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Introduction on political ideologies reflection paper
Introduction on political ideologies reflection paper
The influence of political ideologies
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An Examination of Liberalism
Liberalism is a political ideology that has been prominent in modern times. The foundation of which are the concepts of liberty and equality. The meaning and application of these words in society are heavily debated. A broad few of these terms and a look at the people who have defined Liberalism will provide a depth of understanding into modern societies.
Liberty and Equality
Liberty, simply put, is the freedom to choose and act. It is also the freedom from oppression. Equality is defined as “the state or quality of being equal; correspondence in quantity, degree, value, rank, or ability.”(1) In Liberal ideology, both of these words are heavily debated as to what is intended by liberty or equality. For example,
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They would generally define equality as everyone being created equal and having the same “rights”. Known as the Father of Classical Liberalism, John Locke is the quintessential Classical Liberal. His ideas were echoed by Thomas Jefferson in The Declaration of Independence. Consider the wording, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness…”(2) Other notable Classical Liberals include; David Ricardo, Thomas Malthus, and Adam …show more content…
Also known as “Social Justice,” this emphasis “is generally used to refer to a set of institutions which will enable people to lead a fulfilling life and be active contributors to their community.”(4) Examples of these types of institutions include public healthcare, public education, and social security. This approach to society differs greatly from other types of liberalism as it requires a larger government to provide these types of services. Prominent figures who believe in this type of ideology include, Thomas Paine, John Stuart Mill, T.H. Green and Franklin D.
Today, the definition of the term “liberal” is relatively uncontested, and its content is relatively well defined. A liberal today is someone who advocates for governmental solutions to various problems, not for unaided individual freedom. Liberals today trust and call for governmental action, not for the type of self-determination supported by Hoover. Contemporary liberals believe in individual freedom, but they typically advocate f...
So what is classical liberalism and how does it play a role in our society?
Liberalism is a social ideology that breaks away from ordinary conventions, in search for new forms
- Liberalism is a form of political structure where the powers of the government are limited against the people and their property
The Liberals value protecting and helping those who cannot for themselves, promotes fairness likes nurturing and strengthening oneself in order to help others. Project this into nation we see how the liberals hold the view that it is the duty of the government to alleviate social ills and to protect civil liberties and individual human rights. In other words Liberal policies generally emphasize the need for the government to solve problems while conservative policies generally emphasize empowerment of the individuals to solve problems. Conservatives value self discipline, responsibility and self reliance, upholding of established moral order then use of punishment to establish respect for authority. This serves as the basis of the view that government role should be to provide people the freedom necessary to pursue their own
With this capitalist society, a serf now had the ‘freedom’ to think for themselves; to decide who to work for or where to live, what to buy and so forth. This type of freedom or liberty was a view of early or classical liberalism, where liberty was a natural right, an essential requirement for leading a truly human existence. Later liberals viewed liberty or freedom as a vehicle to only develop their skills and talents and fulfil their potential.
Liberty, can be defined as freedom from control, captivity, or restraint; where all are equal and have the ability to do whatever is in their will, that none can be hindered by race, class or sex. While freedom is mostly brought within the ideas of slavery, as is within the contexts of Olaudah Equiano and Phillis Wheatley's works, it can also be that of women from their husbands and places in life, as with Mary Astell's work.
one may ask whether or not the ideas and goals of classical liberalism have been
Considered to be the ‘Father of classical liberalism,’ John Locke established the core values of classical liberalism, which included liberty, individualism, protection of natural rights, consent and constitutionalism. Classical liberalism that developed in the United States focused on a ‘minimal state’ in terms of government restriction while John Locke centralized his focus on the social and political means of the individual. Generally, egalitarianism is defined as “a belief in human equality in terms of social political and economic affairs.” Under this standard, John Locke cannot be labeled an egalitarian in all terms since he does not believe in equality of persons in all aspects. John Locke’s form of classical liberalism can be best categorized as egalitarian because of his emphasis on the idea of tabula rasa, equality of opportunity and natural rights.
Throughout the ages, the principles of equality and liberty have been a subject of great disputes. Liberal minimalism [1] holds a distinct outlook in the explicit implications of these expressions. For a minimalist democracy must strive to primary reduce control of authoritarian power through restraining most if not all constraints to the individual, allowing them to dictate their own lives by implementing a representative government. In addition, it implements an equal, consistent, and indiscriminate regulation. Thus effectively preventing tyranny, and creating equality before the law, irrelevant to the citizen’s position, which denies high ranking individuals legal advantages seen during the feudal era. Accordingly, the rule of law comes across to liberals as their greatest triumph, for they perceive it as the lawful representation of equality and liberty. There are numerous critics of the liberal minimalist interpretation of equality and social liberty before the law. Such as inequalities of opportunity, and material inequality which results in exploitation. However, liberals will reject “to impose upon the public a consciously selected model of distribution, whether it promotes equality or of inequality.”[2]
Freedom of individuals is of high value within the principles of liberalism. The political movement, liberalism is centred around individuals, freedom, rights and reason (Heywood 2012). John Gray (1986) identified that the main elements of liberalism are individualism and egalitarian. Liberal societies are organised around the principles of consent and constitutionalism, created in order protect people from a government tyranny (Heywood 2012). Classical liberals supported negative freedom, freedom from constraints, whereas modern liberals support positive freedom, in the regards of human development and opportunities (Heywood 2012). Regardless of the switching of which freedom classical and modern liberals support, it is still freedom. That is much more than what fascism gives the individuals. It is the freedom from oppression, the freedom of thought, expression and economic activity which can also constitute freedom. There is also ideas of freedom of press and freedom of opportunity that can also contribute to the concept of liberty. Although, it is argued that there is no absolute freedom. There will always be some sort of resistance and a small margin to which they do not agree (Harrison & Boyd 2003). However, it is through the idea of liberalism that this resistance should only be small and mild. While there may not be absolute freedom, it still provides more freedom than other political ideologies. John Locke
According to Kegley & Wittkopf (2006: 28), liberalism is "a paradigm predicated on the hope that the application of reason and universal ethics to international relations can lead to a more orderly, just, and cooperative world, and that international anarchy [lack of a hierarchy/world government] and war can be policed by institutional reforms that empower international organizations and laws"
In order to enforce it, however, ideal liberalism calls for mass action. This is due to the fact that the government holds power to execute administrative functions of a state, meaning that an individual has minimal bargaining power. All types of liberalism are founded on this aspect of democracy. Examples include classic liberalism and modern American liberalism. Classic liberalism is based on the limitation of state power. (Hansen 1). This type of liberalism recognizes the state as a powerful being and therefore a threat to individual freedom. On the other hand, modern American liberalism advocates for an advancement of social justice and the rights of individuals. (Hansen 1). The common factor between the two is the need for mass action to enforce them. Therefore, in order to protect the rights of individuals, people have to take it upon themselves to voice concern for violation and to address the risks to their
Equality is said to be having the same rights and freedoms as everyone else. In
Liberals viewed men to be desirous for increasingly more property and respect of others, because liberals believed that the only way to get ahead in life was to gain property and respect, for the more property the better position in society. Liberals recognized that there was a need for some minimum form of government, otherwise there would be the inconvenience of every man having to be his own judge and policeman, but it would not need to be a very strong government. Government was only to restrain occasional transgressors; it was to protect the propertied against the non-propertied. Since the people also needed to be protected from an arbitrary or absolutist government, the government should be under the ultimate control of the propertied. Therefore, there should remain the power to remove or alter the legislative power, when it acts contrary to the trust that was placed in it. In other words, liberals believed in the ability of self-government and self-control, because they considered man to be rational in that man was capable of making independent decisions about his life. However, they did acknowledge the need for a weak government. This government was to be a constitutional monarchy, in which freedom of the press, freedom of speech, free rights of assembly, religion, and freedom to dispose over private property would be preserved in the best possible way.