‘Liberals have always been divided over the role that the state should play in the economic and social spheres.’ Discuss. (30 marks)
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‘Liberals have always been divided over the role that the state should play in the economic
and social spheres.’ Discuss. (30 marks)
-
The Economic Sphere
- Early Liberal Party
- Committed to classical liberalism ideas
- particularly
- Laissez faire capitalism
-
individuals would be allowed to enter
and succeed or fail in the market on their own merits
- without state help or hindrance
-
economy would operate strictly according to the laws of supply and demand
- Inequality was viewed as an incentive to enterprise
-
repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846
- marked the triumph of such a laissez faire approach in the UK
-
individuals would be allowed to enter
and succeed or fail in the market on their own merits
- Laissez faire capitalism
-
Herbert Spencer
-
The Man Versus The
State (1884)
-
laissez faire
liberalism to Darwin’s theory of evolution
-
Spencer’s ideal
society was one characterised by competition and the ‘survival of
the fittest.’
- Result = Progress
- Comparison
-
Spencer’s ideal
society was one characterised by competition and the ‘survival of
the fittest.’
-
laissez faire
liberalism to Darwin’s theory of evolution
- Opposed government extension
-
particularly any
policies to deal with social problems
- poverty & child exploitation in factories
- Weak not surviving part of natural process
- poverty & child exploitation in factories
-
particularly any
policies to deal with social problems
-
The Man Versus The
State (1884)
- Samuel Smiles
- Self-Help
- (1859)
- Self-Help
- particularly
- Committed to classical liberalism ideas
- Values, programmes and policies promoted by the Liberal Party in the Last 3rd of the 19th Century
-
reduced its commitment to
the free market
- accepting that some redistribution of wealth was required
-
material
inequalities should be narrowed
- ALBEIT by increased state activity
- accepting that some redistribution of wealth was required
- T H Green
- Positive freedoms > negative freedoms
- Actual freedom
- to achieve full potential and personal development
- even if state intervention is necessary
- to achieve full potential and personal development
- ALBEIT by increased state activity
- Although out of government 1922-2010
- Progressive Liberalism continued to influence Liberal Party economic thinking
-
reduced its commitment to
the free market
-
Liberal Democrat Party’s attitudes towards economic policy
-
progressive rather than Classical Liberalism
dominated thinking in this policy arena
- leaders with policies that showed this in particular regard to taxation, public spending and green policies
- Ashdown
- Kennedy
- Campbell
- leaders with policies that showed this in particular regard to taxation, public spending and green policies
-
pro-market ideas outlined in the ‘Orange Book’
- by those Liberal Democrats who believed that their party had moved too far to the left on economic policy
-
divisions
are still apparent today
-
as rifts between Clegg and his Liberal Democrat opponents clearly
reveal
- since he took his party into coalition with the Conservatives in 2010
-
as rifts between Clegg and his Liberal Democrat opponents clearly
reveal
-
progressive rather than Classical Liberalism
dominated thinking in this policy arena
- Early Liberal Party
-
The Social Sphere
- First two thirds of the nineteenth century
-
classical liberalism influenced Liberal Party
thinking and policy
- party accepted what was basically a ‘survival of the fittest’ system
-
commitment to negative freedoms which advocated freedom from external interference
- especially by government and the state
-
state was viewed as a necessary
evil
- role being merely to safeguard law, order and security
-
classical liberalism influenced Liberal Party
thinking and policy
- Last third of 19th & early 20th century
-
Progressive Liberalism began to challenge the classical ideas
-
T. H. Green and his criticisms of classical social theorists such as Samuel Smiles
-
Green began the idea of
positive freedom
-
means for a person to
have the power to fulfil their potential
- to have freedom from internal restraints
-
means for a person to
have the power to fulfil their potential
-
Green began the idea of
positive freedom
-
Hegel
-
proponent of positive
freedom
-
"Freedom is the
fundamental character of the will, as weight is of matter... That
which is free is the will.
- Will without freedom is an empty word."
-
"Freedom is the
fundamental character of the will, as weight is of matter... That
which is free is the will.
-
proponent of positive
freedom
-
T. H. Green and his criticisms of classical social theorists such as Samuel Smiles
-
Liberal Party changed its position on the role the
state should play
- attempt to improve social welfare
-
because free-market
capitalism was perceived as being responsible for the setting up of barriers to genuine
freedom for the working classes
- disadvantaged by poverty, ignorance and sickness
-
‘positive’ as opposed to ‘negative’
freedoms
-
Policy examples
- Lloyd George
- pension reforms
- Early part of 20th Century
- pension reforms
-
Beveridge Report
- 1942
- Lloyd George
-
Policy examples
-
Post-war Liberals and most Liberal Democrats today
-
continued to support this ‘progressive’ approach towards social policy
-
Whilst some divisions
are apparent
-
over the extent to which the state should be involved in welfare provision and
social policy
- differences are less pronounced here than they are in the economic domain
-
over the extent to which the state should be involved in welfare provision and
social policy
-
Whilst some divisions
are apparent
-
continued to support this ‘progressive’ approach towards social policy
-
Progressive Liberalism began to challenge the classical ideas
- First two thirds of the nineteenth century
-
The Economic Sphere
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