liberalism fear of state

Intro

Liberalism is a political ideology which seeks to maximise individual freedom. The state is seen by liberals as a force which should ideally promote freedom but has potential to endorse it, introducing the possibility that liberals fear the state. There is significant division within liberalism on the extent to which the state should run public services and intervene in the economy, so there are varying levels of fear of the state within liberalist ideologies. In this way, this essay will show that liberals are ultimately more divided in fearing the state due to its potential to infringe upon individual freedoms at different levels.

P1 necessary evil (agree)

All liberals are united in viewing the state as a necessary evil and so therefore all liberals show a certain level of fear of the state. All liberals accept that the state must exist to protect negative freedom. This is reflected in the ideas of John Stuart Mill, a key thinker who bridged classical and modern liberalism. Stuart-Mill divided all actions into two categories, self-regarding and other regarding, and states that the state must interfere with other regarding actions that negatively impact others; an example of this principle is anti-discrimination laws in which all liberals agree are necessary, despite disagreements about if the state should interfere with self-regarding actions that Mill would reject. All liberals would recognise the state's capacity for evil, as a powerful and unethical government could decide to restrict individual freedom. John Locke (a Classical Liberal) created the 'social contract theory', which was the idea that governments get their legitimacy from the people rather from God, and so we can only be governed if there is consent from below. If government isinfringing on individual freedom, the people within have the rights to overthrow it, as it is dependent on the wants of the individuals. As a cause of this liberals recognise the possibility that the state that the state might cause inequality (which they fear). To mitigate against this possibility, Locke goes on to suggest that political power should be dispersed into three branches of government and there should be other limits of restriction of freedom, like a codified constitution. These suggestions, on which all liberals agree, a clearly a reaction to liberal fear of an authoritarian state. It is the state's capacity for evil which causes liberal fear and is necessary to prevent the fear from vanishing.

P2 minimal vs enabling

C+M disagree on if the state should provide positive freedom, which CL fear, but modern liberals do not. Classical liberals believe in a minimals state which consists solely of a military, a police force and a legal system. Its purpose is only to ensure negative freedom, which is sufficient for equality of opportunity. Classical liberals like Herbert Spencer, supported a minimal state and justified it with his ideas on social darwinism; a society will undergo a 'survival of the fittest' without positive rights, so the least able to survive are gradually eliminated. This eventually produced an ideal society comprised of self-reliant and rational individuals making good decisions. Classical liberals fear the state interfering with their meritocracy and the natural inequality that emerges. The provision of public services would encourage a culture of dependency where individuals would rely on the state and so lack the ‘true' freedom that they should have. ML reject the idea that negative freedom alone is sufficient for the equality of opportunity. While there may be no physical or legal obstacles, there are often social or economic obstacles restricting individual freedom. Modern liberal, Thomas Hill Green, was an advocate of an enabling state which actively promotes positive freedom, tackling the obstacles. For example, the state should enforce employment regulations to ensure the right to safe working conditions. While in theory an employee would leave a company where conditions are unsafe, but in reality this may lead to unemployment and poverty. Therefore only modern liberals see the state as a tool to ensure social justice; classical liberals fear the state significantly more as they see socioeconomic challenges as a result of poor decisions made by those less naturally able, and so do not need to be fixed.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is clear that all Liberals fear the state to some degree. Even modern liberals who advocate for an enabling state and the provision of positive rights and the support of the state in times of economic hardships like recessions; and are able to recognise that the state cannot have too much power (constitutionally) to ensure that there is no abuse of power and a continuation of individual freedoms. Classical liberals also fear the state as they believe in a minimal state, with minimal influence to avoid a culture of dependency by the people living in its society.