liberals on the state Flashcards
structure
two agree one disagree
- agree limited state based on consent
State Necessity: Essential for order but risks infringing on liberties.
Limited Government: Advocates checks and balances (e.g., US Constitution) and separation of powers to prevent tyranny.
Natural Rights (Locke): State protects life, liberty, and property.
Economic Freedom: State avoids economic control, ensuring a favorable environment.
Mechanistic Theory: State as a tool created by the people to serve their interests.
Consent of the Governed (Locke’s Social Contract): Government’s legitimacy comes from the consent of the people.
Tyranny of the Majority: Concern about democracy undermining individual rights, supports civil liberties protections.
- agree state should promote individualism and tolerance and protection of minorities
Focus on Individualism & Freedom: The state should promote autonomy, freedom, and well-being for each individual, not serve collective interests (e.g., class, religion).
Tolerance: Liberals advocate for tolerance of diverse viewpoints, lifestyles, and identities, as long as they don’t harm others.
Harm Principle (John Stuart Mill): Individuals should be free to act as they wish, provided their actions don’t harm others. Mill’s principle is key to balancing liberty and social responsibility.
Religious Freedom (John Locke): Locke championed religious tolerance and argued the state should not impose beliefs, a radical idea in his time.
Social Liberalism (Modern Liberals): Support civil rights, anti-discrimination laws, and protection of marginalized groups.
Betty Friedan: Played a pivotal role in advancing gender equality through the National Organization for Women (NOW), addressing workplace discrimination and reproductive rights.
- disagree on size of state I economy and society
Classical Liberals:
Advocate for a ‘night watchman state’, with minimal intervention, protecting against external threats and maintaining order.
Emphasize negative liberty: the state’s role is to protect individual rights (life, liberty, property) and interfere as little as possible.
Government should only provide essential services like defense, justice, and public infrastructure.
Support formal equality (equal rights under the law), but not active state intervention to address inequality.
Adam Smith: Advocate for a free market, where the state should not intervene in economic affairs.
Wollstonecraft: Calls for equal rights, but no active state measures to address inequality.
Modern Liberals:
Support an enabling state that empowers disadvantaged individuals to fully exercise positive freedom and individualism.
Acknowledge that capitalism leaves some individuals behind, especially the poor and discriminated.
John Rawls: Argues the state should address inequalities by ensuring fair access to resources and opportunities, using his ‘veil of ignorance’ thought experiment to justify an enabling state.
Support policies like education, healthcare, social security, and progressive taxation to help individuals achieve their potential.
Beveridge Report: Lays the foundation for the British Welfare State with reforms like universal social insurance and the NHS.
Betty Friedan: Advocates for state intervention to promote equality, including measures like affirmative action and anti-discrimination laws
