Positive Freedom Essay

A Comparison on the Implications of Negative and Positive Freedom for the Relationship between the Individual and the State
Introduction
It is hard to define freedom in the sense of political theory. Berlin (1968) suggests two concepts of freedom, negative freedom and positive freedom. Negative freedom refers to the "area within which a man can act unobstructed by others" (Berlin, 1968, p, 118), while positive freedom refers to "being one's own master" (Berlin, 1968, p, 122). The aim of this paper is to study the implications of Berlin (1968)'s negative freedom and positive freedom on the relationship between the individual and the state. This paper will start by studying the implication of negative freedom and positive freedom on the relationship between the individual and the state respectively, followed by a comparison on these two implications with a real world example, the different attitude of American government and Chinese government on gun control, to contrast the different implications these two kinds of freedom have on the relationship between the individual and the state for these two countries.
The implication of positive freedom
People who pursue more positive freedom are prone to transfer more rights to the state, and a state that focuses on positive freedom can lead to state with too much power. If the individuals want to be their own master, they will actively use their ability to pursue their goals. Therefore they need an active state to support them. To make the state more active in fulfilling the goals of individuals, they should transfer more rights to the state. When a state becomes too active, its power becomes too large, and sometimes it leads to the opposition of positive freedom for most of the people a...

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...y in transferring rights to the state. Therefore, a state that focuses on positive freedom will make a powerful government, while a state that focuses on negative freedom will make a weak government. The different way of treating gun ownership by law abiding citizens by China and the US proved these implications.
Reference
Berlin, I. (1969). Two concepts of liberty. Berlin, I, 118-172.
Carlson, J. D. (2012). ‘I Don’t Dial 911’American Gun Politics and the Problem of Policing. British Journal of Criminology, 52(6), 1113-1132.
Dutton, M. (1997). The basic character of crime in contemporary China. The China Quarterly, 149, 160-177.
Kelly, A. H., Harbison, W. A., & Belz, H. (1991). The American Constitution: its origins and development (Vol. 2). New York: Norton.
Cho, E. (2012). The thread of Juche: negotiating socialism and nationalism through science in North Korea.