Talk:Mystery:Why is England More Liberal than the United States?

Nice essay! I hope you add more! I have always been wondering this, considering until recently England was more centered towards religion. NickP 01:15, 17 July 2011 (EDT)

Andy,

This is a very interesting topic, but I think an important point needs to be raised. English liberalism is not a new problem. It's important to keep in mind that many of the first colonists in America came here to escape from what they perceived as laxity within the Church of England, and that the revolutionary war was a reaction to British governmental overreach and over-regulation. In many ways, American conservatism is a RESPONSE to British liberalism. --Benp 13:38, 17 July 2011 (EDT)

There is no doubt that the roots of revolution were in the overreach of government and taxation. The latter may be characteristic of left leaning (liberal) governments but I think it is a little anachronistic to decribe this a a reaction against "liberalism". Going further, I don't believe the British government of the time, while authoritarian, could be described in terms of either classical liberalism or its current meaning.

I would add that fundamental reason why Great Britain/UK (I have no idea why this work singles out "England" specifically) and Europe generally have more liberal attitudes has arisen from several historical trends - that this topic needs to expand on - but most notable the contrasting feature of the United States is that its growth and success rests on indiviudal responsibility, liberties and a hostile mindset to big government and tax since the revolution! Laguardia

The entrenched Church of England

I wonder if part of the reason is that the officially entrenched nature of the Anglican Church has caused a complacency amongst the religious over there. In many ways the Church of England has become more of a social organisation than a religious one, and this has had a liberalizing effect on the population on the whole. --DamianJohn 14:43, 17 July 2011 (EDT)

Good point ... and certainly worth adding. I'll include it now, and please feel free to improve.--Andy Schlafly 15:01, 17 July 2011 (EDT)

More liberal

Is the UK more liberal? What factors are we judging its liberalism on? MaxFletcher 16:53, 17 July 2011 (EDT)

England is certainly less conservative than the U.S.--Andy Schlafly 17:07, 17 July 2011 (EDT)

I am sure that it is but I am just wondering about what factors have been taken into account. MaxFletcher 20:18, 17 July 2011 (EDT)

The BBC

It's a public broadcaster, which tend to be liberal (look at NPR and PBS in the US) and furthermore, Brits have no choice in funding it, as it's paid for by mandatory TV licenses. Finally, while there is commercial (i.e. non-government TV) in Britain, the BBC is the only free (as in beer, aside from the license) option. Because of the tightly-controlled media, and lack of a free market, it's no wonder liberalism is so rampant there. --FergusE 22:01, 17 July 2011 (EDT)

The BBC is not the only free-to-view broadcaster by any means. Up until the advent of digital television there were five free channels, BBC1, BBC2, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5. There are now dozens more free-to-air channels, the vast majority of them being commercial broadcasters. WilliamB1 22:37, 17 July 2011 (EDT)

Do you deny that The BBC is the dominant media in England and that it's heavily liberally biased? --FergusE 22:49, 17 July 2011 (EDT)

I will answer from my perspective of living in the UK for a year not so long ago. Yes. Liberally biased but not heavily liberally biased. --DamianJohn 01:53, 18 July 2011 (EDT)

FergusE, rather than turning on me for pointing out a factual error and posing a question that bears no relevance to the point I was making, you could just accept your mistake graciously. I never said it wasn't the dominant media in England. And I do not think it is even possible, or sensible to divide the world up into things which are 'conservative' and things which are 'liberal' as if the two terms are categories set in stone and used in the same way by everyone. WilliamB1 08:31, 18 July 2011 (EDT)

A Ffederal England and freedom of speech

This is quite a slippery argument. England is a much smaller country than the United States and it's hard to see how it would be practical to devise any sort of federal structure. Of course, the United Kingdom is now, essentially, arranged along federal lines. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all have their own assemblies or parliaments.

I don't quite understand the freedom of speech argument. What evidence is there that England is less at home to the right of free expression than is the United States?