Liberalism | PSIR Optional for UPSC

PYQs

• Do you agree with the view that ‘liberal democracy has won the historic battle of ideologies.’ (92/60)
• John Locke is the father of liberalism. Explain. (18/20)
• Liberalism as a revolutionary idea. (2020)
• Discuss the communitarian critique of liberalism. (13/20)

Introduction

• Words such as liberal, liberty, libertarian and libertine all trace their history to the Latin liber, which means "free". 
• Liberalism is a political philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law.
• Liberals generally support private property, market economies, individual civil and human rights, liberal democracy, secularism, rule of law, economic and political freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and freedom of religion.
• As per Wolfe and Adams, Liberalism is one of the dominant ideology of modern.
• Liberalism states that ‘there is a limited area of power and authority for the state.’

Background

• Liberalism became a distinct movement in the Age of Enlightenment.
• It seeks to replace the hereditary privilege, state religion, absolute monarchy, divine right of kings and conservatism with representative democracy and the rule of law. 
• Philosopher John Locke is credited as founder of liberalism based on the social contract.
• The early liberals worked to free individuals from two forms of social constraint—religious conformity and aristocratic privilege. These constraints had been maintained and enforced through the powers of government. The aim of the early liberals was thus to limit the power of government over the individual.
• Before 1920, the main ideological opponents of liberalism were communism, conservatism and socialism. Later, it faced major ideological challenges from fascism and Marxism–Leninism. 
• During the 20th century, liberal ideas spread further. Liberal democracies thrive after the end of world wars.

Central Idea of Liberalism

• Liberalism is highly sensitive to time and circumstance. Each country’s liberalism is different, and it changes in each generation. 
• The historical development of liberalism has been a movement from “mistrust of the state’s power on the ground that it tends to be misused” 
• Liberalism is a principle of politics which insists on the 'liberty' of individuals as the first and foremost goal of public policy. Liberty, in this sense, implies 'liberation' from restraints—particularly, from the restraints imposed by an authoritarian state. 
• In liberal view, the state is a necessary evil. Liberalism treats the state as the means and individual as the end. It rules out absolute authority of the state.

Constitutionalism

• Constitutionalism is a set of principles that views “the authority of government derives from and is limited by a body of fundamental law, that is constitution”. – Don E. Fehrenbacher, 1989
• Constitutionalism imposes certain limitations on the government, which are specified by the constitution. 
• In simple language, it states that the government does not have the unlimited freedom to do anything without considering the advantages or disadvantages of the common people. 
• Government must follow certain basic rules and procedures laid down in the basic or ordinary laws.

Justice

• Liberalism declares that the very basis of Liberalism is justice. 
• It is the declared policy of liberalism. 
• Justice is the principle that each individual will have his due share, and since all men are born equal, others can not devour his share.
• Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve.
• The terms “due share” and “deserve” have broad interpretations with many differing viewpoints and perspectives. These include the concepts of moral correctness based on ethics, rationality, law, religion, equity and fairness. 

Individualism

• Liberalism promotes the individual ideas and creation.
• Individualism states that the interest and welfare of an individual should be given priority over all other principles. Hence, it is the central idea of liberalism. 
• It states that all the necessary arrangements should be made to safeguard individual interest. 
• “If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, mankind can not be justified in silencing that one person. This is equally not justified if that one person had the power of silencing the mankind.”- J.S. Mill

Equality 

• Equality is about ensuring that every individual has an equal opportunity to make the most of their lives and talents.
• It is also the belief that no one should have poorer life chances because of the way they were born, where they come from, what they believe, or whether they have a disability.

Political equality is based on the following principles: 

• Egalitarianism, a trend of thought that favors equality for all people
• Equal opportunity, a stipulation that all people should be treated similarly.
• Equality of outcome, in which the general conditions of people's lives are similar.
• Equality before the law, the principle under which all people are subject to the same laws.
• It respects the specific groups. Eg. Gender equality, Racial equality.
• Equality opportunities to govern, e.g. presence of several political parties and interest groups.
• Political equality, means the extent to which citizens have an equal voice over governmental decisions. It seek for universal suffrage and equal rights to contest the election.
• Social equality, in which all people within a group have the same status, a form of social justice.
• Economic equality, means the absence of the unequal distribution of income and opportunity between different groups in society.
• Consociationalism, in which an ethnically, religiously, or linguistically divided state functions by cooperation of each group's elites.

Rights 

• From the liberal perspective, the individual is a person with rights upon which the state may not encroach. 
• Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement.
• Liberalism accepts a liberal approach towards the rights of citizens. It grants the rights and privileges to all individuals justifiably. 

Freedom 

• Freedom is another very important element of liberalism. 
• Many Philosophers believe that in a society where there is no freedom, every individual will live a life without dignity.

Consent 

• Consent is an important element of liberalism. 
• The idea of consent is put forward by the contractualists (proponents of the social contrast), such as Thomas Hobbes and John Locke.
• John Locke favors for "government with the consent of the governed". John Locke’s Second Treatise (1690) views that “The government is the product of the contract which is based on the consent of all men. This consent is a basic element of any liberal state”.

Economic liberalism 

• Liberalism seeks to end mercantilist policies, royal monopolies and other trade barriers. 
• It promotes the principle of Laissez fare which supports open economy and free trade in economy.

Thinkers’ Perspectives

John Locke 

• Enlightenment philosophers are given credit for shaping liberal ideas. These ideas were first drawn together and systematized as a distinct ideology by the English philosopher John Locke. He is generally regarded as the father of liberalism.
• John Locke’s Second Treatise (1690) is full of statements which show that he was a great apostle of liberalism.
• He views that “The government is the product of the contract which is based on the consent of all men. This consent is a basic element of any liberal state”.
• John Locke defended the principle of laissez-faire which implies least interference of the state in the economic activities of individuals. 
• He is one of the founding fathers of classical liberalism which is called negative liberalism because it contemplates the negative role of the state in the sphere of mutual interaction of individuals. 
• His political theory seeks for “government by the consent of the governed”. (Second Treatise)
• He favors "government with the consent of the governed".
• Locke offered one of the first and most recognized theories of private property. He envisions a state which upholds man's natural rights of life, liberty, and estate (property) as well as tolerance. 
• Locke explains the function of a legitimate government and distinguishes it from an illegitimate government. 
• As per Locke, the aim of such a legitimate government is to preserve the rights to life, liberty, health and property of its citizens.
• As per him, the state punishes those citizens who violate the rights of others. The state pursue the public good even where this may conflict with the rights of individuals.

Social Contract:

• Locke believed that man has the "power to preserve his property; that is, his life, liberty and estate against the injuries and attempts of other men".
• However, Locke believed people would have no security in preserving their rights and would live in fear without the government. 
• Hence, people in a state of nature would willingly come together to form a state under a contract. 
• Individuals consent, either explicitly or tacitly, to surrender some of their freedoms and submit to the authority of the state, in exchange for protection of their remaining rights or maintenance of the social order. This forms the core crux of the social contract. 
• However, individuals would only agree to form a state that would provide, a "neutral judge", acting to protect the lives, liberty, and property of those who lived within it.
• In his Two Treatises (1690), Locke argued, “What actually constitutes a political society is nothing but the consent of a group of free individuals based on an agreement – to unite and incorporate into such a society”. This agreement is known as social contract.

Utilitarianism 

• In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Bentham, James Mill and his son John Stuart Mill applied classical economic principles to the political sphere. 
• They invoked the doctrine of utilitarianism. It is the belief that something has value when it is useful or promotes happiness for a maximum number of people. 
• They argued that the object of all legislation should be “the greatest happiness of the greatest number.

J.S. Mill

• John Stuart Mill dominated liberal thought during the nineteenth century.
• He presented his views a number of liber ideas. These included the harm principle, free will, the despotism of custom, experiments in living, utilitarianism, the marketplace of ideas and electoral reform. 
• Taken together, no theorist has contributed more to liberalism than John Stuart Mill. 
• In his essay “On Liberty”, J.S. Mill asserts that “The worth of a state, in the long run, is the worth of individuals composing it.” Hence, he has concerns to preserve the individual’s freedom and rights, not only from the state’s coercion, but also from the social coercion. 
• J. S. Mill defended liberal theory and classical liberalism as the correct political philosophy on the grounds of utilitarianism. As per him, “a state that respects the legal rights to the freedoms will produce more total happiness, in the long run, than a state that doesn’t respect those rights”.

Rousseau 

• Rousseau agreed with the liberal view that peace, safety, and prosperity constitute the minimum goals of any legitimate government.
• His “social contract” asks for the agreement which makes a government legitimate on liberal principles.

T.H. Green

• T.H. Green is widely recognized  as the father of Concept of Positive Liberty which led to the creation of the welfare state. 
• "Will, not force is the basis of the state" comes from Green’s theory of principle of political obligation. T.H. Green suggests this statement in the context of the reason for the continuation of the state.

Applications: “Liberal democracy has won the historic battle of ideologies.” 

• The fundamental liberal ideals are widely accepted as a common foundation of modern states. Eg. freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, the separation of church and state, the right to due process and equality under the law.
• Liberalism is a defining feature of modern democracy. The term ‘liberal democracy’ is a way to describe countries with free and fair elections, rule of law and protected civil liberties.
• Liberalism contains a variety of concepts and arguments about how institutions, behaviours and economic connections contain and mitigate the violent power of states.
• Democratic peace theory is one of the contribution liberalism makes to international relations theory.

Expansion of Liberalism:

• Leaders in the British Glorious Revolution of 1688, the American Revolution of 1776 and the French Revolution of 1789 used liberal philosophy to justify the armed overthrow of royal sovereignty. 
• The 19th century saw liberal governments established in Europe and South America.
• Before 1920, the main ideological opponents of liberalism were communism, conservatism and socialism. Later, it faced major ideological challenges from fascism and Marxism–Leninism.
• The Indian national freedom struggle was based on the core ideals of liberalism.
• During the 20th century, liberal ideas spread further. Liberal democracies thrived after the end of world wars.
• Liberalism grew all over the world, and it has become the founding ideal of the modern states.
• Hence, it is correct to conclude that “Liberal democracy has won the historic battle of ideologies.”

Conclusion 

• Liberalism does not have a particular meaning. It has a number of meanings; in different periods it has meant different conceptions. 
• Today it is generally believed that though liberalism is not a panacea to all social, economic and political evils. However, it is still an accepted mode of modern state formation and administration.

Communitarian Critique of Liberalism

Communitarianism is a political philosophy that emphasizes the importance of community in the functioning of political life, in the analysis and evaluation of political institutions, and in understanding human identity and well-being.

The political philosophy of Charles Taylor and Alisdair Macintyre represent a major contribution to the communitarian critique of liberalism. The books, ‘Sources of the Self’ by Taylor and ‘After Virtue’ by Macintyre are their major works. 

Important critiques 

• In an influential essay Atomism, Charles Taylor objected to the liberal view that “men are self sufficient outside of society”. Instead, he defends the Aristotelian view that man is a social animal, indeed a political animal, because he is not self-sufficient alone, and in an important sense is not self sufficient outside a polis or community.
• The communitarians argue that liberalism has clung to capitalism so firmly, that all its new ventures appear to be new devices for sustaining the capitalist system.
• The communitarian views that liberal theory fundamentally misunderstands the nature of identity and selfhood.
• They assert that liberal theory, with its focus on individual rights and autonomy, undermines community. 
• The communitarian disputed Rawls' assumption that the principal task of government is to secure and distribute fairly the liberties and economic resources to the individuals. As per them, it promotes particularism over universalism. 
• The communitarian critique claim that liberalism's neutrality on ‘questions of the good’ conceals its important role in the moral life of the individual.
• Undoubtedly Liberalism is a dynamic political philosophy which has responded to the changing needs of time. However, as per them, liberalism has failed to save mankind from its predicament. 
• Contemporary liberalism upholds representative democracy based on the assumption that “the state represents the interests of all groups and it ensures reconciliation of conflicting interests”. However as per the communitarian critique, in reality, there is an obvious imbalance in the sphere of protection of the interests of the various groups.

Conclusion 

• Communitarians argue against Liberalism that in practice, liberalism upholds a capitalist system or mixed economy which creates favorable conditions for the bourgeoisie or the capitalist class.
• The policy of incremental change, which implies small and continual concessions to the lower classes, is cleverly devised to contain unrest and to hold the forces of revolution in check. 
• Thus, the welfare state seems to create an illusion of welfare, rather than securing real welfare.

Liberalism as a revolutionary idea

• Liberalism, the belief in freedom, equality, democracy and human rights, is historically associated with thinkers such as John Locke and Montesquieu.
• It is credited for constitutionally limiting the power of the monarch, affirming parliamentary supremacy, passing the Bill of Rights and establishing the principle of "consent of the governed".

Glorious Revolution

• The impact of ideas like popular sovereignty, an extended voting suffrage, religious tolerance and equality before the law steadily increased during the 17th century in England. It culminated in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, which enshrined parliamentary sovereignty and the right of revolution, and led to the establishment of what many consider the first modern, liberal state.
• The Bill of Rights formally established the supremacy of the law and of parliament over the monarch and laid down basic rights for all Englishmen. 
• The Bill made royal interference with the law and with elections to parliament illegal, made the agreement of parliament necessary for the implementation of any new taxes and outlawed the maintenance of a standing army during peacetime without parliament's consent.

American Revolution 

• The 1776 Declaration of Independence of the United States founded the nascent republic on liberal principles without the encumbrance of hereditary aristocracy. 
• The declaration stated that "all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, among these life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. It was echoing John Locke's phrase "life, liberty, and property". 

French Revolution 

• It overthrew the hereditary aristocracy, with the slogan "liberty, equality, fraternity" and was the first state in history to grant universal male suffrage. 
• The French experience in the 18th century was characterized by the perpetuation of feudalism and absolutism. Ideas that challenged the status quo were often harshly repressed. 
• Most of the philosophers of the French Enlightenment were progressive in the liberal sense and advocated the reform of the French system of government along more constitutional and liberal lines.
• The liberal ideals, which questioned old traditions about societies and governments, eventually coalesced into a powerful revolutionary movement. It toppled the Ancien French Regime, the belief in absolute monarchy and established religion. Its waves were seen outside France, especially in Europe, Latin America and North America. 
• The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, first codified in 1789 in France, is a foundational document of both liberalism and human rights. 

Liberalism as revolutionary idea in Modern states 

• The fundamental liberal ideals are widely accepted as a common foundation of modern states. Eg. freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, the separation of church and state, the right to due process and equality under the law.
• Liberalism is a defining feature of modern democracy. The term ‘liberal democracy’ is a way to describe countries with free and fair elections, rule of law and protected civil liberties.
• Liberalism contains a variety of concepts and arguments about how institutions, behaviours and economic connections contain and mitigate the violent power of states.
• Democratic peace theory is one of the contribution liberalism makes to international relations theory.

Revolutionary expansion of Liberalism 

• Leaders in the British Glorious Revolution of 1688, the American Revolution of 1776 and the French Revolution of 1789 used liberal philosophy to justify the armed overthrow of royal sovereignty. 
• The 19th century saw liberal governments established in Europe and South America.
• Before 1920, the main ideological opponents of liberalism were communism, conservatism and socialism. Later, it faced major ideological challenges from fascism and Marxism–Leninism.
• The Indian national freedom struggle was based on the core ideals of liberalism.
• During the 20th century, liberal ideas spread further. Liberal democracies thrived after the end of world wars.
• Liberalism grew all over the world, and it has become the founding ideal of the modern states.
• Hence, it is correct to conclude that “Liberal democracy has won the historic battle of ideologies.”

Conclusion 

• Liberalism does not have a particular meaning. It has a number of meanings; in different periods it has meant different conceptions. 
• Today it is generally believed that though liberalism is not a panacea to all social, economic and political evils. However, it is still an accepted mode of modern state formation and administration.