What is Liberalism?
Liberalism is one of the most influential political traditions of the modern world. At its core is the idea that individuals are free and equal, and that political power is legitimate only when it respects their rights and rests on their consent. Liberals generally support constitutional limits on government, free elections, freedom of speech and religion, the rule of law and a market economy. Beyond this shared core, liberals disagree about how much the state should do. The word liberal also has different everyday meanings in different countries. In the United States it usually means center left, while in much of Europe it often means support for free markets.
Core beliefs
- Individuals have equal basic rights and freedoms.
- Government should be limited by a constitution and accountable to voters.
- Freedom of speech, assembly, conscience and religion must be protected.
- Laws should apply equally to everyone, including rulers.
- Religion and state should be kept separate or at least distinct.
- Disagreement and pluralism are normal features of a free society.
History
Liberal ideas grew out of the religious wars of sixteenth and seventeenth century Europe, which led some thinkers to argue for toleration and limited government. John Locke defended natural rights and government by consent. During the Enlightenment, Immanuel Kant argued for human dignity and a peaceful order among republics. The American and French revolutions put liberal principles into founding documents. In the 1800s John Stuart Mill defended individual liberty in On Liberty (1859), arguing that the only reason to restrict a person's freedom is to prevent harm to others. In the late 1800s a new liberalism developed that supported state action against poverty. In the twentieth century Isaiah Berlin wrote about negative and positive liberty, and John Rawls developed a theory of justice as fairness.
Variants
Classical liberalism stresses free markets and a limited state. Social liberalism accepts a larger state role in welfare, education and health. Neoliberalism, mainly an economic policy approach, favors deregulation and open trade. Ordoliberalism, from Germany, wants a strong legal framework to keep markets competitive. Libertarianism pushes the classical view further toward a minimal state. Political liberalism, associated with Rawls, focuses on how people with different moral and religious views can share fair institutions.
Criticisms
Critics on the left, including socialists, argue that liberalism protects private property in ways that preserve economic inequality, and that formal rights do not guarantee real power. Critics on the conservative and religious right argue that liberalism weakens tradition, family, religion and shared moral standards by treating individual choice as the highest value. Communitarian thinkers argue that liberalism pictures people as isolated individuals and underrates the role of community in forming identity. Some nationalist critics argue that liberal universalism can neglect national culture and borders.
In practice
Most constitutional democracies today are described by political scientists as liberal democracies, combining elections with protected rights, independent courts and a free press. Liberal ideas influenced the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the spread of religious freedom, the gradual extension of voting rights and the creation of international institutions after the Second World War. Liberal parties of various kinds exist in many countries, and liberal principles are also embraced in part by many conservative and social democratic parties.