Liberalism

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Human Nature - part 1

  • Classical liberals – human beings are hedonistic and pleasure seeking creatures that are self-seeking.
  • Modern liberals – JS Mill places emphasis on the human flourishing, rather than the crude satisfaction of personal interests. Individual human nature is not as narrowly self-interested.
  • Currently Liberal Democrat Party – Nick Clegg’s Spring Conference Speech 2013 suggests that liberalism has now adapted and accepted the need of a welfare system in that “a fairer society” is spoken of to enable “everyone in Britain to get on in life”.
  • Liberals believe that humans are capable of resolving differences through debate and reasoned discussions by their rationalism i.e. promotion of a referendum to be held before the end of 2017 on Britain’s EU membership.
  • Individuals should be judged according to their unique qualities as every person has differing ideas, views and pleasures.
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Human Nature - part 2

  • Liberals are against any form of paternalism whereby the state helps the people as it leads society to become self-reliant on the state. “Dependency culture” – contrast to socialisms core values of equality and redistribution of wealth.
  • Believe that some individuals may be self-seeking as this could lead to one individual abusing another in the pursuit of his own rational interest.
  • Belief that society as a whole can progress and learn from the errors of previous generations, and that society is capable of personal development.
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Individualism

  • “Individualism refers to the belief of the supreme importance an individual holds over any social group or collective body”.
  • Methodological individualism – Individual is central to any political theory or social explanation.
  • Ethical individualism – Society should be constructed to benefit the individual, moral priority to individual rights, needs or interests. This could be seen as an acceptance of the welfare system, or a less aid-focused equivalent.
  • Utilitarian tradition of liberalism held, as a fundamental belief, that each individual is the best judge or his/her own interests.
  • For Jeremy Bentham – being allowed to make decisions for ourselves and to act on them was the essence of freedom. He argued the role of government should not prevent us from following our own self-interest, unless in doing so we prevent others from pursuing theirs.
  • The enlightened pursuit of self-interest became a central liberal idea and it co-existed well with free-market capitalism.
  • Modern liberals – developmental form of individualism that prioritizes human flourishing over the quest for interest satisfaction. 
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Natural Rights

  • Philosophers developed this concept in the 17th and 18th centuries. It asserts that all individuals are born with rights that are granted by God or nature.
  • The main natural rights specified are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
  • The theory of natural rights implies that such rights may not be removed or reduced except by the consent of the individual.
  • Thomas Hobbes – is often viewed as the first major theorist of natural rights, but the liberals who followed him such as John Locke and Thomas Paine are more closely associated with the concept.
  • Jean-Jacques Rousseauhad already argued that humankind was being unjustifiably controlled by social and political restraints – ‘man is born free, but is everywhere in chains’.
  • The Enlightenment opened people’s minds to new possibilities. It enabled political movements to challenge the existing order including; absolute monarchy and to establish forms of government that would free humankind rather than enslave it.
  • It could be recognized that this basis of natural rights has led to the modern promotion within liberalism of freedom and liberty.
  • Liberty/freedom is the central value for all liberals – individual liberty
  • Promotion of ‘social fairness’ in a ‘fairer society’ today by Nick Clegg 2013 speech
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Tolerance - part 1

  • ‘Forbearance; a willingness to accept views of actions with which one is a disagreement’
  • Both an ethical idea and a social principle.
  • One hand it represents the goal of personal autonomy; on the other it establishes a set of rules about how human beings should behave towards each other.
  • The liberal love of tolerance flows directly from Mill’s principles of individual liberty, but it predates him by Locke.
  • Locke was exclusively concerned with religious tolerance, an idea that was relatively radical at the time he was writing.
  • Locke – ‘Every man may enjoy the same rights that are granted to others’.
  • Political controversy raged in the 18th and 19th centuries.
  • Freedom of expression was the focus liberalism campaigned for strongly in the 19th century.
  • Toleration of other people’s beliefs, values, faiths, and their right to express them openly – became a cherished goal of liberalism.
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Tolerance - part 2

  • 20th century – attention switched to minority groups.
  • Recently, liberals have defended and campaigned for the rights of minorities such as gap people and ethnic/religious groups and have opposed to all types of censorship.
  • Liberals will tolerate different beliefs but assign limits to this tolerance.
  • If the security of the state or the freedoms of individuals is being threatened, freedom of expression should be curtailed, words or actions that adversely affect others should not be tolerated.
  • Modern liberals – have tended to demonstrate greater tolerance than most people over personal morality, i.e. abortion, and conclude that these are not issues concerning society but are private.
  • Recently – Woolwich attack left Liberal Democrat Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg stating he “would like to pay special tribute to London’s Muslim community” showing the liberal tradition of supporting the minority groups, regardless of the actions a handful of extremists chose to take that threatened the security and freedoms of individuals.
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Democracy - part 1

  • 19th century liberals were concerned by the dangers of rulers accumulating too much power.
  • However, they did not see the growth of democracy as the answer to this.
  • Indeed, classical liberals were opposed to the introduction of popular democracy.
  • For them this meant majority rule and, as both Tocqueville and Mill remarked, this was the tyranny of the majority.
  • For these liberals, universal suffrage was a bad idea. The numerical majority formed by the working class would permanently suppress minority groups.
  • Many early liberals therefore supported the retention of the property qualification for voting so as to counterbalance the power of the majority. (Property owners were to be considered to be more tolerant and responsible in their outlook).
  • As for the dangers of powerful government, liberals argued for a minimal state, to be granted only a narrow range of essential functions.
  • The minimal state was to retain responsibility for maintaining order, security and peace in order to guarantee the protection of individual liberties and prevent the formation of monopolies.
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Democracy - part 2

  • In a free-market economy, it was understood that some companies might be so successful and grow so large that they would be in a position to exploit both workers and consumers.
  • It was a legitimate function of the state, therefore, to control such economic power.
  • Those who wish to see the deregulation of economic activity in other areas have supported ‘competition policy’.
  • Promotion of referendums in current coalition – current EU referendum talks to be held before the end of 2017
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Social Contract

  • Locke developed the key political concept of the ‘social contract’.
  • Contract theory in politics insists that government should be established by a contract between the government and the governed.
  • The government agrees to govern according to natural law and respect individual rights, while the people agree to accept the authority of the government and to obey its laws.
  • Should the government not govern by natural law or should it abuse its natural rights?
  • The people should have the right to cancel the contract and dissolve the government – in the UK; this can happen through a Vote of no Confidence by Parliament, if successful, it results in the dissolution of the current government.
  • In practice, Locke proposed a system of constitutionally controlled monarchy, accountable to an elected representative parliament.
  • Locke can be seen as the earliest proponent of liberal ideas.
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Freedom - part 1

  • ‘The ability to think or act as one wishes, a capacity that can be associated with the individual, a social group or a nation’
  • Priority to freedom as the supreme individualist value.
  • This is the central value for all liberals.
  • Political/revolutionary liberty – for most early liberals, political freedom implied the freedom of a people to determine their own form of government and not to be ruled by any external power.
  • This kind of freedom is often known as self-determination.
  • Individual liberty – the transfer of emphasis among liberals from political to individual liberty occurred in the early part of the 19th century.
  • First, the utilitarian tradition of liberalism held, as its fundamental belief, that each individual is the best judge of his or her own interests.
  • For Bentham – it was relatively simple. As individuals, we are motivated to pursue pleasure and to avoid pain. The government shouldn’t make these decisions for us. Hence, the enlightened pursuit of self-interest that became a central liberal idea, and one that co-existed well with free-market capitalism.
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Freedom - part 2

  • Negative liberty – coined by Isaiah Berlin, an absence of restraint- classical liberals.
  • Positive liberty – individuals achieve self-fulfilment not merely through pursuing their own happiness, but also by pursuing social goods such as the welfare of others. Green’s freedom is positive in that we can achieve personal satisfaction by doing good – modern liberals.
  • Modern conception of positive liberty – there should be a wide range of choice and opportunity for everyone. Green believed that the state should promote individual liberty and that were pursue self-interest, but he asserted that freedom is not one-dimensional; it is both individual and social in nature.
  • Green’s divergence from traditional classical liberal views on freedom allowed it to expand.
  • His philosophy entered a new age, which was able to embrace equality of opportunity, state welfare and wealth redistribution. This gave rise to the so-called ‘enabling state’ in the 1990’s.
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Justice - part 1

  • ‘A moral standard of fairness and impartiality; social justice is the notion of a fair or justifiable distribution of wealth and rewards in society’
  • Giving each personal what he or she is due, a moral punishment.
  • Refers to the distribution of material rewards and benefits in society, such as wages, profits, housing and medical care.
  • Legal justice – consists of the equal application of the law to all citizens. This conforms to liberal’s attachment to equal rights.
  • Social justice – more closely associated to socialists than liberals.
  • Liberals have always been suspicious of state intervention.
  • Late 19th century liberals endorsed the implementation of equality of opportunity, since then liberals have tended to accept that inequality is natural and in a genuinely free society, social outcomes are all ‘just’. Some contemporary liberals have challenged this position.
  • Beveridge and others have concluded that deprivation of various kinds curtails freedom just as much as governments and their laws can.
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Justice - part 2

  • It has also been recognized that even in a free-market system, excessive inequalities cannot be considered just.
  • It may be acceptable to tolerate some degree of inequality in the free market, but not to the extent that the poorest members of society are socially deprived.
  • John Rawls – some inequalities cannot be tolerated and the state is justified in intervening.
  • Modern liberals – don’t accept such interventions. Not without some reservations that this justice is stated as a core liberal value.
  • Many liberals disagree amongst themselves on this point.
  • Liberal Democrat 2010 manifesto – make prisoners work and increase number of hours’ prisoners spend in education and training.
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Equality - part 1

  • Individuals should have an equal opportunity to develop their unequal skills and ability.
  • Liberals fiercely disapprove of any social privileges or advantages that are enjoyed by some but denied to on others on the basis of factors such as gender, race, colour, screed, religion or social background.
  • Liberalism is ‘difference blind’- a concept based on the belief that everyone is treated the same regardless of any feature specific to him or her.
  • However, it seems self-defeating in that to treat everyone identically would have an unequal impact on different cultures thus neglecting its own purpose. By treating everyone the same, some are inevitably favoured.
  • Legal Equality - emphasizes ‘equality before the law’ and insists that all non-legal factors be strictly irrelevant to the process of legal decision–making.
  • Political Equality - embodied in the idea of ‘one person, one vote, and one value’. Underpins the liberal commitment to democracy.
  • Liberal subscribes to a belief in equality of opportunity. Each and every individual should have the same chance to rise or fall in society. The game of life should be played on an even playing field.
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Equality - part 2

  • However, that does not mean that reward, living conditions and social circumstances should be the same for all.
  • Liberals believe social equality to be undesirable because people are not born the same. They possess different talents and skills and some are prepared to work much harder than others.
  • Liberals believe it is right to reward merit, ability and the willingness to work. It is essential to do so if people are to have an incentive to realize their potential and develop the talents they were born with.
  • Equality - individuals should have an equal opportunity to develop their unequal skills and ability. 
  • Equality of opportunity – government intervention is accepted by modern liberals if it will aid individuals to pursue their individual goals – for example the Pupil Premium
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Libertarianism

  • This term refers to an extreme form of liberalism.
  • Emerged in the latter part of the 19th century, and has become more popular since the 1980’s.
  • Though they are ideologically closer to liberals, most modern libertarians have seen themselves as part of a conservative movement.
  • They insist the state is an unwarranted restriction on freedom and its functions should be reduced to a bare minimum.
  • They argue that the state shouldn’t interfere with economic or social affairs, as they believe most the free market can solve social problems.
  • The state should do little other than defend the people.
  • Not as extreme as anarchists who would want the state abolished.
  • Robert Nozick – modern exponent.
  • Libertarianism is often also known as anarcho-capitalism and is therefore associated with the most left wing of all philosophies – anarchism, although it is considered a right-wing ideology.
  • Nozick argued for the near complete abolition of the state, no taxation, no welfare and almost no laws on human behaviour.
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Utalitarianism - part 1

  • Early economists in the late 18th developed the concept of utility, early 19th centuries.
  • Utility – means satisfaction, or even happiness – whatever gives an individual pleasure.
  • Utilitarian’s, as led by Jeremy Bentham in the UK, believed it was possible to calculate how much utility each individual could derive from consuming certain goods, and that it was possible to calculate the total amount of utility society was achieving.
  • Significance of this concept for economics was that if there were free trade within and between countries and if each consumer were able to purchase whatever goods he or she liked within his/her constraints, total utility in a society would be automatically maximized.
  • Political utilitarian’s – admitted the possibility that governments could add to the total sum of utility by taking certain actions. Bentham argued that all actions by government should be judged on the basis of a kind of algebra or calculus, which would establish whether total utility would be increased or reduced.
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Utalitarianism - part 2

  • Principle was famously summarized in the ideas that government should pursue ‘the greatest good for the greatest number’.
  • Utilitarian’s are liberals in that they accept the freedom of individuals to determine their own interests and insisted the role of the government should be limited.
  • Liberals who followed identified two main problems – (1) it took a simplistic view of what motivated individuals, (2) and the doctrine opened the door to excessive intervention.
  • Utilitarianism declined in influence as the 19th century progressed; it was replaced by classical liberalism.
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Pluralism

  • This term describes a society in which there is a tolerance of many different beliefs, movements and faiths. It suggests a political system in which different political parties and pressure groups are free to operate and have access to decision-making processes. Modern liberal democracies are pluralist in nature, while totalitarian regimes inhibit or destroy pluralism. I.e. Stalin in the USSR used his dictatorship and repression/terror to eliminate all opposition to his regime.
  • The UK currently has a pluralist culture.
  • This is because the common law tradition embraces individual rights and protection from excessive state power; British media is remarkable free, widespread artistic freedom, freedom of speech and press.
  • There is a strong claim to be made that Britain is not just a liberal democracy, but also a liberal society.
  • Neither conservatism nor socialism has ever overshadowed the fundamentally liberal spirit of the country.
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Capitalism - part 1

  • Capitalism is a system in which entrepreneurs take risks in organizing production and extract a profit in return for their risks and organizational efforts. Under capitalism, goods, labour and finance are all exchanged at values determined by free-market forces.
  • Capitalism, liberals argue, requires a high degree of economic freedom for workers, consumers, financiers and entrepreneurs in order to work efficiently.
  • Towards the latter part of the 18th century, it was clear that a new economic order was emerging in the more developed parts of the world – mainly Western Europe.
  • Fundamental economic changes were occurring as a result of the growth of international trade and the early stages of the Industrial Revolution.
  • New social classes i.e. industrialists and farmers, created a new dynamic economic structure characterized by rapid growth and by freedom of the individual.
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Capitalism - part 2

  • The success of free-market capitalism saw how vital it had become for individuals to consider themselves to be free, both in their pursuit of self-interest and from over-regulation by governments.
  • The success of new free economies in creating wealth was a testament to how desirable such economic liberalism had become.
  • Early 19th century, liberalism was unable to dominate completely due to conservatism, followed by adversary early socialism and Marxism.
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Welfare - part 1

  • As the liberal movement came to accept the expanded role of the state, it became clear that it needed to respond to the growing popular support for socialist initiatives.
  • In the event, a senior civil servant, William Beveridge, provided the final acceptance of the state as a vehicle for extending liberty.
  • In the 1940’s wartime coalition Beveridge was charged with producing a blueprint for social policy after the war.
  • Beveridge formulated new concepts of freedom. He believed such deprivations as poverty and unemployment were curtailments of freedom and so he began to consider how an active state could extend freedom.
  • Post-war liberals came to accept the welfare state the Labour government set up in 1945.
  • Welfare, especially education, extended equality of opportunity and expanded positive freedom.
  • J.M Keynes argued that the state needed to engage in positive economic management in order to create an economic environment in which individuals would feel confident in their ability to engage in commercial and industrial enterprises.
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Welfare - part 2

  • Labour governments adopted most of the proposals of welfare liberalism.
  • This political consensus over welfare, economic management and equality spread to the USA and Europe. There was a pattern of governments extending their role to create the social ‘goods’ that liberals had promoted.
  • Sadly for liberals, this meant that they were often squeezed out of power by more successful socialist and conservative administrations.
  • From 1940 – 1970, liberalism had enormous success in its new social philosophies, but was unsuccessful in securing the election of Liberal Party governments.
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