Political Liberalism

Influence of the philosophers During the Enlightenment, philosophers discussed ideas on how society and the economy should be run Liberal proponents looked at the laws of nature and felt that those same laws should be applied Important philosophers include Locke Montesquieu Smith Mill

Enlightenment ideas towards gov. Importance of the individual means that all citizens should have a role to play in society Philosophes had support for varying degrees of democracy from constitutional monarchies to direct democracies Eg. Locke: role of government to limit itself to protecting individual liberty Rousseau – general will (consensus, “benevolent dictator”) Montesquieu – need to have checks and balances on the three branches of government

Aboriginal Influences Influential politicians in North America observed the political organization of many powerful Aboriginal groups (eg. Haudenosaunee – Iroquois Confederacy) Common characteristics Consensus decision making Role of leader not one of power, but support for the individual members of the tribe Adherence to collective norms Which would be considered collectivist/individualist?

From thought to action – the revolutions

The French Revolution (remember Social 20 – were you paying attention The Third Estate felt that the king was not listening so they rebelled and formed their own government Think: what was Locke’s influence ? At first the new government followed the ideals of liberalism Abolished feudalism Creation of the Declaration of the Rights of Man

Unfortunately, the new government fell into a Reign of Terror as the ideals of liberalism became corrupted “We must control individuals in order to protect our liberal society” The re-establishment of monarchies (e.g. Napoleon) and further rebellions created chaos in France for almost ½ century, but those ideals that were the foundation of the revolution in 1789 remained strong and are part of French society today

The American Revolution “Taxation without representation” Americans took the ideas of Locke and applied them to their Declaration of Independence Turn to page 117 in your textbook to see the preamble of the Declaration There is a dangerous precedence contained in the ideals of revolting against a government, as stated in the Declaration of Independence – what is it?