CLASSICAL LIBERALISM Flashcards
4 main features of classical liberalism
Revolutionary potential
Negative liberty
Minimal State
Laissez-faire capitalism
What was the need for Revolution
Many states didn’t have government by consent and states weren’t representative
What was needed to get government by consent
Vigorous argument and sometimes revolution
What did revolutionary potential include
Rejection of absolute monarchical power and divine right of kings
What 2 revolutions are associated with Locke’s Philosophy
England’s Glorious Revolution
American Revolution
What was vital to self-determination and self-reliance
Natural Rights
What was negative freedom seen as
Freedom as the absence of restraint - Individuals to assume they were naturally free to do something
Individuals were what
self-reliant
What state should co-exist with the minimal state
Limited state
Governments should not just be limited in terms of what
Governments should not be limited in how they can act but also in what they would do
What 3 features in the minimal state
Dispersal of political power
Seperation of power
Checks and Balances
What is laissez-faire capitalism
Economic system where private enterprise and capitalism can happen without/little interference from the state
What thinker advocated for laissez-faire economics
Adam Smith
What does laissez-faire capitalism advocate for
End of tariffs and duties
