   #copyright

Liberalism

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Politics and government

          This article discusses liberalism as a worldwide political
          ideology, its roots and development, and some of its many
          modern-day variations, including American, European, classical,
          and modern traditions. For the ideology commonly referred to as
          liberalism in the various English-speaking countries, see
          American liberalism, Liberalism in the United Kingdom,
          Liberalism in Canada, Liberalism in Australia and various
          entries listed in Liberalism worldwide. For various schools and
          trends within liberalism, see the articles in the navigation
          box. For other uses, see Liberal (disambiguation).

   The Liberalism series,
   part of the Politics series
   Development
   History of liberal thought
   Contributions to liberal theory
   Schools
   Classical liberalism
   Conservative liberalism
   Cultural liberalism
   Economic liberalism
   Libertarianism
   Neoliberalism
   Ordoliberalism
   Paleoliberalism
   Social liberalism
   National variants
   American liberalism
   Canadian liberalism
   Australian liberalism
   British liberalism
   Ideas
   Individual rights
   Individualism
   Liberal democracy
   Liberal neutrality
   Negative & positive Liberty
   Free market
   Mixed economy
   Open society
   Organizations
   Liberal parties worldwide
   Liberal International · Iflry
   ELDR/ ALDE · Lymec
   CALD · ALN · Relial. CLH
     __________________________________________________________________

   Politics Portal

   Liberalism is an ideology, philosophical view, and political tradition
   which holds that liberty is the primary political value. Liberalism has
   its roots in the Western Age of Enlightenment, but the term now
   encompasses a diversity of political thought.

   Broadly speaking, liberalism emphasizes individual rights. It seeks a
   society characterized by freedom of thought for individuals,
   limitations on power, especially of government and religion, the rule
   of law, the free exchange of ideas, a market economy that supports
   relatively free private enterprise, and a transparent system of
   government in which the rights of all citizens are protected. In modern
   society, liberals favour a liberal democracy with open and fair
   elections, where all citizens have equal rights by law and an equal
   opportunity to succeed.

   Many modern liberals advocate a greater degree of government
   interference in the free market, often in the form of
   anti-discrimination laws, civil service examinations, universal
   education, and progressive taxation. This philosophy frequently extends
   to a belief that the government should provide for a degree of general
   welfare, including benefits for the unemployed, housing for the
   homeless, and medical care for the sick. Such publicly-funded
   initiatives and interferences in the market are rejected by modern
   advocates of classical liberalism, which emphasizes free private
   enterprise, individual property rights and freedom of contract;
   classical liberals hold that economic inequality, as arising naturally
   from competition in the free market, does not justify the violation of
   private property rights.

   Liberalism rejected many foundational assumptions which dominated most
   earlier theories of government, such as the Divine Right of Kings,
   hereditary status, and established religion. Fundamental human rights
   that all liberals support include the right to life, liberty, and
   property.

   A broader use of the term liberalism is in the context of liberal
   democracy (see also constitutionalism). In this sense of the word, it
   refers to a democracy in which the powers of government are limited and
   the rights of citizens are legally defined; this applies to nearly all
   Western democracies, and therefore is not solely associated with
   liberal parties.

The nature and origins of liberalism

Etymology and historical usage

   The word "liberal" derives from the Latin liber ("free, not slave"). It
   is widely associated with the word "liberty" and the concept of
   freedom. Livy's History of Rome from Its Foundation describes the
   struggles for freedom between the plebeian and patrician classes.
   Marcus Aurelius in his Meditations writes about "...the idea of a
   policy administered with regard to equal rights and equal freedom of
   speech, and the idea of a kingly government which respects most of all
   the freedom of the governed... ." Largely dormant during the
   vicissitudes of the Middle Ages, the struggle for freedom began again
   in the Italian Renaissance, in the conflict between the supporters of
   free city states and the supporters of the Pope. Niccolò Machiavelli,
   in his Discourses on Livy, laid down the principles of republican
   government. John Locke in England and the thinkers of the French
   Enlightenment articulated the struggle for freedom in terms of the
   Rights of Man.

   The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) indicates that the word liberal has
   long been in the English language with the meanings of "befitting free
   men, noble, generous" as in liberal arts; also with the meaning "free
   from restraint in speech or action", as in liberal with the purse, or
   liberal tongue, usually as a term of reproach but, beginning 1776–88
   imbued with a more favorable sense by Edward Gibbon and others to mean
   "free from prejudice, tolerant."

   The first English language use to mean "tending in favour of freedom
   and democracy", according to the OED, dates from about 1801 and comes
   from the French libéral, "originally applied in English by its
   opponents (often in Fr. form and with suggestions of foreign
   lawlessness)". An early English language citation: "The extinction of
   every vestige of freedom, and of every liberal idea with which they are
   associated."

   The American War of Independence established the first nation to craft
   a constitution based on the concept of liberal government, especially
   the idea that governments rule by the consent of the governed. The more
   moderate bourgeois elements of the French Revolution tried to establish
   a government based on liberal principles. Economists such as Adam
   Smith, in The Wealth of Nations (1776), enunciated the liberal
   principles of free trade. The editors of the Spanish Constitution of
   1812, drafted in Cádiz, may have been the first to use the word liberal
   in a political sense as a noun. They named themselves the Liberales, to
   express their opposition to the absolutist power of the Spanish
   monarchy.

   Beginning in the late 18th century, liberalism became a major ideology
   in virtually all developed countries.

Trends within liberalism

   Within the above framework, there are deep, often bitter, conflicts and
   controversies among liberals. Emerging from those controversies, out of
   classical liberalism, are a number of different trends within
   liberalism. As in many debates, opposite sides use different words for
   the same beliefs, and sometimes use identical words for different
   beliefs. For the purposes of this article, we will use "political
   liberalism" for the support of (liberal) democracy (either in a
   republic or a constitutional monarchy), over absolute monarchy or
   dictatorship; "cultural liberalism" for the support of individual
   liberty over laws limiting liberty for patriotic or religious reasons;
   "economic liberalism" for the support of private property, over
   government regulation; and "social liberalism" for the support of
   equality, over inequalities of opportunity. By "modern liberalism" we
   mean the mixture of these forms of liberalism found in most First World
   countries today, rather than any one of the pure forms listed above.

   Some principles liberals generally agree upon:

          + Political liberalism is the belief that individuals are the
            basis of law and society, and that society and its
            institutions exist to further the ends of individuals, without
            showing favour to those of higher social rank. Magna Carta is
            an example of a political document that asserted the rights of
            individuals even above the prerogatives of monarchs. Political
            liberalism stresses the social contract, under which citizens
            make the laws and agree to abide by those laws. It is based on
            the belief that individuals know best what is best for them.
            Political liberalism enfranchises all adult citizens
            regardless of sex, race, or economic status. Political
            liberalism emphasizes the rule of law and supports liberal
            democracy.

          + Cultural liberalism focuses on the rights of individuals
            pertaining to conscience and lifestyle, including such issues
            as sexual freedom, religious freedom, cognitive freedom, and
            protection from government intrusion into private life. John
            Stuart Mill aptly expressed cultural liberalism in his essay
            "On Liberty," when he wrote,


   Liberalism

        The sole end for which mankind are warranted, individually or
   collectively, in interfering with the liberty of action of any of their
    number, is self-protection. That the only purpose for which power can
      be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community,
    against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either
               physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant.


   Liberalism

                Cultural liberalism generally opposes government
                regulation of literature, art, academics, gambling, sex,
                prostitution, abortion, birth control, terminal illness,
                alcohol, and cannabis and other controlled substances.
                Most liberals oppose some or all government intervention
                in these areas. The Netherlands, in this respect, may be
                the most liberal country in the world today.

   However, some trends within liberalism reveal stark differences of
   opinion:

          + Economic liberalism, also called classical liberalism or
            Manchester liberalism, is an ideology which supports the
            individual rights of property and freedom of contract. It
            advocates laissez-faire capitalism, meaning the removal of
            legal barriers to trade and cessation of government-bestowed
            privilege such as subsidy and monopoly. Economic liberals want
            little or no government regulation of the market. Some
            economic liberals would accept government restrictions of
            monopolies and cartels, others argue that monopolies and
            cartels are caused by state action. Economic liberalism holds
            that the value of goods and services should be set by the
            unfettered choices of individuals, that is, of market forces.
            Some would also allow market forces to act even in areas
            conventionally monopolized by governments, such as the
            provision of security and courts. Economic liberalism accepts
            the economic inequality that arises from unequal bargaining
            positions as being the natural result of competition, so long
            as no coercion is used. This form of liberalism is especially
            influenced by English liberalism of the mid 19th century.
            Minarchism and anarcho-capitalism are forms of economic
            liberalism. (See also Free trade, Neo-liberalism,
            liberalization)

          + Social liberalism, also known as new liberalism (not to be
            confused with 'neoliberalism') and reform liberalism, arose in
            the late 19th century in many developed countries, influenced
            by the utilitarianism of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill.
            Some liberals accepted, in part or in whole, Marxist and
            socialist exploitation theory and critiques of "the profit
            motive", and concluded that government should use its power to
            remedy these perceived problems. According to the tenets of
            this form of liberalism, as explained by writers such as John
            Dewey and Mortimer Adler, since individuals are the basis of
            society, all individuals should have access to basic
            necessities of fulfillment, such as education, economic
            opportunity, and protection from harmful macro-events beyond
            their control. To social liberals, these benefits are
            considered rights. These positive rights, which must be
            produced and supplied by other people, are qualitatively
            different from the classic negative rights, which require only
            that others refrain from aggression. To the social liberal,
            ensuring positive rights is a goal that is continuous with the
            general project of protecting liberties. Schools, libraries,
            museums, and art galleries are to be supported by taxes.
            Social liberalism advocates some restrictions on economic
            competition, such as anti-trust laws and price controls on
            wages ("minimum wage laws.") It also expects governments to
            provide a basic level of welfare, supported by taxation,
            intended to enable the best use of the talents of the
            population, to prevent revolution, or simply "for the public
            good."

   The struggle between economic freedom and social equality is almost as
   old as the idea of freedom itself. Plutarch, writing about Solon (c.
   639 - c. 559 BCE), the lawgiver of ancient Athens, wrote:


   Liberalism

    The remission of debts was peculiar to Solon; it was his great means
    for confirming the citizens' liberty; for a mere law to give all men
   equal rights is but useless, if the poor must sacrifice those rights to
    their debts, and, in the very seats and sanctuaries of equality, the
   courts of justice, the offices of state, and the public discussions, be
           more than anywhere at the beck and bidding of the rich.


   Liberalism

   Economic liberals see positive rights as necessarily violating negative
   rights, and therefore illegitimate. They see a limited role for
   government. Some economic liberals see no proper function of
   government, while others (minarchists) would limit government to
   courts, police, and defense against foreign invasion. Social liberals,
   in contrast, see a major role for government in promoting the general
   welfare - providing some or all of the following services: food and
   shelter for those who cannot provide for themselves, medical care,
   schools, retirement, care for children and for the disabled, including
   those disabled by old age, help for victims of natural disaster,
   protection of minorities, prevention of crime, and support for the arts
   and sciences. This largely abandons the idea of limited government.
   Both forms of liberalism seek the same end - liberty - but they
   disagree strongly about the best or most moral means to attain it. Some
   liberal parties emphasize economic liberalism, while others focus on
   social liberalism. Conservative parties often favour economic
   liberalism while opposing social and cultural liberalism.

   In all of the forms of liberalism listed above there is a general
   belief that there should be a balance between government and private
   responsibilities, and that government should be limited to those tasks
   which cannot be carried out best by the private sector. All forms of
   liberalism claim to protect the fundamental dignity and autonomy of the
   individual under law, all claim that freedom of individual action
   promotes the best society. Liberalism is so widespread in the modern
   world that most Western nations at least pay lip service to individual
   liberty as the basis for society.

Comparative influences

   Early Enlightenment thinkers contrasted liberalism with the
   authoritarianism of the Ancien Regime, feudalism, mercantilism and the
   Roman Catholic Church. Later, as more radical philosophers articulated
   their thoughts in the course of the French Revolution and throughout
   the nineteenth century, liberalism defined itself in contrast to
   socialism and communism, although modern European liberal parties have
   often formed coalitions with social-democratic parties. In the 20th
   century liberalism defined itself in opposition to totalitarianism and
   collectivism. Some modern liberals have rejected the classical Just War
   theory, which emphasizes neutrality and free trade, in favour of
   multilateral interventionism and collective security.

   Liberalism favors the limitation of government power. Extreme
   anti-statist liberalism, as advocated by Frederic Bastiat, Gustave de
   Molinari, Herbert Spencer, and Auberon Herbert, is a radical form of
   liberalism called anarchism (no state at all) or minarchism (a minimal
   state, or sometimes called "the nightwatchman state.") These anti-state
   forms of liberalism are commonly referred to as libertarianism. Most
   liberals claim that a government is necessary to protect rights, yet
   the meaning of "government" can range from simply a rights protection
   organization to a Weberian state. Recently, liberalism has again come
   into conflict with those who seek a society ordered by religious
   values: radical Islamism often rejects liberal thought in its entirety,
   and radical Christian sects in Western liberal-democratic states —
   especially the US — often find their moral opinions coming into
   conflict with liberal laws and ideals.

Development of liberal thought

Origins of liberal thought

   John Locke
   Enlarge
   John Locke

   The focus on "liberty" as an essential right of people within the
   polity has been repeatedly asserted throughout history. Mentioned above
   are the conflicts between the plebeians and patricians in ancient Rome
   and the struggles of Italian city states against the Papal States. The
   republics of Florence and Venice had forms of elections, the rule of
   law, and pursuit of free enterprise through much of the 1400s until
   domination by outside powers in the 16th century. The Dutch resistance
   against (Spanish) Catholic oppression during the Eighty Years' War is
   often — despite its refusal to give freedom to Catholics — considered a
   predecessor of liberal values.

   As an ideology, liberalism can trace its roots back to the humanism
   that began to challenge the authority of the established church during
   the Renaissance, and the Whigs of the Glorious Revolution in Great
   Britain, whose assertion of their right to choose their king can be
   seen as a precursor to claims of popular sovereignty. However,
   movements generally labeled as truly "liberal" date from the
   Enlightenment, particularly the Whig party in Britain, the philosophes
   in France, and the movement towards self-government in colonial
   America. These movements opposed absolute monarchy, mercantilism, and
   various kinds of religious orthodoxy and clericalism. They were also
   the first to formulate the concepts of individual rights under the rule
   of law, as well as the importance of self-government through elected
   representatives.

   The definitive break with the past was the conception that free
   individuals could form the foundation for a stable society. This idea
   is generally dated from the work of John Locke (1632-1704), whose Two
   Treatises on Government established two fundamental liberal ideas:
   economic liberty, meaning the right to have and use property, and
   intellectual liberty, including freedom of conscience, which he
   expounded in A Letter Concerning Toleration (1689). However, he did not
   extend his views on religious freedom to Roman Catholics . Locke
   developed further the earlier idea of natural rights, which he saw as
   "life, liberty and property". His "natural rights theory" was the
   distant forerunner of the modern conception of human rights. However,
   to Locke, property was more important than the right to participate in
   government and public decision-making: he did not endorse democracy,
   because he feared that giving power to the people would erode the
   sanctity of private property. Nevertheless, the idea of natural rights
   played a key role in providing the ideological justification for the
   American revolution and the French revolution.
   Montesquieu
   Enlarge
   Montesquieu

   On the European continent, the doctrine of laws restraining even
   monarchs was expounded by Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu,
   whose The Spirit of the Laws argues that "Better is it to say, that the
   government most conformable to nature is that which best agrees with
   the humour and disposition of the people in whose favour it is
   established," rather than accept as natural the mere rule of force.
   Following in his footsteps, political economist Jean-Baptiste Say and
   Destutt de Tracy were ardent exponents of the "harmonies" of the
   market, and in all probability it was they who coined the term
   laissez-faire. This evolved into the physiocrats, and to the political
   economy of Rousseau.

   The late French enlightenment saw two figures who would have tremendous
   influence on later liberal thought: Voltaire who argued that the French
   should adopt constitutional monarchy, and disestablish the Second
   Estate, and Rousseau who argued for a natural freedom for mankind. Both
   argued, in different forms, for changes in political and social
   arrangements based around the idea that society can restrain a natural
   human liberty, but not obliterate its nature. For Voltaire the concept
   was more intellectual, for Rousseau, it was related to intrinsic
   natural rights, perhaps related to the ideas of Diderot.
   Anders Chydenius
   Enlarge
   Anders Chydenius

   Rousseau also argued the importance of a concept that appears
   repeatedly in the history of liberal thought, namely, the social
   contract. He rooted this in the nature of the individual and asserted
   that each person knows their own interest best. His assertion that man
   is born free, but that education was sufficient to restrain him within
   society, rocked the monarchical society of his age. His assertion of an
   organic will of a nation argued for self-determination of peoples,
   again in contravention of established political practice. His ideas
   were a key element in the declaration of the National Assembly in the
   French Revolution, and in the thinking of Americans such as Benjamin
   Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. In his view the unity of a state came
   from the concerted action of consent, or the "national will". This
   unity of action would allow states to exist without being chained to
   pre-existing social orders, such as aristocracy.

   A main contributing group of thinkers whose work would become
   considered part of liberalism are those associated with the " Scottish
   Enlightenment", including the writers David Hume and Adam Smith, and
   the German enlightenment philosopher Immanuel Kant.
   Adam Smith
   Enlarge
   Adam Smith

   David Hume's contributions were many and varied, but most important was
   his assertion that fundamental rules of human behaviour would overwhelm
   attempts to restrict or regulate them, in A Treatise of Human Nature,
   1739-1740. One example of this is in his disparaging of mercantilism,
   and the accumulation of gold and silver. He argued that prices were
   related to the quantity of money, and that hoarding gold and issuing
   paper money would only lead to inflation.

   Although Adam Smith is the most famous of the economic liberal
   thinkers, he was not without antecedents. The physiocrats in France had
   proposed studying systematically political economy and the self
   organizing nature of markets. Benjamin Franklin wrote in favour of the
   freedom of American industry in 1750. In Sweden-Finland the period of
   liberty and parliamentary government from 1718 to 1772 produced a
   Finnish parliamentarian, Anders Chydenius, who was one of the first to
   propose free trade and unregulated industry, in The National Gain,
   1765. His impact has proven to be lasting particularly in the Nordic
   area, but it also had a powerful effect in later developments
   elsewhere.

   The Scotsman Adam Smith (1723–1790) expounded the theory that
   individuals could structure both moral and economic life without
   direction from the state, and that nations would be strongest when
   their citizens were free to follow their own initiative. He advocated
   an end to feudal and mercantile regulations, to state-granted
   monopolies and patents, and he promulgated " laissez-faire" government.
   In The Theory of Moral Sentiments, 1759, he developed a theory of
   motivation that tried to reconcile human self-interest and an
   unregulated social order. In The Wealth of Nations, 1776, he argued
   that the market, under certain conditions, would naturally regulate
   itself and would produce more than the heavily restricted markets that
   were the norm at the time. He assigned to government the role of taking
   on tasks which could not be entrusted to the profit motive, such as
   preventing individuals from using force or fraud to disrupt
   competition, trade, or production. His theory of taxation was that
   governments should levy taxes only in ways which did not harm the
   economy, and that "The subjects of every state ought to contribute
   towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in
   proportion to their respective abilities; that is, in proportion to the
   revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the
   state." He agreed with Hume that capital, not gold, is the wealth of a
   nation.
   Immanuel Kant
   Enlarge
   Immanuel Kant

   Immanuel Kant was strongly influenced by Hume's empiricism and
   rationalism. His most important contributions to liberal thinking are
   in the realm of ethics, particularly his assertion of the categorical
   imperative. Kant argued that received systems of reason and morals were
   subordinate to natural law, and that, therefore, attempts to stifle
   this basic law would meet with failure. His idealism would become
   increasingly influential, since it asserted that there were fundamental
   truths upon which systems of knowledge could be based. This meshed well
   with the ideas of the English Enlightenment about natural rights.

Revolutionary liberalism

   These thinkers, however, worked within the political framework of
   monarchies and in societies in which the class system and an
   established church were the norm. Although the earlier Wars of the
   Three Kingdoms had resulted in the republican Commonwealth of England
   between 1649 and 1660, the idea that ordinary human beings could
   structure their own affairs had been suppressed with the Restoration
   and then remained theoretical until the American and French
   Revolutions. (The Glorious Revolution of 1688 is often cited as a
   precedent, but it replaced one monarch with another monarch. It had,
   however, weakened the power of the monarch and strengthened the British
   Parliament which had refused to accept the Jacobite succession.) The
   republican ideas of Radicals influenced these two late 18th century
   revolutions which became the examples which later revolutionary
   liberals followed. Both used as their philosophical justification the
   Rights of Man or the rights given, in the words of Henry St. John, by
   "Nature and Nature's God". They rejected both tradition and established
   power.
   Thomas Paine
   Enlarge
   Thomas Paine

   Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams would be instrumental in
   persuading their fellow Americans to revolt in the name of life,
   liberty and the pursuit of happiness, echoing Locke, but with one
   important change (opposed by Alexander Hamilton). Jefferson replaced
   Locke's word "property" by "the pursuit of happiness". The "American
   Experiment" would be in favour of democratic government and individual
   liberty.

   James Madison was prominent among the next generation of political
   theorists in America, arguing that in a republic self-government
   depended on setting "interest against interest", thus providing
   protection for the rights of minorities, particularly economic
   minorities. The American constitution instituted a system of checks and
   balances: federal government balanced against states' rights;
   executive, legislative, and judicial branches; and a bicameral
   legislature. The goal was to insure liberty by preventing the
   concentration of power in the hands of any one man. Standing armies
   were held in suspicion, and the belief was that the militia would be
   enough for defense, along with a navy maintained by the government for
   the purpose of trade.
   Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
   Enlarge
   Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

   The French Revolution overthrew monarch, aristocratic social order, and
   an established Roman Catholic Church. These revolutionaries were more
   vehement and less compromising than those in America. A key moment in
   the French Revolution was the declaration by the representatives of the
   Third Estate that they were the "National Assembly" and had the right
   to speak for the French people. During the first few years the
   revolution was guided by liberal ideas, but the transition from revolt
   to stability was to prove more difficult than the similar American
   transition. In addition to native Enlightenment traditions, some
   leaders of the early phase of the revolution, such as Lafayette, had
   fought in the U.S. War of Independence against Britain, and brought
   home Anglo-American liberal ideas. Later, under the leadership of
   Maximilien Robespierre, a Jacobin faction greatly centralized power and
   dispensed with most aspects of due process, resulting in the Reign of
   Terror. Instead of an ultimately republican constitution, Napoleon
   Bonaparte rose from Director, to Consul, to Emperor. On his death bed
   he confessed "They wanted another Washington", meaning a man who could
   militarily establish a new state, without desiring a dynasty.
   Nevertheless, the French Revolution would go farther than the American
   Revolution in establishing liberal ideals with such policies as
   universal male suffrage, national citizenship, and a far reaching "
   Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen", paralleling the American
   Bill of Rights. One of the side-effects of Napoleon's military
   campaigns was to carry these ideas throughout Europe.
   Benito Juárez
   Enlarge
   Benito Juárez

   The examples of United States and France were followed in many other
   countries. The usurpation of the Spanish monarchy by Napoleon's forces
   in 1808 led to autonomist and independence movements across Latin
   America, which often turned to liberal ideas as alternatives to the
   monarchical-clerical corporatism of the colonial era. Movements such as
   that led by Simón Bolívar in the Andean countries aspired to
   constitutional government, individual rights, and free trade. The
   struggle between liberals and corporatist conservatives continued for
   the rest of the century in Latin America, with anti-clerical liberals
   like Benito Juárez of Mexico attacking the traditional role of the
   Roman Catholic Church.

   The transition to liberal society in Europe sometimes came through
   revolutionary or secessionist violence, and there were repeated
   explicitly liberal revolutions and revolts throughout Europe in the
   first half of the 19th century. However, in Britain and many other
   nations, the process was driven more by politics than revolution, even
   if the process was not entirely tranquil. The anti-clerical violence
   during the French Revolution was seen by opponents at the time, and for
   most of the 19th century, as explicitly liberal in origin. At the same
   time many French liberals too were victim of the Jacobin terror.

   With the coming of romanticism, liberal notions moved from being
   proposals for reform of existing governments, to demands for change.
   The American Revolution and the French Revolution would add "democracy"
   to the list of values which liberal thought promoted. The idea, that
   the people were sovereign, and capable of making all necessary laws and
   enforcing them, went beyond the conceptions of the Enlightenment.
   Instead of merely asserting the rights of individuals within the state,
   all of the state's powers were derived from the nature of man ( natural
   law), given by God (supernatural law), or by contract ("the just
   consent of the governed".) This made compromise with previously
   autocratic orders far less likely, and the resulting violence was
   justified, in the minds of monarchists, to restore order.
   The Social Contract, Or Principles of Political Right (1762) by
   Jean-Jacques Rousseau. From an early pirated edition possibly printed
   in Germany Enlarge
   The Social Contract, Or Principles of Political Right (1762) by
   Jean-Jacques Rousseau. From an early pirated edition possibly printed
   in Germany

   The contractual nature of liberal thought to this point must be
   stressed. One of the basic ideas of the first wave of thinkers in the
   liberal tradition was that individuals made agreements and owned
   property. This may not seem a radical notion today, but at the time
   most property laws defined property as belonging to a family or to a
   particular figure within it, such as the "head of the family".
   Obligations were based on feudal ties of loyalty and personal fealty,
   rather than an exchange of goods and services. Gradually, the liberal
   tradition introduced the idea that voluntary consent and voluntary
   agreement were the basis for legitimate government and law. This view
   was further advanced by Rousseau with his notion of a social contract.

   Between 1774 and 1848, there were several waves of revolutions, each
   revolution demanding greater and greater primacy for individual rights.
   The revolutions placed increasing value on self-governance. This could
   lead to secession - a particularly important concept in the revolutions
   which ended Spanish control over much of her colonial empire in the
   Americas, and in the American Revolution. European liberals,
   particularly after the French Constitution of 1793, thought that
   democracy, considered as majority rule by propertyless men, would be a
   danger to private property, and favored a franchise limited to those
   with a certain amount of property. Later liberal democrats, like de
   Tocqueville, disagreed. In countries where feudal property arrangements
   still held sway, liberals generally supported unification as the path
   to liberty. The strongest examples of this are Germany and Italy. As
   part of this revolutionary program, the importance of education, a
   value repeatedly stressed from Erasmus onward, became more and more
   central to the idea of liberty.

   Liberal parties in many European monarchies agitated for parliamentary
   government, increased representation, expansion of the franchise where
   present, and the creation of a counterweight to monarchical power. This
   political liberalism was often driven by economic liberalism, namely,
   the desire to end feudal privileges, guild or royal monopolies,
   restrictions on ownership, and laws which did not permit the full range
   of corporate and economic arrangements being developed in other
   countries. To one degree or another, these forces were seen even in
   autocracies such as Turkey, Russia and Japan. As the Russian Empire
   crumbled under the weight of economic failure and military defeat, it
   was the liberal parties who took control of the Duma, and in 1905 and
   1917 began revolutions against the government. Later Piero Gobetti
   would formulate a theory of "Liberal Revolution" to explain what he
   felt was the radical element in liberal ideology. Another example of
   this form of liberal revolution is from Ecuador where Eloy Alfaro in
   1895 lead a "radical liberal" revolution that secularized the state,
   opened marriage laws, engaged in the development of infrastructure and
   the economy.

Splits within Liberalism

Role of the State

   The Industrial Revolution greatly increased material wealth, but also
   represented a radical cleavage with the traditional social order, and
   brought with it new social problems such as pollution, alienation,
   overcrowding in the cities, and child labour. Material and scientific
   progress led to greater longevity and a reduced mortality rate. The
   population increased dramatically. Economic liberals, such as John
   Locke, Adam Smith, and Wilhelm von Humboldt felt that the problems of
   an industrial society would correct themselves without government
   intervention. In the 19th century, the voting franchise in most western
   countries was extended, and these newly enfranchised citizens often
   voted in favour of government solutions to the problems they faced in
   their everyday lives. A rapid increase in literacy and the spread of
   knowledge led to social activism in a variety of forms. Part of the
   liberals demanded laws against child labor and laws requiring minimum
   standards of worker safety and a minimum wage. The laissez faire
   economic liberals countered that such laws were an unjust imposition on
   life, liberty, and property, not to mention a hindrance to economic
   development. By the end of the 19th century, a growing body of liberal
   thought asserted that, in order to be free, individuals needed access
   to the requirements of fulfillment, including protection from
   exploitation and education. In 1911, L.T. Hobhouse published
   Liberalism, which summarized the new liberalism, including qualified
   acceptance of government intervention in the economy, and the
   collective right to equality in dealings, what he called "just
   consent."

   Opposed to these changes was a more conservative strain of liberalism
   which became increasingly anti-government, in some cases approaching
   anarchism. Gustave de Molinari in France and Herbert Spencer in England
   were prominent.

Natural rights vs. utilitarianism

   Wilhelm von Humboldt
   Enlarge
   Wilhelm von Humboldt
   John Stuart Mill
   Enlarge
   John Stuart Mill

   The German Wilhelm von Humboldt developed the modern concepts of
   liberalism in his book The Limits of State Action. John Stuart Mill
   (J.S. Mill, 1806-1873) popularized and expanded these ideas in On
   Liberty (1859) and other works. He opposed collectivist tendencies
   while still placing emphasis on quality of life for the individual. He
   also had sympathy for female suffrage and (later in life) for labor
   co-operatives.

   One of Mill's most important contributions was his utilitarian
   justification of liberalism. Mill grounded liberal ideas in the
   instrumental and pragmatic, allowing the unification of subjective
   ideas of liberty gained from the French thinkers in the tradition of
   Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the more rights-based philosophies of John
   Locke in the British tradition.

Liberalism and democracy

   The relationship between liberalism and democracy may be summed up by
   Winston Churchill's famous remark, "...democracy is the worst form of
   Government except all those other forms..." In short, there is nothing
   about democracy per se that guarantees freedom rather than a tyranny of
   the masses. The coinage liberal democracy suggests a more harmonious
   marriage between the two principles than actually exists. Liberals
   strive after the replacement of absolutism by limited government:
   government by consent. The idea of consent suggests democracy. At the
   same time, the founders of the first liberal democracies feared mob
   rule, and so they built into the constitutions of liberal democracies
   checks and balances intended to limit the power of government by
   dividing those powers among several branches. For liberals, democracy
   is not an end in itself, but an essential means to secure liberty,
   individuality and diversity.

Liberalism and radicalism

   In various countries in Europe and Latin-America the nineteenth century
   and the beginning of the twentieth century show the existence of a
   radical political tendency next to or as successor of a more doctrinal
   liberal tendency. In some countries the radical tendency is a variant
   of liberalism that is less doctrinal and more willing to accept
   democratic reforms than traditional liberals. In the United Kingdom the
   Radicals unite with the more traditional liberal Whigs into the Liberal
   Party. In other countries, these left wing liberals form their own
   radical parties with various names (e.g. in Switzerland and Germany
   (the Freisinn), Bulgaria, Denmark, Spain and the Netherlands but also
   Argentina and Chile. This doesn't mean that all radical parties were
   formed by left wing liberals. In the French political literature it is
   normal to make clear separation between liberalism and radicalism in
   France. In Serbia liberalism and radicalism had and have almost nothing
   in common. But even the French radicals were aligned to the
   international liberal movement in the first half of the twentieth
   century, in the Entente Internationale des Partis Radicaux et des
   Partis Démocratiques similaires

Liberalism and the great depression

   Franklin D. Roosevelt
   Enlarge
   Franklin D. Roosevelt

   Despite some dispute whether there was an actual laissez faire
   capitalist state in existence at the time , the Great Depression of the
   1930s shook public faith in "laissez-faire capitalism" and "the profit
   motive," leading many to conclude that the unregulated markets could
   not produce prosperity and prevent poverty. Many liberals were troubled
   by the political instability and restrictions on liberty that they
   believed were caused by the growing relative inequality of wealth. Key
   liberals of this persuasion, such as John Dewey, John Maynard Keynes,
   and Franklin D. Roosevelt, argued for the creation of a more elaborate
   state apparatus to serve as the bulwark of individual liberty,
   permitting the continuation of capitalism while protecting the citizens
   against its perceived excesses. Some liberals, including Hayek, whose
   work The Road to Serfdom remains influential, argued against these
   institutions, believing the Great Depression and Second World War to be
   individual events, that, once passed, did not justify a permanent
   change in the role of government.

   Key liberal thinkers, such as Lujo Brentano, Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse,
   Thomas Hill Green, John Maynard Keynes, Bertil Ohlin and John Dewey,
   described how a government should intervene in the economy to protect
   liberty while avoiding socialism. These liberals developed the theory
   of modern liberalism (also "new liberalism," not to be confused with
   present-day neoliberalism). Modern liberals rejected both radical
   capitalism and the revolutionary elements of the socialist school. John
   Maynard Keynes, in particular, had a significant impact on liberal
   thought throughout the world. The Liberal Party in Britain,
   particularly since Lloyd George's People's Budget, was heavily
   influenced by Keynes, as was the Liberal International, the Oxford
   Liberal Manifesto of 1947 of the world organization of liberal parties.
   In the United States, the influence of Keynesianism on Franklin D.
   Roosevelt's New Deal has led modern liberalism to be identified with
   American liberalism and Canadian Liberalism.

   Other liberals, including Friedrich August von Hayek, Milton Friedman,
   and Ludwig von Mises, argued that the great depression was not a result
   of "laissez-faire" capitalism but a result of too much government
   intervention and regulation upon the market. In Friedman's work,
   "Capitalism and Freedom" he elucidated government regulation that
   occurred before the great depression including heavy regulations upon
   banks that prevented them, he argued, from reacting to the markets'
   demand for money. Furthermore, the U.S. Federal government had created
   a fixed currency pegged to the value of gold. This pegged value created
   a massive surplus of gold, but later the pegged value was too low which
   created a massive migration of gold from the U.S. Friedman and Hayek
   both believed that this inability to react to currency demand created a
   run on the banks that the banks were no longer able to handle, and that
   and the fixed exchange rates between the dollar and gold both worked to
   cause the Great Depression by creating, and then not fixing,
   deflationary pressures. He further argued in this thesis, that the
   government inflicted more pain upon the American public by first
   raising taxes, then by printing money to pay debts (thus causing
   inflation), the combination of which helped to wipe out the savings of
   the middle class.

Liberalism against totalitarianism

   In the mid-20th century, liberalism began to define itself in
   opposition to totalitarianism. The term was first used by Giovanni
   Gentile to describe the socio-political system set up by Mussolini.
   Stalin would apply it to German Nazism, and after the war it became a
   descriptive term for what liberalism considered the common
   characteristics of fascist, Nazi and Marxist-Leninist regimes.
   Totalitarian regimes sought and tried to implement absolute centralized
   control over all aspects of society, in order to achieve prosperity and
   stability. These governments often justified such absolutism by arguing
   that the survival of their civilization was at risk. Opposition to
   totalitarian regimes acquired great importance in liberal and
   democratic thinking, and they were often portrayed as trying to destroy
   liberal democracy. On the other hand, the opponents of liberalism
   strongly objected to the classification that unified mutually hostile
   fascist and communist ideologies and considered them fundamentally
   different.

   In Italy and Germany, nationalist governments linked corporate
   capitalism to the state, and promoted the idea that their nations were
   culturally and racially superior, and that conquest would give them
   their rightful "place in the sun". The propaganda machines of these
   countries argued that democracy was weak and incapable of decisive
   action, and that only a strong leader could impose necessary
   discipline. In Soviet Union, the ruling communists banned private
   property, claiming to act for the sake of economic and social justice,
   and the government had full control over the planned economy. The
   regime insisted that personal interests be linked and inferior to those
   of the society, of class, which was ultimately an excuse for
   persecuting both oppositions as well as dissidents within the
   communists ranks as well as arbitrary use of severe penal code.

   The rise of totalitarianism became a lens for liberal thought. Many
   liberals began to analyze their own beliefs and principles, and came to
   the conclusion that totalitarianism arose because people in a degraded
   condition turn to dictatorships for solutions. From this, it was argued
   that the state had the duty to protect the economic well being of its
   citizens. As Isaiah Berlin said, "Freedom for the wolves means death
   for the sheep." This growing body of liberal thought argued that reason
   requires a government to act as a balancing force in economics.

   Other liberal interpretations on the rise of totalitarianism were quite
   contrary to the growing body of thought on government regulation in
   supporting the market and capitalism. This included Friedrich Hayek's
   work, The Road to Serfdom. He argued that the rise of totalitarian
   dictatorships was the result of too much government intervention and
   regulation upon the market which caused loss of political and civil
   freedoms. Hayek also saw these economic controls being instituted in
   the United Kingdom and the United States and warned against these
   "Keynesian" institutions, believing that they can and will lead to the
   same totalitarian governments "Keynesians liberals" were attempting to
   avoid. Hayek saw authoritarian regimes such as the fascist, Nazis, and
   communists, as the same totalitarian branch; all of which sought the
   elimination or reduction of economic freedom. To him the elimination of
   economic freedom brought about the elimination of political freedom.
   Thus Hayek believes the differences between Nazis and communists are
   only rhetorical.

   Friedrich von Hayek and Milton Friedman stated that economic freedom is
   a necessary condition for the creation and sustainability of civil and
   political freedoms. Hayek believed the same totalitarian outcomes could
   occur in Britain (or anywhere else) if the state sought to control the
   economic freedom of the individual with the policy prescriptions
   outlined by people like Dewey, Keynes, or Roosevelt.

   One of the most influential critics of totalitarianism was Karl Popper.
   In The Open Society and Its Enemies he defended liberal democracy and
   advocated open society, in which the government can be changed without
   bloodshed. Popper argued that the process of the accumulation of human
   knowledge is unpredictable and that the theory of ideal government
   cannot possibly exist. Therefore, the political system should be
   flexible enough so that governmental policy would be able to evolve and
   adjust to the needs of the society; in particular, it should encourage
   pluralism and multiculturalism.

Liberalism after World War II

   In much of the West, expressly liberal parties were caught between
   "conservative" parties on one hand, and "labor" or social democratic
   parties on the other hand. For example, the UK Liberal Party became a
   minor party. The same process occurred in a number of other countries,
   as the social democratic parties took the leading role in the Left,
   while pro-business conservative parties took the leading role in the
   Right.

   The post-war period saw the dominance of modern liberalism. Linking
   modernism and progressivism to the notion that a populace in possession
   of rights and sufficient economic and educational means would be the
   best defense against totalitarian threats, the liberalism of this
   period took the stance that by enlightened use of liberal institutions,
   individual liberties could be maximized, and self-actualization could
   be reached by the broad use of technology. Liberal writers in this
   period include economist John Kenneth Galbraith, philosopher John Rawls
   and sociologist Ralf Dahrendorf. A dissenting strain of thought
   developed that viewed any government involvement in the economy as a
   betrayal of liberal principles. Calling itself "libertarianism," this
   movement was centered around such schools of thought as Austrian
   Economics.

   The debate between personal liberty and social optimality occupies much
   of the theory of liberalism since the Second World War, particularly
   centering around the questions of social choice and market mechanisms
   required to produce a "liberal" society. One of the central parts of
   this argument concerns Kenneth Arrow's General Possibility Theorem.
   This thesis states that there is no consistent social choice function
   which satisfies unbounded decision making, independence of choices,
   Pareto optimality, and non-dictatorship. In short, according to the
   thesis which includes the problem of liberal paradox, it is not
   possible to have unlimited liberty, a maximum amount of utility, and an
   unlimited range of choices at the same time. Another important argument
   within liberalism is the importance of rationality in decision making -
   whether the liberal state is best based on rigorous procedural rights
   or whether it should be rooted in substantial equality.

   One important liberal debate concerns whether people have positive
   rights as members of communities in addition to being protected from
   wrongs done by others. For many liberals, the answer is "yes":
   individuals have positive rights based on being members of a national,
   political, or local unit, and can expect protection and benefits from
   these associations. Members of a community have a right to expect that
   their community will to a certain degree regulate the economy since
   rising and falling economic circumstances cannot be controlled by the
   individual. If individuals have a right to participate in a public
   capacity, then they have a right to expect education and social
   protections against discrimination from other members of that public.
   Other liberals would answer "no": individuals have no such rights as
   members of communities, for such rights conflict with the more
   fundamental "negative" rights of other members of the community.

   After the 1970s, the liberal pendulum had swung away from increasing
   the role of government, and towards a greater use of the free market
   and laissez-faire principles. In essence, many of the old pre-World War
   I ideas were making a comeback.

   In part this was a reaction to the triumphalism of the dominant forms
   of liberalism of the time, but as well it was rooted in a foundation of
   liberal philosophy, particularly suspicion of the state, whether as an
   economic or philosophical actor. Even liberal institutions could be
   misused to restrict rather than promote liberty. Increasing emphasis on
   the free market emerged with Milton Friedman in the United States, and
   with members of the Austrian School in Europe. Their argument was that
   regulation and government involvement in the economy was a slippery
   slope, that any would lead to more, and that more was difficult to
   remove.

Contemporary liberalism

   The impact of liberalism on the modern world is profound. The ideas of
   individual liberties, personal dignity, free expression, religious
   tolerance, private property, universal human rights, transparency of
   government, limitations on government power, popular sovereignty,
   national self-determination, privacy, "enlightened" and "rational"
   policy, the rule of law, fundamental equality, a free market economy,
   and free trade were all radical notions some 250 years ago. Liberal
   democracy, in its typical form of multiparty political pluralism, has
   spread to much of the world. Today all are accepted as the goals of
   policy in most nations, even if there is a wide gap between statements
   and reality. They are not only the goals of liberals, but also of
   social democrats, conservatives, and Christian Democrats. There is, of
   course, opposition.

A general overview of political positions of contemporary liberal parties and
movements

   Today the word "liberalism" is used differently in different countries.
   (See Liberalism worldwide.) One of the greatest contrasts is between
   the usage in the United States and usage in Continental Europe. In the
   US, liberalism is usually understood to refer to modern liberalism, as
   contrasted with conservatism. American liberals endorse regulation for
   business, a limited social welfare state, and support broad racial,
   ethnic, sexual and religious tolerance, and thus more readily embrace
   pluralism, and affirmative action. In Europe, on the other hand,
   liberalism is not only contrasted with conservatism and Christian
   Democracy, but also with socialism and social democracy. In some
   countries, European liberals share common positions with Christian
   Democrats.

   Before an explanation of this subject proceeds, it is important to add
   this disclaimer: There is always a disconnect between philosophical
   ideals and political realities. Also, opponents of any belief are apt
   to describe that belief in different terms from those used by
   adherents. What follows is a record of those goals that overtly appear
   most consistently across major liberal manifestos (e.g., the Oxford
   Manifesto of 1947). It is not an attempt to catalogue the idiosyncratic
   views of particular persons, parties, or countries, nor is it an
   attempt to investigate any covert goals, since both are beyond the
   scope of this article.

   Most political parties which identify themselves as liberal claim to
   promote the rights and responsibilities of the individual, free choice
   within an open competitive process, the free market, and the dual
   responsibility of the state to protect the individual citizen and
   guarantee their liberty. Critics of liberal parties tend to state
   liberal policies in different terms. Economic freedom may lead to gross
   inequality. Free speech may lead to speech that is obscene,
   blasphemous, or treasonous. The role of the state as promoter of
   freedom and as protector of its citizens may come into conflict.

   Liberalism stresses the importance of representative liberal democracy
   as the best form of government. Elected representatives are subject to
   the rule of law, and their power is moderated by a constitution, which
   emphasizes the protection of rights and freedoms of individuals and
   limits the will of the majority. Liberals are in favour of a pluralist
   system in which differing political and social views, even extreme or
   fringe views, compete for political power on a democratic basis and
   have the opportunity to achieve power through periodically held
   elections. They stress the resolution of differences by peaceful means
   within the bounds of democratic or lawful processes. Many liberals seek
   ways to increase the involvement and participation of citizens in the
   democratic process. Some liberals favour direct democracy instead of
   representative democracy. (Main article: Liberal democracy).

   Liberalism advocates civil rights for all citizens: the protection and
   privileges of personal liberty extended to all citizens equally by law.
   It includes the equal treatment of all citizens irrespective of race,
   gender and class. Liberals are divided over the extent to which
   positive rights are to be included, such as the right to food, shelter,
   and education. Critics from an internationalist human rights school of
   thought argue that the civil rights advocated in the liberal view are
   not extended to all people, but are limited to citizens of particular
   states. Unequal treatment on the basis of nationality is therefore
   possible, especially in regard to citizenship itself. (Main article:
   Civil rights).

   The rule of law and equality before the law are fundamental to
   liberalism. Government authority may only be legitimately exercised in
   accordance with laws that are adopted through an established procedure.
   Another aspect of the rule of law is an insistence upon the guarantee
   of an independent judiciary, whose political independence is intended
   to act as a safeguard against arbitrary rulings in individual cases.
   The rule of law includes concepts such as the presumption of innocence,
   no double jeopardy, and Habeas Corpus. Rule of law is seen by liberals
   as a guard against despotism and as enforcing limitations on the power
   of government. In the penal system, liberals in general reject
   punishments they see as inhumane, including capital punishment.

   Racism is incompatible with liberalism. Liberals in Europe are
   generally hostile to any attempts by the state to enforce equality in
   employment by legal action against employers, whereas in the United
   States many liberals favour such affirmative action. Liberals in
   general support equal opportunity, but not necessarily equal outcome.
   Most European liberal parties do not favour employment quotas for women
   and ethnic minorities as the best way to end gender and racial
   inequality. However, all agree that arbitrary discrimination on the
   basis of race or gender is morally wrong.

   Economic liberals today stress the importance of a free market and free
   trade, and seek to limit government intervention in both the domestic
   economy and foreign trade (Main article: Economic liberalism). Modern
   liberal movements often agree in principle with the idea of free trade,
   but maintain some skepticism, seeing unrestricted trade as leading to
   the growth of multi-national corporations and the concentration of
   wealth and power in the hands of the few. In the post-war consensus on
   the welfare state in Europe, liberals supported government
   responsibility for health, education, and alleviating poverty while
   still calling for a market based on independent exchange. Liberals
   agree that a high quality of health care and education should be
   available for all citizens, but differ in their views on the degree to
   which governments should supply these benefits. Since poverty is a
   threat to personal liberty, liberalism seeks a balance between
   individual responsibility and community responsibility. In particular,
   liberals favour special protection for the handicapped, the sick, the
   disabled, and the aged.

   European liberalism turned back to more laissez-faire policies in the
   1980's and 1990's, and supported privatisation and liberalisation in
   health care and other public sectors. Modern European liberals
   generally tend to believe in a smaller role for government than would
   be supported by most social democrats, let alone socialists or
   communists. The European liberal consensus appears to involve a belief
   that economies should be decentralized. In general, contemporary
   European liberals do not believe that the government should directly
   control any industrial production through state owned enterprises,
   which places them in opposition to social democrats.

   Liberals generally believe in neutral government, in the sense that it
   is not for the state to determine personal values. As John Rawls put
   it, "The state has no right to determine a particular conception of the
   good life". In the United States this neutrality is expressed in the
   Declaration of Independence as the right to the pursuit of happiness.

   Both in Europe and in the United States, liberals often support the
   pro-choice movement and advocate equal rights for women and
   homosexuals.

   Many liberals share values with environmentalists, such as the Green
   Party. They seek to minimize the damage done by the human species on
   the natural world, and to maximize the regeneration of damaged areas.
   Some such activists attempt to make changes on an economic level by
   acting together with businesses, but others favour legislation in order
   to achieve sustainable development. Other liberals do not accept
   government regulation in this matter and argue that the market should
   regulate itself in some fashion (Main article: Green liberalism).

   There is no consensus about liberal doctrine in international politics,
   though there are some central notions, which can be deduced from, for
   example, the opinions of Liberal International. Social liberals often
   believe that war can be abolished. Some favour internationalism, and
   support the United Nations. Economic liberals, on the other hand,
   favour non-interventionism rather than collective security. Liberals
   believe in the right of every individual to enjoy the essential human
   liberties, and support self-determination for national minorities.
   Essential also is the free exchange of ideas, news, goods and services
   between people, as well as freedom of travel within and between all
   countries. Liberals generally oppose censorship, protective trade
   barriers, and exchange regulations.

   Some liberals were among the strongest advocates of international
   co-operation and the building of supra-national organizations, such as
   the European Union. In the view of social liberals, a global free and
   fair market can only work if companies worldwide respect a set of
   common minimal social and ecological standards. A controversial
   question, on which there is no liberal consensus, is immigration. Do
   nations have a right to limit the flow of immigrants from countries
   with growing populations to countries with stable or declining
   populations?

Conservative liberalism and Liberal conservatism

   Conservative liberalism represents the right-wing of the liberal
   movement, stressing much on economic issues and combining some
   conservative elements. Examples include the People's Party for Freedom
   and Democracy in the Netherlands and the Liberal Party of Denmark.

   Liberal conservatism is a variant of conservatism which includes some
   liberal elements. This strain often emerged in countries with strong
   socialist and/or labour parties, and is often strongly influenced by
   the writings of Edmund Burke. partiesExamples include the Reform Party
   of Canada/ Canadian Alliance, the Liberal Front Party (Brazil), the
   Moderate Party (Sweden), Forza Italia, the Liberal Democratic Party in
   Japan, National Renewal in Chile, and the Liberal Party of Australia.
   These parties are mainly member of the International Democratic Union,
   not of the Liberal International.

Liberal international relations theory

   "Liberalism" in international relations is a theory that holds that
   state preferences, rather than state capabilities, are the primary
   determinant of state behaviour. Unlike realism where the state is seen
   as a unitary actor, liberalism allows for plurality in state actions.
   Thus, preferences will vary from state to state, depending on factors
   such as culture, economic system or government type. Liberalism also
   holds that interaction between states is not limited to the
   political/security ("high politics"), but also economic/cultural ("low
   politics") whether through commercial firms, organizations or
   individuals. Thus, instead of an anarchic international system, there
   are plenty of opportunities for cooperation and broader notions of
   power, such as cultural capital (for example, the influence of a
   country's films leading to the popularity of its culture and the
   creation of a market for its exports worldwide). Another assumption is
   that absolute gains can be made through co-operation and
   interdependence - thus peace can be achieved.

   Liberalism as an international relations theory is not inherently
   linked to liberalism as a more general domestic political ideology.
   Increasingly, modern liberals are integrating critical international
   relations theory into their foreign policy positions.

Neoliberalism

   Neoliberalism is a label for some economic liberal doctrines. The swing
   away from government action in the 1970s led to the introduction of
   this term, which refers to a program of reducing trade barriers and
   internal market restrictions, while using government power to enforce
   opening of foreign markets. Neoliberalism accepts a certain degree of
   government involvement in the domestic economy, particularly a central
   bank with the power to print fiat money. This is strongly opposed by
   libertarians. While neoliberalism is sometimes described as overlapping
   with Thatcherism, economists as diverse as Joseph Stiglitz and Milton
   Friedman have been described — by others — as "neoliberal". This
   economic agenda is not necessarily combined with a liberal agenda in
   politics: neoliberals often do not subscribe to individual liberty on
   ethical issues or in sexual mores. An extreme example was the Pinochet
   regime in Chile, but some also classify Ronald Reagan, Margaret
   Thatcher and even Tony Blair and Gerhard Schröder as being neo-liberal.

   It should be noted that, in the 1990s, many social democratic parties
   adopted "neoliberal" economic policies such as privatization of
   industry and open markets, much to the dismay of many of their own
   voters. This has led these parties to become de facto neoliberal, and
   has often resulted in a drastic loss of popular support. For example,
   critics to the left of the German Social Democratic Party and the
   British Labour Party accuse them of pursuing neoliberal policies by
   refusing to renationalise industry. As a result of this, much support
   for these parties has been lost to the Christian Democratic Union and
   the Liberal Democrats, respectively. This "adopting of the wolves
   clothes" has led Labour in the UK to spectacular electoral success.
   However, tensions between the executive and Labour's backbenches is a
   consistent issue.

   Sometimes "Neoliberalism" is used as a catch-all term for the
   anti-socialist reaction which swept through some countries during the
   period between the 70s and 90s. "Neoliberalism" in the form of
   Thatcher, Reagan, and Pinochet claimed to move from a bureaucratic
   welfare-based society toward a meritocracy acting in the interests of
   business. In actuality, these governments cut funding for education and
   taxed income more heavily than wealth, which increased the influence of
   big business and the upper class.

   Some conservatives see themselves as the true inheritors of classical
   liberalism. Jonah Goldberg of National Review argues that "most
   conservatives are closer to classical liberals than a lot of
   Reason-libertarians" because conservatives want to preserve some
   institutions that they see as needed for liberty. Further confusing the
   classification of liberalism and conservatism is that some
   conservatives claim liberal values as their own.

Criticism and defense of Liberalism

   Collectivist opponents of liberalism reject its emphasis on individual
   rights, and instead emphasize the collective or the community to a
   degree where the rights of the individual are either diminished or
   abolished. Collectivism can be found both to the right and to the left
   of liberalism. On the left, the collective that tends to be enhanced is
   the state, often in the form of state socialism. On the right,
   conservative and religious opponents argue that individual freedom in
   the non-economic sphere can lead to indifference, selfishness, and
   immorality. The liberal answer to this is that it is not the purpose of
   the law to legislate morality, but to protect the citizen from harm.
   However, conservatives often see the legislation of morality as an
   essential aspect of protecting citizens from harm.

   Anti-statist critiques of liberalism, such as anarchism, assert the
   illegitimacy of the state for any purposes.

   A softer critique of liberalism can be found in communitarianism, which
   emphasizes a return to communities without necessarily denigrating
   individual rights.

   Beyond these clear theoretical differences, some liberal principles can
   be disputed in a piecemeal fashion, with some portions kept and others
   abandoned (see Liberal democracy and Neoliberalism.) This ongoing
   process - where putatively liberal agents accept some traditionally
   liberal values and reject others - causes some critics to question
   whether or not the word "liberal" has any useful meaning at all.

   In terms of international politics, the universal claims of human
   rights which liberalism tends to endorse are disputed by rigid
   adherents of non-interventionism, since intervention in the interests
   of human rights can conflict with the sovereignty of nations. By
   contrast, World federalists criticize liberalism for its adherence to
   the doctrine of sovereign nation-states, which the World federalists
   believe is not helpful in the face of genocide and other mass human
   rights abuses.

   Left-leaning opponents of economic liberalism reject the view that the
   private sector can act for the collective benefit, citing the harm done
   to those individuals who lose out in competition. They oppose the use
   of the state to impose market principles, usually through an enforced
   market mechanism in a previously non-market sector. They argue that the
   dominance of liberal principles in economy and society has contributed
   to inequality among states, and inequality within states. They argue
   that liberal societies are characterised by long-term poverty, and by
   ethnic and class differentials in health, by (infant) mortality and
   lower life expectancy. Some would even say they have much higher
   unemployment than centrally planned economies.

   A response to these claims is that liberal states tend to be wealthier
   than less free states, that the poor in liberal states are better off
   than the average citizen in non-liberal states, and that inequality is
   a necessary spur to the hard work that produces prosperity. Throughout
   history, poverty has been the common lot of mankind, and it is only the
   progress of science and the rise of the modern industrial state that
   has brought prosperity to large numbers of people.

Liberalism and social democracy

   Liberalism shares many basic goals and methods with social democracy,
   but in some places diverges. The fundamental difference between
   liberalism and social democracy is disagreement over the role of the
   state in the economy. Social democracy can be understood to combine
   features from both social liberalism and democratic socialism.
   Democratic socialism seeks to achieve some minimum equality of outcome.
   Democratic socialists support a large public sector and the
   nationalization of utilities such as gas and electricity in order to
   avoid private monopolies, achieve social justice, and raise the
   standard of living. By contrast, liberalism, in its distrust of
   monopolies (both public and private), prefers much less state
   intervention, choosing for example subsidies and regulation rather than
   outright nationalization. Liberalism also emphasizes equality of
   opportunity, and not equality of outcome, citing the desire for a
   meritocracy. American liberalism, in contrast to liberalism in most
   countries, never took a major focus on socialism nor ever demanded the
   same social welfare state programs as its European counterparts. Today,
   the United States does not share the welfare state programs applied in
   most of Europe and has implemented fewer social programs to aid those
   in the lower socioeconomic level than Canada and Australia.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberalism"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
