Social Conditions; D014481:United States