1 Liberalism: core ideas and principles

Question 1

Key terminology of liberalism

Answer 1

Foundational equality
Formal equality
Equality of opportunity
Social contract
Meritocracy
Mechanistic theory
Tolerance
Limited government

Question 2

Core ideas and principles of liberalism

Answer 2

• Individualism
• Freedom/liberty
• State
• Rationalism
• Equality/social justice
• Liberal democracy

Question 3

Glorious Revolution

Answer 3

• Enshrined parliamentary sovereignty and the right of revolution, and led to the establishment of what many consider the first modern, liberal state
• Significant legislative milestones in this period included the Habeas Corpus Act 1679, The Bill of Rights 1689, Act of Toleration. In 1695, the Commons refused to renew the Licensing of the Press Act 1662, leading to a continuous period of unprecedented freedom of the press.
• Resulted in the abdication and exile of James II and the establishment of a complex form of balanced government in which power was divided between the monarch, ministers, and Parliament

Question 4

Age of Enlightenment

Answer 4

• period of profound intellectual vitality that questioned old traditions
• 18th Century intellectual movement that rejected traditional social, political, and religious ideas

Question 5

prehistory of liberalism

Answer 5

• In the Middle Ages the rights and responsibilities of individuals were determined by their place in a hierarchical social system
• Under the impact of the slow commercialization and urbanization of Europe in the later Middle Ages, the intellectual ferment of the Renaissance, and the spread of Protestantism in the 16th century, the old feudal stratification of society gradually began to dissolve
• ## By the end of the 16th century, the authority of the papacy had been broken in most of northern Europe