Liberalism Flashcards
From what intellectual movement is liberalism seen to originate?
The Enlightenment
What are the two key core values of liberalism?
Individualism and freedom or liberty
What do liberals stress the importance of over social groups?
The individual
What do liberals believe individuals possess?
Self-awareness
What does freedom or liberty imply for liberals?
The ability and right of an individual to make decisions in their own interests
Is freedom absolute for liberals?
No
What did early liberals argue about human nature and freedom?
The human need for individual freedom overrides authoritarian governments’ claims
What do liberals past and present maintain about freedom and the state?
Freedom is not absolute and must be exercised under the laws of the state
What did Jeremy Bentham argue about individual decision-making?
Individuals can make decisions based on rational self-interest
According to Bentham
when should the government intervene in individual actions?
What principle did Bentham’s ideas establish for society?
‘The greatest happiness for the greatest number’
What potential drawback did Bentham’s principle have?
It could disregard minority interests in favour of the majority
What concept did John Stuart Mill advocate regarding freedom?
Negative freedom – individuals should only face external restraints when their actions harm others
What do liberals believe about the worth of individuals?
All individuals are unique and have equal worth
How should individuals be treated according to liberals?
As having intrinsic value
What is egoistical individualism as emphasised by classical liberals?
The idea that people are basically self-seeking and self-reliant
How did later liberals like T.H. Green view Mill’s concept of liberty?
As too limited because it reduced society to independent individuals
How did T.H. Green view society?
As organic
What concept did T.H. Green’s ideas lead to?
Positive freedom – individuals should control their destiny
What did positive freedom necessitate according to later liberals?
Limited state intervention to facilitate it
How is individualism linked to tolerance for liberals?
Individualism implies accepting values and beliefs one disagrees with
What do liberals believe about tolerance?
It is a natural right all humans should have
What is developmental individualism?
A modern liberal idea linking individual freedom with a society where everyone can experience personal growth and achieve potential
How has developmental individualism been used to justify state intervention?
To justify limited intervention to help the disadvantaged
What have liberals argued for toleration of within society?
A growing range of views and practices
How do liberals view the state?
As essential but problematic
What do liberals seek to do with the state’s power and scope?
Limit it
What does rationalism maintain?
Humans are (or should be) guided by reason over emotion
What was rationalism central to?
Enlightenment thinking
What did Enlightenment thinking reject?
Unquestioning acceptance of traditional authority and religion
Why do liberals see the state as necessary?
To prevent social disorder and exploitation
Why is state power viewed with suspicion by liberals?
Because self-seeking human nature may lead to abuse of power
What do liberals oppose regarding state power?
The concentration of it
Why do liberals oppose concentrated state power?
Because it encourages self-interest at the expense of others
What do liberals advocate as a result of their view on state power?
Limited government
What principles should limited government be based on according to liberals?
Constitutionalism
What mechanisms can be used to prevent the concentration of state power according to liberals?
Devolution and federalism
How do liberal attitudes to the state influence their views on the economy?
They argue for a limited role for the state
What economic system did 18th- and 19th-century liberals embrace?
Laissez-faire capitalism
What is the liberal view on economic competition?
It benefits everyone as individuals strive for profit
What level of intervention do liberals believe government should have in the economy?
Minimum intervention
Why do liberals believe humans need to be free to make their own decisions?
Without being directed by external agencies like the state or Church
What benefit do liberals see in individuals taking responsibility for themselves?
It fosters personal growth over reliance on external guidance
How does rationalism foster a progressive society according to liberals?
Individual personal development promotes wider social advancement
How should disputes and conflicts be resolved according to liberals?
Through reasoned discussion and debate
What did John Stuart Mill say about restricting government interference?
The most cogent reason is the great evil of unnecessarily adding to its power
What did Adam Smith argue in The Wealth of Nations?
Human self-interest is a key driving force behind economic growth
How did Bertrand Russell view religion?
As something left over from the infancy of intelligence that will fade with reason and science
What does liberalism maintain about the value of individuals?
They are of equal value and should be treated impartially and fairly
What is the general stance of liberals towards democracy?
They generally support it
What do liberals argue about the essential nature of humans?
They share the same essential nature and are therefore equal
Over what aspect of equality are liberals divided?
What equality means in practice
What do modern liberals emphasize regarding the distribution of wealth?
Justice – a morally justifiable distribution that limits inequality to some extent
What is liberal democracy based on according to most liberals?
Free elections
What is equality of opportunity according to liberals?
Everyone should have the same chance to rise or fall; differing outcomes are acceptable
What is the modern liberal view on state intervention regarding equality?
Some intervention is acceptable to enable individuals to fulfill potential and be treated fairly
Is complete equality of outcome achievable or desirable according to modern liberals?
Neither achievable nor desirable
What is formal equality according to liberals?
People should have the same legal and political rights
What is foundational equality according to liberals?
All people are born equal and possess inalienable human rights
What is the liberal view on social inequality?
Some is acceptable as different talents require different rewards
Why do liberals believe some social inequality benefits society?
It incentivizes individuals to strive
What argument did 19th-century liberals like Robert Lowe make against universal suffrage?
Poorly educated individuals were incapable of voting in an informed way
Why do liberals believe government lacks legitimacy without democracy?
Without the consent of the people
What concept should operate between the people and their rulers in a democracy according to liberals?
A social contract where consent is freely given and renewed
How does democracy benefit citizens according to liberals?
They can hold the government to account
How does democracy enhance individuals according to liberals?
It promotes popular participation and personal growth
What was a concern some liberals had about democracy being collectivist?
It could lead to an expanded state
What is the ‘tyranny of the majority’ concern some liberals have about democracy?
It may undermine minority rights or individual freedoms and impose conformity
What is the stance of most modern liberals on democracy?
They endorse it but insist it is subject to constitutional constraints and protects rights
What are the two key strands of liberal ideology?
Classical and modern liberalism
What type of freedom do classical liberals advocate?
Negative freedom
To what features of classical liberalism is negative freedom linked?
Egoistical individualism and limiting state power
Why do classical liberals believe limiting state power maximises freedom?
Individuals take greater responsibility for their lives
What negative impact does reliance on the state have according to classical liberals?
It undermines self-respect and entrepreneurial drive
Why do modern liberals reject negative freedom on its own?
Disadvantaged individuals need help to overcome obstacles
What concept of freedom do modern liberals endorse?
Positive freedom
How do modern liberals view freedom?
As self-realisation
What does positive freedom support according to modern liberals?
Limited state intervention in society and the economy
What is the aim of state intervention in positive freedom?
To release individuals from social deprivation and give them opportunities
What concept does positive freedom reinforce?
Developmental individualism
When did classical liberalism emerge and what was it linked to?
The 18th century
What type of freedom and state do classical liberals maintain there should be?
Negative freedom and a minimal or ‘night watchman’ state
What essential obligation does the state have according to classical liberals?
To protect property
How unrestricted should individual behaviour be according to classical liberals?
As unrestricted as possible
On what principles should economic activity be based according to classical liberals?
Free-market and laissez-faire principles
How do classical liberals view large-scale welfare?
They reject it as leading to immoral behaviour and dependency
Who are key classical liberal thinkers mentioned?
Mary Wollstonecraft and John Stuart Mill
When did modern liberalism emerge and what was it a reaction against?
The early 20th century
Why do modern liberals believe the free market has not produced freedom for everyone?
Freedom is more than just being left alone by the state
What do modern liberals argue about the market?
It has to be regulated to combat inequality and poverty
What do modern liberals maintain about formal equality?
It does not lead to equality of opportunity because of existing inequalities
How should developmental individualism be promoted according to modern liberals?
By society through an interventionist state and a managed economy
How can individualism be assisted according to modern liberals?
Through collective action like state intervention to alleviate poverty
What type of freedom is required to establish real equality of opportunity according to modern liberals?
Positive freedom
What economic approach do modern liberals believe is needed?
Economic management of capitalism rather than a free-market approach
Who is a key modern liberal thinker mentioned?
John Rawls
What are some common views on the state shared by classical and modern liberals?
It should function by regulations
What theory do classical and modern liberals believe the state is based on?
Mechanistic theory – created by people to serve their interests
What is the classical liberal view on the role of the state?
A minimalist view
What should the state simply establish according to classical liberals?
A stable framework for human activity
What should be left to individuals and businesses according to classical liberals?
Everything beyond the stable framework
What should the minimal or ‘night watchman’ state focus on?
Maintaining order
How should state intervention in social and economic life be viewed by classical liberals?
It should be kept to a minimum to protect liberty
What should the state’s role be according to classical liberals in terms of the economy?
To maintain an orderly environment for trade
What concept did some late 19th-century classical liberals link their arguments to?
Social Darwinism and the ‘survival of the fittest’
What did Herbert Spencer argue in ‘The Man versus the State’?
Individual success or failure depends on adapting to economic conditions
What is the modern liberal view on the role of the state?
A larger role to help individuals be free and achieve potential
What social responsibility do modern liberals believe the state has?
To reduce or remove social and economic disadvantages
How do modern liberals believe an enlarged state enhances equality of opportunity?
By using taxation to provide welfare
What should the enabling state aim to improve according to modern liberals?
The lot of the poorest without creating equality of outcome
What did the UK Liberal governments of 1906–1914 introduce as examples of modern liberal state intervention?
Welfare reforms like state pensions and insurance
Whose call for state-directed capitalism influenced UK economic strategy from 1945–1979?
Economist John Maynard Keynes
What did William Beveridge’s Beveridge Report propose?
State provision to tackle the ‘five giant’ evils threatening freedom and potential
Which UK government created the welfare state based partly on the Beveridge Report?
The Labour government (1945–1951)
What fundamental need regarding the economy do classical and modern liberals agree on?
A capitalist economy
Why do liberals believe in a market-based capitalist economy?
It reflects private property as a natural right
What did classical liberals’ support for negative liberty lead them to endorse economically?
Laissez-faire capitalism
What famous work by Adam Smith is a key classical liberal statement on the economy?
The Wealth of Nations (1776)
How did classical liberals believe laissez-faire capitalism would operate?
Through the ‘invisible hand’ of market forces to increase prosperity
What did classical liberals believe would happen if the state adopted a ‘hands off’ approach?
The wealth of the successful would ‘trickle down’ to the rest of society
What did classical liberals believe had to be scrapped to promote global free trade?
Domestic economic protection like duties and tariffs
On what did the classical liberal laissez-faire approach rest?
Egoistical individualism and human rationalism/virtue
What do modern liberals advocate regarding the economy?
Government or state intervention
Whose ideas influenced economic policy in the USA and UK based on modern liberalism?
John Maynard Keynes
What do modern liberals believe about the free market?
It is not self-regulating and is prone to cyclical slumps
What are the consequences of cyclical slumps according to modern liberals?
Mass unemployment and loss of individual freedom
What do modern liberals believe is required to guide the economy and regulate demand?
State- or government-directed capitalism (dirigisme)
What are the goals of state-directed capitalism according to modern liberals?
Sustainable economic growth and full employment
How should governments prevent economic slumps according to modern liberals?
By managing the level of demand in the economy
What should governments do when facing an economic slump according to modern liberals?
Introduce public spending programmes to create jobs and stimulate the economy
What was one of the aims of the Keynesian economic approach?
To prevent economic depression leading to illiberal regimes
What is the shared optimistic view of human nature in classical and modern liberalism?
Individuals are unique
On what essential feature of politics and society do both classical and modern liberalism agree?
Individualism
How do classical and modern liberalism differ in promoting individualism?
They disagree on the methods
What value do both classical and modern liberals advocate?
Tolerance of differing values
What do both classical and modern liberals consider tolerance to be?
A natural right
What economic system do both classical and modern liberalism maintain is the best?
Capitalism
Why do they both support capitalism?
It reinforces individualism
What do both classical and modern liberals oppose regarding the economy?
State ownership
What type of state do both classical and modern liberals believe in?
A constitutional state to limit government power and protect rights
What principle of government do both classical and modern liberals call for?
Government by consent
How do classical and modern liberals define liberty differently?
Classical: negative freedom (freedom from interference); Modern: positive freedom (freedom through enablement)
How do classical and modern liberals view taxation differently?
Modern: important for positive freedom; Classical: ‘state robbery’ to be restricted
What economic approach do modern liberals endorse?
Keynesian-style management of market forces and demand
What economic approach do classical liberals embrace?
Laissez-faire capitalism with minimal state involvement
How do modern and classical liberals differ in their support for democracy?
Modern: support liberal and representative democracy; Classical: more ambivalent
What type of state do modern liberals call for
in contrast to classical liberalism’s minimal state?
Who is commonly regarded as a founder of liberal thought and a key figure in classical liberalism?
John Locke
What was Locke’s most important work mentioned?
Two Treatises of Government (1690)
What two key liberal ideas did Locke develop in this work?
Social contract theory and limited government
What is social contract theory according to Locke?
Society
According to Locke’s social contract
what happens if the state doesn’t uphold citizens’ rights?
How did Locke view the traditional idea of the state and monarchy?
He rejected the view that the state was God-given or monarchs had a ‘divine right’
What did Locke argue about the ‘true’ state?
It would be established by humans to serve their interests and rest on voluntary consent
According to Locke
why would people accept the authority of the ‘true’ state?
What did Locke conclude if the state broke its contract by disregarding natural rights?
People would be entitled to oppose or remove it
What is limited government according to Locke?
Government should be limited by a constitution’s rules and based on consent from below
What did the concept of limited government reject?
The arbitrary rule of medieval monarchs and ‘divine right’
How did Locke argue the contractual nature of the state embodied limited government?
The governed are guaranteed certain rights
Under Locke’s social contract
what is the government limited to?
How would the limited nature of the state be achieved according to Locke?
By dispersing powers between the Executive
On what was Locke’s ‘social contract’ based?
Reason: rational people wouldn’t submit to arbitrary rule as it’s not in their interests
According to Locke
whom should the state serve?
What are key features of Locke’s social contract mentioned?
It was based on reason and implied the state should serve the individual
Was Locke a democrat in the full modern sense?
No
What right of the people did Locke believe in that is often cited as an influence on the US Declaration of Rights?
The right to remove an unjust government
What was Locke’s stance on religious tolerance?
He argued for it but was against extending it to atheists
What is Mary Wollstonecraft rightly regarded as
despite her liberal philosophical grounding?
What did Wollstonecraft argue about women and reason?
Women are rational and independent beings capable of reason
What did Wollstonecraft believe women should enjoy to be free?
Full civil liberties and the ability to have a career (formal equality)
In which book did Wollstonecraft argue that women were guided by reason?
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792)
How did Wollstonecraft view human nature?
Optimistically
What did Wollstonecraft argue women should be entitled to?
The same rights as men
What assumptions did 18th-century state measures and social attitudes make about women?
They were not rational and could not enjoy individual freedom
What were some limitations faced by women in the 18th century according to Wollstonecraft?
Limited property ownership
What concept did the denial of women’s voting rights contradict?
‘Government by consent’
What did Wollstonecraft believe women needed to be equal and free in society?
Full civil liberties and the ability to pursue a career
What did Wollstonecraft see as vital for women’s (and men’s) self-respect and potential?
Formal education
Who is arguably the greatest 19th-century British liberal thinker?
John Stuart Mill
What did Mill’s work signal in liberalism?
The transition from classical to modern liberalism
What is Mill’s harm principle outlined in On Liberty?
Individuals should be free to do anything except harm other people
To what classical concepts was Mill’s harm principle closely linked?
Negative freedom
How did Mill categorise human actions?
As ‘self-regarding’ (affecting only the individual) or ‘other-regarding’ (affecting others)
What are examples of self-regarding actions according to Mill?
Religious observance and airing personal views
What are examples of other-regarding actions according to Mill?
Violence or disruptive behaviour
What did Mill endorse regarding minority views?
Tolerance and the right to hold them
According to Mill
when should the state or others not interfere with actions?
What did Mill believe about marriage?
It had to be a truly equal partnership allowing women to choose between family and career
When should the state and others curb actions according to Mill?
Other-regarding actions that harm the freedom of others
What type of actions should be tolerated by the state according to Mill?
Self-regarding and ‘unharmful’ other-regarding actions
What did Mill believe tolerance of diverse views would promote?
New ideas and the exposure of flawed ones
Who was John Rawls and what was his main work?
A modern liberal
What did Rawls attempt to construct in society?
A society where individual freedom coexisted with limited inequality
What was Rawls’s theory of justice?
Society must be just and guarantee each citizen a life worth living
What is required to create a just society according to Rawls?
Formal equality and greater economic and social equality
What type of state does this require according to Rawls?
An enabling state
What policies would an enabling state adopt based on Rawls’s theory?
Redistributing wealth
What is the ‘veil of ignorance’ concept in Rawls’s theory?
Individuals agree on society’s type without knowing their own position in it
What kind of society would rational and empathetic individuals devise behind the ‘veil’?
A new society where the poor received better treatment
What kind of society would people choose behind the ‘veil’ and why?
A fairer
What would be the basis of the enabling state required by this choice?
Government by consent
What would still exist in Rawls’s just society?
Inequalities of outcome reflecting individual differences
When are these inequalities tolerable according to Rawls?
As long as deprivation does not worsen
Who was Betty Friedan and what was her major work?
Author of The Feminine Mystique (1963)
What did Friedan argue about the legal status and capabilities of women and men?
They are of equal worth and equally capable
What must be rejected according to Friedan?
Oppressive laws and social views
What restricts women’s choices and opportunities according to Friedan?
Social conditioning through family
What does this conditioning emphasize instead of careers?
Unfulfilling domestic roles
What is needed to change this according to Friedan?
More extensive opportunities and a shift in social attitudes
What did Friedan believe was the only realistic way to make progress for women?
Legal change
What did Friedan believe confrontation was in achieving progress for women?
Counter-productive
What does legal equality represent in Friedan’s view of feminism?
A modern form of the liberal belief in tolerance
How is Friedan’s feminism liberal in its approach to achieving equality?
It seeks legal measures to secure greater opportunity for women to compete equally with men
