Liberalism Flashcards
What are the strands of liberalism?
Modern
Classical
Who are the key thinkers of liberalism?
Locke - CL
Wollstonecraft - CL
Mill - CL
Rawls - ML
Friedan - ML
What are they core ideas/principles of liberalism?
Individualism
Freedom
The state
Rationalism
Equality and social justice
Liberal Democracy
What are classical liberal attitudes to individualism?
-Egotistical individualism (maximising own utility to thrive to best ability).
-Freedom of individual is sacrosanct, otherwise society would be atomistic.
-State should be limited to maintaining law and order, protecting society from invasion.
-Respects formal equality (enshrined by law) - negative freedom.
-State must uphold and protect human rights.
What are modern liberal attitudes to individualism?
-Positive freedom.
-Developmental individualism.
-Agree with self-reliance but argue state should offer a ‘hand-up’.
-Believe only an interventionist state can guarantee freedoms.
What are classical liberal ideas of freedom/liberty?
-Society is made up of individuals with their own interests.
-There is no broader common good or public interest that individuals serve.
-State welfare will only make people dependent.
What are Locke’s ideas of freedom/liberty?
‘Where there is no law, there is no liberty’.
-Role of gov was to protect a man’s right to ‘life, liberty and estate’.
-State needed to mediate between competing individuals to enforce order.
-Limited government to maximise individual freedom.
-Laissex-faire capitalism
-Social contract - government by consent.
What are Mill’s ideas of freedom/liberty?
-Advocated freedom of speech, thought and religion, unless these pose a direct threat to others.
-Negative freedom.
-Individuals should be free from interference even if they are harming themselves e.g. marijuana laws.
What does Rawls believe about freedom/liberty?
-Larger role of state in society and economy.
-Enabling state would ensure individual’s life chances weren’t determined by status at birth.
-More tax and state spending to ensure equality of opportunity.
What are liberal ideas of freedom/liberty with reference to women?
Mill - argued for the female vote decades before it was achieved in ‘The Subjection of Women’ 1869.
Wollstonecraft - championed formal equality in terms of women pursuing a career, playing a role in economy and having legal property rights. ‘The mind has no gender’ - saw women as equally capable.
Friedan - championed equality of opportunity.
What are classical liberal ideas on the state?
-State is a necessary evil.
-Egotistical individualism, laissex-faire economics.
-Should intervene to uphold rule of law and protect society from foreign invasion.
-Locke argued for government by consent/social contract.
How do classical liberals wish to limit government?
-Limit power by dividing it between branches, separation of powers, and enforce government by consent.
-Limit jurisdiction - state should ensure laws are upheld to protect freedom and economically protect property rights and regulate.
-Ensure foundational equality.
-Limiting electorate - favour representative democracy over direct. Mill argued only those with proper education should vote.
What are modern liberal ideas about the state?
-Mill later adapted to more ML view, allowing for state intervention to assist the poor experiencing injustice.
-State should promote equality of opportunity through education and reduce the influence of inherited privelage.
-Rawls argues state should take more proactive role in reducing inequality and preventing social injustice.
-Friedan argued the state should guarantee societal and economic equality for women.
What are liberal ideas of rationalism?
-Humans are rational, capable of reason and logic.
-Lock ‘reason must be our last guide and judge in everything’.
-More confident in human’s intellectual ability to construct theories and create a progressive society.
How have modern liberals been influenced by rationalistic ideas?
-Positive freedom.
-State-sponsored welfare state.
-Mill’s ideas of universal education.
-Enabling state.
-Keynesian economics.
-Rawl’s ideas of equality and social justice.
How have classical liberals been influenced by rationalistic ideas?
-Locke’s ideas of constitutional and representative government.
-Laissez-faire economics e.g. Trump’s tarrifs.
-Mill’s negative freedom, autonomy of the individual is paramount.
What are liberal ideas of equality and social justice?
-Initially focused on foundational equality and the rule of law so no individual was exempt.
-E.g. HRA, US Bill of Rights.
-CL has struggled with what constitutes fouundational equality as they largely ignored gender/racial inequality.
What does Rawls argue about equality and social justice?
-Constructed a rational model to demonstrate need for social justice and inherent logic of it.
-Veil of ignorance.
-Inequality in a capitalist-based society would be justified as long as those who do well economically don’t do at the expense of the less well off.
What do MLs believe about equality and social justice?
-Full foundational equality.
-Wollstonecraft (CL THINKER) argued women were denied equality in property ownership and political representation + discriminated in workplace.
-Friedan argued for legal and economic parity and workplace equality of opportunity,
-MLK + CR movement.
-Recognised foundational equality not enough, need full welfare state (education, healthcare, minimum wage etc).
-Influenced Berevidge Report.
What is Rawls’ veil of ignorance?
Posited that if individuals were asked to choose what time of society an individual would prefer and were ignorant of their own circumstances, they would choose a society with little inequality.
What are liberal ideas of liberal democracy?
-Locke’s ideas were a response to his perception of illegitimate government, during time when state was run by authoritarian elites.
-Social contract (Locke) - gov should only be by consent.
-Mill feared dominance of the working class if they were given the vote, argued for plural votes for the educated and wealthy.
-Accept every individual should have a vote and individual freedoms.
What are the key points of liberal democratic theory?
-Supremacy of the people (CLs social contract + MLs equal vote).
-Government by consent.
-Rule of law/peaceful conflict resolution.
-Common good/public interest (CL struggles due to atomistic individualism + ML agrees with collective aims).
-Value of individual as rational, moral citizen.
-Political equality/equal rights (ML/CL united).
What areas do liberals differ over?
-Freedom of the individual.
-Role of the state and economy.
Mill
Classical liberal ideas of freedom
-Negative freedom - freedom from constraint and interference where possible.
-Mill’s ‘Harm Principle’ argued individual should be unencumbered unless they directly negatively impact others.
-Society with freedom of thought, discussion, religion and assembly.
-Right to freedom from interference even if actions harm themselves.
Locke
Classical liberal ideas of freedom.
-Egotistical individualism - individuals are self-reliant, self-interested and rational.
-Minimal enroachments by state to facilitate development as an individual.
-Argued men’s lives were their own and arbitrary government would enslave them.
-Paternalistic aspect is oppressive.
Modern liberal ideas of freedom
-Positive freedom.
-Agree with self-reliance but argue state should offer a ‘hand-up’ for every individual to be able to achieve.
-Rawl’s ‘A Theory of Justice’ - societal position is hugely influential in success/failure.
-Friedan/Wollstonecraft want women to achieve equality with men.
Neo-liberal ideas of freedom
-Reduce size of state.
-Free market, laissex-fair economics.
-ML is a betrayal of core values of limited state/egotistical individualism.
What are general liberal ideas of the role of the state?
-Mechanistic state, as if it were a machine to serve the individual.
What are CL ideas of the role of the state?
-Should be strictly limited to maintaining law and order, property rights and securing the society from invasion.
-Small state.
What are ML ideas on the role of the state?
-State should create conditions of freedom to allow individuals to reach full potential.
-Advocates for an enabling state - influential in Asquith’s liberal gov.
-Prefer Keynesian economics for gov to prevemt economic slumps and unemployment.
-Rawls ‘difference principle’.
Give examples of how ML has inspired policy
Asquith liberal gov:
-Old Age Pensions Act 1908 - old-age pensions.
-Labour Exchanges Act 1909 - improved employment.
-National Insurance Act 1911 - welfare benefits.
-Trade Unions Act 1913 - workers’ rights.
Beveridge Report 1942
What is Rawls’ difference principle?
-Although some inequalities are inevitable, there must be a priority to help the disadvantaged.
-Recognised that whilst a meritocracy would mean some individuals were well rewarded for efforts, the state would have to ensure equality of opportunity.
How liberals differ on the 4 themes
Human nature
CL - individuals are rational/capable and prefer to pursue self-interest.
ML - individuals crave freedom but understand that they have obligations to help others less fortunate.
How liberals differ on the 4 themes
The state
CL - limited state, controlled by gov based on representative democracy.
ML - state intervention can be justified on grounds of social justice, equality and welfare. Enabling state! Control power of gov/state through consitutional rules/robust democracy.
How liberals differ on the 4 themes
Society
CL - society is naturally competitive, made up of free individuals pursuing self-interest, no collective aims.
ML - society should embrace degree of social welfare/justice, individualism should be tempered with social action and recognise common good.
How liberals differ on the 4 themes
Economy
CL - free markets, free trade, lack of state intervention.
ML - injustices of capitalism to be reduced by state through welfare, equality of opportunity and limited redistribution of income.
What are NL ideas?
Nozick, Hayek, Friedman
Hayek - state paternalism creates dependency culture, welfare provision would bankrupt state/society.
Nozick - tax infringes freedom, ML contravenes self-ownership.
Friedman - critical of Keynesian economics, state ill-equipped to intervene in economy.
Role of gov limited to controlling inflation by monetarism.
