Classical Liberalism

Human nature

• Each human being is unique and endowed with certain 'natural' rights i.e. the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of self-fulfilment

• Individualism - egotistical or developmental

• When our natural rights are denied, human beings are left demoralised, de-energised and afflicted by the sense of a wasted life

• Humans may be egotistical but our behaviour is also rational and respectful to others, guided usually by reason and logic rather than emotion and impulse therefore, our rationality allows us to realise that selfishness and disrespect for others can rebound to our disadvantage

• We are fundamentally self-centred but also thoughtful and empathetic, drawn to intelligent compromise and mutual understanding with others

• We are constantly progressing and developing through greater knowledge, can improved understanding of the world around us, and greater education therefore human beings today are more likely to be rational intelligent and respectful than they were in the past - this links to utility which asserts that human beings are guided by the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain

• Rejects the idea of original sin, offering a more positive view of human nature, arguing that humanity has the capacity to affect steady progress and increase human happiness - life is not without difficulty but the rational discussion and informed debate solutions will normally be found to problems that routinely arise

State

• Believes that self-realisation, self-determination and self-fulfilment are all best served by the existence of a state, rather than leaving individuals in a condition of anarchy

• The state must meet certain conditions so that individuals are not left worse off than they were in the state of nature

• Dismisses the kind of states comment in the pre-Enlightenment era because liberals believe in consent and social contracts, invariably marked by :

  • The divine right of kings, the doctrine that the monarch's power has been confirmed by God and to question it was effectively blasphemous

  • Monarchical absolutism, where power rested almost exclusively with the king or queen

  • Arbitrary power, where the monarch exercised power randomly, unrestrained by any clear code of governance

  • Hereditary power, where power was exercised by those who happened to inherit it, rather than those who demonstrated their ability to use it irrationally

• Pre-Enlightenment states were both morally illegitimate, in that they were unlikely to respect natural rights, and intellectually illegitimate, in that they were an affront to mankind's rationality and cognitive potential

• The state has legitimacy only if those under its jurisdiction agree to be under its jurisdiction

• Far from being subjects of the state, as a traditional state asserted, the people under the liberal state become its citizens, with ultimate control over those who govern

• If the advantages of the state stopped, citizens are entitled to declare the state illegitimate, cancel the contract between the government and the governed, and return to the state of nature (as declared in the American Declaration of Independence)

• The main objective of liberal states is to improve upon rights that individuals enjoyed in the state of nature, notably the right to life, liberty, property and the pursuit of self-fulfilment

• Unlike anarchist thinkers, liberalism is state-sponsored individualism

• The state of nature would still involve occasional clashes of self-interest, over entitlement to cultivate land for example, with such clashes only being resolved after an informal yet lengthy quest for compromise. By contrast, the liberal state would offer faster and fairer methods of resolution, such as through impartial courts, allowing individuals more swiftly to resume the exercise of their natural rights If the state is structured in a certain way, it can allow individuals to enjoy their natural rights more easily than in the state of nature

• Individuals must be treated equally and must evolve to counter new threats to individual liberty

• While equality of opportunity should be pursued, equality of outcome is the inevitable and desirable consequence of individual diversity. Consequently, the liberal state will strive to enable equal opportunity while allowing a meritocratic inequality of outcome, one that rewards individual effort and achievement rather than hereditary advantages

• The promotion of tolerance through laws and institutions, for example, by making illegal blatant forms of intolerance regarding freedom of speech and religion

• Education was another vital way in which greater tolerance could be encouraged

• Power should not be exercised in an arbitrary and unlimited way, instead, the state’s power should be limited by:

• The preconditions of government; the terms of which the governed initially give their consent to be governed, as part of the initial social contract between the state and its citizens

• The procedures and methods of government, as rationally agreed upon when the contract between state and citizens is being reached

• Inherent to this constitution would be a formalised equality corner reflecting the liberal belief that human beings are born equal. As such, a liberal constitution aims to give the same legal and political rights to all and apply the rule of law so that state rules apply to everyone, regardless of class or status

• The state’s powers should be fragmented and scattered, as power is more likely to be exercised wisely if it is shared evenly in an attempt to counter the corruption of power

• If individuals are generally rational and respectful, and inclined to peaceful self-determination, it seems reasonable to empower as many people as possible

• The state should always include representative bodies, such as parliaments, that allow rational discussion between representatives of the people, who are accountable to the people

• Must be meritocratic, governed by those who have earned rather than inherited as aristocratic rule was 'beyond equity, beyond reason and most certainly beyond wisdom' (Paine)

• Are liberalism and democracy compatible if some would-be voters are not respectful of natural rights? For Locke, the vote should not be given to those without property, because it would threaten the natural rights of property owners. For Mill, if votes were given to the uneducated, it could lead to a lack of tolerance towards minority viewpoints, the subsequent erosion of individuality, and a society that stifled brilliance and originality

• The liberal states will seek to constrain the effect of elections

• The dispersed power of a liberal state usually includes supreme courts and unelected judges, state officials who may veto the policies of an elected government if they determine that some policies clash with the state's Bill of Rights; the Bill of Rights is a constitutional document which protects certain rights, such as the right to free speech, from the actions of politicians

• Liberals are wary of parliamentary sovereignty as they fear it could lead to the legitimisation of illiberal ideas, such as the persecution of certain minority groups, that happened to be temporarily popular at recent elections

• The liberal state seeks to protect itself from elective dictatorship and any populist government which shows scant regard for natural rights

Society

• It is not dependent upon the existence of a state

• Life before the state was not nasty, brutish and short but instead agreeable and generally efficient, not something we would have automatically wished to end

• A legitimate society must be one where the maximum number of individuals can pursue self-realisation and self-determination - the main job of liberal politicians is to create the conditions for such an individualistic society

• Liberals are especially concerned about individuals with minority or underrepresented characteristics, for example:

• The cause of religious nonconformists in 17th century England (Locke)

• Women in 18th-century England, particularly those aspiring to property and education (Wollstonecraft)

• Liberals are keen to protect the individual against what was termed as 'dull conformity' and 'suffocating convention' (Mill)

• Committed to a more tolerant society to achieve universal self-realisation - 'I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it' (Voltaire)

• Individuals will always be drawn to, and rely on, societies that tolerate their individualism

• However, to what extent should a liberal society tolerate minority positions that seem illiberal? And how should liberals respond if the agenda of one discriminated-against minority clashes with another?

• There is faith in consensus via education, providing the means through which the interests of society's minorities can be reconciled - both to society's majority interests and to the interests of other minorities

Economy

• Property is a natural right which predates the existence of any state and facilitates individualism, incentivizing individual enterprise, reflecting each individual's preferences and providing a sense of independence

• When property is owned by a multitude of individuals, this offers further protection against concentrated power and overbearing rulers who threaten natural rights

• Supports private enterprise and private ownership of the economy, as proposed by Adam Smith who extolled free trade and free markets in the late 18th century

• In making the case for free market economics, Adam Smith optimistically asserted that if obstacles to free trade were sucked away, and individuals were allowed to trade freely, the invisible hand of market forces would eventually enrich both individuals and nations

• Capitalism produces inequality of outcome but:

  • Individual wealth and individual economic success will eventually trickle down to the majority of society

  • Unequal outcomes are consistent with a meritocratic society, one that encourages individualism and rewards those who have earned their advantages

• Liberal should only defend an equality of outcome if it is accompanied by equality of opportunity

• Commends laissez-faire capitalism

Modern Liberalism

Human nature

• These are potential features of human nature, to be developed by enlightened liberal authorities

State

• Only the state could ensure the universal education required by a tolerant society

• Liberals must always reject the conservative idea of a paternalistic state, as politicians feel a quasi-parental obligation to look after people. Instead, they must demand legislatures that respect and articulate citizens' interests

• Democracy and liberalism might not be compatible because even though liberals endorse universal suffrage, they have still been keen to stress representative democracy as opposed to direct democracy and its use of devices like referendums, as they are inherently geared to majority opinion and may threaten the natural rights of minority interests

• Due to the changes in society, liberals had conquered the original enemies of liberty, such as monarchical absolutism and arbitrary power, and were now faced with social and economic enemies

• Only more government will enable individuals to overcome social and economic threats to freedom and individual liberty generally requires more laws, more state spending and more taxation

• An enabling state would require some people to sacrifice more in the form of taxation but they could still be rationally persuaded that this was consistent with their self-interest and, therefore compatible with the perennial principle of government by consent

Society

• Industrialised societies leave individuals less autonomous and therefore in need of greater state support

Economy

• Favours Keynesian capitalism as a sufficient tax yield could only be assured by the steady economic growth promised by Keynesianism, in contrast to the boom and bust cycles associated with laissez-faire capitalism