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Line 1: − {{inuse}}+ − {{Dablink|This article discusses the ideology of liberalism. Local differences in its meaning are listed in [[Liberalism worldwide]]. For other uses, see [[Liberal]].}} − − {{Liberalism sidebar}} − '''Liberalism''' (from the Latin ''liberalis'', "of freedom"<ref>[http://www.archives.nd.edu/cgi-bin/lookup.pl?stem=liberalis&ending= Latin Dictionary and Grammar Aid] University of Notre Dame. Retrieved 2010-02-20</ref>) is the belief in the importance of [[liberty|individual liberty]].<ref>Gaus pp. 22 ''The British philosopher [[Maurice Cranston]] is quoted: "a liberal is [one] who believes in liberty."''</ref> Liberals are very diverse in their specific views depending on their understanding of liberty, although most liberals support fundamental ideas like [[liberal democracy]], written [[Constitution|constitutions]], free and fair [[Election|elections]], [[Equal opportunity|equality of opportunity]], [[free markets]], [[free trade]], and [[secularism|secular society]]. These ideas and policies are often accepted even among political groups that do not openly profess a liberal [[political spectrum|ideological orientation]]. Liberalism encompasses several [[List of liberal theorists|intellectual trends and traditions]], but the dominant variants are [[social liberalism]], which became popular in the 20th century, and [[classical liberalism]], the original incarnation of liberal philosophy. − Liberalism first became a powerful force in the [[Age of Enlightenment]], rejecting many [[Foundationalism|foundational]] assumptions that dominated most earlier theories of government, such as [[Nobility|hereditary status]], [[state religion|established religions]], [[Absolute monarchy|absolute monarchies]], and the [[Divine Right of Kings]]. Early thinkers like [[John Locke]], who is often regarded as the founder of liberalism as a distinct philosophical tradition, employed the concept of [[natural rights]] to argue for the protection of [[private property]], the [[consent of the governed]], and the prevalence of [[Legislature |legislative power]] over [[Autocracy |autocratic]] forms of rule. Liberal philosophy unfolded in the context of [[Social contract|social contract theory]], which maintained that the source of legitimacy for any ruling order ultimately lied with the people, who gave up their authority in return for the [[rule of law]]. + − The [[French Revolution]], which implemented several liberal ideas, was the most seminal event in the history of liberalism, paving the way for the development of [[modern history]] by launching or inspiring liberal movements around the world. Other political earthquakes that preceded the French Revolution, like the [[Glorious Revolution]] and the [[American Revolution]], also accelerated the advance of liberalism. In the 19th century, liberal governments were established in many nations across [[Liberalism in Europe|Europe]], [[Liberalism and conservatism in Latin America|Latin America]], and [[Liberalism in the United States|North America]]—often through violent [[Revolution|revolutions]] and [[Civil war|civil wars]]. Liberal power increased even further in the 20th century, when liberal democracies triumphed in the [[World war|two world wars]] and survived major ideological challenges from [[fascism]] and [[communism]]. Today, liberalism is [[Liberalism worldwide|organized politically]] on all major continents, and the influence of liberals on the modern world is profound. Liberals have played a decisive role in the growth of [[republic|republics]], the spread of [[civil rights]] and [[civil liberties]], the establishment of the [[Liberal welfare reforms|modern welfare state]], the institution of [[religious toleration]] and [[Freedom of religion|religious freedom]], the evolution of [[Liberal Christianity|theological ideas]], the rise of [[Pluralism (political philosophy)|political pluralism]], and the development of [[globalization]]. They have also shown strong support for regional and international organizations like the [[European Union]] and the [[United Nations]], hoping to reduce conflict through [[diplomacy]] and [[Multilateralism|multilateral negotiations]]. Aiming to highlight the importance of liberalism in modern life, [[Political science|political scientist]] [[Alan Wolfe]] claimed that "liberalism is the answer for which modernity is the question".<ref>Wolfe pp. 254</ref>+ − ==Etymology and definition==+ − Words like ''liberal'', ''[[liberty]]'', and ''[[libertarian]]'' all trace their history to the [[Latin]] ''liber'', which means "free".<ref>Gross pp. 5</ref> One of the first recorded instances of the word ''liberal'' occurs in 1375, when it was used to describe the ''[[liberal arts]]''.<ref>Ibid., pp. 5</ref> The word's early connection with the classical education of a [[medieval university]], however, soon gave way to a proliferation of different denotations and connotations. ''Liberal'' could refer to "free in bestowing" as early as 1387, "made without stint" in 1433, "freely permitted" in 1530, and "free from restraint"—often as a pejorative remark—in the 16th and the 17th centuries.<ref>Ibid., pp. 5</ref> In 16th century [[Kingdom of England|England]], ''liberal'' could have positive or negative attributes in referring to someone's generosity or indiscretion.<ref>Ibid., pp. 5</ref> In ''[[Much Ado About Nothing]]'', [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]] wrote of "a liberal villaine" who "hath...confest his vile encounters".<ref>Ibid., pp. 5</ref> With the rise of the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]], the word acquired decisively more positive undertones, being defined as "free from narrow prejudice" in 1781 and "free from bigotry" in 1823.<ref>Ibid., pp. 5</ref> Meanwhile, in 1815, the first use of the word ''liberalism'' appeared in [[English language|English]].<ref>Kirchner pp. 2-3</ref> By the middle of the 19th century, ''liberal'' had become famous and popular enough to transition into a fully politicized term for [[Liberal Party|political parties and movements]] all over the world.+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + − The ''[[Oxford English Dictionary|Oxford Encyclopedic English Dictionary]]'' defines the word ''liberal'' as "giving freely, generous, not sparing; open-minded, not prejudiced; not literal (of interpretation); for general broadening of the mind".<ref>Dorrien pp. xix</ref> It also defines the word as "regarding many traditional beliefs as dispensable, invalidated by modern thought, or liable to change".<ref>Ibid., pp. xix</ref> Identifying any definitive meaning for the word, however, has proven challenging to scholars and to the general public. The widespread use of the word ''liberal'' often inspires people to understand it based on a wide array of factors, like geographic location or [[political spectrum|political orientation]].<ref>Kirchner pp. 2</ref> The [[United States|American]] [[Political science|political scientist]] [[Louis Hartz]] echoed this frustration and confusion, writing that "Liberalism is an even vaguer term, clouded as it is by all sorts of modern social reform connotations, and even when one insists on using it in the Lockian sense...there are aspects of our original life in the Puritan colonies and the South which hardly fit its meaning".<ref>Hartz pp. 3-4</ref> Hartz emphasized the European origin of the word in his studies, conceptualizing a liberal as someone who believed in liberty, [[Equal opportunity|equality]], and [[capitalism]]—in opposition to the association that [[Conservatism in the United States|American conservatives]] have tried to establish between liberalism and centralized government.<ref>Ibid., pp. ix</ref>+ + + − ==History==+ − The history of liberalism spans the better part of the last four centuries, beginning in the [[English Civil War]] and continuing after the end of the [[Cold War]]. Liberalism started as a major doctrine and intellectual endeavor in response to the [[European wars of religion|religious wars]] gripping Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries. Its first notable incarnation came with the [[American Revolution]] before it fully exploded as a comprehensive movement against the [[Ancien Régime|old order]] during the [[French Revolution]], which set the pace for the future development of both liberal and human history. [[Classical liberalism|Classical liberals]], who broadly emphasized the importance of [[free market|free markets]] and [[civil liberties]], dominated liberal history for a century after the French Revolution. The onset of the [[First World War]] and the [[Great Depression]], however, accelerated the trends begun in late 19th century [[United Kingdom|Britain]] towards a [[social liberalism|new liberalism]] that emphasized a greater initiative for the state in ameliorating devastating social conditions. By the beginning of the 21st century, [[liberal democracy|liberal democracies]] and their fundamental characteristics—support for [[Constitution|constitutions]], [[Election|free and fair elections]], and [[Pluralism (political philosophy)|pluralistic society]]—had prevailed in most regions around the world. + − ===Prelude to liberalism===+ − {{main|Middle Ages}} − After centuries of dominance, the [[Roman Empire]] irrevocably splintered in 476 CE. The eastern part of the Roman world became the [[Byzantine Empire]] and the western part fractured into a series of kingdoms that collectively represented a shadow of the erstwhile Roman eagle. Despite these enormous geopolitical changes, however, one constant remained to give [[Europe]] a certain sense of unity and stability: [[Christianity]]. Originally insulted as a fringe cult, [[Christian|Christians]] were persecuted for centuries after the death of [[Jesus]], but they spread efficiently throughout the empire despite constant harassment from Roman authorities, appealing especially to the poor and those at the bottom of the social ladder.<ref>Colton and Palmer pp. 15 ''The Christian teaching spread at first among the poor, the people at the bottom of society, those whom Greek glories and Roman splendors had passed over or enslaved, and who had the least to delight in or to hope for in the existing world.''</ref> When [[Constantine I|Constantine]] integrated them into Roman life in the fourth century CE, the stage was set for the eventual domination of the Christian religion. Although the Roman Empire collapsed and splintered, Christianity was sufficiently entrenched into the fabric of society to survive the resulting sociopolitical chaos that characterized the period.<ref>Tanner pp. xviii</ref> − [[Image:reformation.gif|thumb|alt=Image of Europe showing Catholic and Protestant lands in the 16th and 17th centuries |[[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]] and [[Counter-Reformation|Counter Reformation]] in [[Europe]]. [[Protestant]] lands are shown in blue and [[Catholic]] lands in olive. The [[Catholic Church|Church]] tried to reverse Protestant gains for over a century before the [[Thirty Years' War|Thirty Years War]] finally halted further expansion from the Catholics. The failure of the Counter Reformation was one of the major sparks for the rise of liberalism in Europe.]] − Christianity provided the post-Roman European world with a sense of purpose and direction. European experiences during the [[Middle Ages]] were often characterized by fear, uncertainty, and warfare—the latter being especially endemic in medieval life.<ref>Ibid., pp. xx</ref> Christian societies largely believed that history unfolded according to a divine plan over which humans had little control. Something of a quid pro quo relationship emerged between [[Catholic Church|the Church]] and regional rulers: the Church gave kings and queens authority to rule while the latter spread the message of the Christian faith and did the bidding of Christian social and military forces.<ref>Colton and Palmer pp. 22-4</ref> It was an astute, symbiotic relationship in a world rife with uncertainty and danger. For much of the Middle Ages, the authority of the Church was virtually unquestioned and unquestionable. Leaders who challenged that authority were often severely rebuked and sometimes even publicly embarrassed, as evidenced by [[Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry IV]] waiting barefoot in the snow at the fort of [[Canossa]] to receive forgiveness from the Pope.<ref>Roberts pp. 476 ''To avoid trial before the German bishops presided over by Gregory (who was already on his way to Germany), Henry came in humiliation to Canossa, where he waited in the snow barefoot until Gregory would receive his penance in one of the most dramatic of all confrontations of lay and spiritual authority.''</ref> The world was very pious, and few aspects of life were spared from religious analysis and connotation. The influence of ''the Church'' can be clearly understood by the fact that the very term often referred to something like European society as a whole.<ref>Ibid., pp. 473 ''By 'the Church' as an earthly institution, Christians mean the whole body of the faithful, lay and cleric alike. In this sense the Church came to be the same thing as European society during the Middle Ages.''</ref> When it invoked the will of God in 1095, the Church set the stage for dozens of [[Crusades|crusades]] against [[Paganism|pagans]], [[Muslim|Muslims]], and various other groups. − The Church experienced fortunate times that lasted for centuries, but outside events and internal struggles crippled the power of the greatest institution in European life. In the 14th century, disputes over papal successions—and, indeed, over just who was the Pope and who was not—rocked the [[Western world]].<ref>Tanner pp. 1</ref> These disputes significantly harmed the reputation of the Church. The middle of the 14th century also witnessed the spread of the [[Black Death]], which exterminated perhaps up to one-third of the European population—some 20 million humans gone in just a few years.<ref>Ibid., xix</ref> These enormous fatality rates incensed people across the continent, and much of their rage was directed at the Church, which was viewed as ineffectual in the face of such carnage. Flagellant confraternities gained popularity during the Black Death, edged onwards by the prophecies of [[Joachim of Fiore]], who had predicted that the world would end imminently.<ref>Ibid., 101</ref> The Black Death had a profound influence on future [[History of Europe|European history]], laying the groundwork—through peasant uprisings and the eventual emergence of a small class of property owners—for the eventual [[Pluralism (political philosophy)|pluralism]] that became a hallmark of the liberal world.<ref>Colton and Palmer pp. 47-8</ref> Further disillusionment with the Church prompted the growth of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century. The [[Protestant Reformation]] developed from sentiments that viewed the Church as an oppressive ruling order too involved in the [[feudalism|feudal]] and baronial structure of European society.<ref>Ibid., pp. 75 ''They might wish to manage their own religious affairs as they did their other business, believing that the church hierarchy was too much embedded in a feudal, baronial, and monarchical system with which they had little in common.''</ref> The growth of the [[Renaissance]] also weakened the influence of the Church while reinvigorating interest in the [[Classical antiquity|classical world]]. In the middle of the 16th century, the Church launched a [[Counter-Reformation|Counter Reformation]] to contain the bubbling agitation, but this effort ultimately unraveled in the [[Thirty Years' War|Thirty Years War]], a deadly European conflict that lasted from 1618 until 1648, which saw Catholic forces suffer massive defeats and failing to unify the European continent religiously. Meanwhile, in [[Kingdom of England|England]], disputes between the [[Parliament of England|Parliament]] and King [[Charles I of England|Charles I]] sparked a [[English Civil War|massive civil war]] in the 1640s. Charles was executed in 1649 and the Parliament finally succeeded in establishing a limited and [[constitutional monarchy]] after centuries of chaos. + − These frenzied events sparked a deluge of social and political dialogue in English intellectual circles. The main facets of early liberal ideology emerged from these discussions, and two historians characterize the period in the following light:+ + − {{Cquote|The unique thing about England was that Parliament, in defeating the king, arrived at a workable form of government. Government remained strong but came under parliamentary control. This determined the character of modern England and launched into the history of Europe and of the world the great movement of liberalism.<ref>Ibid., pp. 171</ref>}}+ + − ===Enter liberalism===+ − [[Image:John Locke.jpg|thumb|150px| |alt=Portrait of philosopher John Locke as an old man in his study |[[John Locke]] is widely regarded as the ''Father of Liberalism'' for his important contributions to liberal philosophy. Locke coherently described some of the elementary principles of the nascent liberal movement, like the right to [[private property]] and the [[consent of the governed]].]] − The early hero of that movement, the founder of liberal thought as a distinct ideology and the frequently identified ''Father of Liberalism'',<ref>Delaney pp. 18</ref><ref>Godwin et al., pp. 12</ref> was an English physician and philosopher whose words later inspired revolutions: [[John Locke]]. To fully appreciate the thinking of Locke, however, requires knowing a few facts about the people that he opposed. His greatest rival was [[Thomas Hobbes]]. Hobbes and Locke looked at the same world and disagreed on nearly everything, although their arguments laid the groundwork for later social contract theories outlining the relationship between people and their governments.<ref>Copleston pp. 39-41</ref> Their political sympathies and affiliations certainly inspired their ideas. Hobbes supported the monarchy and Locke backed Parliament. Hobbes was a fan of centralized, dictatorial authority. He wanted government to be like [[Leviathan]], a mythical sea monster from the [[Bible]]. Locke preferred the legislature much more because he felt like Parliament embodied the will of the people. Locke developed a relatively radical political notion that earned him the paternal liberal sobriquet, arguing that government acquires consent from the governed. His celebrated ''[[Two Treatises of Government|Two Treatises]]'' (1690), the foundational text of liberal ideology, outlined his major ideas. Once humans moved out of their natural state and formed societies, Locke argued as follows: "Thus that which begins and actually constitutes any political society is nothing but the consent of any number of freemen capable of a majority to unite and incorporate into such a society. And this is that, and that only, which did or could give beginning to any lawful government in the world."<ref>Locke pp. 170</ref> The stringent insistence that lawful government did not have a supernatural basis was a sharp break with most previous traditions of governance. − Locke had other intellectual opponents besides Hobbes. In the ''First Treatise'', Locke aimed his guns first and foremost at one of the doyens of 17th century English conservative philosophy: [[Robert Filmer]]. Filmer's ''Patriarcha'' (1680) argued for the [[Divine Right of Kings]] by appealing to [[Bible |biblical]] teaching, claiming that the authority granted to [[Adam]] by God gave all the male successors of Adam a right of dominion over all other humans and creatures in the world.<ref>Copleston pp. 33</ref> Locke disagreed, to put it mildly. He disagreed so thoroughly and obsessively, in fact, that the ''First Treatise'' is something like a sentence-by-sentence refutation of ''Patriarcha''. Reinforcing his respect for consensus, Locke argued that "conjugal society is made up by a voluntary compact between men and women".<ref>Kerber pp. 189</ref> Locke maintained that the grant of dominion in Genesis was not to men over women, as Filmer believed, but to humans over animals.<ref>Ibid., pp. 189</ref> Locke was certainly no [[feminism|feminist]] by modern standards, but the first major liberal thinker in history accomplished an equally major task on the road to making the world more pluralistic: the integration of women into social theory.<ref>Ibid., pp. 189</ref> The intellectual journey of liberalism continued beyond Locke. + + + + − [[René Descartes]] asked in the 17th century if there were any beliefs that one could hold axiomatically—that is, any beliefs that could be regarded as a priori knowledge. He personally concluded that self-existence—"I think, therefore I am"—and the existence of a supernatural deity were two such beliefs.<ref>Colton and Palmer pp. 291</ref> Descartes was looking for these kinds of absolutely certain beliefs because he was a deeply skeptical philosopher. He was so skeptical, in fact, that he launched a quest to find out if there was anything about the world that he could really be certain of. Once Descartes introduced systematic doubt as a formal philosophy, the intelligentsia of the European world took up the banner and spearheaded the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]], a period of profound intellectual vitality that questioned old traditions and influenced several European monarchies throughout the 18th century. A prominent example of a monarch who took the Enlightenment project seriously was [[Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor|Joseph II]] of Austria, who ruled from 1780 to 1790 and implemented a wide array of radical reforms, like the complete abolition of [[serfdom]], the imposition of equal taxation policies between the [[aristocracy]] and the [[Peasant|peasantry]], the institution of [[religious toleration]], including equal [[civil rights]] for [[Jews]], and the suppression of Catholic religious authority throughout his empire, creating a more [[Secularism |secular]] nation in its place.<ref>Ibid., pp. 333</ref> The ideas circulating in the Enlightenment did not exist in a vacuum, a fact to which the Americans and later the French, with permanent consequences for human history, paid much tribute.+ − ===Liberalism and revolution===+ − {{main|French Revolution}} − {{main|American Revolution}} − [[Image:Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States.png|250px|left|thumb|alt=An image showing the framers discussing the United States Constitution in Philadelphia |The [[Philadelphia Convention]] in 1787 adopted the [[United States Constitution]], a very radical document for its time. The Constitution established a [[Federalism|federalist]] [[republic]] with three [[Separation of powers|equal branches of government]], a reflection of [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] influence on the American framers.]] − The [[Thirteen Colonies|American colonies]] had been loyal British subjects for decades, but tensions between the two sides were exacerbated by the [[Seven Years War]], which lasted from 1756 until 1763. The war drained British coffers and forced the monarchy to squeeze more and more resources from its recalcitrant colonies. The colonies resented this [[No taxation without representation|taxation without representation]] and decided, after a myriad of internal discussions and petitions to the British government, that they would declare independence and face the consequences. Military engagements in the [[American Revolution]] began in 1775 and were largely complete by 1781, when a Franco-American army combined with a [[Battle of the Chesapeake|French fleet]] bottled up thousands of British troops at [[Siege of Yorktown|Yorktown]]. The American Revolution formally concluded in 1783 with the [[Peace of Paris (1783)|Treaty of Paris]], in which the British recognized American independence. − After the war, the colonies debated about how to move forward. Their first attempt at something like unity occurred with the [[Articles of Confederation]], which were eventually regarded as too inadequate to provide security, or just even a functional government. The colonies held a [[Philadelphia Convention|Constitutional Convention]] in 1787 to resolve the problems stemming from the Articles of Confederation. The resulting [[Constitution of the United States]] was a monumental document, not just in American history but in world history as well. In the context of the times, the Constitution symbolized—true to the revolution that made it happen—an extremely revolutionary and liberal document. The Americans skipped the monarchical system and settled on a [[republic]], laying the groundwork for over two centuries of liberal democratic expansion throughout the globe. The Constitution revealed the degree to which the Enlightenment had influenced the American colonies. The very basic fabric of the new American government was lifted from the pages of a French philosopher, the [[Charles de Secondat, baron de Montesquieu|Baron de Montesquieu]], whose ''[[The Spirit of the Laws|Spirit of Laws]]'' (1748) laid the framework for a republic with three branches of government: the executive, the legislative, and the judicial.<ref>Colton and Palmer pp. 320</ref> The American theorists and politicians that created the Constitution were also heavily influenced by the ideas of Locke. As one historian writes: "The American adoption of a democratic theory that all governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, as it had been put as early as the Declaration of Independence, was epoch-marking."<ref>Roberts pp. 701</ref> The American Revolution was an important struggle in liberal history, and it was quickly followed by the most important: the [[French Revolution]]. + − [[Image:Women's March on Versailles.jpg|250px|right|thumb|alt=An engraving showing women armed with pikes and other weapons marching |The [[The Women's March on Versailles|march of the women]] on [[Versailles]] in October 1789, one of the most famous examples of popular political participation during the [[French Revolution]], forced the royal court back to [[Paris]]. It would remain there until the proclamation of the [[First French Republic|First Republic]] in 1792.]]+ − "The world has never since been the same,"<ref>Colton and Palmer pp. 361</ref> wrote two historians, after France fell into revolution in 1789. German writer [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe|Johann von Goethe]] reportedly told the defeated Prussian soldiers after [[Battle of Valmy|Valmy]] that "from this place and from this time forth commences a new era in world history, and you can all say that you were present at its birth".<ref>Coker pp. 3</ref> Historians widely regard the Revolution as one of the most important events in [[human history]], and the end of the [[early modern period]], which started around 1500, is traditionally attributed to the onset of the French Revolution in 1789.<ref>Frey, Foreword</ref> The Revolution is often seen as marking the "dawn of the [[modern history|modern era]]".<ref>Ibid, Preface</ref> Describing the participatory politics of the French Revolution, one historian commented that "thousands of men and even many women gained firsthand experience in the political arena: they talked, read, and listened in new ways; they voted; they joined new organizations; and they marched for their political goals. Revolution became a tradition, and [[republicanism]] an enduring option."<ref>Hanson, p. 189</ref>+ − The French Revolution began in 1789 with the convocation of the [[Estates-General of 1789|Estates-General]] in May. The first year of the Revolution witnessed members of the [[Third Estate]] proclaiming the [[Tennis Court Oath]] in June, the [[Storming of the Bastille|assault on the Bastille]] in July, the passage of the [[Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen]] in August, and an [[The Women's March on Versailles|epic march]] on [[Versailles]] that forced the royal court back to [[Paris]] in October. The next few years were dominated by tensions between a liberal legislature and a [[conservatism|conservative]] monarchy intent on thwarting major reforms. The liberals proclaimed a [[First French Republic|republic]] in September 1792 and the [[Louis XVI of France|king]] was executed the next year. External threats also played a dominant role in the development of the Revolution. The [[French Revolutionary Wars]] started in 1792 and ultimately featured spectacular French victories that facilitated the conquest of the [[Italian peninsula]], the [[Low Countries]], and most territories west of the [[Rhine]]—achievements that had defied previous French governments for centuries. Internally, popular sentiments radicalized the Revolution significantly, culminating in the brutal [[Reign of Terror]] from 1793 until 1794. After the fall of [[Maximilien Robespierre|Robespierre]] and the [[Jacobin (politics)|Jacobins]], the [[French Directory|Directory]] assumed control of the French state in 1795 and held power until 1799, when it was replaced by the [[French Consulate|Consulate]] under [[Napoleon Bonaparte]].+ − [[File:Charles Meynier - Napoleon in Berlin.png|thumb|right|250px|alt=A painting showing cavalry in parade in Berlin, with the Brandenburg Gate in the background |With the ''[[La Marseillaise|Marseillaise]]'' echoing across the streets, the massive [[Grande Armée|French]] parade through [[Berlin]] in 1806 was a chance for [[Napoleon Bonaparte|Napoleon]] to showcase himself as the liberal guardian of the [[French Revolution|Revolution]]. His opponents, however, thought he was a capricious dictator who represented a fundamental threat to European security.]] − Napoleon ruled as First Consul for about five years, centralizing power and streamlining the bureaucracy along the way. The [[Napoleonic Wars]], pitting the heirs of a revolutionary state against the old monarchies of Europe, started in 1805 and lasted for a decade. Along with their boots and [[Charleville musket|Charleville muskets]], [[Grande Armée|French soldiers]] brought to the rest of the European continent the liquidation of the feudal system, the liberalization of property laws, the end of seigneurial dues, the abolition of guilds, the legalization of divorce, the disintegration of Jewish ghettos, the collapse of the Inquisition, the permanent destruction of the Holy Roman Empire, the elimination of church courts and religious authority, the establishment of the metric system, and equality under the law for all men.<ref>Colton and Palmer pp. 428-9</ref> Napoleon wrote that "the peoples of Germany, as of France, Italy and Spain, want equality and liberal ideas,"<ref>Ibid., pp. 428</ref> with some historians suggesting that he may have been the first person ever to use the word ''liberal'' in a political sense.<ref>Ibid., pp. 428</ref> He also governed through a method that one historian described as "civilian dictatorship," which "drew its legitimacy from direct consultation with the people, in the form of a plebiscite".<ref>Lyons pp. 111</ref> Napoleon did not always live up the liberal ideals he espoused, however. His most lasting achievement, the Civil Code, served as "an object of emulation all over the globe,"<ref>Ibid., pp. 94</ref> but it also perpetuated further discrimination against women under the banner of the "natural order".<ref>Ibid., pp. 98-102</ref> − Stubborn French ambitions combined with a long conflict against Britain, the failure of the [[Continental System]], and the [[French invasion of Russia|catastrophe in Russia]] eventually led to the collapse of the [[First French Empire|First Empire]] in 1815 at the [[Battle of Waterloo|fields of Waterloo]], where the [[Imperial Guard (Napoleon I)|Imperial Guard]] made its last stand under the rhythms of the ''[[La Marseillaise|Marseillaise]]'', which was banned in the [[Bourbon Restoration]].<ref>Ibid., pp. 139</ref> [[Klemens Wenzel, Prince von Metternich|Metternich]], the Austrian foreign minister, laid the groundwork for the conservative decades that stretched into the middle of the 19th century. This unprecedented period of chaos and revolution, however, had introduced the world to a new movement and ideology from which there was seemingly no escape.+ + + − + − {{main|Classical liberalism}} − [[Image:En Mendigorría.jpg|thumb|290px|left|alt=Black and white engraving showing large numbers of soldiers arrayed against one another at the Battle of Mendigorría |The Liberals arrayed against the [[Carlism|Carlists]] at [[Battle of Mendigorría|Mendigorría]], the most important battle of the [[First Carlist War]], which resulted in a heavy defeat for the conservative Carlists. The [[Carlist Wars]] plagued [[Spain]] throughout the 19th century, even though the Carlists never managed to assume power.]] − The world after the [[French Revolution]] provided liberals with an opportunity to reshape the basic structures of society. [[Abolitionism |Abolitionist]] and [[suffrage]] movements took off in the 19th century throughout the Western world. Slowly but surely, democratic ideals were spreading. Parliamentary power in Britain increased, France established an [[French Third Republic|enduring republic]] in the 1870s, and a [[American Civil War|vicious war]] in the United States ensured the survival of that nation and signaled the end of slavery. Meanwhile, strange assortments of liberal and nationalist sentiments were on the march in [[Italy]] and [[Germany]], which finally coalesced into nations in the late 19th century. Liberal agitation in [[Latin America]] reached a fever pitch as the region was gradually brought into the common social and political patterns of the modern world. − Liberals after the Revolution wanted to develop a world free from government intervention, or at least free from too much government intervention. They championed the ideal of [[negative liberty]], which constitutes the absence of coercion and the absence of external constraints.<ref>Heywood pp. 47</ref> They believed governments were cumbersome burdens and they wanted governments to stay out of the lives of individuals.<ref>Ibid., pp. 47-8</ref> Liberals simultaneously pushed for the expansion of [[civil rights]] and for the expansion of [[Free market|free markets]] and [[free trade]]. The latter kind of economic thinking had been formalized by [[Adam Smith]] in his monumental ''[[Wealth of Nations]]'' (1776), which revolutionized the field of economics and established the "invisible hand" of the free market as a self-regulating mechanism that did not depend on external interference.<ref>Ibid., pp. 52</ref> Sheltered by liberalism, the ''[[laissez-faire]]'' economic world of the nineteenth century emerged with full tenacity, particularly in the [[United States]] and in the [[United Kingdom]].<ref>Ibid., pp. 53</ref> + − [[Image:Eugène Delacroix - La liberté guidant le peuple.jpg|thumb|290px|right|alt=Colored painting showing a bare-breasted woman waving the French flag and being followed by a band of revolutionaries |''[[Liberty Leading the People]]'' by [[Eugène Delacroix]]. The iconic image of romantic revolution, it celebrates the [[July Revolution]] of 1830 in [[France]]. The July Revolution permanently removed the [[House of Bourbon|Bourbon monarchy]] from French soil and catapulted the [[Orléanist|Orléanist liberals]] to power for nearly two decades, after which the [[Revolutions of 1848|1848 revolutions]] established the [[Second French Republic|Second Republic]].]] − Politically, liberals saw the 19th century as a gateway to achieving the promises of 1789. In Spain, the ''Liberales'', the first group to use the 'liberal' label in a political context,<ref>Colton and Palmer pp. 479</ref> fought for the implementation of the [[Spanish Constitution of 1812|1812 Constitution]] for decades—overthrowing the monarchy in 1820 as part of the ''[[Trienio Liberal]]'' and [[First Carlist War|defeating]] the conservative [[Carlists]] in the 1830s. In France, the July Revolution of 1830, orchestrated by liberal politicians and journalists, removed the Bourbon monarchy and inspired similar uprisings elsewhere in Europe. Frustration with the pace of political progress, however, sparked even more gigantic [[Revolutions of 1848|revolutions in 1848]]. Revolutions spread throughout the Austrian Empire, the German states, and the Italian states. Governments fell rapidly. Liberal nationalists demanded written constitutions, representative assemblies, greater suffrage rights, and freedom of the press.<ref>Ibid., pp. 510</ref> A [[French Second Republic|second republic]] was proclaimed in France. Serfdom was abolished in Prussia, Galicia, Bohemia, and Hungary.<ref>Ibid., pp. 510</ref> The supposedly indomitable Metternich, the Austrian builder of the reigning conservative order, shocked Europe when he resigned and fled to Britain in panic and disguise.<ref>Ibid., pp. 509</ref> Eventually, however, the success of the revolutionaries petered out. Without French help, the Italians were easily defeated by the Austrians. With some luck and skill, Austria also managed to contain the bubbling nationalist sentiments in Germany and Hungary, helped along by the failure of the Frankfurt Assembly to unify the German states into a single nation. Under abler leadership, however, the Italians and the Germans wound up realizing their dreams for independence. The Sardinian Prime Minister, Camillo di Cavour, was a shrewd liberal who understood that the only effective way for the Italians to gain independence was if the French were on their side.<ref>Ibid., 546-7</ref> [[Napoleon III of France|Napoleon III]] agreed to Cavour's request for assistance and France defeated Austria in the [[Second Italian War of Independence|Franco-Austrian War]] of 1859, setting the stage for Italian independence. German unification transpired under the leadership of [[Otto von Bismarck]], who decapitated the enemies of Prussia in war after war, finally [[Franco-Prussian War|triumphing against France]] in 1871 and proclaiming the German Empire in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, ending another saga in the drive for nationalization. The French proclaimed a [[French Third Republic|third republic]] after their loss in the war, and the rest of French history transpired under republican eyes. − [[Image:Eloy Alfaro Delgado.jpg|thumb|130px|left|alt=Colored painting of Eloy Alfaro as an old man in his uniform |[[Eloy Alfaro]] was the leader of the [[Ecuadorian Radical Liberal Party|Radical Liberals]] and the founder of modern [[Ecuador]]. He led the [[Liberal Revolution of 1895]], which toppled a conservative government that had ruled Ecuador for several decades.]] − Just a few decades after the French Revolution, liberalism went global. The liberal and conservative struggles in Spain also replicated themselves in Latin America. Like its former master, the region was a hotbed of wars, conflicts, and revolutionary activity throughout the nineteenth century. In Mexico, the ''liberales'' instituted the program of ''La Reforma'' in the 1850s, reducing the power of the military and the Catholic Church.<ref>Stacy pp. 698</ref> The ''conservadores'' were outraged at these steps and launched a revolt, which sparked a deadly conflict. From 1857 to 1861, Mexico was gripped in the bloody [[Reform War|War of Reform]], a massive internal and ideological confrontation between the liberals and the conservatives.<ref>Ibid., 698</ref> The liberals eventually triumphed and Benito Juárez, a dedicated liberal and now a Mexican national hero, became the president of the republic. After Juárez, Mexico suffered from prolonged periods of dictatorial repression, which lasted until the [[Mexican Revolution]] in the early 20th century. Another regional example of liberal agitation can be found in [[Ecuador]]. Like other nations throughout the region at the time, Ecuador was steeped in conflict and uncertainty after gaining independence from Spain. By the middle of the 19th century, the country had descended into chaos and madness, with the people divided between rival liberal and conservative camps. From these conflicts, [[Gabriel García Moreno|García Moreno]] established a conservative government that ruled the country for several years. Predictably, the liberals were incensed at the conservative regime and overthrew the whole thing in the [[Liberal Revolution of 1895]]. The [[Ecuadorian Radical Liberal Party|Radical Liberals]] that toppled the conservatives were led by [[Eloy Alfaro]], a firebrand who implemented a variety of sociopolitical reforms, including the separation of church and state, the legalization of divorce, and the establishment of public schools.<ref>Handelsman pp. 10</ref> − Liberals were active throughout the world in the 19th century, but it was in Britain that the future character of liberalism would take shape. The liberal sentiments unleashed after the French Revolution ultimately coalesced into the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]], formed in 1859 from various [[Radicals (UK)|Radical]] and [[Whig (British political party)|Whig]] elements, which went on to produce one of the greatest British prime ministers ever—[[William Gladstone]], who was also known as the 'Grand Old Man'.<ref>Cook pp. 31</ref> Under Gladstone, the Liberals reformed education, disestablished the Church of Ireland, and introduced the secret ballot for local and parliamentary elections. Following Gladstone, and after a period of [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] domination, the Liberals returned with a vengeance in the [[United Kingdom general election, 1906|general election of 1906]], aided by working class voters worried about food prices. After that historic victory, the Liberal Party shifted from its classical liberalism and laid the groundwork for the future British [[welfare state]], establishing various forms of health insurance, unemployment insurance, and pensions for elderly workers.<ref>Heywood pp. 61</ref> The intellectual foundations for this [[Social liberalism|new liberalism]] were coherently established by philosopher [[Thomas Hill Green]], who conceived of [[positive liberty]] as the affirmation of autonomous individual capacities.<ref>Ibid., pp. 59</ref> Green rejected the idea that humans were driven solely by self-interest, emphasizing instead the complex circumstances that are involved in the evolution of our moral character. In a very profound step for the future of modern liberalism, he also tasked social and political institutions with the enhancement of individual freedom and identity.<ref>Adams pp. 54-5</ref> After various global and catastrophic events, like wars and economic collapses, this new kind of liberalism would sweep over much of the world in the 20th century.+ − ===Modern liberalism===+ − {{main|Social liberalism}} − [[Image:Liberal reforms socialism.jpg|thumb|290px|right|alt=Colored poster showing a man trying to get a bull across a river with stepping stones that spell "socialism."|A [[National Union of Conservative and Constitutional Associations|Conservative]] poster in Britain attacking the [[Liberal welfare reforms]] of Prime Minister [[David Lloyd George]] as [[socialism|socialist]]. The reinvention of liberalism as a driving force behind the [[welfare state]] sparked many accusations of socialism from the [[Right-wing politics|right]] in various countries.]] − − World War I proved a major challenge for liberal democracies, although they ultimately defeated the dictatorial states of the [[Central Powers]]. The war precipitated the collapse of older forms of government, like [[Empire|empires]] and [[Dynasty|dynastic states]], a phenomenon that became quite apparent in Russia. The massive defeats that Russia sustained in the first few years of World War I significantly tainted the reputation of the monarchy, already reeling from [[Russo-Japanese War|earlier losses]] to [[Japan]] and political struggles with the [[Constitutional Democratic Party|Kadets]], a powerful liberal bloc in the Duma. Facing huge shortages in basic necessities along with [[February Revolution|widespread riots in early 1917]], Czar Nicholas II abdicated in March, bringing to an end three centuries of Romanov rule and paving the way for liberals to declare a republic. To Russia's liberals, the French Revolution was the centerpiece of human history, and they repeatedly used the slogans, symbols, and ideas of the Revolution—plastering ''[[liberté, égalité, fraternité]]'' over major public spaces—to establish an emotional attachment to the past, an attachment that liberals hoped would galvanize the public to fight for modern values.<ref>Shlapentokh pp. 220-8</ref> But democracy was no simple task, and the Provisional Government that took over the country's administration needed the cooperation of the Petrograd Soviet, an organization that united leftist industrial laborers, to function and survive. Under the uncertain leadership of Alexander Kerensky, however, the Provisional Government mismanaged Russia's continuing involvement in the war, prompting angry reactions from the Petrograd workers, who drifted further and further to the left. The Bolsheviks, a communist group led by [[Vladimir Lenin]], seized the political opportunity from this confusion and launched a [[October Revolution|second revolution]] in Russia during the same year. The communists violently overthrew the fragile liberal-socialist order in October, after which Russia witnessed several years of civil war between communists and conservatives wishing to restore the monarchy. The communist challenge to liberalism, however, paled in comparison to the economic problems that rocked the Western world in the 1930s. + − [[Image:John Maynard Keynes.jpg|thumb|200px|right|alt=Black and white photograph of economist John Maynard Keynes smiling as an old man |[[John Maynard Keynes]] is widely regarded as one of the most influential economists of all time. He was a brilliant investor and a committed member of the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]]. His ideas, which are still [[2008–2009 Keynesian resurgence|widely felt]], formalized modern liberal economic policy.]] − The Great Depression fundamentally changed the liberal world. It was such a calamitous period in Western civilization that the civilization itself looked like it was risking total and complete collapse. There was an inkling of a new liberalism during the [[First World War]], and even earlier in the 19th century among some states and regions, but [[social liberalism|modern liberalism]] finally hatched in the 1930s with the Great Depression and a new economic mastermind whose ideas formalized the responsibilities of the modern state in its administration of the economy: [[John Maynard Keynes]]. Classical liberals posited that completely free markets were the optimal units capable of effectively allocating resources—that over time, in other words, they would produce full employment and economic security.<ref>Shaw pp. 2-3</ref> Keynes spearheaded a broad assault on classical economics and its derivatives, arguing that totally free markets were actually not that ideal, and that hard economic times required intervention and investment from the state. Where the market failed to properly allocate resources, for example, the government was required to stimulate the economy until private funds could start flowing again—a "prime the pump" kind of strategy designed to boost industrial production.<ref>Colton and Palmer pp. 808</ref> − [[Image:Wpa1.JPG|thumb|270px|left|alt=Colored photograph from the 1930s showing workers digging with their shovels; a red truck in the background. |Unskilled laborers working for the [[Works Progress Administration]], a [[New Deal]] agency that employed millions of workers during the [[Great Depression]]. Putting the unemployed to work through public programs is a key tenet of [[social liberalism]].]] − The social liberal program launched by [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt|President Roosevelt]] in the United States, the [[New Deal]], proved very popular with the American public. In 1933, when FDR came into office, the unemployment rate of the United States stood at roughly 25 percent.<ref>Auerbach and Kotlikoff pp. 299</ref> The size of the economy, measured by the [[Gross National Product|GNP]], had fallen to half the value it had in early 1929.<ref>Dobson pp. 264</ref> The electoral victories of FDR and the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]] precipitated a deluge of deficit spending and public works programs. In 1940, the level of unemployment had fallen by 10 points to around 15 percent.<ref>Steindl pp. 111</ref> Additional state spending and the gigantic public works program sparked by the [[Second World War]] eventually pulled the United States out of the Great Depression. From 1940 to 1941, government spending increased by a mammoth amount of 59 percent, the GDP skyrocketed 17 percent, and unemployment fell below 10 percent for the first time since 1929.<ref>Knoop pp. 151</ref> By 1945, after vast quantities of government spending, public debt stood at a staggering 120 percent of GNP, but unemployment had been effectively eliminated.<ref>Rivlin pp. 53</ref> Most nations that emerged from the Great Depression, including the likes of Sweden and Germany, did so with deficit spending and strong intervention from the state. − The economic woes of the period prompted widespread unrest in the European political world, leading to the rise of [[fascism]] as an ideology and a movement arrayed against both liberalism and communism. Broadly speaking, fascist ideology emphasized elite rule and absolute leadership, a radical rejection of equality, the imposition of patriarchal society, a stern commitment to war as an instrument of natural behavior, the elimination of supposedly inferior or subhuman groups from the structure of the nation, and the conception of life as an "unending struggle" in which the strong would destroy and dominate the weak.<ref>Heywood pp. 218-26</ref> In Germany, the Nazis slighted the first year of the French Revolution: "1789 is abolished".<ref>Ibid., pp. 214</ref> Echoing the Germans, Mussolini stated that "we stand for a new principle in the world; we stand for the sheer, categorical, definitive antithesis to the world of democracy...to the world which still abides by the fundamental principles laid down in 1789".<ref>Perry et al., pp. 759</ref> Hitler went further, commenting that the chief principle of fascism was "to abolish the liberal concept of the individual and the Marxist concept of humanity, and to substitute for them the Volk community, rooted in the soil and united by the bond of its common blood".<ref>Ibid., pp. 759</ref> The fascist and nationalist grievances of the 1930s eventually culminated in the [[Second World War]], the deadliest conflict in human history. The Allies won the war by 1945, and their victory set the stage for the [[Cold War]] between communist states and liberal democracies. + + − + + − {{Cquote|What we may be witnessing is not just the end of the Cold War, or the passing of a particular period of postwar history, but the end of history as such; that is, the end point of...ideological evolution and the universalization of...liberal democracy as the final form of human government.<ref>Browning et al., pp. 61</ref>}}+ − + − Liberal philosophy had precursons in the Classical world. The Roman Emperor [[Marcus Aurelius]] wrote praising "the idea of a polity administered with regard to equal rights and equal freedom of speech, and the idea of a kingly government which respects most of all the freedom of the governed".<ref>Marcus Aurelius, ''Meditations'', Oxford University Press, 2008, ISBN 9780199540594.</ref> But liberalism is a philosophy of the city, and disappeared from Europe during the Middle Ages. In the medieval period, the Near East was more liberal than Europe; [[Islamic ethics]] allowed more [[freedom of religion]] than the [[Roman Catholic Church]].<ref>{{citation|first=Antony T.|last=Sullivan|title=Istanbul Conference Traces Islamic Roots of Western Law, Society|journal=[[Washington Report on Middle East Affairs]]|date=January-February 1997|page=36|url=http://www.washington-report.org/backissues/0197/9701036.htm|accessdate=2008-02-29}}</ref><ref>{{citation|last=Weeramantry|first=Judge Christopher G.|title=Justice Without Frontiers: Furthering Human Rights|year=1997|publisher=[[Brill Publishers]]|isbn=9041102418|page=134}}</ref> The return of liberalism to Europe was presaged by such pivotal events as the ''[[Magna Carta]]'', which reduced the power of the English monarch.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9050003/Magna-Carta "Magna Carta"] in ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'' Online</ref>. Most histories of modern liberal thought, however, begin with [[John Locke]] (1632–1704). − Locke's ''[[Two Treatises on Government]]'' (1689) discussed two fundamental liberal ideas: intellectual liberty, including freedom of conscience, which he further expounded in the same year in ''[[A Letter Concerning Toleration]]'', and economic liberty, the right to have and use property. These early liberal ideas were tentative (and published anonymously). Locke did not extend religious freedom to [[Roman Catholic]]s or atheists and thought that the right to have and use property, included the right to own slaves. Locke developed further the earlier idea of [[natural law|natural rights]], a forerunner of the modern conception of [[human rights]], which Locke described as the right to "life, health, liberty, or possessions".+ + − Another 17th-century Englishman, [[John Lilburne]] (also known as ''Freeborn John''), argued for basic human rights which he called [[freeborn|freeborn rights]], the [[natural rights]] that every human being is born with, as opposed to rights bestowed by government or by human law.<ref>Pauline Gregg, ''Free-Born John: A Biography of John Lilburne'', Phoenix Press, 2001,+ − ISBN 9781842122006</ref>+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + − [[Image:Charles Montesquieu.jpg|thumb|left|100px|alt=Portrait of philosopher Charles Montesquieu as an old man |[[Charles Montesquieu]] wrote ''[[The Spirit of the Laws|The Spirit of Laws]]'' in 1748.]]+ − On the European continent, the doctrine of laws restraining even monarchs was expounded by [[Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu]], whose ''[[The Spirit of the Laws]]'' argues that "Better is it to say, that the government most conformable to nature is that which best agrees with the humour and disposition of the people in whose favour it is established", rather than accept as natural the mere rule of force. Following in his footsteps, political economist [[Jean-Baptiste Say]] and [[Destutt de Tracy]] were ardent exponents of the "harmonies" of the market, and in all probability it was they who coined the term ''[[laissez-faire]]''. This evolved into the [[physiocrats]], and to the [[political economy]] of [[Rousseau]].<ref>Charles de Montesquieu, ''The Spirit of the Laws'', Cambridge University Press, 1989, ISBN 9780521369749</ref><ref>Richard Whatmore, ''Republicanism and the French Revolution: An Intellectual History of Jean-Baptiste Say's Political Economy'', Oxford University Press, 2001, ISBN 9780199241156</ref> − − The late French enlightenment saw two figures who would have tremendous influence on later liberal thought: [[Voltaire]], who argued that the French should adopt [[constitutional monarchy]] and disestablish the ''Second Estate'', and Rousseau, who argued for a natural freedom for mankind. − − [[Image:Anders Chydenius.jpg|100px|thumb|right|[[Anders Chydenius]]]] − Rousseau also argued the importance of a concept that appears repeatedly in the history of liberal thought, namely, the [[social contract]]. He rooted this in the nature of the individual and asserted that each person knows their own interest best. His assertion that man is born free, and that education was sufficient to restrain him within society, rocked the monarchical society of his age. His ideas were a key element in the declaration of the [[National Assembly]] during the French Revolution, and in the thinking of Americans such as [[Benjamin Franklin]] and [[Thomas Jefferson]]. In his view the unity of a state came from the concerted action of consent, or the "national will". This unity of action would allow states to exist without being chained to pre-existing social orders, such as aristocracy.<ref>Will and Ariel Durant, ''Rousseau and Revolution'', MJF Books, 1997, ISBN 9781567310214</ref> − − The "[[Scottish Enlightenment]]" included the writers [[David Hume]] and [[Adam Smith]]. − [[Image:Adam Smith.jpg|100px|thumb|left|alt=Black and white engraving of Adam Smith as an old man, looking to the side |[[Adam Smith]] was one of the most important [[classical liberalism|classical liberal]] thinkers.]] − − [[David Hume]]'s contributions were many and varied, but most important was his assertion that fundamental rules of human behavior would overwhelm attempts to restrict or regulate them. In ''[[A Treatise of Human Nature]]'', 1739–1740, he disparaged [[mercantilism]] and the accumulation of gold and silver by governments. He argued that prices were related to the quantity of money, and that hoarding gold and issuing paper money would only lead to inflation.<ref>David Hume, ''A Treatise of Human Nature'', Cornell University, 2009, ISBN 9781112156120</ref> − − Although Adam Smith is the most famous of the economic liberal thinkers, he was not without antecedents. The [[physiocrats]] in France had proposed the systematic study of political economy and asserted the self-organizing nature of markets. Benjamin Franklin wrote in favor of the freedom of American industry in 1750. In [[Sweden-Finland]] the period of liberty and parliamentary government from 1718 to 1772 produced a Finnish parliamentarian, [[Anders Chydenius]], who was one of the first to propose free trade and unregulated industry, in ''[[The National Gain]]'', 1765. His impact has proven to be lasting particularly in the Nordic area, but it also had a powerful effect in later developments elsewhere.<ref>A. Marisson, ''Free Trade and Its Reception 1815-1960: Freedom and Trade'', Routledge, 1998, ISBN 9780415155274</ref> − − [[Adam Smith]] (1723–1790) expounded the theory that individuals could structure both moral and economic life without direction from the state, and that nations would be strongest when their citizens were free to follow their own initiative. He advocated an end to feudal and mercantile regulations, to state-granted monopolies and patents, and he promulgated "[[laissez-faire]]" economics. In ''[[The Theory of Moral Sentiments]]'', 1759, he developed a theory of motivation which tried to reconcile human self-interest and an unregulated social order. In ''[[The Wealth of Nations]]'', 1776, he argued that the market, under certain conditions, would naturally regulate itself and would produce more than the heavily restricted markets that were the norm at the time. He assigned to government the role of taking on tasks which could not be entrusted to the profit motive, such as preventing individuals from using force or fraud to disrupt competition, trade, or production. His theory of taxation was that governments should levy taxes only in ways which did not harm the economy, and that "The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities; that is, in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the state." He agreed with Hume that capital, not gold, is the wealth of a nation.<ref>Adam Smith, ''The Wealth of Nations'', Bantam Classics,2003, ISBN 9780553585971</ref><ref>Adam Smith, ''The Theory of Moral Sentiments'', Book Jungle, 2007, ISBN 9781604244199</ref> − − [[Image:Immanuel Kant (painted portrait).jpg|100px|thumb|[[Immanuel Kant]]]] − [[Immanuel Kant]] was strongly influenced by both Hume's empiricism and continental rationalism. His most important contributions to liberal thinking are in the realm of ethics, particularly his assertion of the [[categorical imperative]]. Kant argued that received systems of reason and morals were subordinate to natural law, and that, therefore, attempts to stifle this basic law would meet with failure. His idealism would become increasingly influential, since it asserted that there were fundamental truths upon which systems of knowledge could be based. This meshed well with the ideas of the English Enlightenment about natural rights.<ref>Immanuel Kant, ''Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals'', 3rd ed.. Hackett, 1993, ISBN 9780872201675</ref> − − === Philosophical foundations for liberalism === − ==== Natural rights liberalism ==== − The early liberal thinkers like [[John Locke]] endorsed liberal politics because of a belief in [[natural rights]]. They believed that humans beings were endowed with certain rights, and that the purpose of government was to protect these rights. Prominent liberal thinkers of this school include the aforementioned Locke, [[Thomas Paine]], [[Thomas Jefferson]] and [[Robert Nozick]]. This viewpoint is closely related to [[deontological libertarianism]].{{citation needed|date=February 2010}} − − ==== Consequentialist liberalism ==== − The concept of natural rights later fell out of favor, and [[consequentialist]] arguments became prominent. Philosophers like [[David Hume]], [[Jeremy Bentham]] and [[John Stuart Mill]] were responsible for this trend, and they criticized earlier concepts about natural rights. Bentham famously denounced them as "nonsense upon stilts".{{citation needed|date=February 2010}} Thus, consequentialist liberals support liberal policies because they think that these policies best promote human well-being and happiness. Consequentialist arguments in favor of liberal policies are especially common within economics. Some prominent consequentialist liberals, in addition to the aforementioned thinkers, include [[Adam Smith]], [[Karl Popper]] and [[Friedrich Hayek]]. This viewpoint is closely related to [[consequentialist libertarianism]].{{citation needed|date=February 2010}} − − ==Liberalism worldwide== − {{main|Liberalism worldwide}} − {{Quote box|align=right|width=30%|Liberals are committed to build and safeguard free, fair and open societies, in which they seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community, and in which no one is enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity...Liberalism aims to disperse power, to foster diversity and to nurture creativity. |[[Liberal International]]<ref>[http://www.liberal-international.org/editorial.asp?ia_id=508 The International] Liberal International. Retrieved 2010-02-20.</ref>}} − Politically, liberalism is organized extensively throughout the world. [[Liberal Party|Liberal parties]], think tanks, and other institutions are common in many nations, although they advocate for different causes based on their ideological orientation. Liberal parties can be [[Centre-left|center-left]], [[Centrism|centrist]], or [[Centre-right|center-right]] depending on their location. They can further be divided based on their adherence to [[social liberalism]] or [[classical liberalism]], although all liberal parties and individuals share basic similarities like support for [[civil rights]] and [[Democracy|democratic institutions]]. On a global level, liberals are united in the [[Liberal International]], which has over 100 influential liberal parties and organizations from across the [[Political spectrum|ideological spectrum]]. Some parties in the LI are among the most famous in the world, like the [[Liberal Party of Canada]], while others are among the smallest, like the [[Liberal Party of Gibraltar]]. Regionally, liberals are organized through various institutions depending on the prevailing geopolitical context. In the [[European Parliament]], for example, the [[Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe]] is the predominant group that represents the interest of European liberals. − − ===Europe=== − {{main|Liberalism in Europe}} − [[Image:Liberal Democrats UK Logo.svg|thumb|200px|right|alt=Logo showing yellow dove in white background |The [[United Kingdom|British]] [[Liberal Democrats]] have achieved one of the most remarkable comebacks in the political history of European liberalism. After the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] almost went extinct in the 1950s, a long period of renewal culminated in a union with the [[Social Democratic Party (UK)|Social Democratic Party]] in 1988 to form the current party, [[Party standings in the British House of Commons|one of the largest in Britain]].]] − In [[Liberalism in Europe|Europe]], liberalism has a long tradition dating back to 17th century. Scholars often split those traditions into English and French versions, with the former version of liberalism emphasizing the expansion of democratic values and constitutional reform and the latter rejecting authoritarian political and economic structures, as well as being involved with nation-building.<ref>Kirchner pp. 3</ref> The continental French version was deeply divided between ''moderates'' and ''progressives'', with the moderates tending to elitism and the progressives supporting the universalization of fundamental institutions, such as [[universal suffrage]], [[Public education|universal education]], and the expansion of [[Property|property rights]].<ref>Ibid., pp. 3</ref> Over time, the moderates displaced the progressives as the main guardians of continental European liberalism. Moderates were identified with liberalism or [[liberal conservatism]] whereas progressives could fall under a number of [[Left-wing politics|left-wing]] camps, from liberalism and [[Political radicalism|radicalism]] to [[republicanism]] and [[social democracy]].<ref>Ibid., pp. 3</ref> A prominent example of these divisions is the German [[Free Democratic Party (Germany)|Free Democratic Party]], which was historically divided between national liberal and social liberal factions.<ref>Ibid., pp. 4</ref> − [[Image:Katarina Kresal.jpg|thumb|220px|left|alt=Photograph of smiling woman with blonde hair; white background |[[Katarina Kresal]] is the leader of the [[Centre-left|center-left]] [[Liberal Democracy of Slovenia|Liberal Democrats]], the most powerful party in [[Slovenia]] since the [[breakup of Yugoslavia]].]] − Modern European liberal parties exhibit diverse tendencies. Before the [[First World War]], liberal parties dominated the European political scene, but they were gradually displaced by socialists and social democrats in the early 20th century. The fortunes of liberal parties since [[World War II]] have been mixed, with some gaining strength while others suffering from continuous declines.<ref>Ibid., pp. 10</ref> The [[Collapse of the Soviet Union (1985–1991)|fall of the Soviet Union]] and the [[breakup of Yugoslavia]] at the end of the 20th century, however, allowed the formation of many liberal parties throughout [[Eastern Europe]]. These parties developed varying ideological characters. Some, like the [[Slovenia|Slovenian]] [[Liberal Democracy of Slovenia|Liberal Democrats]] or the [[Lithuania|Lithuanian]] [[New Union (Social Liberals)|Social Liberals]], have been characterized as [[Centre-left|center-left]].<ref>Karatnycky et al., pp. 247</ref><ref>Hafner and Ramet pp. 104</ref> Others, like the [[Romania|Romanian]] [[National Liberal Party (Romania)|National Liberal Party]], have been classified as [[Centre-right|center-right]].<ref>Various authors pp. 1615</ref> Meanwhile, some liberal parties in Western Europe have undergone renewal and transformation, coming back to the political limelight after historic disappointments. Perhaps the most famous case features the [[Liberal Democrats]] in [[United Kingdom|Britain]]. The Liberal Democrats are the heirs of the once-mighty [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]], which suffered a huge erosion of support to the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] in the early 20th century. After nearly vanishing from the British political scene altogether, the Liberals eventually united with the [[Social Democratic Party (UK)|Social Democratic Party]], a Labour splinter group, in 1988—forming the current Liberal Democrats along the way. The Liberal Democrats have earned significant popular support in [[United Kingdom general election, 2005|recent general elections]] and [[United Kingdom local elections, 2008|local council elections]], marking the first time in decades that a British party with a liberal ideology has achieved such electoral success. Both in Britain and elsewhere in Western Europe, liberal parties have cooperated often with socialist and social democratic parties, as evidenced by the [[Purple (government)|Purple Coalition]] in the [[Netherlands]] at the turn of the 21st century. The Purple Coalition, one of the most consequential in [[History of the Netherlands|Dutch history]], brought together the progressive left-liberal [[Democrats 66|D66]],<ref>Schie and Voermann pp. 121</ref> the market liberal and center-right [[People's Party for Freedom and Democracy|VVD]],<ref>Gallagher et al., pp. 226</ref> and the socialist [[Dutch Labour Party|Labour Party]]—an unusual combination that ultimately [[Same-sex marriage in the Netherlands|legalized same-sex marriage]], [[Euthanasia in the Netherlands|legalized euthanasia]], [[Prostitution in the Netherlands|legalized prostitution]], and instituted a non-enforcement [[Drug policy of the Netherlands|policy on marijuana]]. − − ===Americas=== − {{main|Liberalism in the United States}} − {{main|Liberalism and conservatism in Latin America}} − [[Image:ObamaAbingtonPA.JPG|thumb|200px|right|alt=Photograph of Barack Obama speaking in front of a teleprompter |[[Barack Obama]] is the current, [[List of Presidents of the United States|44th]] [[President of the United States]] and the leader of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]]. He arrived in office facing a [[Financial crisis of 2007–2010|major economic crisis]], to which he and his party responded by passing the [[American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009|Recovery Act]] as a source of [[Fiscal policy|fiscal stimulus]].]] − In [[North America]], unlike in Europe, the word ''liberalism'' almost exclusively refers to [[social liberalism]] in contemporary politics. The dominant [[Canada|Canadian]] and [[United States|American]] parties, the [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal Party]] and the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]], are frequently identified as being modern liberal or [[Centre-left|center-left]] organizations in the academic literature.<ref>Puddington pp. 142 ''After a dozen years of center-left Liberal Party rule, the Conservative Party emerged from the 2006 parliamentary elections with a plurality and established a fragile minority government.''</ref><ref>Grigsby pp. 106-7 [Talking about the Democratic Party] ''Its liberalism is for the most part the later version of liberalism—modern liberalism.''</ref><ref>Arnold pp. 3 ''Modern liberalism occupies the left-of-center in the traditional political spectrum and is represented by the Democratic Party in the United States.''</ref> [[Modern liberalism in the United States]] traces its history to the popular presidency of [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]], who initiated the [[New Deal]] in response to the [[Great Depression]] and won an unprecedented four elections. The [[New Deal coalition|New Deal tradition]] established by FDR left a decisive legacy and impacted many future American presidents, including [[John F. Kennedy]], who defined a liberal as follows: − − {{Cquote|...someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people—their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties—someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad.<ref>Alterman pp. 32</ref>}} − − [[Liberalism in the United States|American liberals]] and other American [[Political ideologies in the United States|ideological groups]] have been the subject of significant demographic analysis. From January to December 2009, polls conducted by the [[The New York Times|New York Times]] and [[CBS News]] revealed that between 20% and 27% of American adults identify as ''liberal'', versus ''moderate'' or ''conservative''.<ref>[http://documents.nytimes.com/new-york-times-cbs-news-poll-the-war-in-afghanistan#p=12 New York Times/CBS News Poll] New York Times. Retrieved 2010-02-21</ref> In the [[United States presidential election, 2008|2008 presidential election]], exit polls showed that 22% of the electorate self-identified as ''liberal'', 34% as ''conservative'', and 44% as ''moderate''.<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/polls/#USP00p1 Exit Polls Conducted by Edison Research Media] CNN. Retrieved 2010-02-21</ref> − − In Canada, the long-dominant Liberal Party, affectionately known as ''the Grits'', [[History of the Liberal Party of Canada|ruled the country]] for nearly 70 years during the 20th century. The party produced some of the most famous prime ministers in [[History of Canada|Canadian history]], like [[Pierre Trudeau]] and [[Jean Chrétien]], and has been primarily responsible for the development of the Canadian [[welfare state]]. The enormous success of the Liberals—virtually unmatched in any other [[liberal democracy]]—has prompted many political commentators over time to identify them as the nation's ''natural governing party''.<ref>Penniman pp. 72</ref><ref>Chodos et al., pp. 9</ref> − − In [[Liberalism and conservatism in Latin America|Latin America]], liberal agitation dates back to the 19th century, when liberal groups frequently fought against and violently overthrew [[Conservatism|conservative]] regimes in several countries across the region. Liberal revolutions in countries like [[Mexican Revolution|Mexico]] and [[Liberal Revolution of 1895|Ecuador]] ushered in the modern world for much of Latin America. Today, [[Classical liberalism|market liberals]] in Latin America are organized in the [[Liberal Network for Latin America|Red Liberal de América Latina]], a network that brings together dozens of liberal parties and organizations. RELIAL includes parties like [[New Alliance Party (Mexico)|Nueva Alianza]] in [[Mexico]] and the [[Cuban Liberal Union]], which aims to secure power in [[Cuba]]. Some major liberal parties in the region continue, however, to align themselves with social liberal ideas and policies—a notable case being the [[Colombian Liberal Party]], which is a member of the [[Socialist International]]. Another famous example is the [[Paraguay|Paraguayan]] [[Authentic Radical Liberal Party]], one of the most powerful parties in the country, which has also been classified as center-left.<ref>Ameringer pp. 489</ref> − − ===Asia and Oceania=== − [[Image:Liberal ph.png|thumb|200px|right|alt=Logo showing a big white "L" on a red and blue background with the word "liberal" above |The [[Philippines|Filipino]] [[Liberal Party (Philippines)|Liberal Party]] has produced [[List of Presidents of the Philippines|three presidents]] since it was founded in 1945.]] − In [[Asia]], liberalism is a much younger political current than in [[Europe]] or the [[Americas]]. Continentally, liberals are organized through the [[Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats]], which includes powerful parties like the [[Liberal Party (Philippines)|Liberal Party]] in the [[Philippines]], the [[Democratic Progressive Party]] in [[Taiwan]], and the [[Democrat Party (Thailand)|Democrat Party]] in [[Thailand]]. Two notable examples of liberal influence can be found in [[India]] and [[Australia]]. − − In [[Australia]], liberalism is primarily championed by the [[Centre-right|center-right]] [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal Party]].<ref>Monsma and Soper pp. 95</ref> The Liberals in Australia support [[free markets]] as well as [[social conservatism]].<ref>Ibid., pp. 95</ref><ref>Karatnycky pp. 59</ref> In [[India]], the most populous democracy in the world, the [[Indian National Congress]] has long dominated political affairs. The INC was founded in the late 19th century by liberal nationalists demanding the creation of a more liberal and autonomous India.<ref>Hodge pp. 346</ref> Liberalism continued to be the main ideological current of the group through the early years of the 20th century, but [[socialism]] gradually overshadowed the thinking of the party in the next few decades. A famous struggle led by the INC eventually earned India's independence from Britain. In recent times, the party has adopted more of a liberal streak, championing open markets while simultaneously seeking social justice. In its ''2009 Manifesto'', the INC praised a "secular and liberal" Indian nationalism against the nativist, communal, and conservative ideological tendencies it claims are espoused by the [[Right-wing politics|right]].<ref>[http://www.congress.org.in/manifesto09-eng.pdf 2009 Manifesto] Indian National Congress. Retrieved 2010-02-21</ref> − − ===Africa=== − Liberalism in [[Africa]] is comparatively weak. In recent times, however, liberal parties and institutions have made a major push for political power. On a continental level, liberals are organized in the [[Africa Liberal Network]], which contains influential parties like the [[Popular Movement]] in [[Morocco]], the [[Senegalese Democratic Party|Democratic Party]] in [[Senegal]], and the [[Rally of the Republicans]] in [[Côte d'Ivoire]]. Among African nations, [[South Africa]] stands out for having a notable [[Liberalism in South Africa|liberal tradition]] that other countries on the continent lack. In the middle of the 20th century, the [[South African Liberal Party|Liberal Party]] and the [[Progressive Party (South Africa)|Progressive Party]] were formed to oppose the [[South Africa under apartheid|apartheid]] policies of the government. The Liberals formed a [[multiracial]] party that originally drew considerable support from [[Urban area|urban]] Africans and college-educated whites.<ref>Van den Berghe pp. 56</ref> It also gained supporters from the "westernized sectors of the [[Peasant|peasantry]]", and its public meetings were heavily attended by [[Black people|black Africans]].<ref>Ibid., pp. 57</ref> The party had 7,000 members at its height, although its appeal to the white population as a whole was too small to make any meaningful political changes.<ref>Ibid., pp. 56</ref> The Liberals were disbanded in 1968 after the government passed a law that prohibited parties from having multiracial membership. Today, liberalism in South Africa is represented by the [[Democratic Alliance (South Africa)|Democratic Alliance]], the official opposition party to the ruling [[African National Congress]]. − − == Notes == − + − *Adams, Ian. ''Ideology and politics in Britain today''. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-719-05056-1 − *[[Eric Alterman|Alterman, Eric]]. ''Why We're Liberals: A Political Handbook for Post-Bush America''. New York: Viking Adult, 2008. ISBN 0-670-01860-0 − *Ameringer, Charles. ''Political parties of the Americas, 1980s to 1990s''. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1992. ISBN 0-313-27418-5 − *Arnold, N. Scott. ''Imposing values: an essay on liberalism and regulation''. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. ISBN 0-495-50112-3 − *Auerbach, Alan and Kotlikoff, Laurence. ''Macroeconomics'' Cambridge: MIT Press, 1998. ISBN 0-262-01170-0 − *Browning, Gary et al. ''Understanding Contemporary Society: Theories of the Present''. Thousand Oaks: SAGE, 2000. ISBN 0-761-95926-2 − *Chodos, Robert et al. ''The unmaking of Canada: the hidden theme in Canadian history since 1945''. Halifax: James Lorimer & Company, 1991. ISBN 1-550-28337-5 − *Coker, Christopher. ''Twilight of the West''. Boulder: Westview Press, 1998. ISBN 0-813-33368-7 − *Colomer, Josep Maria. ''Great Empires, Small Nations''. New York: Routledge, 2007. ISBN 0-415-43775-X − *Colton, Joel and [[Robert Roswell Palmer|Palmer, R.R.]] ''A History of the Modern World''. New York: McGraw Hill, Inc., 1995. ISBN 0-07-040826-2 − *Cook, Richard. ''The Grand Old Man''. Whitefish: Kessinger Publishing, 2004. ISBN 1-419-16449-X − *Copleston, Frederick. ''A History of Philosophy: Volume V''. New York: Doubleday, 1959. ISBN 0-385-47042-8 − *Delaney, Tim. ''The march of unreason: science, democracy, and the new fundamentalism''. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. ISBN 0-192-80485-5 − *Diamond, Larry. ''The Spirit of Democracy''. New York: Macmillan, 2008. ISBN 0-805-07869-X − *Dobson, John. ''Bulls, Bears, Boom, and Bust''. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2006. ISBN 1-851-09553-5 − *Dorrien, Gary. ''The making of American liberal theology''. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001. ISBN 0-664-22354-0 − *Frey, Linda and Frey, Marsha. ''The French Revolution''. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2004. ISBN 0-313-32193-0 − *Gallagher, Michael et al. ''Representative government in modern Europe''. New York: McGraw Hill, 2001. ISBN 0-072-32267-5 − *Gaus, Gerald. ''Contemporary theories of liberalism''. Thousand Oaks: SAGE, 2003. ISBN 0-761-96139-9 − *Godwin, Kenneth et al. ''School choice tradeoffs: liberty, equity, and diversity''. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2002. ISBN 0-292-72842-5 − *Grigsby, Ellen. ''Analyzing Politics: An Introduction to Politics Science''. Florence: Cengage Learning, 2008. ISBN 0-495-50112-3 − *Gross, Jonathan. ''Byron: the erotic liberal''. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2001. ISBN 0-742-51162-6 − *Hafner, Danica and Ramet, Sabrina. ''Democratic transition in Slovenia: value transformation, education, and media''. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2006. ISBN 1-585-44525-8 − *Handelsman, Michael. ''Culture and Customs of Ecuador''. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2000. ISBN 0-313-30244-8 − *Hanson, Paul. ''Contesting the French Revolution''. Hoboken: Blackwell Publishing, 2009. ISBN 1-405-16083-7 − *[[Louis Hartz|Hartz, Louis]]. ''The liberal tradition in America''. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1955. ISBN 0-156-51269-6 − *Heywood, Andrew. ''Political Ideologies: An Introduction''. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. ISBN 0-333-96177-3 − *Hodge, Carl. ''Encyclopedia of the Age of Imperialism, 1800-1944''. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2008. ISBN 0-313-33406-4 − *Karatnycky, Adrian. ''Freedom in the World''. Piscataway: Transaction Publishers, 2000. ISBN 0-765-80760-2 − *Karatnycky, Adrian et al. ''Nations in transit, 2001''. Piscataway: Transaction Publishers, 2001. ISBN 0-765-80897-8 − *Kerber, Linda. "The Republican Mother: Women and the Enlightenment—An American Perspective," in [[American Quarterly]]. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 1976, Vol. 28, No. 2. − *Kirchner, Emil. ''Liberal parties in Western Europe''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988. ISBN 0-521-32394-0 − *Knoop, Todd. ''Recessions and Depressions'' Westport: Greenwood Press, 2004. ISBN 0-313-38163-1 − *[[John Locke|Locke, John]]. ''Two Treatises of Government''. reprint, New York: Hafner Publishing Company, Inc., 1947. ISBN 0-028-48500-9 − *Lyons, Martyn. ''Napoleon Bonaparte and the Legacy of the French Revolution''. New York: St. Martin's Press, Inc., 1994. ISBN 0-312-12123-7 − *Mazower, Mark. ''Dark Continent''. New York: Vintage Books, 1998. ISBN 0-679-75704-X − *Monsma, Stephen and Soper, J. Christopher. ''The Challenge of Pluralism: Church and State in Five Democracies''. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2008. ISBN 0-742-55417-1 − *Penniman, Howard. ''Canada at the polls, 1984: a study of the federal general elections''. Durham: Duke University Press, 1988. ISBN 0-822-30821-5 − *Perry, Marvin et al. ''Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics, and Society'' Florence, KY: Cengage Learning, 2008. ISBN 0-547-14742-2 − *Puddington, Arch. ''Freedom in the World: The Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties''. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007. ISBN 0-742-55897-5 − *Rivlin, Alice. ''Reviving the American Dream'' Washington D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 1992. ISBN 0-815-77476-1 − *[[John Roberts (historian)|Roberts, J.M.]] ''The Penguin History of the World''. New York: Penguin Group, 1992. ISBN 0-19-521043-3 − *Shaw, G. K. ''Keynesian Economics: The Permanent Revolution''. Aldershot, England: Edward Elgar Publishing Company, 1988. ISBN 1-852-78099-1 − *Shlapentokh, Dmitry. ''The French Revolution and the Russian Anti-Democratic Tradition''. Edison, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 1997. ISBN 1-560-00244-1 − *Stacy, Lee. ''Mexico and the United States''. New York: Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 2002. ISBN 0-761-47402-1 − *Steindl, Frank. ''Understanding Economic Recovery in the 1930s''. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2004. ISBN 0-472-11348-8 − *Tanner, Norman. ''The Church in the Later Middle Ages''. New York: I.B. Tauris, 2008. ISBN 1-845-11438-8 − *Van den Berghe, Pierre. ''The Liberal dilemma in South Africa''. Oxford: Taylor & Francis, 1979. ISBN 0-709-90136-4 − *Van Schie, P. G. C. and Voermann, Gerrit. ''The dividing line between success and failure: a comparison of Liberalism in the Netherlands and Germany in the 19th and 20th Centuries''. Berlin: LIT Verlag Berlin-Hamburg-Münster, 2006. ISBN 3-825-87668-3 − *Various authors. ''Countries of the World & Their Leaders Yearbook 08, Volume 2''. Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2007. ISBN 0-787-68108-3 − *[[Alan Wolfe|Wolfe, Alan]]. ''The Future of Liberalism''. New York: Random House, Inc., 2009. ISBN 0-307-38625-2 − − == Further reading == − === Prominent law scholars === − * Putting liberalism in its place / Paul W Kahn, 2005 ([[Yale University]]) − * Liberalism divided: freedom of speech and the many uses of State power / Owen M Fiss, 1996 (Yale University) − * The future of liberal revolution / Bruce A Ackerman, 1992 (Yale University) − * Social justice in the liberal state / Bruce A Ackerman, 1980 (Yale University) − * Notions of fairness versus the Pareto principle: on the role of logical consistency / Louis Kaplow, 2000 ([[Harvard University]]) − * Knowledge & politics / Roberto Mangabeira Unger., 1975 (Harvard University) − * Principles for a free society / Richard Allen Epstein, 1999 ([[University of Chicago]]) − * Fairness in a liberal society / Richard Allen Epstein, 2005 (University of Chicago) − * Skepticism and freedom: a modern case for classical liberalism / Richard Allen Epstein., 2003 (University of Chicago) − * Cultivating humanity: a classical defense of reform in liberal education / Martha Nussbaum, 1997 (University of Chicago) − * Free markets and social justice / Cass R Sunstein, 1997 (University of Chicago) − * Reasonably radical: deliberative liberalism and the politics of identity / Anthony Simon Laden, 2001 (University of Chicago) − * The new inequality: creating solutions for poor America / ed. Joshua Cohen, 1999 ([[Stanford University]]) − * The rise and fall of British liberalism, 1776-1988 / Alan Sykes, 1997 (Stanford University) − * A stream of windows: unsettling reflections on trade, immigration, and democracy / Jagdish Bhagwati, 1998 ([[Columbia University]]) − * Nature and politics: liberalism in the philosophies of Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau / Andrzej Rapaczynski, 1987 (Columbia University) − * Law and liberalism in the 1980s: the Rubin lectures at Columbia University / Vincent Blasi, 1991 (Columbia University) − * Ways of war and peace: realism, liberalism, and socialism / Michael W Doyle, 1997 (Columbia University) − * The Liberal future in America: essays in renewal / ed. Michael B Levy, 1985 ([[University of California, Berkeley]]) − * Boundaries and allegiances: problems of justice and responsibility in liberal thought / Samuel Scheffler, 2001 (University of California, Berkeley) − * The anatomy of antiliberalism / Stephen Holmes, 1993 ([[University of New York]]) − * Passions and constraint: on the theory of liberal democracy / Stephen Holmes, 1995 (University of New York) − * Benjamin Constant and the making of modern liberalism / Stephen Holmes, 1984 (University of New York) − * Liberal rights: collected papers, 1981-1991 / Jeremy Waldron, 1993 (University of New York) − * Liberals and social democrats / Peter Clarke., 1978 ([[University of Oxford]]) − * Law and the community: the end of individualism? / ed. Leslie Green, 1989 (University of Oxford) − * From promise to contract: towards a liberal theory of contract / Dori Kimel, 2003 (University of Oxford) − * The new enlightenment: the rebirth of liberalism / ed. Peter Clarke, 1986 (University of Oxford) − * Constitutional justice: a liberal theory of the rule of law / T.R.S Allan, 2001 ([[University of Cambridge]]) − − === Prominent philosophers === − * Liberalism and social action / John Dewey, 1963 (University of Chicago) − * Combat liberalism / Mao Zedong, 1954 ([[Peking University]]) − * Free thought and official propaganda / Bertrand Russell, 1922 (University of Cambridge) − * Political Liberalism / John Rawls, 2005 (Harvard University) − * Lectures on the history of political philosophy / John Rawls, 2007 (Harvard University) − * The law of peoples; with, The idea of public reason revisited / John Rawls., 1999 (Harvard University) − * Conditions of liberty: civil society and its rivals / Ernest Gellner, 1994 (University of Cambridge) − * Liberty: incorporating four essays on liberty / Isaiah Berlin., 2002 (University of Oxford) − * Objectivity and liberal scholarship / Noam Chomsky, 2003 ([[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]) − * Profit over people: neoliberalism and global order / Noam Chomsky, 1999 (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) − * Democracy in a neoliberal order: doctrines and reality / Noam Chomsky, 1997 (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) − * Liberal politics and the public sphere / Charles Taylor, 1995 (McGill University) − * Beyond liberalization: social opportunity and human capability / Amartya Kumar Sen., 1994 (Harvard University) − * Sovereign virtue: the theory and practice of equality / Ronald Dworkin, 2000 (University of New York)) − * The legacy of Isaiah Berlin / ed. Ronald Dworkin., 2001 (University of New York) − * Concealment and exposure: and other essays / Thomas Nagel, 2002 (University of New York) − * Liberals and communitarians / Stephen Mulhall., 1992 (University of Oxford) − * John Dewey and the High Tide of American Liberalism / Alan Ryan, 1995 (University of Oxford) − * Liberal reform in an illiberal regime: the creation of private property in Russia / Stephen Williams, 2006 (University of Oxford) − * Liberalism, religion, and the sources of value / Simon Blackburn, 2005 (University of Cambridge) − * Achieving Our Country: Leftist Thought in Twentieth-Century America / Richard Rorty, 1999 (Stanford University) − * Bridging Liberalism and Multiculturalism in American Education / Bob Reich, 2002 (Stanford University) − * Boundaries and allegiances: problems of justice and responsibility in liberal thought / Samuel Scheffler, 2001 (University of California, Berkeley) − * The logos reader: rational radicalism and the future of politics / ed. Michael Thompson, 2006 (University of Pittsburgh) − * The feminist critique of liberalism / Martha Craven Nussbaum, 1997 (University of Chicago) − * Nietzsche, politics, and modernity: a critique of liberal reason / David Owen, 1995 (University of Arizona) − * Contemporary Theories of Liberalism / Gerald Gaus, 2003 (University of Arizona) − * Pragmatic Liberalism and the Critique of Modernity / Gary Gutting, 1999 (University of Notre Dame) − − === Prominent political scientists === − * Communities and Law: Politics and Cultures of Legal Identities/Gad Barzilai, 2003 [[University of Michigan]] − * Liberal America and the Third World; political development ideas in foreign aid and social science / Robert A Packenham, 1973 (Stanford University) − * Structural conflict: the Third World against global liberalism / Stephen D Krasner, 1985 (Stanford University) − * Democracy's discontent: America in search of a public philosophy / Michael J Sandel, 1998 (Harvard University) − * Liberalism and the limits of justice / Michael J Sandel, 1998 (Harvard University) − * The spirit of liberalism / Harvey Claflin Mansfield., 1978 (Harvard University) − * Liberalism and the moral life / Nancy L Rosenblum, 1989 (Harvard University) − * Bentham's theory of the modern state / Nancy L Rosenblum, 1978 (Harvard University) − * Another liberalism: romanticism and the reconstruction of liberal thought / Nancy L Rosenblum., 1987 (Harvard University) − * Liberalism and its critics / Michael J Sandel, 1984 (Harvard University) − * Technopols: freeing politics and markets in Latin America in the 1990s / Jorge I Domínguez., 1997 (Harvard University) − * The new majority: towards a popular progressive politics / Theda Skocpol, 1999 (Harvard University) − * Tyranny and liberty: big government and the individual in Tocqueville's science of politics / Harvey Mansfield., 1999 (Harvard University) − * The new American dilemma: liberal democracy and school desegregation / Jennifer L Hochschild, 1984 (Harvard University) − * Politics out of history / Wendy Brown, 2001 (University of California, Berkeley) − * Radicals and conservatives / William McGovern; David S Collier, 1957 (University of California, Berkeley) − * Tocqueville's revenge: state, society, and economy in contemporary France / Jonah D Levy, 1999 (University of California, Berkeley) − * Liberalism's crooked circle: letters to Adam Michnik / Ira Katznelson, 1996 (Columbia University) − * Liberal socialism (Carlo Rosselli) / ed. Nadia Urbinati, 1994 (Columbia University) − * On liberal revolution (Piero Gobetti) / ed. Nadia Urbinati, 2000 (Columbia University) − * The clash of orthodoxies: law, religion, and morality in crisis / Robert P George, 2001 ([[Princeton University]]) − * Liberal equality / Amy Gutmann., 1980 (Princeton University) − * Diversity and distrust : civic education in a multicultural democracy / Stephen Macedo, 1999 (Princeton University) − * Liberal virtues: citizenship, virtue, and community in liberal constitutionalism / Stephen Macedo, 1991 (Princeton University) − * The inner ocean: individualism and democratic culture / George Kateb, 1992 (Princeton University) − * Economic change and political liberalization in Sub-Saharan Africa / Jennifer A Widner, 1994 (Princeton University) − * Natural law, liberalism, and morality: contemporary essays / Robert P George, 1996 (Princeton University) − * Natural law and public reason / Robert P George, 2000 (Princeton University) − * Liberal international relations theory: a social scientific assessment / Andrew Moravcsik., 2001 (Princeton University) − * Liberalism and international relations theory / Andrew Moravcsik, 1992 (Princeton University) − </div> − == External links ==+ − {{sisterlinks}}+ − + − + − + − + − + − + − + − + − + − + − + − + − + − + + + + + + + + + + − {{Template group+ − |list = − {{Liberalism}} − {{Political ideologies}} − {{Social and political philosophy}} − }} − + − [[Category:Political ideologies]] − [[Category:Political philosophy]] − [[Category:Political culture]] − [[Category:Social theories]] − [[Category:Individualism]] − + − {{Link FA|vi}} − + − + − + − [[be:Лібералізм]] − [[be-x-old:Лібэралізм]] − [[bs:Liberalizam]] − [[br:Frankizouriezh]] − [[bg:Либерализъм]] − [[ca:Liberalisme]] − [[cs:Liberalismus]] − [[cy:Rhyddfrydiaeth]] − [[da:Liberalisme]] − [[de:Liberalismus]] − [[et:Liberalism]] − [[el:Φιλελευθερισμός]] − [[es:Liberalismo]] − [[eo:Liberalismo]] − [[eu:Liberalismo]] − [[fa:لیبرالیسم]] − [[fo:Liberalisma]] − [[fr:Libéralisme]] − [[fy:Liberalisme]] − [[ga:Liobrálachas]] − [[gd:Lachasachd]] − [[gl:Libertario]] − [[ko:자유주의]] − [[hi:उदारतावाद]] − [[hr:Liberalizam]] − [[ig:Liberalism]] − [[id:Liberalisme]] − [[is:Frjálslyndisstefna]] − [[it:Liberalismo]] − [[he:ליברליזם]] − [[jv:Liberalisme]] − [[ka:ლიბერალიზმი]] − [[ku:Lîberalîzm]] − [[la:Liberalismus]] − [[lv:Liberālisms]] − [[lt:Liberalizmas]] − [[hu:Liberalizmus]] − [[mk:Либерализам]] − [[arz:ليبراليه]] − [[ms:Liberalisme]] − [[mwl:Liberalismo]] − [[nl:Liberalisme]] − [[ja:自由主義]] − [[no:Liberalisme]] − [[nn:Liberalisme]] − [[oc:Liberalisme]] − [[uz:Liberalizm]] − [[ps:لېبراليزم]] − [[pl:Liberalizm]] − [[pt:Liberalismo]] − [[ro:Liberalism]] − [[ru:Либерализм]] − [[sah:Либерализм]] − [[sc:Liberalismu]] − [[simple:Liberalism]] − [[sk:Liberalizmus]] − [[sl:Liberalizem]] − [[ckb:لیبرالیزم]] − [[sr:Либерализам]] − [[sh:Liberalizam]] − [[fi:Liberalismi]] − [[sv:Liberalism]] − [[tl:Liberalismo]] − [[ta:தாராண்மையியம்]] − [[th:เสรีนิยม]] − [[tr:Liberalizm]] − [[uk:Лібералізм]] − [[ur:آزاد خیالی]] − [[ug:لىبېرالىزىم]] − [[vi:Chủ nghĩa tự do]] − [[fiu-vro:Liberalism]] − [[war:Liberalismo]] − [[yi:ליבעראליזם]] − [[zh-yue:自由主義]] − [[bat-smg:Liberalėzmos]] − [[zh:自由主义]]
Reverted edits by Wikipedianprotester (Talk) to last version by DouglasA
[[Image:Liberal Brain.jpg|thumb|450px|top|<center>A satirical conception of the liberal brain.</center>]]
[[Image:WLMK hammer and tongs Votez Liberal poster 1930.jpg|thumb|200px|right|alt=Colored poster showing a man with a hammer as a welder, holding onto chains; "Votez Liberal" (in French) is seen in the background |[[Canada|Canadian]] poster for the [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal Party]], in [[French language|French]], showing [[William Lyon Mackenzie King|Prime Minister Mackenzie King]] welding together the provinces of the country ahead of the [[Canadian federal election, 1930|1930 election]]. The Liberals governed Canada for nearly 70 years in the 20th century, but they suffered a rare and serious defeat in 1930.]]
A '''liberal''' (also '''leftist''') is someone who rejects logical and biblical standards, often for self-centered reasons. There are no coherent liberal standards; often a liberal is merely someone who craves attention, and who uses many words to say nothing.<ref>As one liberal website candidly observes, "Obama is a shallow narcissist, not a believer in any cause higher than himself. Every American president has had a healthy ego, but none has ever been as purely motivated by vanity as the childishly self-loving [[Barack Obama]]."[http://www.opednews.com/articles/Barack-Obama-s-ego-driven-by-Christopher-Calder-091210-804.html]</ref> Liberalism began as a movement for individual liberties, but today is increasingly [[statist]], and in Europe even [[socialist]]ic.
A liberal generally supports many of the following political positions and practices:
* Taxpayer-funded and/or legalized [[abortion]]
* [[Censorship]] of teacher-lead [[prayer]] in classrooms and school sponsored events
* Support for [[gun control]]
* Support of obscenity and pornography as a [[First Amendment]] right<ref>The [[Warren Court]], led by [[liberal]] Justices [[William O. Douglas]], [[Hugo Black]], [[Abe Fortas]], [[William Brennan]] and Chief Justice [[Earl Warren]] issued 36 decisions granting [[First Amendment]] rights to obscenity and pornography. These decisions remain fully supported by liberals today.</ref>
* [[Income redistribution]], usually through progressive taxation
* Government-rationed medical care, such as [[Universal Health Care]]
* Taxpayer-funded and government-controlled [[public education]]
* The denial of inherent [[gender differences]]
* Insisting that men and women be placed in the same jobs in the [[military]]
* Legalized [[same-sex marriage]]
* Implementation of [[affirmative action]]
* [[Political correctness]]
* Support of [[labor union]]s
* Teaching acceptance of promiscuity through sexual "education" rather than teaching [[abstinence]] from sex.<ref> [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,286671,00.html Democrats Aim To Kill Abstinence-Only Program Funding], [[Fox News]], Monday, June 25, 2007</ref>
* A "[[living Constitution]]" that is reinterpreted as liberals prefer, rather than how it was intended
* Government programs to [[rehabilitate criminals]]
* Abolition of the death penalty
* [[Environmentalism]]<ref>[[Greenpeace]], for example.</ref>
* [[Disarmament treaties]]
* [[Globalism]]
* Opposition to an interventionalist American foreign policy <ref>Stefaan Walgrave and Joris Verhulst, [http://nicomedia.math.upatras.gr/conf/CAWM2003/Papers/Verhulst.pdf The February 15 Worldwide Protests against a War in Iraq: An Empirical Test of Transnational Opportunities. Outline of a Research Programme](PDF).</ref>
* Opposition to full private property rights<ref>For example, the liberal wing of the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] issued the 5-4 [[Kelo v. City of New London]] decision authorizing the taking of private property by government in order to give the property to another private entity rather than convert it to a public use.</ref>
* Reinstating the [[Fairness Doctrine]]
* In 2005, it was reported by CBS News that [[Theory of evolution and liberalism|liberals were the most likely supporters of the theory of evolution]]. The theory of [[evolution]] is a key component of [[atheistic]] ideologies in the [[Western World]].
* Opposition to domestic wire-tapping as authorized in the [[Patriot Act]]
* Calling anyone they agree with a "professor" regardless of whether he earned that distinction based on a real peer review of his work (see, e.g., [[Richard Dawkins]] and [[Barack Obama]]).
* "The long romance of Western leftists with some of the bloodiest regimes and political movements in history is a story not told often enough ...."<ref> [http://www.city-journal.org/2009/bc0605bt.html Dupes by Bruce S. Thornton], City Journal - 5 June 2009</ref>
==Liberals and Uncharitableness==
[[Image:228130875 35181424e3.jpg|thumb|right|175px|[[United States|American]] liberals give less to charity than American conservatives.<ref>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/03/conservatives_more_liberal_giv.html</ref> In addition, [[per capita]] [[atheism|atheists]] and [[agnosticism|agnostics]] in the United States [[Atheism and Uncharitableness|give significantly less to charity than theists even when church giving is not counted for theists]].[http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/12-faithspirituality/102-atheists-and-agnostics-take-aim-at-christians][http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3647/is_200310/ai_n9340592/][http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Story?id=2682730&page=2] ]]
''For more information please see'': [[Liberals and uncharitableness]]
In March of 2008, [[George Will]] wrote at [[RealClearPolitics]] concerning the [[United States]]:
{{cquote|Sixteen months ago, Arthur C. Brooks, a professor at [[Syracuse University]], published "Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism." The surprise is that liberals are markedly less charitable than [[conservative]]s....
If many conservatives are liberals who have been mugged by reality, Brooks, a registered independent, is, as a reviewer of his book said, a social scientist who has been mugged by data. They include these findings:
-- Although liberal families' incomes average 6 percent higher than those of conservative families, conservative-headed households give, on average, 30 percent more to charity than the average liberal-headed household ($1,600 per year vs. $1,227).
-- Conservatives also donate more time and give more blood.<ref>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/03/conservatives_more_liberal_giv.html</ref>}}
[[Atheism|Atheists]] and [[agnosticism|agnostics]] often reject [[Bible|biblical]] [[morality]] (and therefore [[conservative Christianity]] ) and hold to [[moral relativism]].<ref>http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=152</ref> Therefore, it is not surprising that [[per capita]] atheists and agnostics in [[United States|America]] [[Atheism and Uncharitableness|give significantly less to charity than theists even when church giving is not counted for theists]].[http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/12-faithspirituality/102-atheists-and-agnostics-take-aim-at-christians][http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3647/is_200310/ai_n9340592/][http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Story?id=2682730&page=2]
== Liberal politicians and uncharitableness ==
The political magazine the [[American Spectator]] featured an article which focused on [[liberal politicians and uncharitableness]] and the article exposed the hypocrisy of the liberal politicians it featured.<ref>http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=1c5_1238044128&c=1</ref>
In addition, [[Barack Obama]] has been criticized concerning [[Barack Obama and uncharitableness|his charitable giving]].
==Liberals and Superstition==
[[Image:2384975035_230a0eac30.jpg|thumb|right|150px|The [[Wall Street Journal]] reported: "A comprehensive new study released by Baylor University yesterday, shows that [[Conservative Christianity|traditional Christian religion]] greatly decreases belief in everything from the efficacy of palm readers to the usefulness of [[astrology]]. <ref>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122178219865054585.html</ref>]]
In September of 2008, the [[Wall Street Journal]] reported:
{{cquote|The reality is that the [[New Atheism|New Atheist]] campaign, by discouraging [[religion]], won't create a new group of intelligent, skeptical, enlightened beings. Far from it: It might actually encourage new levels of mass superstition. And that's not a conclusion to take on faith -- it's what the empirical data tell us.
"What Americans Really Believe," a comprehensive new study released by Baylor University yesterday, shows that [[Conservative Christianity|traditional Christian religion]] greatly decreases belief in everything from the efficacy of palm readers to the usefulness of [[astrology]]. It also shows that the irreligious and the members of more liberal Protestant denominations, far from being resistant to superstition, tend to be much more likely to believe in the paranormal and in pseudoscience than evangelical Christians....
This is not a new finding. In his 1983 book "The Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener," skeptic and science writer Martin Gardner cited the decline of traditional religious belief among the better educated as one of the causes for an increase in [[pseudoscience]], cults and superstition. He referenced a 1980 study published in the magazine Skeptical Inquirer that showed irreligious college students to be by far the most likely to embrace paranormal beliefs, while born-again Christian college students were the least likely.<ref>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122178219865054585.html</ref>}}
== Liberalism in North America today ==
[[Democrats]] and many media outlets in the [[U.S.]] are often [[liberal]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mrc.org/biasbasics/biasbasics1.asp|title=Media Bias basics|publisher=Media Research Center}}</ref>
*Some argue that liberals typically support economic policy similar to that of [[fascism]]. <ref>{{cite web|url=http://fora.tv/2008/01/30/Liberal_Traits_of_Fascism|title=Video discussion about how modern liberalism is actually fascist by author Jonah Goldberg.}}</ref>
* Liberals claimed a monopoly on [[compassion]], [[decency]], and [[social justice]] (as defined by themselves), posing as the sole defenders of [[civic virtue]] against a horde of backwoodsmen, racists, and religious fanatics. [http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/03/the_disgrace_of_liberalism.html]
<blockquote>
''There's another goal, from my point of view, which is to try to lay the groundwork for a radical political force which would conceive of itself as distinctly to the left of moderate, reformist American liberals. And that has two aspects. One is to try to change that liberalism, to transform it by analysis, critique, and activism; the second is to build a radical movement which would be an autonomous force in its own right, which would be distinct from the traditional American liberal consensus. This radical part of the program involves not simply supporting the liberal students against conservative students and conservative professors, but trying to act on them, to push them to the left. It also involves trying to find and support, even trying to help create, networks of radical students in law school and of radical professors around the country — students and teachers who see themselves as wanting to go a lot further than most people want to go.'' <ref> [http://66.218.69.11/search/cache?ei=UTF-8&p=liberal+teachers&fr=yfp-t-501&fp_ip=MX&u=duncankennedy.net/documents/Liberal%2520Values%2520in%2520Legal%2520Education.pdf&w=liberal+liberals+teachers+teacher&d=BNZFhPReRjC1&icp=1&.intl=us Liberal Values in Legal Education] Duncan Kennedy (professor at Harvard Law School)</ref>
</blockquote>
===Children of revolution===
===Liberal Rankings of Congress Members===
The National Journal compiles the votes of each congress member each year and uses the information to create rankings<ref>http://nationaljournal.com/voteratings/index.htm</ref> of how liberal each member of the United States [[Congress]] is. In addition to showing the voting records of each member and given an overall all ranking of liberalness, the National Journal also ranks congress members by liberalness in the areas of social, economic, and foreign policy.
==Liberalism in Europe today==
In Europe, on the other hand, parties that call themselves ''liberal'' are moderate in outlook, ranging from centre-left to centre-right, promote typically economic and business freedom. The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe<ref>http://www.alde.eu</ref> is a party of the European Parliament that represents most ''liberal'' parties from European countries. Similar policies are promoted by many ''liberal'' parties throughout the world,<ref>http://www.liberal-international.org/</ref> such as the Liberal Party of Australia.<ref>[http://www.liberal.org.au/]</ref>
The 20th century started perilously for liberalism. The [[First World War]] sparked geopolitical turmoil throughout the European continent and threatened to unravel the success of [[liberal democracy]]. However, the Allies managed to win the war, and the number of republics in Europe reached 13 by the end of the war, as compared with only three at the start of the war in 1914.<ref>Mazower pp. 3</ref> The [[Russian Revolution (1917)|Russian Revolution]], which occurred during the war, marked another milestone on the road of modernity. The eventual communist victory and the creation of the [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics|Soviet Union]] highlighted the threat that liberalism now faced from a new and deadly enemy. Meanwhile, the uncertain world that emerged from the cauldron of the First World War suffered from massive economic setbacks in the years following 1918. Inflation skyrocketed in many European nations and the stock market in the United States collapsed in 1929, triggering a series of recessions throughout the Western world that became collectively known as the [[Great Depression]]. Liberalism survived through the rise of [[fascism]] and the [[Second World War]] before facing off against communism for several more decades during the [[Cold War]].
Trade unions and socialist parties often criticize politicians for promoting lower taxes on business, or more flexible hiring and firing laws, by calling them "liberals" or [[neoliberal|neoliberals]]. Thus, just as in the US, "liberal" may occasionally be used as a term of abuse. But when someone is called "liberal" in Europe, it has an entirely different meaning than in the US. In fact, the US meaning of liberal is more similar to the politics of European [[socialist]] or [[social democracy|social democratic]] parties.<ref>[http://www.pes.org]</ref>
==Historical Liberalism ==
In history, the word "liberal" has meant different things at different times, and was associated with individual liberty in prior centuries. In the postwar period, liberals supported government intervention in the economy and welfare state policies, as well as peaceful coexistence with the communist block, which are not liberal policies in the sense of classical liberalism. After the end of the cold war, with the demise of socialism and communism, many liberals embraced some ideas from economic neo-liberalism, and coined it the "Third Way". In the area of national security and foreign policy liberals in the [[U.S.]] failed to define a consistent stance, even after the events of 9/11 and the beginning of the war in Iraq. Liberals generally support affirmative action, gay marriage, and abortion.<ref>"Political liberals tend, for whatever reason, to be ardent supporters of both gay rights and pro-choice programs." Greenberg and Bailey [http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TS/Bailey/Greenberg-Bailey/Homosexual%20Eugenics.pdf] </ref>
The Cold War featured extensive ideological competition and several [[Proxy war|proxy wars]], but the Soviet Union and the United States never fought against one another directly. At the end of the 20th century, communist states in [[Eastern Europe]] collapsed precipitously, leaving liberal democracies as the only legitimate forms of government. At the beginning of the Second World War, the number of democracies around the world was about the same as it had been forty years before.<ref>Colomer pp. 62</ref> After 1945, liberal democracies spread like wildfires. Even as late as 1974, roughly 75 percent of all nations were considered dictatorial, but now more than half of all countries are democracies.<ref>Diamond, cover flap</ref> This last achievement speaks volumes about the influence of liberalism, and it prompted an American intellectual, speculating on the "[[end of history]]," to make the following claim:
==Original meaning: Classical Liberalism==
Liberalism is a political philosophy with freedom as its core value. The term was originally applied to supporters of individual liberties and equal rights, but, in America, the term has come to represent a movement of social change that often conflicts with [[conservative]] values such as moral values and tradition.
See [[Classical Liberal|Classical Liberalism]]. Compare [[Libertarianism]].
==Philosophy==
==Alternative meanings of 'liberal'==
One definition of liberal is anything that is not conservative. For example, the American Heritage Dictionary includes this definition of "liberal":<ref>Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/liberal</ref>
* Not limited to or by established, traditional, orthodox, or authoritarian attitudes, views, or dogmas ...
==Liberal Organizations ==
*[[AARP|AARP - American Association of Retired People]]
*[[ACLU|ACLU - American Civil Liberties Union]]
*[[AFL-CIO|AFL-CIO - American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations]]
*[[Amnesty International|AI - Amnesty International]]
*[[Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism]]
*[[Democratic National Committee]]
*[[Greenpeace]]
*[[NARAL|NARAL - National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League]]
*[[NAACP|NAACP - National Association for the Advancement of Colored People]]
*[[National Committee for an Effective Congress]]
*[[National Education Association]]
*[[National Organization of Women]]
*[[Planned Parenthood|Planned Parenthood Federation of America]]
*[[Progressives for Obama]]
*[[Rainbow/PUSH Coalition]]
*[[MoveOn.org]]
*[[A.N.S.W.E.R.]]
*[[U.S. Peace Council]]
Source: [http://www.politixgroup.com/lo.htm The Politix Group]
==References==
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==References==
==See Also==
* [[Conservapedia:Articles about liberals|Articles about liberals]]
* [[Classical liberal]]
* [http://www.liberal-international.org/ Liberal International] is the premier international political federation of liberal parties and institutions.
* [[Drinking Liberally]]
* [http://www.alde.eu/ Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe] is the major liberal political group in the European Parliament.
* [[Godless liberal]]
* [http://www.africaliberalnetwork.org/default.aspx?i_PageID=188 Africa Liberal Network] is the main organization for liberal parties on the African continent.
* [[Last wordism]]
* [http://www.liberal.ca/ Liberal Party of Canada] is one of the largest and the most dominant liberal parties in the world.
* [[Essay:Liberal celebrity obsession|Liberal celebrity obsession]]
* [http://www.liberal.gi/ Liberal Party of Gibraltar] is one of the smallest liberal parties in the world.
* [[Essay:Liberal Behavior on Conservapedia|Liberal Behavior on Conservapedia]]
* [http://www.theliberal.co.uk The Liberal] is a British magazine dedicated to coverage of liberal politics and liberal culture.
* [[Liberal Christianity]]
* [http://mises.org/ Ludwig von Mises Institute] is a think tank devoted to the promotion of libertarian and classical liberal socioeconomic policies.
* [[Liberal Democrats]]
* [http://www.fnst-freiheit.org/webcom/show_article.php/_c-705/i.html Friedrich Naumann Foundation] is a global advocacy organization that supports liberal ideas and policies.
* [[Liberal Elite]]
* [http://www.adaction.org/ Americans for Democratic Action] is an American advocacy organization that champions modern liberalism.
* [[Essay: Liberal Falsehoods|Liberal Falsehoods]]
* [http://www.prospect.org/ The American Prospect] is an American political magazine that backs social liberal policies.
* [[Liberal Fascism]]
* [http://www.relial.org/ RELIAL] (in Spanish) is a group of Latin American liberal organizations that advocates for market liberal causes.
* [[Liberal friendship]]
* [http://www.silc.se/ Swedish International Liberal Centre] (in Swedish) is a liberal organization that aims to spread pluralism and democracy worldwide.
* [[Liberal Gloss]]
* [http://liberalconspiracy.org/ Liberal Conspiracy] is the premier left-liberal blog about British politics.
* [[Liberal grading]]
* {{sep|liberalism}}
* [[Essay:Liberal hysteria|Liberal hysteria]]
* [[Essay:Liberal Intellectualism|Liberal Intellectualism]]
* [[Liberalism and art]]
* [[Liberal labels]]
* [[Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right|Liberal Lies About the American Right]]
* [[Liberal logic]]
* [[The Liberal Mind: The Psychological Causes of Political Madness|Liberal Mind]]
* [[Liberal Party]]
* [[Liberal supremacist]]
* [[Massachusetts liberal]]
==Further Information==
[[Category:Liberalism| ]]
* [[Conservative Links]]
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