Liberalism

:This article discusses liberalism as a major political ideology, not the usage of the term in specific countries. For links to articles about varieties of liberalism and liberal parties around the world, see Liberalism in various countries, below.

Liberalism against totalitarianism

In the mid-20th century, liberalism began to define itself in opposition to totalitarianism. Rather than a new philosophy, this was a descriptive term for the common characteristics of fascist and Stalinist regimes. Totalitarian regimes sought and tried to implement absolute centralized control over all aspects of society, in order to achieve prosperity, stability, and survival itself. The concept has been disputed by historians, who consider that the reality of the regimes (power struggles, factions, and incompetence), did not match the dystopia. Opposition to totalitarian regimes, seeking to discredit and destroy liberalism, acquired great importance in liberal and democratic thinking. Liberalism ideologies spent most of the 20th century defining itself as an opposition to various strains of totalitarianism. This opposition liberalism shared with social democracy and other democratic ideologies.

Related Topics:
Totalitarianism - Fascist - Stalinist - Regimes - Dystopia

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Great Depression of the 1930s shook public faith in laissez-faire capitalism and "the profit motive," as well as the ability of unregulated markets to produce prosperity. Many liberals were troubled by the political instability and restrictions on liberty caused by the growing inequality of wealth. Key liberals of this persuasion, such as John Dewey, John Maynard Keynes, Winston Churchill, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, argued for the creation of a more elaborate state apparatus to serve as the bulwark of individual liberty, permitting the continuation of capitalism without resorting to totalitarianism. Some liberals, including Hayek, whose work The Road to Serfdom remains influential, argued against these institutions, believing the Great Depression and Second World War to be individual events, that, once passed, did not justify a permanent change in the role of government.

Related Topics:
Great Depression - John Dewey - John Maynard Keynes - Winston Churchill - Franklin D. Roosevelt - Hayek - The Road to Serfdom

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Meanwhile, in Italy and Germany, nationalist governments linked corporate capitalism to the state, rather than to individual liberty, and promoted the idea that conquest and national superiority would give these nations a rightful "place in the sun". These totalitarian states argued that democracy was weak and incapable of decisive action, and that only a strong leader could impose the kind of discipline that was necessary.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The rise of totalitarianism became a lens for liberal thought. The majority of liberals began analyzing their own beliefs and principles to find out where they had gone wrong. Eventually, they came to the conclusion that totalitarianism arose because people in a degraded condition turn to dictatorships for solutions. From this, it was argued that the state had the duty to protect the economic well being of its citizens. As Isaiah Berlin said, "Freedom for the wolves means death for the sheep." This growing body of liberal thought argued that reason requires a government to act as a balancing force in economics. The economic theory of Keynesianism was the masterpiece of this body of liberal thought.

Related Topics:
Isaiah Berlin - Keynesianism

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Key liberal thinkers, such as Lujo Brentano, Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse, Thomas Hill Green, John Maynard Keynes, Bertil Ohlin and John Dewey, described how a government should intervene in the economy to protect liberty without leading to socialism. These liberals developed the theory of modern liberalism (also "new liberalism," not to be confused with present-day neoliberalism. Modern liberals rejected both radical capitalism and the revolutionary elements from the socialist school. John Maynard Keynes, in particular, had a significant impact on liberal thought throughout the world. The Liberal Party in Britain, particularly since Lloyd George's People's Budget, was heavily influenced by Keynes, as was the Liberal International, the Oxford Liberal Manifesto of 1947 of the world organization of liberal parties. In the United States, the influence of Keynesianism on Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal has led modern liberalism to be identified with American liberalism and Canadian Liberalism.

Related Topics:
Lujo Brentano - Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse - Thomas Hill Green - John Maynard Keynes - Bertil Ohlin - John Dewey - Socialism - Modern liberalism - Neoliberalism - Revolutionary - Socialist - Liberal Party - People's Budget - Liberal International - Liberal parties - Keynesianism - Franklin D. Roosevelt - New Deal - American liberalism

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Liberalism after World War II

In much of the West, expressly liberal parties were caught between "conservative" parties on one hand, and "labor" or social democratic parties on the other hand. For example, the UK Liberal Party became a minor party. The same process occurred in a number of other countries, as the social democratic parties took the leading role in the Left, while pro-business conservative parties took the leading role in the Right.

Related Topics:
Left - Right

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The post-war period saw the dominance of modern liberalism. Linking modernism and progressivism to the notion that a populace in possession of rights and sufficient economic and educational means would be the best defense against totalitarian threats, the liberalism of this period took the stance that by enlightened use of liberal institutions, individual liberties could be maximized, and self-actualization could be reached by the broad use of technology. Liberal writers in this period include economist John Kenneth Galbraith, philosopher John Rawls and sociologist Ralf Dahrendorf. A dissenting strain of liberalism developed that viewed any government involvement in the economy as a betrayal of liberal principles. Calling itself classical liberalism or libertarianism, this movement was centered around such schools of thought as Austrian Economics.

Related Topics:
Modern liberalism - Modernism - Self-actualization - John Kenneth Galbraith - John Rawls - Ralf Dahrendorf - Classical liberalism - Austrian Economics

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The debate between personal liberty and social optimality occupies much of the theory of liberalism since the Second World War, particularly centering around the questions of social choice and market mechanisms required to produce a "liberal" society. One of the central parts of this argument concerns Kenneth Arrow's General Possibility Theorem. This thesis states that there is no consistent social choice function which satisifies unbounded decision making, independence of choices, Pareto optimality, and non-dictatorship. In short, according to the thesis, it is not possible to have unlimited liberty, a maximum amount of utility, and an unlimited range of choices at the same time. Another important argument within liberalism is the importance of rationality in decision making - whether the liberal state is best based on rigorous procedural rights or whether it should be rooted in substantial equality.

Related Topics:
Kenneth Arrow - General Possibility Theorem - Pareto optimality - Rationality

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Positive liberalism

One important liberal debate concerns whether people have positive rights as members of communities in addition to being protected from wrongs done by others. For most modern liberals, the answer is "yes": individuals have positive rights based on being members of a national, political, or local unit, and can expect protection and benefits from these associations. Members of a community have a right to expect that their community will regulate the economy since rising and falling economic circumstances cannot be controlled by the individual. If individuals have a right to participate in a public capacity, then they have a right to expect education and social protections against discrimination from other members of that public. A minority of liberals would answer "no": individuals have no such rights as members of communities, for such rights conflict with the more fundamental "negative" rights of other members of the community.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The liberal pendulum

After the 1970s, the pendulum had swung away from increasing the role of government, and towards a greater use of the free market and laissez-faire principles. In essence, many of the old pre-World War I ideas were making a comeback.

Related Topics:
Free market - Laissez-faire

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In part this was a reaction to the triumphalism of the dominant forms of liberalism of the time, but as well it was rooted in a foundation of liberal philosophy, particularly suspicion of the state, whether as an economic or philosophical actor. Even liberal institutions could be misused to restrict rather than promote liberty. Increasing emphasis on the free market emerged with Milton Friedman in the United States, and with members of the Austrian School in Europe. Their argument was that regulation and government involvement in the economy was a slippery slope, that any would lead to more, and that more was difficult to remove. John Maynard Keynes wrote to Hayek, saying he was "deeply moved" by the argument that temporary government programs could become permanent tyranny.

Related Topics:
Milton Friedman - Austrian School - John Maynard Keynes

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The effect of liberalism on the modern world is profound. The ideas of individual liberties, personal dignity, private property, universal human rights, transparency of government, limitations on state power, popular sovereignty, national self-determination, privacy, enlightened and rational policy, the rule of law, fundamental equality were all radical notions some 250 years ago. Today all are universally accepted as the goals of policy in most nations, even if there is a wide gap between statements and reality.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~