Liberalism Flashcards
What are the core ideas of classical liberals, and who are their key thinkers?
John Locke, Mary Wollstonecraft, and elements of John Stuart Mill
Classical liberals can all be found to share common characteristics:
- egoistical liberalism - they believe that all humans are rationally self-interested, with a capacity for self-reliance and endurance
- negative freedom - this refers to the freedoms that all individuals have, which are the absence of constraints from the government (in contrast, a positive freedom is a freedom afforded to certain groups by the state)
- minimal state - Thomas Paine describes the state as a necessary evil - it is necessary because it establishes order, but it is an evil, because it can act as a violation of people’s rights and freedoms. Consequently, the main roles of the state as classical liberals see it are to maintain national security, enforce contracts, and maintain domestic order
- positive view of civil society - see it as a place of opportunity and responsibility. Best example of civil society as they see it is reflected in the self-regulating economy
What are the core ideas of modern liberals, and who are their key thinkers?
John Rawls, Betty Friedan, elements of John Stuart Mill
Explain the classical liberal theory of natural rights
A right - an entitlement to act or be treated in a particular way
Natural rights
- Rights which are inalienable - they cannot be taken away from anyone because all humans are entitled to these rights by virtue of being human.
- they are natural because thinkers like Locke and jefferson believe they have been invested in humans by nature or God - in other words, these rights are so fundamental that they come with human existence - now called human rights
- Locke - believed in three natural rights - “life, liberty and porperty”
- the state is needed in order to protect these natural rights - while Hobbes believes that arbitrary government is better than no government at all, Locke argues that a government which has violated the rights of its citizens gives its citizens the right to rebellion - he approved of the English Revolution in the 17th C and was pleased with the founding of a Constitutional Monarchy in 1688, supporting his analysis
- the government also shouldn’t extend beyond its three minimal protective functions
Explain the classical liberal theory of utilitarianism
- Bentham believed that natural rights were nonsense on stilts, because they created unattainable standards for governments which they would never be able to fulfil, as a policy could always be swung to be violating one of the three rights. Furthermore, people who disagreed with the concept of natural rights felt that they were being used as an excuse for anarchy
- Utilitarianism – the concept that policies/actions should be driven by the greatest utility for society
- Utility – refers to the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people – principle used to establish which policies will be greatest for society
- the concept of utilitarianism aligns greatly with classical liberals view of human nature being self-interested, because this is the basis of utility, in that utility refers to calculating how many people a certain measure will bring happiness to
- no one can judge the quality of happiness that someone has but themself, therefore this acts as a constraint on calculating utility
- this method uses the happiness of the greatest number of people as a standard for what is morally correct, therefore this could have bad consequences, and violate people’s natural rights
Explain the classical liberal theory of economic liberalism
- the economy regulates itself, through the market mechanism. The price of a good is determined by the quantity supplied of the good, and the amount consumers demand of that good, rather than it being something that firms can arbitrarily set.
- Therefore, these forces tend to produce economic prosperity and well-being
- Classicals advocate for laissez faire economics, because they believe that the unrestrained pursuit of profit will ultimately lead to general benefit for all
- Consequently, the are against any sort of regulation of working conditions, limits on hours worked, factory legislation, as these can all reduce profit
Explain the classical liberal theory of social darwinism
- Classicals take a harsh view of poverty and social redistribution, because they believe that those with ability and a willingness to work hard, will be successful, while those who don’t, won’t
- Richard Cobden – politician – advocated for improvement of working conditions – “look not to Parliament, look only to yourselves
what are the key theories that classical liberals subscribe to
- utilitarianism
- social darwinism
- economic liberalism
- natural rights
What are the core ideas of modern liberals, and who are their key thinkers?
Key thinkers
John Rawls, Betty Friedan, and some of John Stuart Mills’ ideas
Cores ideas:
- 20th Century liberalism
- a response to the further industrialisation, just as classical liberal ideas were linked to industrial capitalism in the 19th century
- adopted a softer view on redistribution and social policy
- industrial capitalism had not brought about freedom, wealth and prosperity for all, therefore modern liberals built some of their ideas on these changing historical circumstances and beliefs.
- unrestrained pursuit of profit hadn’t led to a socially just outcome
- most notable disagreement with classical liberals was perhaps over the role of the state
- modern built on classical ideas
Explain the modern liberal theory of individuality (this idea is broadly agreed upon amongst all liberals)
- individualism is the idea that all humans are different and unique, and have the same set of rights, so are equal
- consequently, all liberals believe that individuals should be given the freedom and power to pursue their own interests
- the value of liberty is that it enable all individuals to pursue their own interests, enabling them to grow, gain talents and knowledge.
- John Stuart Mill - “over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign”
- where Mill departed from classical liberals was in his disagreement with Bentham over utilitarianism. His ideas on individualism placed emphasis on humans flourishing rather than the crude satisfaction of interests. He was more concerned in intellectual and moral development, than in only pursuing one’s narrow self interests. In contrast, Bentham believed that actions could only be distinguished by the quantity of pain or pleasure that they generated.
- differences in their ideas on individuality points towards differences in the two strands’ views of human nature. While some classical liberalists saw human beings as self-seeking utility maximisers, modern liberals perhaps had a more optimistic view of HN
first define what negative freedom and positive freedom are:
Explain the modern liberal theory of positive freedom
positive freedom vs negative freedom:
Negative
- a negative freedom refers to the absence of constraints by the government
- negative freedom therefore means removing any external constraints on the individual
- however negative freedom means permitting firms to hire the cheapest labour possible, and exploit workers, all because of their wish to profit maximise
Positive
- positive freedom acknowledges that liberty can cause disadvantage and social inequality
- therefore, the state can correct this, and expand the freedoms of the disadvantaged, through specific policies, such as welfare programs
- therefore, while classical liberals see most policies by the state as restricting people’s freedoms, modern liberals disagree, as they see an important role for the state being to protect individuals who might have been disadvantaged by capitalism.
- modern liberals envisage a state which enables individuals to help themselves (because they ultimately have a similar view on human nature that places the individual above society - rather than creating policies aimed at the whole society, they both want to leave individuals to their own devices) - this can only occur if social conditions don’t create massive inequality
Explain the modern liberal theory of social liberalism
- growth of welfare states during 20th Century (previously minimal states)
- the idea behind welfare policies was to create equality of opportunity. If people had been born at a social disadvantage, it was the state’s social responsibility to give them a fairer chance at success
- welfare rights are positive rights - involve the government acting positively to establish equality of opportunity - either through u/e benefits, pubicly funded services for healthcare and education, state pensions.
- notable examples of welfare policies in the 20th Century
- FDR - New Deal 1933-39 - involved the establishment of multiple agencies and federal programs aimed at helping the unemployed, those who had been socially disadvantaged…
- For instance, the Works Progress Administration was an agency which employed millions of job seekers on infrastructure programs.
- in the UK, 1942 Beveridge Report set out to attack the ‘five giants’ - want, disease, ignorance, idleness and squalor
- social-democratic liberalism - John Rawls - justified redistributive measures by arguing that if people were unaware of their position, then they would favour a fair society over an unequal society - difference principle - he nevertheless recognised the need for inequality to create an incentive to work and ‘succeed’.
Explain the modern liberal theory of economic management
Economic Management
- abandonment of laissez faire economics
- realisation triggered by the Great Depression
- Keynes rejected the classical economists answer to resolving unemployment. Classical economists argued that unemployment could be resolved by market forces.
- in contrast, he created the Keynesian LRAS curve, which indicated that at times of high unemployment, government intervention was needed to stimulate aggregate demand, and therefore reduce unemployment, bringing it closer to YFE.
What are Betty Friedan’s views on human nature?
Human nature
- Friedan held views which were consistent with other modern liberals, that all individuals should be free to seek control over their own lives
- all individuals are different and unique, and should have the same set of rights, so are equal.
- however, she approached ideas about human nature from a feminine angle, arguing that gender was a serious hindrance to all females, because illiberal attitudes in society had prevented women from realising their full potential, which she argued was equal to men’s potential
- echoed the ideas of classical liberals, but applied it to the context of women’s social disadvantage.
What are Betty Friedan’s views on the state?
State
- Friedan had more expansive views on the ability of the state to protect and expand certain rights, than classical liberals
- against violence and illegality as a means for pursuing change, but instead advocated for change to be brought about by the state, through legislation
- endorsed the state’s capacity to provide continuous improvement to the lives of individuals
- through the National Organisation for Women, which she co-founded in 1966, Friedan helped proposed the ERA to Congress.
What are Betty Friedan’s views on the economy?
- less info
- probably believed in a managed economy
