Studied by 1 person
Individualism
Primacy of individual over group
Freedom/liberty
Making decisions in your own interest
Rationalism
Humans are able to make own moral choices
Equality/social justice
All should be treated equally and given equal opportunities
Liberal democracy
An elected government should uphold civil liberties
Egotistical individualism
Humans are naturally drawn to the advancement of their own interests
Negative freedom
Humans should be left to pursue their own destiny. Attempts to control their actions infringe their liberty
Minimal state
The state is a necessary evil that only exists to serve its people. Checks and balances should make state action difficult and therefore infrequent
Natural rights
Even without a state, all humans have the right to life, liberty, property and happiness.
Utilitarianism
Government policy should be based on the greatest happiness of the greatest number
Economic liberalism
State shouldn’t interfere in private enterprise/capitalism- market forces should guide economies
Social Darwinism
Humans are subject to same laws of natural selection as animals - survival of the fittest
Neoliberalism
State should cut spending and lower taxes to end the dependency culture
Developmental individualism
State policies should be aimed at what individuals could become not what they are.
Positive freedom
People are not truly free until state enables them to exercise their individual talents.
Social liberalism
Society is not truly tolerant until discrimination on grounds of race/religion/gender is illegal.
Economic management
Only state can repel economic threats to freedom through higher tax, increased state spending and more state bureaucracy
Global liberalism
Collapse of soviet communism and emergence of capitalist states in Eastern Europe= liberalism dominant ideology
Global democracy
Illiberal states like Russia and china have embraced market capitalism. Political change may follow
Cosmopolitanism
Liberal doctrine of tolerance and individual choice led to liberal states around the world legalising gay marriage and accepting diverse lifestyles
Threat to global liberalism
Support for radical, faith- based politics that defies principles of the enlightenment. 2008 financial crisis - criticism of free market economies
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