A2 Government & Politics Unit:3b, Topic:1 (Liberalism)

• Product of the breakdown of feudalism (system of agrarian-based producton characterised by fixed hierarchies) 
• Reflected the aspirations of the rising middle classes (embourgeoisement) 
• Liberal ideas were formely considered radical 
• Was put in the place of absolutism (form of gov't in which political power is concentrated,an asbolute monarchy) 
• Nineteenth century was the liberal century 
• Liberals advocated an industrialised and market economic order free from gov't 
• Undoubtdely been the most powerful ideological force shaping western political tradition 
• Liberalism now has become increasingly conservative due to this - as it is already in place, so merely wants to conserve 
• Desire to minimise gov't - limited gov't (classical liberalism)
• Modern liberalism - welfare provision and economic managment 
• Seen as an incoherent ideology in some ways as it embraces some contradictory beliefs 
• Influenced by the Englightenment belief in universal reason 
• Liberalism has fashionably been seen as morally neutral 

• Individualism 
• Freedom 
• Reason 
• Justice 
• Toleration 

• Rational and scientific explanations gradually displaced traditional religious theories 
• Individualism - supreme importance of the individual over any social group or collective body
• Can be associated with atomism (belief that society is made up of a collection of self-interested and largely self-sufficient individuals not social groups) 
• Liberty and freedom are interchangeable - and also supreme political value 
• Radical libertarians defend the view of addictive drugs being legalised - as only damaging yourself, whereas smoking has been denied - as it harms others too 
• Liberals give priority to freedom 
• Categorised as positive (ML) and negative (CL) freedoms 

• Rational and scientific explanations have gradually displaced traditional religious theories 
• Immanuel Kant - Dignity and equal worth of human beings - his conception of individuals as "ends in themselves" and not merely means for the achievement of the ends of others 
• Equated with atomism - belief that society is made up of collection of self-interested and largely self-suffiecient inds.) 
• C. B. Macpherson - "possessive individualism" - proprietor of own person or capacities "owing nothing to society for them" 
• Optimistic view of human nature 

• Liberty and freedom are interchangeable 
• Freedom is the supreme political value 
• J. S. Mill - freedom so long as it does not cause "harm to others" Positive freedom 
• E.g. addictive drugs such as heroin and cocaine are okay as they only do harm to the individual, but smoking is not as it damages those around through second hand smoke 
• J. Rawls - Everyone is entitled to the widest possible liberrty 
• Isaiah Berlin - distinguised between negative and positive freedoms. 
• Negative - no restrictions - no constraints 
• Positive - self-mastery, achievement of autonomy - development of the human personality 

• T.H. Green - Negative freedom is to do as I like, positive is to do what I like 

• "Age of reason" under the Enlightenment 
• Key thinkers include Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Immanuel Kant, Adam Smith and Jeremy Bentham 
• Human beings are rational, thinking creatures 
• Strong bias against paternalism 
• View human history in terms of progress not defeat 
• Seldom subscribed to the utopian creed of human perfectibility 
• Believes in self-interest and egoism 
• Believe that force can be justified on the grounds of self-defence or as a means of countering opperssion, but always and only after reason and argument have been exhausted 

• Denotes a particular kind of moral judgement 
• Belief in equality 
• Strong commitment to oundational equality
• Equality before the law as an element of judicial neutrality - "one person, one vote; one vote, one value" and udnerpins the liberal commitment to democracy 
• Belief in equality of opportunity, not equality of outcome. E.g. LibDems increasing amount of bursaries on offer while in the coalition 
• Leads to a belief in meritocracy 
• People should be judged by their talents not race or anything else, Martin Luther King - "the content of their character" 
• John Rawls - economic inequality is justifiable if it works ot the benefit of those poorest in society 

• Acceptance of pluralism 
• Toleration been attributed to Voltaire - "I detest what you say but will defend to the death your right to say it" 
• Leads to a goal of personal autonomy 
• Toleration should lead to a balanced society 

• Liberals do not believe that a balanced tolerant society will simply develop naturally - fear that humans will want to exploit others. Our liberty rests upon them being refrained from encroaching on our freedom 
• This is where liberals highly differ from anarchists - who believe that law and gov't are unnecessary 
• John Locke - "where there is no law there is no freedom" 
• Hobbes - "Social contract theory" - agreement by individuals to form a state in order to escape from the chaos of the "state of nature" 
• The state acts as an umpire or a neutral referee in society 

• All gov'ts are potential tyrannies against the individual 
• Egoism plus power equals corruption 
• Principle of limited gov't 
• First written constitution - USA Constitution written in 1787 
• The Bill of Rights was also a liberal step - establishing entrenched liberties for American citizens 
• Montesquieu "Power should be a check to power" 

• Liberal democracy is the dominant pollitical force in the developed world 
• Its 'liberal' features are reflected in a network of internal and external checks on gov't that are designed to guarantee civil liberty and ensure a healthy civil society (seen esp. in the USA) 
• 'democratic' features are seen in a system of regualr and competitve elections
• 19C liberals often saw democracy as threatnening or dangerous
  • Echoed the ideas of Plato and Aristotle
• 'Democratic solution' to conflict is a recourse to numbers and the application of maj. rule - the will of the maj. should outweigh the min. 
• Alexis de Tocqueville - "Tyranny of the majority" 
• James Madison - Consitutitional Convention 1787 checks and balances are the best defence against majoritarianism and protecting minorities 
• J.S. Mill stated that the make-up of society means that political wisdom is unequally distributed due to educaton - still applies today 
• SO elected pols should speak for themselves rather than reflect the views of their electors 
• 20C - Libs see democracy as a virtue - earliest justification was consent of democracy 
• John Locke then extended this that voting rights should be extended 
• American Revoltuion - "No taxation without representation" 
• 20C - need for consensus in society was the reason for democracy 

• High point during 19C - can be referred to as "nineteenth-century liberalism" 
• Cradle of clas lib was the UK 
• Deeply rooted in Anglo-Saxon countries - UK and USA 
• Modernly referred to as neoclassical liberalism or neoliberalism 
• Beliefs: 
  • Egoistical liberalism - humans are rationally, self-interested creatures 
  • Negative freedom 
  • State is a 'necessary evil' - Paine, "nightwatchman" - Locke 
  • Civil society needs a self-regulating market economy 

• Core values: 
  • NATURAL RIGHTS
  • UTILITARIANISM 
  • ECONOMIC LIBERALISM 
  • SOCIAL DARWINISM 
  • NEOLIBERALISM  

• Theorists: Locke and Jefferson 
• Jefferson: 'inalienable rights' that cannot be taken away = "life, liberty and property" 
• Locke - argued against arbitrary or unlimited gov't - if gov't violates the rights of its citizens, they in return have the right of rebellion
• Main functions of the state: 
  • Maintaining public order and protecting property 
  • Providing defence against external attack 
  • Ensuring that contracts are enforced 
• Jefferson - "That gov't is best which governs least" 

• "Greatest happiness for the greatest number" - Bentham 
• Notably Bentham and Mill in this area
• Measure the 'rightness' of an action 
• Human beings are rationally self-interested creatures - they can decide what choice to make to benefit themselves the most 
• No one else can judge the quality or degree of their happiness - LIMITATION 
• also - someone is going to be unhappy by this, only appeasing the majority, minorities are left out LIMITATION 

• Based on Smith and Ricardo 
• Wide-ranging gov't restrictions upon economic activity 
• Smith - economy operates as a market 
• Economic theory therefore drew on utilitarianism in constructing the idea of 'economic man' - that humans are egoistical and bent on material acquisition 
• Smith - "invisible hand" of the market 
• Free-market beliefs - laissez-faire economics 

• Samuel Smiles - "Self-Help" - used the phrase "Heaven helps those who help themselves" 
• Cobden - "Look not to Parliament, look only to yourselves" 
• Spencer - highlighted survival of the fittest
• Sumner - "the drunkard in the gutter is just where he ought to be" 

• 'Thatcherism' and 'Reaganism' - neoliberalism formed part of a larger, new right ideological project - seeking lairssez-faire economics with a cons. social policy 
• Amounts to a form of market fundamentalism (absolute faith in the market) 
• von Hayek and Friedman attacked the economic role of the gov't 
• Smith - "invisible hand" 

• '20C liberalism' 
• Classical libs argued mod libs have broke with principles such as individualism 
• Libs say they have not betrayed - they have built on ideas 
• Modern lib ideas; 
  • Individuality 
  • Positive freedom 
  • Social liberalism 
  • Economic management 

J.S. Mill - described as the "heart of liberalism" - bridge between clas lib and mod lib 

Mill - "the individual is sovereign" 

T.H. Green - positive freedom - egoism is restrained by a degree of altruism - 'socialist lib' 

• Growth of state intervention 
• Social welfare increasing 
• Modern states become welfare states 
• Promoted by mod libs 
• Defended on the basis of equality of opportunity 
• Welfare rights are positive rights 
• Rawls developed a defence of redistribution and welfare based on the idea of 'equality as fairness' 
• If people were unaware of their social position and circumstances they would view an egalitarian society as 'fairer' than an inegalitarian one 

• Abandonment of laissez-faire 
• Great Depression 1930s , Wall Street Crash 1929 - high levels of unemployment 
• Large extent the interventionist policies that followed were guided by the work of UK economist John Maynard Keynes 
• Gov't spending is an 'injection' of demand to the economy, and taxation is a withdrawal from the economy 
• Unemployment could therefore be solved, not by capitalism, but by gov't intervention 
• Gov't 'overspending' will do well for the economy 

• Commercial liberalism - Ricardo - free trade is important 
• Republican liberalism - Woodrow Wilson - autocratic or authoritarian states are inherently aggressive, democratic states are naturally peaceful 
• Humanitarian intervention - e.g. Iraq 2003 - debateable 

• J. Locke - Constitutionalism, limited gov't 17C/18C 
• A. Smith - 'Invisible hand' of the market, economic importance - 18C 
• I. Kant - Treat others as ends not merely means 18C/19C 
• T. Jefferson - Natural aristocracy, limited gov't and laissez faire economics 19C 
• J. Bentham - Utilitarianism 19C 
• J. Madison - Checks and balances - 19C 
• J.S. Mill - "Heart of liberalism" - 19C 
• T. H. Green - Positive freedom 19C 
• J. Rawls - Justice = fairness 20C 
• 1994 - lost the right to remain silent when arrested and it not to mean guilt - anti-freedom 
• 2015 - attempts to put no income tax on anyone earning under £10,000 p.a. economic freedom
• Freedom - attempts to reduce voting age to 16 - Clegg 
• Pluralism AV referendum 2011 
• Civil Liberties protected - Same Sex Marriage Act 2013 and Human Rights Act 1998 
• Checks and balances e.g. Judicial Review 

Classical liberalism..................................................Modern liberalism 

economic liberalism....................................................social liberalism 

egoistical individualism................................................developmental individualism 

maximise utility..........................................................personal growth 

negative freedom.........................................................positive freedom 

minimal state..............................................................enabling state

free-market economy..................................................managed economy 

rights-based justice....................................................justice as fairness

strict meritocracy.......................................................concern for the poor 

individual responsibility...............................................social responsibility

safety-net welfare.......................................................cradle-to-grave welfare