Liberalism

POLITICAL SCIENCE

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Liberalism

Introduction
 Liberalism is a school of thought which stand for a society where the state is a means for the ends of the
Individual.

 Individual Liberty and the idea of human rationality is the core value of Liberal thought.

 The term 'liberalism' denotes a political mobilization which insists on Liberty of individual as the first and
foremost goal of Public Policy.

Origins and Development

 Liberalism as a developed ideology was a product of the breakdown of feudalism in Europe and the growth
of a market or a capitalist society.

 Liberal thoughts originated during the 17th century against the idea of an absolute authority (Monarchy)
based political system and against feudal economic and cultural setup in Europe.

 Thinkers like Locke, Montesquieu, Voltaire, and many more contributed to the development of the early
liberal idea.

 As a proper Political Ideology, it gained currency in the 18th and 19th centuries.

 Such system first developed in UK in mid-18th century and they spread to North America and throughout
Europe.

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Core Themes

Elements of Liberalism
Individualism
Individual liberty became the core of Liberal philosophy because, in the monarchy and feudal society, people
didn’t have the opportunities for individual development, the merit of the person was not respected,
distribution of property was birth based acquired by aristocrats and noble classes.

 The liberal philosopher had the vision to create a society in which people would be free to achieve any end
in life according to their capability and merit.

 As was said by J.S Mill – “Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is Sovereign”.

 C. B Macpherson criticized these individualistic tendencies by using the word “Possessive Individualism”.
this means a person is an owner of his own capabilities and talent and has no social responsibility.

Reason
 Liberalism is a part of the enlightenment project which desire to release humankind from its bondage to
superstition and unleash an age of Reason.

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 It strengthened its faith in individualism as it believes that human beings are rational.

 The power of reason gives human beings the capacity to take charge of their own lives.

Constitutionalism and Consent

 Liberal societies are organized politically around the twin principles of constitutionalism and consent

 John Locke presented a social contract theory to identify the reason and objective behind the formation of
the state. He said that in the absence of a state (state of nature), people had the natural right to life,
liberty, and property, but protecting these rights was not ensured in a natural society.

 He said people created a civil society and formed a state to protect their natural rights. Hence, the state's
role needs to be limited, and it will work according to the consent of the citizens.

 Liberal philosophers challenged the medieval thought of the Divine Theory of State.

 They imagined a Political Society that trusts the rational capabilities of Individuals and, with this contract
philosophy, establishes the rule of law (Constitutional). The rule of law prevents the misuse of power by
the government and ensures a limited government.

Toleration
 Liberalism celebrates moral, Cultural and Political diversity.

 This commitment to toleration, attributed to the French writer Voltaire, is memorably expressed in the
declaration that, 'I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.'

Elements of Liberalism
17th-19th Century
Classical Liberalism/Negative Liberalism

Late 19th Century & 20th century

Modern Liberalism /Positive Liberalism/ Egalitarianism/
Social Liberalism / Welfarism

Mid 20th Century

Libertarianism

Late 20th and 21st Century

Neo-Liberalism
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Classical Liberalism
 Classical liberalism was based on the idea of Natural Rights theory. It originated during the 17th and 18th
centuries and reached its climax in the 19th century.

 According to early liberal thought, humans are naturally born with rational capabilities and have the
natural right to Life, Liberty, and Property.

 The state has been created for the protection of the natural rights of people, and hence, the role and
scope of the state's power need to be limited.

 The classical view of liberalism originated against theocracy, monarchy, and feudalism. So, it wants the
state to remain away from the economic sphere and supports the idea of Laissez-faire (Free-market
economy) propagated by Adam Smith.

 It promotes the idea of the state as a necessary evil and represents a notion of Negative liberty.

 The leading proponents of classical liberalism are – John Locke, Montesquieu, Voltaire, Adam Smith,
Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, David Ricardo, and Tocqueville.

Modern Liberalism
 Modern Liberalism denotes a shift of Liberal philosophy from negative to positive view of state. It was
originated during 20th century.

 Modern Liberal thinkers suggested that social welfare is also important along with the restrictive role of
state for achieving Individual Liberty.

 Modern Liberalism includes the classical view of Individual liberty with the modern aspect of social
welfarism. It recommended a positive role of state in arranging socio-economic conditions for the
realization of liberty.

 Modern Liberalism stands for the idea of Positive Liberty, it is also known as Social Liberalism or Positive
Liberalism.

 Instead of non-interference in market (Laissez fair) it supports the idea of Economic Management which is
inspired by Maynard Keynes.

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 Main proponents of Modern Liberalism are: - T.H Green, Hobhouse, J. A. Hobson, John Rawls, Ronald
Dworkin etc.

Libertarianism
 In 20th century we have seen the tendency of welfarism and overarching power to state in the name of
welfare of citizen, Libertarianism thought developed as a critique to these tendencies.

 Libertarian thinkers revived the classical liberal idea of a minimal state and conception of Negative liberty.

 According to them, state should leave people along, personal responsibility will automatically lead people
towards success.

 The difference between classical Liberalism and Libertarianism is that Classical liberalism was developed
against the old system like theocracy, monarchy, feudalism. On the other hand, Libertarianism was
developed as a critique to the idea modern liberalism, positive role to state and welfarism.

 Some Libertarian thinkers like David Friedman also reached to the extreme idea of liberty and supported
anarchist perspective (anarcho-capitalism).

 Main proponents of Libertarianism are: - Ludwig von Mises, Murray Rothbard, Friedrich Hayek, David
Friedman, Milton Friedman, Robert Nozick etc.

Neoliberalism
 Neoliberalism is a policy model that encompasses both politics and economics and seeks to transfer the
control of economic factors from the public sector to the private sector.

 Neo-Liberalism is an updated version of liberal philosophy, which was developed during the late 20th
century and is a hegemonic view of global order in 21st century.

 It has the ingredients of classical liberalism, as well as of libertarianism and supports the idea of minimal
state and free market economy, but it also trusts state is leading the free market reforms in a country.

 In 1991 India adopted the new economic policy of Liberalization, Privatization and globalization that is a
living example of Neo-liberal perspective.

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 Neo-liberalism does not complete rejects the welfarism in state policy, it trusts state with responsibility of
progressive taxation for ensuring basis living standards and human dignity.

 Neo-liberalism is not totally different from Libertarianism, it is an extended branch of libertarian

philosophy with minor progressive tendencies.

 In government of Margaret Thatcher in UK and presidency of Ronald Regan in USA introduced the neo-
liberal theory of state.

Thinkers, Books & Specialty

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