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Politics A Level - Ideologies > Liberalism > Flashcards

Liberalism Flashcards

1
Q

How do all liberals tend to view Human Nature?

A
  • People are rational, capable of perceiving their own interests and taking own decisions
  • Hold a positive view
  • Believe good society tolerated different values, beliefs and customs
  • People should be free to use own skills
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2
Q

How does Classical Liberalism view human nature?

A
  • Only be restrictions on the individual is they threaten the freedom of others - driven by Harm Principle (Mills)
  • Negative freedom - freedom from oppression form the state
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3
Q

How do Modern Liberals view human nature?

A
  • More conscious of social injustice, favour the state intervening to allow people to better themselves
  • Positive freedoms - protect people from themselves
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4
Q

How do classical liberals view the society?

A
  • Downplay importance of society, see it as a collection of individuals
  • Advocate meritocracy
  • Believe in foundational equality - everyone is born equal
  • Linked to notion of formal equality - same political and legal rights
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5
Q

How do modern liberals view society?

A
  • Believe foundational & formal equality don’t go far enough
  • People should be free but society is more than a sum of individuals it contains
  • Necessary for state to intervene to create fairer society
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6
Q

How do Liberals tend to view the state?

A
  • A Social contact between people and state - people give up some freedom for protection but state can be overthrown if it fails
  • Believe in Limited government with checks and balances to prevent abuses of power by state
  • Support decentralisation of power
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7
Q

How do Classical liberals view the state?

A
  • It is a necessary evil - restriction over the state is required to prevent abuse of powers as leaders will act in own interests not others
  • Idea of the night watchman state protecting individuals from harm
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8
Q

How do modern liberals view the state?

A

• View it as necessary but less evil - desire for it to be enabling to aid people to achieve their full potential in life

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9
Q

How do classical liberals think the economy should be handled?

A
  • Belief in the free market, capitalist economics best serves by a minimally intervening state
  • The market should be able to regulate itself (prices, wages, investment), individuals enter into contracts as employer and employee of their own choice
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10
Q

How would Modern liberals handle the economy?

A
  • Still believe in a free market and that individual choice is paramount
  • But recognise more intervention that promotes sustainable growth and limits to injustice in society - Keynesian economics
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11
Q

What are the 5 most important values of liberalism?

A
  • Individualism
  • Freedom
  • Justice
  • Reason
  • Toleration (social democracy)
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12
Q

Define individualism and how each branch of liberalism subscribe to it

A

Definition : belief in the supreme importance of the individual over any social group or collective body

  • Classical liberals: egotistical individualism (emphasis on self interest and relienace)
  • Modern liberals: developmental individualism (prioritises human flourishing)

Both want the individual to be able to develop into fullness of their potential

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13
Q

What is freedom? How do liberals vary in their view of it?

A

Freedom: ability to act and think as one wishes

  • Classical liberals: believe in negative freedoms (an absence of exteneral restrictions on the individual)
  • Modern liberals: believe in positive freedoms (to be autonomous on order to develop skills and talents)
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14
Q

What do liberals think about reason?

A
  • Knowledge stems from reason rather than experience
  • Believe that conflict can be settled through debate & negotiation
  • Don’t like aggression or force unless in self protection or all other means exhausted
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15
Q

How do Liberals view justice?

A
  • Say everyone is born with foundational equality
  • Want law to ensure everyone’s rights are upheld (motivates their support of constitutionalism)
  • Want everyone to have equal opportunity and for society to be a meritocracy where people are justly rewarded for the effort they put into their work
  • Believe social equality is unjust as it treat individuals as the same when they aren’t
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16
Q

What is toleration? Why do liberals endorse it?

A

Toleration: willingness to accept views or actions even if someone disagrees with them

  • Liberals desire a society where everyone is accepted for their beliefs due to a desire for a pluralist society
  • Believe that private matters should be left to the individual
  • Sau that this will ensure social harmony in a society of individuals
17
Q

KEY THINKER
John Locke 1632 - 1704
What were his main ideas in Two Treaties of Government?

A
  • Opposed power unconstrained by law
  • Both rulers and people must be subject to law
  • Limited government and gaining consent to govern
18
Q

KEY THINKER
John Locke 1632 - 1704
What helped to form Locke’s philosophy?

A
  • Idea of natural rights and laws - everyone is given the same rights and must respect others. No one has a god given right to govern
  • Reason - argued no rational person would not submit to arbitrary rule
19
Q

KEY THINKER
John Locke 1632 - 1704
What other ideas did Locke hold?

A
  • Property was a natural right
  • The state should serve the individual
  • The social contract: society and state in theoretical contract - people observe state rule of state protects people and shows toleration. If government fails to do this then people have right to overthrow it
20
Q

KEY THINKER
Mary Wollstonecraft 1759 -1797
What were her key ideas in A Vindication of the Rights of Women?

A

• Believed that women were not less rational than men and therefore entitled to the same rights

21
Q

KEY THINKER
Mary Wollstonecraft 1759 -1797
What else did Wollstonecraft advocate for?

A
  • Formal equality - wanted women to be granted full civil liberties, allowed to have a career (not be economically dependent on men)
  • Argued best way to get formal equality was thrift education to gain self respect and realise potential
  • Said marriage must be equal partnership, tyranny of the male over female prevented people from being good citizenship
  • Said biologically women were more likely to opt for motherhood but wanted women to have a choice/equality of opportunity
22
Q

KEY THINKER
John Stuart Mill 1806 - 1873
What ideas did Mill put forward in ‘On Liberty’?

A

• The harm principle - the government should only intervene if behaviour of the individual could adversely affect other’s freedoms (but does not extend to freedom of speech/association)

23
Q

KEY THINKER
John Stuart Mill 1806 - 1873
What influenced Mill’s ideas?

A

• Utilitarianism - influences idea that individuals were best suited to judge own interests but disagreed that it was always in pursuit of pleasure/avoidance of pain

24
Q

KEY THINKER
John Stuart Mill 1806 - 1873
What else did Mill believe?

A
  • There was a danger to the tyranny of the majority, he wanted minority’s to be able to express their view
  • Believed in equality of genders, advocates for votes for women
25
Q

KEY THINKER
John Stuart Mill 1806 - 1873
What happened to Mill’s views over time?

A
  • Changed to say that some state intervention was required to prevent the poor from injustice
  • Began to endorse inheritance tax because transmission of wealth have people an advantage over others
26
Q

KEY THINKER
John Rawls 1921 - 2002
What ideas does Rawls put forward in ‘A Theory of Justice’?

A
  • Rejects utilitarianism for not taking into account a variety of desires
  • Wanted to reconcile individual freedom with excessive social inequality
  • Important to create society with economic justice
27
Q

KEY THINKER
John Rawls 1921 - 2002
What other two idea are attributed to Rawls?

A
  • The veil of ignorance theory - if someone was to create an ideal society not knowing what position they would hold they would create a society with small degree of inequality but rewards for talent (a modern liberal society)
  • Political liberalism - revising liberalism to include principle alongside equal right and economic justice
28
Q

KEY THINKER
John Rawls 1921 - 2002
What other ideas did Rawls hold?

A
  • Accepted a degree of inequality but wanted to minimise difference between top and bottom of society
  • Rejected extreme of communism as well as unregulated capitalism in favour of ‘property owning democracy’ where ownership widely distributed and poorest are economically independent
29
Q

KEY THINKER
Betty Friedan 1921 - 2002
What are Friedan’s most notable influences?

A
  • Writing the Feminine Mystique
  • Founded the National Organisation of Women - aimed to bring women into the mainstream of society alongside men, secure freedom laws in federal government
30
Q

KEY THINKER
Betty Friedan 1921 - 2002
What influenced Friedan’s philosophy?

A

The belief that individuals are of equal worth and entitled to equal rights regardless of gender

31
Q

KEY THINKER
Betty Friedan 1921 - 2002
Name other ideas that Friedan held?

A
  • Conditioning drive women to become wives/mothers over biology, led to women not achieving full potential
  • Like Wollstonecraft said motherhood wasn’t not bad/lesser but wanted women to have a choice

Politics A Level - Ideologies (4 decks)

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