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RUNNING HEAD: TOPIC BRIEF
Topic Brief – Egalitarianism
Natalia James
Liberty University – GOVT 329-B01
14 September 2020
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TOPIC BRIEF
Topic Brief – Egalitarianism
Introduction
It is a long-standing statement that America is an exceptional country. It may be
considered exceptional for a variety of reasons including its virtuous and biblical foundation of
its constitution and success in maintaining structure without revolutions or the government being
overthrown by its own people. But further than that, America is an exceptional country because
of certain qualities and characteristics it possesses. Charles Murray lists four of these
characteristics in his textbook entitled American Exceptionalism: An Experiment in History. The
four characteristics Murray lists are industriousness, egalitarianism, religiosity and community
life (2013). All of these are important parts that make America what it is today. Out of these four
topics I choose to write about egalitarianism in my final research paper, so this brief will outline
egalitarianism, what it is and why I chose it over the other three.
Definition of Egalitarianism
Egalitarianism is defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “a belief in human
equality especially with respect to social, political, and economic affairs” (n.d.). It comes
from the root word aequalitas which is Latin for “equality.” But there are many different
types of equality. Equality between races, equality between social classes, equality between
gender or age, or equality can be all of these things together. In the Stanford Encyclopedia of
Philosophy, Richard Arneson writes on the topic of egalitarianism and says that there are
actually multiple parts to egalitarianism including: equality of opportunity, equality of
condition, relational equality and equal fundamental human worth (2013). So, what part of
egalitarianism has influenced the exceptionalness of America? Murray writes, “Today,
egalitarianism is associated with the Left and with policies that seek to equalize outcomes”
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TOPIC BRIEF
(2013). Sven R. Larson confirms this definition in his book The Rise of Big Government: How
Egalitarianism Conquered America when he writes, “The meaning of ‘absolute egalitarianism’ is
already clear: the complete elimination of income differences between individual citizens. Taken
literally, as it should, it calls for government intervention into the economy until no one citizen’s
life is economically different than the economic life of another” (2018). This sounds so familiar,
because it’s what we see a lot of the left pushing in our nation today. They want everyone to have
the same opportunities as everyone else, no matter what the environment they grew up in was. It
makes hard work less important when it comes to getting where you want to be in life and
emphasizes everyone starting on a level playing field. While all of these are true parts of
egalitarianism, this is not the type we talk about when we think of early American
Exceptionalism. Murray writes,
The egalitarianism of nineteenth-century America had nothing to do with equality of
outcomes but with equality of human dignity. One of the things that Europeans noticed
first about America was the absence of the paraphernalia of class. For example, no
aristocracy meant no labels for different social levels—no sequence of social stations
going from commoner to knight to baronet to earl to marquis to duke to prince—and no
honorifics such as “your excellency,” “my lord,” or “your grace” to go with those labels.
Americans of a lower status did not bow, or take off their hats, or tug their forelocks to
Americans of a higher status (2013).
Why I Chose This Topic
When I first read the word egalitarianism, I figured it had something to do with
equality because of the way it sounded which is why I was first intrigued with this
characteristic over others. But also because of the aforementioned connotation that comes
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TOPIC BRIEF
with egalitarianism, I thought that it had to do more with equality of outcomes. This intrigued
me because I was thinking that it’s a very hot topic in our society today. And I think that if
that was the way I was thinking, that’s probably what a lot of people think. So I want to kind
of clear the air and give a more accurate definition and research into what actually went into
the Tocqueville and those in the 18th century that believed America was exceptional. I chose
this over religiosity because religiosity is something that I already know a lot about and
wanted to challenge myself a little more. I chose it over industriousness just because I wasn’t
very interested in that. I chose it over community life (which was a hard choice because I
thought community life is also very relevant in American culture still today as well as
egalitarianism) because I just found that when starting research, egalitarianism piqued my
curiosity more.
Conclusion
Egalitarianism is a very hot topic with a lot of different definitions. Does it still define
America and its exceptionalism today? This is what I will be researching and writing more about
in my final paper. I am excited to learn more about egalitarianism and the traits that make
America the country that it is.
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TOPIC BRIEF
References
Arneson, R. (2013, April 24). Egalitarianism. Retrieved September 15, 2020, from
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/egalitarianism/
Egalitarianism. (n.d.). Retrieved September 15, 2020, from https://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/egalitarianism
Larson, S. R. (2018). The rise of big government: How egalitarianism conquered America.
Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group.
Murray, C. A. (2013). American exceptionalism: An experiment in history. Washington, D.C.:
AEI Press.
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