Liberalism: Outline Varieties of Liberalism historical circumstances conceptions of freedom four functions of ideology Welfare-state Liberalism and Socialism Liberal democracy

What is Liberalism? When you hear someone is a liberal, or a particular proposal or policy is liberal, what do you think this means? ◦ Think general principles A liberal ______ (person/politician, proposal, policy, and so forth) is: 1. ___________________________ 2. ___________________________ 3. ___________________________

A liberal is… Inclined toward reducing role of government Tolerant toward unusual, deviant persons, actions Concerned with protecting rights of unpopular minorities

Liberal policies… Higher taxes  social welfare Against restricting freedom of expression, action (e.g., abortion, smoking marijuana) Protecting rights of defendants in criminal cases Restricting power of police to gather evidence, extract confessions

Liberal? Yes and No Classical liberals (e.g., John Stuart Mill) and modern libertarians oppose governmental intrusion into private sphere Modern welfare, welfare-state, or reform liberals favor state intervention

Liberalism defined Derived from Latin word liber, meaning “free” Championed freedom of individual from unjustified, unnecessary restrictions or restraints Middle Ages = religious worship and economic activity

Rise of Liberalism Demise of feudalism Increasing trade, commerce Merchant capitalist  break down barriers to trade Protestant Reformation  papal, priestly power Individualism, new ideas Individual sovereign, endowed with natural rights, life and liberty State should serve individual, not other way around Liberal revolutions of 17 th and 18 th = England, 13 colonies, France

Worry of Critics How can order be maintained in a society whose members are freed from traditional religious and economic restraints? Would not such “masterless men” ride roughshod over each other? If older restraints no longer sufficed, what was their substitute?

Thomas Hobbes Leviathan (1651) Perfect liberty = “state of nature”  grave danger, insecurity Life “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short” To bring solitary individuals into civil relations of cooperation, harmony required agreement – compact, social contract

John Locke Social contract only means by which individual liberty and social order could be reconciled ◦ Specify rights of individuals ◦ Limit government’s right to restrict actions and activities of citizens

Individualism Hobbes and Locke agreed civil society rests on consent of rational, self- interested individuals concerned with protecting lives and property Defenders of individualism Individual sovereign ruler of his/her own person  core of Liberalism Freedom viewed through individualist lenses

Primacy of liberty Locke = every person possesses right to “life, liberty and property” Jefferson (Declaration of Independence) = “life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness” Primacy of liberty; second only to life Model of freedom as triadic relation ◦ (A) agent ◦ (B) barrier or obstacle ◦ (C) aim or goal

Agent Individual ◦ Not class, caste, rank, or order to which he/she belongs ◦ Isolated, self-governing sovereign Freedom = absence of restrictions ◦ Unencumbered by obstacles or barriers

Barriers or Obstacles Restrictions, limitations (laws, rules, regulations, restrictive customs, traditions) that arbitrarily inhibit, impede, limit, or hinder actions, movements, choices of individuals, particularly in private or personal sphere of thought and conduct ◦ Sharp distinction between public and private spheres Sphere of private belief (especially religion) liberty absolute ◦ State has neither right nor authority to tell citizens what to believe, how to worship

Goals or Aims Various – freedom of religion, travel/emigrate, vote, run for public office Rights of individuals to pursue their goals Pursuing and promoting one’s self-interest Free of feudal ties and other restrictions, most individuals “naturally ” promote own well-being ◦ pursue “right to life, liberty, and property” Two social institutions to protect and promote rights – Free market and Liberal state

Free Market Individuals pursue interests in competition with others Pre-liberal moral codes condemned self- interested behavior as sinful, unjust Bernard Mandeville and Adam Smith believed “selfish” behavior rational and socially beneficial ◦ “Private vices” (Mandeville) have way of becoming “public benefits” in long run Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations (1776) ◦ “Invisible hand” of market ◦ natural “propensity to truck, barter, and exchange”

The State “More visible hand” Scope and power should be minimal, severely limited  restricts freedom of citizens ◦ “that state governs best which governs least” Role limited to making, enforcing laws needed to promote public and private dealings (e.g., contracts) Protect individual rights Act where free market does not, cannot

Two sides of Liberalism Liberalism (late 19 th and 20 th centuries) Disagreement about how much “free market” can achieve, how well it can provide socially necessary services Two sides of Liberalism – economic and ethical – in tension