A-Level Edexcel Politics Paper 1 Liberalism revision notes. Provides detailed notes on Liberalism, all five key thinkers and their ideas on the economy, the state, society and human nature.
Liberalism – an ideology that is a product of The Enlightenment as it recognises that humans are rational creatures capable of understanding the world and making
decisions for themselves. The defining feature of liberalism is its belief in individualism and freedom
1. Liberalism: core ideas and principles
Individualism – the primacy of the individual in society over any group
Liberals stress the importance of the individual over any claims by groups or collective bodies. Immanuel Kant (German enlightenment thinker) argued that
individuals are unique, equal and should be the ‘ends’ not the ‘means’.
People should not be treated as the means to achieve a particular goal; they should be regarded as having their own intrinsic value.
Individualism can be seen in two ways -
1. Egoistical individualism – people are essentially self-seeking and self-reliant. This idea downplays the idea of any idea of collective society.
2. Developmental individualism – this is more widely held as a view in the modern world and plays down self-interest as a main motive for individuals’
actions. The concept justifies the idea of state intervention in order to help the disadvantaged.
Individualism also covers the idea of tolerance – tolerance of the natural rights that they believe all individuals have. Once this may have referred to religious
matters, but nowadays it is paramount in the idea of covering all rights such as sexuality and identity.
Freedom/liberty – the ability and right to make decisions in your own interests based on your view of human nature
The core of all liberal values and the belief that authoritarian governments do not have the right to take decisions on behalf of the people or attempt to regulate their
behaviour. Later liberals acknowledged the idea that no freedom can be absolute and must exist within the law in order to prevent people from interfering with the
rights of others. “When there is no law, there is no freedom”, John Locke. A key thinker on the idea of liberty was Jeremy Bentham
State – it is ‘necessary’ to avoid disorder, but ‘evil’ as it has potential to remove individual liberty, thus should be limited; this is linked to the liberal view of the
economy
The state, “a necessary evil”? Liberals accept that the state is needed to avert disorder and to protect the vulnerable in society. However, liberals tend to distrust
power as they believe individuals are self-seeking and therefore those that have power may pursue their own interests at the expense of others.
“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Lord Acton.
Liberals therefore want to see a limited government with checks and balances on the exercise of power, e.g., US Constitution. Typical features of a liberal
constitution would be the separation of powers and a codified bill of rights. Liberals’ suspicion of power can often lead them to support the devolution and
decentralisation of power in a society through structures such as devolution, federalism or the set-up of regional government bodies.
, The role of the state also extended to the part it should play in the economy of a nation. Liberals of the 18th and 19th century believed in laissez-faire capitalism.
The earliest proponent of such ideas was Adam Smith, the Enlightenment thinker who published the book, “The Wealth of Nations” in 1776. Smith emphasised the
part played by self-interest in driving economies.
Rationalism – the belief that humans are rational creatures, capable of reason and logic – rationalism underpins an individual’s ability to define their own best
interests and make their own moral choices, creating a progressive society
Rationalism is the belief in human reason. In simple terms it states that individuals should be free to exercise their own judgement about what is best for them and
do not need to be guided by external authorities such as the state or the Church.
Liberals were encouraged in this thinking by the development of scientific learning in the 18th and 19th centuries which liberated people from blind faith in
established authority, tradition and superstition.
This also connects to their idea of faith in reason which states that personal development of an individual will lead to advances in society – a progressive society.
Equality/social justice – the belief that individuals are of equal value and that they should be treated impartially and fairly by society
Equality of opportunity is at the heart of liberalism; all people should be able to reach their potential.
This begins with foundational equality – all people are equal in law and in their rights.
Socialists and Liberals differ in their view of equality of opportunity. Classical liberals believed that individuals with different talents should be rewarded differently.
The resulting social inequality is good for society because it incentivises hard work and innovation. They favoured a meritocracy. A socialist would see this as an
extension of competition and capitalism.
Early liberal thinkers did not wish to see the same equal rights extended to women though. The early feminist writer, Mary Wollstonecraft argued that women were
no less rational than men and were entitled to the same rights and opportunity for self-fulfilment.
Modern liberals support full rights for all people.
Liberal democracy – a democracy that balances the will of the people, as shown through elections, with limited government (state) and a respect or civil liberties in
society
Positive freedom – a vital aspect of modern liberalism, this term denotes the belief that individuals left alone are often inhibited rather than ‘free’. Such individuals
may need enabling so that they are ‘free’ to exercise their individual talents
Enabling state – linked to the notion of positive liberty, an enabling state was one that extended its activities so as to ‘liberate’ individuals from restrictive social and
economic problems, thus ‘enabling’ them to fulfil their potential
Social liberalism – this represents an updated version of the historic liberal belief in tolerance. It involved legislation that may criminalise actions that discriminate
against individuals on the grounds of race, gender, sexual orientation, disability and religious persuasion
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