Liberalism

"Liberalism" may refer to any of the several historical and present-day ideologies that claim defence of individual liberty as the purpose of government. It typically favours the right to dissent from orthodox tenets or established authorities in political or religious matters. In this respect, it is held in contrast to conservatism.

The word "liberal" derives from the Latin "liber" ("free") and liberals of all stripes tend to see themselves as friends of freedom, particularly freedom from the shackles of tradition. The origins of liberalism in the Enlightenment era contrasted this philosophy to feudalism and mercantilism. Later, as more radical philosophies articulated themselves in the course of the French Revolution and through the Nineteenth Century, liberalism equally defined itself against socialism and communism, although some adherents of American liberalism might overlap with social democrats in embracing some or all of the ideas of social democracy.

Table of contents

1 Usage of the word liberalism
2 Evolution of Liberalism
3 Classical liberalism

3.1 An introduction
3.2 Thinkers
3.3 The classical liberal heritage

4 Political liberalism

4.4 An introduction
4.5 Political positions
4.6 New or social liberalism
4.7 Difference with social democracy

5 Liberalism and economics

5.8 Classical liberalism
5.9 New liberalism
5.10 Neoliberalism

6 External links and references

Usage of the word liberalism

The word liberalism has several different, but generally related, meanings.

The editors of the Spanish constitution of Cadiz in 1812 were the first to use the word liberal in a political sense. They named themselves the Liberales, to state that they opposed the absolutist power of the Spanish monarchy. The original meaning of the term "liberal" refers to a tradition, a political philosophy, originally founded on the Enlightenment tradition, that tries to circumscribe the limits of political power, and to define and support individual rights. This is often called classical liberalism and is related (though not identical) to the ideology known as libertarianism. The original Enlightenment liberals were outsiders proposing a new order, but beginning in the late 19th century, liberals began coming to power in various countries. This brings a new usage: the term "liberalism" significantly evolves from classical liberalism and diverges from one country to another. The liberalism of the liberal parties and modern liberal thinkers is what we call political liberalism: its ideological contents depend on the geographical context. Many (classical) liberal values, like representative democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of thought, have been adopted by thinkers of other ideologies. Its influence has been so widespread that the majority of Western countries are considered to be liberal democracies. There is a difference between Capital-"L" Liberal and small-"l" liberal: In most countries, Capital-"L" Liberal is used to label the members of sympathisers of a Liberal party, while small-"l" liberal is used to label the adherents of liberalism.

Related usages are Economic liberalism and the closely related Neoliberalism. They evolve also from classical liberalism and insist upon the necessity of free trade and see no merit in a government that meddles in the marketplace. Some forms of economic liberalism oppose cartels and monopolies as market-distorting factors comparable to government intervention in markets; neoliberals are generally more tolerant of monopolies and cartels than of government regulation. Neoliberalism borrows from some of the ideas of classic liberalism, but departs significantly in other ways. Neoliberalism rejects the New Deal and welfarism and its popularity is typically ascribed to Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, who were politically quite distant from many of the non-economic views generally associated with liberalism and adhered to conservatism. Neoliberalism is not a form of liberalism, but is only limited to economics. Neoliberals can be liberals, but they can also be conservatives or moderate social democrats.

(See also capitalism.)

Another common usage of the term "liberalism", originally specific to the United States although now gaining some currency in the UK, is as a shorthand for the ideology of "new" liberalism with left-leaning values similar to those of European social democracy.

In the article Liberalism in countries one can find an overview of the usage of the word liberal in a country context.

In addition to the political usages above, the term liberal is also used in theology to refer to people who hold to views which depart from their religion's orthodoxy. (See: liberal theology, Modernism (Roman Catholicism).). Furthermore it is also used for a position with respect to international relations that supports multilateral action and international governing bodies such as the United Nations.

Evolution of Liberalism

Historically, classical liberals and political liberals evolve from a tradition dating approximately from the Glorious Revolution in Great Britain and the Enlightenment (primarily, but not exclusively, in France). These movements opposed absolute monarchy, mercantilism, and various kind of religious orthodoxy and clericalism, preaching liberty and tolerance. This was always a stream of thought containing various and sometimes conflicting opinions.

Both classical liberals and political liberals claim to defend individual liberty against the arbitrary power of the state. Classical liberal theory says that individual liberty is best protected simply by limiting the power of the state. The political liberal position on this is epitomized by Sir Isaiah Berlin's view that "Liberty for wolves is death to the lambs." Political liberals often believe that the state must take a more active role to protect the liberties of the many from the power of the strong few, which in a society with a small state apparatus may be exercised through non-state channels.

John Stuart Mill, a paradigmatic nineteenth-century political liberal, was mostly a classical liberal, but his thought shows concerns for social issues. Many political liberals embrace these influences; classical liberals reject them. Since Mill's time, many political liberals –- at first especially in the UK but later elsewhere in Northern Europe and even beyond -– have advocated social reforms and government responsibility to fight poverty and ignorance. They are influenced by moderate forms of social democracy and want to be an alternative to both conservatism and socialism. In Europe, especially in the United Kingdom, liberalism is generally connected with the history of the and the "moderation" sense of the word liberal, with what classical liberals would rather call revisionist liberalism.

In the United States, starting with the increase in size of government with the Great Depression during the 1930s, political liberals advocated New Deal government programs as a solution to many economic and societal problems. American political liberalism moved in the direction of social democracy; some on the right would say "in the direction of socialism".

The concept of new liberalism, first expounded in the 1930s, attempts to explain and justify the evolution of political liberalism as an extension of the classic tradition of liberal thought. Classical liberals consider it to be, instead, an amendment of liberal doctrines to allow for extended government intervention in economic matters. Classical liberals consider this is an utter negation of basic liberal tenets.

Recently (as of 2004), many social democrats have tried to distinguish liberal views on politics and on economics, agreeing with the former, but rejecting the latter. Classical liberals reject such a division, and assert that their tradition is based on neither economic nor political doctrine, but rather on a theory of law. In any case, modern political liberal thinkers tend to not claim any particular affiliation with the classical liberal school of thought; instead, they trace their political descent from nineteenth-century political liberal governments.

Finally, in some countries, particularly European countries where historical liberal parties suffered complete demise or interdiction by a communist regime, some of the renewed post-1989 liberal parties hew to classical liberalism stripped of most of the later social-democratic influences. The political programmes of these liberal parties tend towards a minarchism that classical liberals view as much friendlier to their ideas than the programmes of any other party in those states.

Classical liberalism

An introduction

As said before, the original meaning of the term "liberal" refers to a tradition, founded on the Enlightenment tradition, that tries to circumscribe the limits of political power, and to define and support individual rights. Classical liberals still exist and they strongly differentiate genuine classical liberal authors from their contemporaries, and recognise among them John Locke (as opposed to Thomas Hobbes), David Hume (as opposed to Immanuel Kant), Adam Smith (as opposed to Jean-Jacques Rousseau). They consider John Stuart Mill as an author who wrote quite interesting things but not a genuine classical liberal; in his era they much prefer Frederic Bastiat. They favour a free market economy and reject any kind of government influence in society. They thus tend to be defiant to any kind of politics, including the politics of liberal politicians. Historically, classical liberalism has opposed mercantilism and socialism (as well as any form of collectivism). Classical liberalism is an identified theory of liberty, centred on notions of spontaneous order, natural law, property rights, and individual responsibility. This ideology flourishes in the 19th century and is often seen as being the typical ideology of the industrial revolution and the subsequent capitalist system. The key characteristics of classical liberalism are:

The importance of the individual
Freedom
Reason
Justice
Toleration and diversity

Thinkers

As the industrial revolution began in the United Kingdom, so did the first conceptions of liberalism. The first liberal philosopher was John Locke (1632-1704) who defended religious freedom in his important work A Letter Concerning Toleration (1689). However, he would not extend his views on religious freedom to Catholics.

Locke was responsible for the idea of "natural rights" which he saw as "life, liberty and property". Natural Rights theory was the forerunner of the modern conception of human rights. To Locke, property was a more compelling natural right than the right to participate in collective decision-making: he would not endorse democracy in government, as he feared that the "tyranny of the majority" would seek to deny people their rights to property. Nevertheless, the idea of natural rights played a key role in providing the ideological justification for the (at least moderately democratising) American revolution and French revolution.

The main economist of classical liberalism was the Scotsman Adam Smith (1723-1790), who broadly advocated the doctrine of "laissez-faire" or "let [it] act" -- minimal government or command intervention in the function of the economy. Adam Smith developed a theory of motivation that tried to reconcile human self-interestedness with unregulated social order (mainly done in The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759)). His most famous work, The Wealth of Nations (1776), tried to explain how an unregulated market would naturally regulate itself via the "invisible hand" of aggregated individual decisions.

American thinkers were also heavily influenced by liberal ideas. Both the third and fourth Presidents of the United States, Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) and James Madison (1751-1836), put the Liberal movement's ideas into practice. Not only did they set up a liberal democracy, they also furthered liberal ideology's influence on the American system of government, by advocating a system of checks and balances, federal states' rights and a bicameral legislature (two-chambered, like the US Congress' Senate and House of Representatives.) The seminal exposition of Liberal values in American govenrment is The Federalist (1788), more commonly known as The Federalist Papers, by Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay.

John Stuart Mill (J.S. Mill, 1806-1873) was influential in developing modern concepts of classical liberalism. He opposed collectivist tendencies but also placed emphasis on quality of life for the individual. He also had sympathy for female suffrage and (later in life) co-operatives -- positions which were, however, made somewhat unclear by his support of the British Raj, or British colonialism in India.

The classical liberal heritage

Classical liberalism in its pure form is in most countries not really organised in parties. Many classical liberals participate in independent think tanks and might be active in the official think tanks of liberal or liberal conservative parties. Classical liberalism remains is a source of inspiration in many liberal parties, as it is for libertarians and for neo-liberalss (such as Margaret Thatcher). They all claim the ideological inheritance of classical liberalism.

Political liberalism

An introduction

Political liberals vary considerably in what "liberties" they defend. This is typically an ad hoc matter rather than one based in a consistent theory. Political liberalism in and outside Europe is a broad political currentcurrent ranging from free-market liberalism to social liberalism and represented around the world by various national liberal parties and other organizations. Liberal thought emphasises individual liberty; liberals differ widely in the degree to which they support an active role for government. Although "Liberal" parties around the world uphold a variety of loosely related ideologies, many of them are affiliated to the Liberal International and in Europe to the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party.

(See Liberal parties for more information the various developments of liberal parties.)

Both European liberalism and American liberalism see their tradition as embracing the Enlightenment, the American War of Independence, the more moderate bourgeois elements of the French Revolution, and the European Revolutions of 1848.

At the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century liberals start to organise themselves in loose organisations and/or political parties in opposition to conservative, clerical and absolutist forces, striving after the emancipation of citizens and the middle class. As late as 1848 in Europe, liberalism was generally seen as a revolutionary force, and in those parts of the world where feudalism or other highly traditionalist (or merely socially rigid) societies remain, it still has revolutionary aspects. When liberals have gained power and realised their first reforms, one often sees a divergence within the ranks of liberals. And little by little over the centuries, the American and Eruopean traditions parted ways.

Liberals tend to consider as part of their tradition many classical authors of contrasted opinions, such as John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Immanuel Kant, although sometimes with a slight preference for classical liberal authors; they often consider John Stuart Mill (who served in Parliament as a Liberal MP) as particularly representative of their ideas. They tend to identify also with such great leaders of liberal parties as Gladstone or Lloyd George in the UK.

Also embraced within the liberal tradition are certain political philosophers, such as American John Rawls, who also inspired some social democrats. The ideas of John Rawls have influenced even some European parties that are considered free market liberal. Generally, the difference between "social democracy" and "social liberalism" is the liberals' emphasis on the individual. In the U.S., some "liberals" have gone all the way to forms of social democracy, and even some avowed socialists, such as the late Michael Harrington, also call themselves "liberal".

The political point of view known in the United States (and, to a lesser degree, in some other English-speaking countries) as libertarianism also claims the early portion of the liberal tradition (classical liberalism), but diverges strongly from the American liberal tradition over economic matters and is more radical in its opposition to government than the European liberals.

Political positions

A caveat is in order: as with any other political philosophy, an abstract explanation of liberalism refers to an ideal. In practice, politicians make pragmatic compromises (see centrism), have personal interests, and may pander to voters, so that the ideal is never a perfect description of any one individual's politics. Further, as with any other political philosophy, liberalism in any of its forms is defined somewhat differently by its proponents and its opponents. Those who adhere precisely to a well-defined set of principles are often those who are far removed from contention for power. The policies of liberal parties are always more or less based on the right to selfdetermination of the individual.

In general, liberals favour constitutional government, representative democracy and the rule of law. Liberals at various times have embraced both constitutional monarchy and republican government. They are generally opposed to any but the milder forms of nationalism, and generally stand in contrast to conservatives by their broader tolerance and in more readily embracing multiculturalism. Furthermore, they generally favour human rights' and civil liberties, especially freedom of speech and freedom of the press (while holding various positions on whether people have an inherent right to the means of economic subsistence). The liberal commitment to untrammelled individual liberty is not necessarily absolute: for example, many liberals accept, or even support, limits on hate speech.

Liberals believe in a free market and free trade, but they differ in the degree of limited government intervention in the economy. In general, government responsibility for health, education and fighting poverty fits into the policies of most liberal parties. But they all, even American liberals, tend to believe in a smaller role for the state than would be supported by most social democrats, let alone socialists or communists. Liberals believe generally in a neutral government, in the way that it is not for the state to determine how individuals can pursue happiness. This self determination gives way to an open mind in ethical questions. Most liberals support the 'pro choice' movement and advocate the emancipation of women and homesexuals. Equality for the law is crucial in liberal policies, Racism is incompatible with liberalism. All liberal parties are secular, but they differ on anti-clericalism. Liberal parties in Latin countries tend to be very anti-clerical.

New or social liberalism

The variant of liberalism called New liberalism, modern liberalism or social liberalism is a stance in political economy that argues for extensive government regulation and partial intervention in economy. It is also a stance in general policies, based on the idea that the society has no right to moralize its citizens, but the society has tasks to guarantee equal opportunities for each of its citizens. Assurance of personal liberties and freedom is paramount in new liberalism. Anyone should be free to be and do whatever she/he desires, as long as she/he does not harm other people. It is named in opposition to classical liberalism, and serves as an intellectual foundation for political liberalism, liberal democracy, and even for social democracy.

In Europe and the United States, in the end of the 19th century and the early 20th century, governments started to intervene significantly in the economy; this trend gathered momentum after World War I, and became dominant after the Great Depression of the 1930s. People like Lujo Brentano, Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse, Thomas Hill Green and John Maynard Keynes theorised why and how a government could intervene in the economy without the country becoming a socialist planned economy. The above mentioned British liberals took the name of new liberals, to signify how they endorsed the evolving tradition of political liberalism, while rejecting the radical element from the classical liberal school of economic thought as well as the then-revolutionary elements from the socialist school.

The origins of this political current can be found in the Liberal Party in Britain, particularly since Lloyd George's People's Budget. This is the "liberal" tradition that John Maynard Keynes claimed in the 1930s (although he was also influenced by Fabianism). The Oxford Liberal Manifesto of 1947 represents this form of liberalism. The influence of Keynesianism on Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal has led liberalism to be identified with the welfare state in the United States.

New liberals believe that while individual freedom should be guaranteed, free-market liberalism had often failed to protect the basic rights of citizens, and that responsible government is the solution to many social and societal problems. New liberals think of their stance as a pragmatic midway between socialism and classical liberalism.

New or social liberalism is a somewhat loose concept, whereby the small differences between its proponents cannot meaningfully be grouped into wings or camps. Some new liberals emphasize financial aid to poorer (e.g as unemployment benefits or negative income tax or basic income, guaranteed minimum income or citizen's dividend). Some new liberals in existing welfare states (such as Scandinavia) are ready to allow the local government to continue to produce health services and basic education. Other social liberals tend to think that it is enough that the government guarantees health services and basic education to everyone, but production of such should be entirely or partially privatized. Most new liberals believe that benefits from the social security shall be financed from taxes, whereas perks must be purchased by private insurances. In order to provide fuller choice for individuals, they may support vouchers in utilization of government-paid benefits (education, senior care).

A modern intellectual foundation for models of welfare society (which in its extreme may exist as a full welfare state) and public services is the Rawls Theory of Justice (John Rawls). Other thinkers in this line are Ronald Dworkin, James Tobin and John Hicks.

Difference with social democracy

The basic difference between new or social liberalism and social democracy is in picture of human nature and in values. Social democracy stems literally from democracy, from community-based view. Social democrats in its original form believe in moral right of majority to regulate everyone and everything. Social liberals see democracy as the political system best capable to defend and guarantee individual liberty, but which must deserve its reliance. Democracy is not a purpose in itself. Social liberals set individual liberty and self determination in highest priority. Social liberals want to trust in human beings: individuals are capable in deciding their own affairs and do not need steering towards happiness. Social democrats believe in control and often they want (or subconsciously do) steer deviating people towards average behavior.

Liberalism and economics

There are three economic traditions within the broad stream of liberalism. The term economic liberalism normally refers to the economic views of classical liberals or neo-liberals rather than that of liberals in the U.S. sense. In a strictly U.S. context it can have that second meaning. In this article, we will avoid using that term in that U.S.-specific way.

Classical liberalism

Classical liberals have an identified theory of liberty, centered on notions of spontaneous order, natural law, property rights, and individual responsibility. They strongly differentiate genuine classical liberal authors from their contemporaries, and recognise among them John Locke (as opposed to Thomas Hobbes), David Hume (as opposed to Immanuel Kant), Adam Smith; they consider John Stuart Mill as an author who wrote quite interesting things but not a genuine classical liberal. They favour a free market economy and reject any kind of government influence in society. They thus tend to be defiant to any kind of politics, including the politics of liberal politicians. Historically, classical liberalism has opposed mercantilism and socialism (as well as any form of collectivism).

New liberalism

The second economic tradition that has developed within liberalism -- variously called new liberalism, modern liberalism or social liberalism, and in some cases close to social democracy -- advocates a form of mixed or control economy in order to reach the goals of "social justice." The origins of this political current can be found in the Liberal Party in Britain, particularly since Lloyd George's People's Budget. This is the "liberal" tradition that John Maynard Keynes claimed in the 1930s (although he was also influenced by Fabianism). The Oxford Liberal Manifesto of 1947 represents this form of liberalism. The influence of Keynesianism on Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal has led liberalism to be identified with the welfare state in the United States. :(See: new liberalism.)

Neoliberalism

Neoliberalism is a modern revival of at least the economic aspects of classical liberalism and is exemplified in the administrative efforts of Ronald Reagan and, to a lesser extent, Bill Clinton of the United States, and of Margaret Thatcher and (again to a lesser extent) Tony Blair of the United Kingdom. Neoliberalism is not to be confused with new New liberalism. This distinction is important to notice, because "new" or "social" liberals tend to be scandalized by the positions of "neoliberals".

(See: neoliberalism.)

External links and references

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Liberalism, by Gerald F. Gaus