Classical Liberalism
Classical liberalism is a political ideology that emphasizes individual freedom, limited government intervention in the economy, and the protection of private property rights. It advocates for free markets, civil liberties, and the rule of law. Classical liberals believe that individuals should have the freedom to pursue their own interests and that government should primarily exist to protect these liberties.
8 Key excerpts on "Classical Liberalism"
eBook - ePub- Britannica Educational Publishing, Heather Campbell(Authors)
- 2009(Publication Date)
- Britannica Educational Publishing(Publisher)
...Libertarians are classical liberals who strongly emphasize the individual right to liberty. They contend that the scope and powers of government should be constrained so as to allow each individual as much freedom of action as is consistent with a like freedom for everyone else. Thus, they believe that individuals should be free to behave and to dispose of their property as they see fit, provided that their actions do not infringe on the equal freedom of others. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many liberals began to worry that persistent inequalities of wealth and the tremendous pace of social change were undermining democracy and threatening other classical liberal values, such as the right to moral autonomy. Fearful of what they considered a new despotism of the wealthy, modern liberals advocated government regulation of markets and major industries, heavier taxation of the rich, the legalization of trade unions, and the introduction of various government-funded social services, such as mandatory accident insurance. In the 20th century, so-called welfare state liberalism, or social democracy, emerged as the dominant form of liberalism, and the term liberalism itself underwent a significant change in definition in English-speaking countries. Particularly after World War II, most self-described liberals no longer supported completely free markets and minimal government, though they continued to champion other individual rights, such as the right to freedom of speech. As liberalism became increasingly associated with government intervention in the economy and social-welfare programs, some classical liberals abandoned the old term and began to call themselves “libertarians.” INDIVIDUALISM Modern individualism emerged in Britain with the ideas of Scottish economist Adam Smith and English philosopher Jeremy Bentham. The concept was described by French political scientist Alexis de Tocqueville as fundamental to the American temper...
eBook - ePubTheories of International Relations
Contending Approaches to World Politics
- Stephanie Lawson(Author)
- 2015(Publication Date)
- Polity(Publisher)
...4 The Foundations of Liberal Thought Liberal approaches to international relations acknowledge the tendency to conflict in human affairs but focus much more on the human capacity to cooperate – to create effective laws and institutions and to promote norms which moderate the behaviour of states in the sphere of international anarchy. It was noted earlier that ‘liberalism’ names one of a number of political ideologies, and that ideologies may be regarded as sets of ideas which both incorporate a view of the world as it is and how it ought to be from a particular normative standpoint and promote a plan of political action designed to bring about the desired state of affairs. In short, an ideology is a normative belief system oriented to political action. Liberalism is usually regarded as progressive, with progress defined in terms of certain key social and political goods. Individual human liberty, along with a notion of the essential equality of individuals, takes pride of place. It was also noted earlier that liberalism, as a distinctive body of thought concerning conflict and cooperation in the international sphere, rose to prominence in the aftermath of the First World War. Like realism, it did so on the basis of a longer tradition of thought. But, unlike realism, at least in its classical form, liberalism is associated closely with the phenomenon of modernity. This is linked in turn with a set of ideas which, in addition to the notion of progress, included distinctive approaches to the universality of the human condition and the inherent rationality of individual humans. Liberal political thought is also deeply implicated in economic thought, but again there are significant variations on the theme of liberal political economy, ranging from moderate, left-of-centre social liberalism to quite extreme versions of economic neoliberalism on the political right...
eBook - ePub- Patricia Kennedy(Author)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...It shaped industrial capitalism, a belief in the free market and free trade, which spread worldwide. He suggests it is the most powerful political ideology to shape western politics. However, liberalism became increasingly conservative. He defines Classical Liberalism as ‘a tradition within liberalism that seeks to maximize the realm of unconstrained individual action, typically by establishing a minimal state and a reliance on market economies’ and ‘modern liberalism’ as ‘a tradition within liberalism that provides (in contrast to Classical Liberalism) a qualified endorsement for social and economic intervention as a means of promoting personal development’ (ibid.). He suggests that ‘the twentieth century appeared to culminate in the worldwide triumph of liberalism’. The liberal model of representative government and market-based economics ‘spread remorselessly throughout the globe’ (ibid.). Heywood defines neo-liberalism as a revival of economic liberalism which has occurred since the 1970s. He suggests that ‘neoliberalism amounts to a form of market fundamentalism. The market is seen to be morally and practically superior to government any form of political control’ (2007: 52). Liberalism is sometimes known as neo-liberalism or market liberalism. It combines political ideology with a specific economic approach. Freedom of the individual is paramount. Liberals believe in the free market as the best way to determine levels of production in society and they accept market failure. George and Wilding (1994) suggest that right-wing ideologies are concerned with the three central concepts of freedom, justice and individualism. They see freedom as the absence of coercion. Freedom is being free to do something, and processes and procedures can be defined in terms of justice. There is no such thing as society, only individuals and families. Faith in the free market is paramount, competition is essential and it is impossible to create a comprehensive welfare state...
eBook - ePub- Chris Berg(Author)
- 2018(Publication Date)
- Palgrave Macmillan(Publisher)
...But it prohibits making it mandatory and enforced by the state or anyone else in society.” 2 Indeed classical liberals understand society to be constituted by freely chosen interaction by individuals in economic exchange and coordination. The liberal world view is a social, not atomistic. Individualism is a framework to understand how people choose to interact with each other. It is not a defence of isolation. A second crucial classical liberal concept is that of individual rights. In one of the founding texts of liberalism, Two Treatises of Government, John Locke argued that individuals were naturally endowed with rights to life, liberty, and property. 3 These rights were entrusted to governments to secure, and if the government failed to secure them—if “Legislators endeavor to take away, and destroy the Property of the People, or to reduce them to Slavery under Arbitrary Power”—then in Locke’s argument the government could be deposed. The rights are natural insofar as they derive from natural law—an unwritten law accessible to all individuals through the use of reason. Locke’s natural rights tradition is not the only classical liberal approach to individual rights. Consequentialist arguments for individual rights claim that protecting rights such as freedom of expression, movement, association, and the right to hold property maximizes human welfare. The paradigmatic rights utilitarian was John Stuart Mill. Mill’s defence of freedom of speech—still one of the most powerful defences of freedom of speech in the liberal tradition—is constructed not on the basis that freedom of speech is a natural right, but is a necessity for discovering truth and facilitating intellectual growth. 4 While many political ideologies proclaim the importance of individual rights, Classical Liberalism is distinct from its social democratic competitors with its emphasis on property rights. Locke saw property as one of the trio of interests to be protected by government...
eBook - ePubIf You're a Classical Liberal, How Come You're Also an Egalitarian?
A Theory of Rule Egalitarianism
- Åsbjørn Melkevik(Author)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Palgrave Macmillan(Publisher)
...Individual freedom, limited government, the rule of law, and market capitalism strengthen one another to give classical liberals a sturdy theoretical standpoint. One could be inclined to flesh out these premises. Eric Mack and Gerald Gaus, for example, formulated the twelve doctrinal elements that unify Classical Liberalism as follows: (1) Normative individualism, (2) Enforceable moral claims held by all individuals against interferences that diminish their lives, well-being, or preference satisfaction, (3) Individual liberty as the core legal norm, (4) Secure private property, (5) Social order as an association of individuals pursuing their own ends without sharing a common goal, (6) Institutions that reflect decentralized decision-making, (7) The licit use of coercion is limited to blocking or nullifying infringements upon the rightful claims of individuals, (8) A limited government, (9) The same morality applies to people and institutions, (10) The harm principle, (11) The rejection of any distinction between personal and economic liberties, and (12) The belief that people must always be jealous of the power of the state. 22 Now, I do not accept points (7), (9), and (11), as I think that they are not classical liberal beliefs. I will later explain my disagreement with these beliefs—I will discuss point (7) in Chapter 4 and point (11) in Chapter 5. More generally, concerning point (9), we should remember that Classical Liberalism is not a moral theory. I think most classical liberals would have been profoundly disturbed by any attempt to apply some understanding of interpersonal morality to the very logic of the state. 23 Justice is the ethical standard regulating the actions of the state for classical liberals, not morality. The state must assume responsibilities that individuals do not have to accept...
eBook - ePub- Nancy L. Rosenblum, Robert C. Post, Nancy L. Rosenblum, Robert C. Post(Authors)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Princeton University Press(Publisher)
...Classical Liberalism and Civil Society: Definitions, History, and Relations Tom G. Palmer C LASSICAL LIBERALISM has been so successful in so many ways that it is often taken for granted. Indeed as Fareed Zakaria has pointed out, Classical Liberalism, we are told, has passed from the scene. If so, its epitaph will read as does Sir Christopher Wren’s, engraved on his monument at St. Paul’s Cathedral: “Si monumentum requiris, circumspice.” If you are searching for a monument, look around. Consider the world we live in—secular, scientific, democratic, middle class. Whether you like it or not, it is a world made by liberalism. Over the last two hundred years, liberalism (with its powerful ally, capitalism) has destroyed an order that had dominated human society for two millennia—that of authority, religion, custom, land, and kings. From its birthplace in Europe, liberalism spread to the United States and is now busily remaking most of Asia. 1 Naturally, the consequence is that the greatest disputes about policy take place at the margins. But debates about principles often go toward the core, rather than remaining on the margins. Differing conceptions of rights and justice, for example, are often at great variance, and if consistently carried out would lead to dramatically different policy outcomes...
eBook - ePubLiberal Internationalism
Theory, History, Practice
- B. Jahn(Author)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Palgrave Macmillan(Publisher)
...3 Classical Liberal Theory Introduction Liberal internationalism is a composite and dynamic phenomenon: it is made up of a number of different political, economic, and ideational principles and practices which, moreover, change over time and take on different forms in different social and political contexts. The form and meaning of liberal internationalism is thus constantly in flux and it is this multifaceted nature and historical fluidity that presents a challenge to conventional forms of definition that aim to fix meaning in time and space. And yet, the terms ‘liberal’, ‘liberalism’, ‘liberal internationalism’ are widely used in academic and political discourse. Though this usage clearly entails a variety of meanings – with different associations in Europe and America, for instance – it arguably also attests to the fact that the common connotations of these terms outweigh their differences. Within a political context such terms need to effectively provide common ground for (or against) a cause, otherwise they fail to fulfill their most important function. Of course, a variety of associations with a particular term can be very useful, in that it mobilizes and brings together different constituencies. Yet, even in that case some minimal common ground or assumed linkage between the different meanings is necessary – otherwise political fragmentation is bound to result...
eBook - ePubGlobal Political Economy
Theory and Practice
- Theodore H. Cohn, Anil Hira(Authors)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Chapter 4 Liberalism L iberalism is the most influential perspective in IPE. Most international economic organizations and the economic policies of most states today are strongly influenced by liberal principles. It is important to note that the term liberal is used differently in IPE and in U.S. politics. Whereas U.S. conservatives support free markets and minimal government intervention, U.S. liberals support government involvement in the market to prevent inequalities and stimulate growth. Classic liberal economists, by contrast, have similarities with U.S. conservatives; they emphasize the importance of the free market and private property and seek to limit the government’s role in economic affairs. This chapter shows that there are also variations among economic liberals. Although some liberal economists favor minimal government involvement, others believe that some government intervention is necessary for the effective functioning of markets. Basic Tenets of the Liberal Perspective Neomercantilists and Marxists place more emphasis than liberals on developing parsimonious theories that rely on a small number of concepts and variables. 1 Whereas neomercantilists focus on the centrality of the state and Marxists view the world in terms of class relations, liberals deal with a wider range of actors and levels of analysis. Although this broader outlook enables liberals to capture complexities that neomercantilists and Marxists overlook, it also hinders the development of a coherent liberal international theory...
