LIBERALISM

• 4 key early liberal beliefs

  1. everyone is born equal and the gov must respect and encourage this
  2. gov can only infringe on our rights if we consent to do so (Gov by consent)
  3. 2 most important & basic rights are to life & freedom
  4. Power must come from authority (popular support), power w/o this is a breach of natural rights
• Individualism

  • individual needs should be at the heart of political thought, economic life and social organisation
  • Society should prioritise improvement of diverse individual lives
• Individualism and liberal politicians seek to

  • Maximise No. of individuals achieving self determination (control of their own lives)
  • maximise no of individuals achieving self realisation (discovering their true selves & potential)
  • " " no of individuals attaining self fulfilment (sense of ones personal mission being achieved)
• Core ideas of Human Nature

  First views first expressed by Locke & later JSM
• Challenged medieval belief that mankind was deeply flawed & imperfect, so praying to god for forgiveness was man's only hope
• More optimistic view of Human Nature


  Mankind has huge capacity to bring progress & force human happiness as they are rational &reasonable beings
• Mankind's reason


  • Manifests itself in debate, discussion, peaceful argument & examination of ideas & opinions
• Individuals


  Can plan their own futures and lives
• Human problems


  Are only challenges awaiting reasoned solutions
• Reasoned discussion will always bring consensus
• Individuals


  Are naturally self seeking & self serving -- naturally drawn to situations where they are in control of their own destiny
• Mankind's rationality prevents destructive selfishness and competition, humans are egotistical and reasonable so are sensitive to perspectives of peers
• We are self aware individuals living in peace, harmony & understanding
• Core ideas of society

  • Emphasis on the Individual & optimistic view of HN
  • Locke had view that before the existence of the state there were 'natural laws'& therefore 'natural rights', belief in natural society presents the belief that HN is inherently positive (reinforces optimistic view of HN)
  • JSM- main purpose of a civil society is to facilitate individualism
• core ideas of society

  • Each indvdl has their own personality, is rational in pursuit of self interest, are driven by desire to be independent & self reliant
  • we naturally seek freedom from dependency on others to live ones life how they want
  • Right to property important as it allows the indvdl to nurture their taste and judgement whilst providing protection & independence
• Core ideas of the economy

  • Devotion to priv prop. shapes liberal approach to the economy
  • Property is a natural right, therefore is at the heart of the economic system
  • Market based economy, supports freedom of the indvdl. & limited state intervention
  • Capitalism allows indvdls to use rationality & talent to earn a living
• Core ideas of the economy

  • Indvdls are self serving & egotistical, will effectively run an economy that benefits them
  • HN rational and will therefore be guided by 'invisible hands' of market forces to obtain economic success- wealth would then trickle down society
  • BUT rationality of humans would prevent people form being overly selfish & greedy
• objectives of a liberal state: promotion of tolerance

  • tolerance for individuals to enact rights in various ways
  • state should be tolerant od all actions and opinions
  • tolerance of religion and minorities
• objectives of a liberal state: promotion of natural rights

  • Existence of natural rights enables individualism
  • irrational for humans to abandon these to submit unconditionally to a state unless the state respected these natural rights
• objectives of a liberal state: Government by consent

  • State is only legitimate if they have consent to be governed (elected gov)
  • people have control of the state, government is the servant, not the master
  • Social contract
• objectives of a liberal state: rejection of traditional state

  • rejection of monarchical, absolutist, arbitrary rule
  • wants dispersed power
  • rejects divine right and god's will
• objectives of a liberal state: meritocracy

  • power should be exercised only by those who show themselves worthy of it
  • Gov conducted by individuals who have won trust by own efforts & and talent, not hereditary
• objectives of a liberal state: Justice

  • State must treat all fairly and justly
  • must have just outcome for complaints and resolution to grievance with others
• objectives of a liberal state: equality of opportunity

  • all individuals are born equal , of equal value and equal rights (foundational equality)
  • All must have equal opportunity to develop potential and achieve control of their own lives
  • if they fail to achieve potential, they take responsibility
• Classical liberalism

  • advocates civil liberties under the rule of law with an emphasis on economic freedom
  • Believed individual freedom would best be achieved with the state playing a minimal role
  • Locke, smith, JSM
  • Individual should always be above the group
  • Limited government and individual freedom optimum
• Early classical liberalism late 17&18th centuries

  4 distinct features:

  1. revolutionary potential
  2. negative liberty
  3. minimal state
  4. laissez-faire capitalism
• Revolutionary potential

  • Locke's notion that state should be driven by representatives, not masters, chosen by & accountable to the people
  • Blueprint for representative gov inspired the American War of independence (1775) and the American Constitution (1787)
• Negative Liberty

  • freedom involves individuals being left alone to pursue their own destiny
  • Any attempt to interfere with individual actions may be judged as an infringement on liberty
  • Defining freedom as absence of restraint
  • Individuals should assume that they were naturally free until something or someone put a brake on their actions
  • individuals are autonomous, atomistic, and self-reliant
• Minimal state

  • negative freedom determined how much power the state should have
  • Govs should be limited in how they can act and what they could do
  • Limited state should co-exist with minimal state
  • Jefferson: "The government that is best is the which governs the least... when government grows our liberty withers"
  • Dispersal of political power
• Laissez-faire capitalism

  • Adam Smith- Wealth of Nations: capitalism via the 'invisible hand' of market forces had limitless capacity to enrich society and the individuals within it
  • Wealth acquired would 'trickle down' to the rest of the population
  • Smith advocated the end of tariffs and duties
  • agreed for the spread of 'free trade' between the states
• Modern Liberalism

  • JSM offered solutions to problems faced by society in the late 19th century
  • notion of individuality
  • ideas that we should focus on the potential of a human rather than where they were at in reality
  • Began to prompt new questions about the nature of liberty
• Key elements of Modern Liberalism

  1. positive liberty/ social justice
  2. enlarged & enabling state
  3. constitutional reform/ liberal democracy
  4. social liberalism
• positive liberty/social justice

  • Green, Hobhouse & Hobson, argued that modern, advanced societies make a mockery of the idea that individuals were innately autonomous
  • humans are increasingly subject to socio-economic forces beyond their control
  • forces would then make it impossible for individuals to seek self-determination & self realisation, restricting their liberty
  • new libs argued that social justice now required for individuals to meet true potential
• Green & Hobs' revision of positive liberty:

  • less negative, freedom no longer seen as absence of restraint, but as individuals enabling others
  • would allow individuals to act in a way that would have been impossible before if they had just been left alone
  • Individuals had to be enabled for them to be free of socio-economic problems
• Enlarged & enabling state

  • only a larger state could repel the new socio-economic threats to freedom and individualism
  • Rawls argued for substantial expansion of the state
  • more laws, state spending, taxation and state bureaucracy
  • eg. liberal gov 1906-10, Asquith and Lloyd George
  • people's budget of 1908 introduced state pensions, liberating people from financial problems of old age, funded by increased taxation
• • Rawls insisted the priority was to ameliorate the social & economic conditions of society's most deprived members and thus enable them to exploit their individual potential and achieve control of their lives
• Constitutional reform/liberal democracy

  • passion or constl reform, codification, devolution, HOL reform
  • support for liberal democracy through universal adult suffrage
  • little interest in direct dem., fears that referendums created tyranny of the majority & dilutes representative democracy
  • Rights protections, HRA, supranational bodies ( eg ECHR)
• Social liberalism

  • update on tolerance of CL, mainly around minorities
  • MLs called for greater racial and sexual toleration
  • Friedan- argued that too many individuals in western society were held back due to ethnicity, gender, sexuality, or physical disability
  • Solutions to these problems lie in legislation- positive discrimination, affirmative action
  • state correcting historical imbalance by discriminating in favour of indvdls the had been previously discriminated against
• Neo-liberalism

  • modified form of liberalism
  • favours free-market capitalism
  • free market trade, deregulation of financial markets
  • move away from state welfare provisions
• Tensions within liberalism: Human Nature

  • Agree that individuals are rational, intelligent, want to prioritise individual happiness & fulfilment
  • Mill &MLs believe such qualities are potential features in HN but need to be developed by enlightened authorities
  • Locke& Hayek- individuals are innately blessed with these qualities