The two most influential and polarizing ideologies that emerged in the beginning of the nineteenth century were liberalism and socialism.
Liberalism
This was a product of some kind of enlightenment by human thinking. It held that the progress of human beings was inevitable. This is the reason it believed that all human beings should be viewed to be equal before the law and no one was above the law. Moreover, it believed that every person was born free and is good in some aspect let alone owning the chance to improve in skills and general thinking. Liberalization therefore expected that all governments were representative of its citizens and not part of the citizens. According to Hansen, Curt & Curtis (2008) this could only be achieved through the freedoms of speech, press, assembly and protection from arbitrary arrest.
The nineteenth century liberalism which is also referred to as classical liberalism was against the involvement of the government in the economic and social affairs of the nation. This is therefore very different from what we currently know liberalism to stand for where active government intervention is highly supported and represented through democratic parties. Classical liberalism was first developed by Adam Smith as expressed in his book "Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of Wealth of Nations." (Hansen, Curtis & Curtis, 2008). He proposed the fact that there was a need for a free enterprise where prices would be regulated by market forces. This he
In the United States of America, for instance, American liberalism and conservatism are two main ideologies common within the state. However, both ideologies originated from more generic liberalism (Shively, 2014). Apart from these two ideologies, the socialism and fascism are other forms of ideologies that are prominent in the
Another area in which it is suggested that modern liberalism has departed from classical liberalism is freedom. Classical liberals believe in negative freedom. This is simply that there should be an absence of external constraints on the individual and as such they should be left alone to make their own choices. In this way classical liberals were heavily influenced by the natural rights theories of John Locke and Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson claimed that we were born with inalienable rights and therefore no individual or government had the right to take these away. Freedom from constraints is therefore an essential condition for exercising these rights. In practise, this has meant that classical liberals have advocated a minimal state or what John Locke referred to as the ‘night-watchman state’. The activities of this state should be limited to the enforcement of contracts, maintaining order and protection from foreign threats to prevent the state from infringing on individual liberties as much as possible.
Liberalism, in general, was an ideological movement that emerged out of the ideas of the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution in the early 19th century. It embraced the ideas of individualism which were established in the Renaissance and Reformation era. The Renaissance period sparked a belief in the importance of the individual in society. It helped promote the beliefs of classical liberalism which gradually formed into the liberal ideology of the 19th century. Individuals that were waiting to get their individual rights and freedoms were allowed to finally gain liberty and power through this period of time. Classical liberalism developed
So toleration was not simply a guarantee for personal autonomy, but ensured the dynamism and health of society. All liberalists believed toleration brought about debate, argument and contest, which was inevitably bring about social progress.
During the Industrial revolution many people started to believe in the idea of Liberalism. At times it was difficult. People were imprisoned or persecuted because of their ideas. Riots even occurred because the government and some of the upper class would not stand for the Liberalists’ new ways to improve society. Aristocrats refused to change their ways. But through it all, liberalists persevered and brought about one of the largest changes in society that we are still experiencing even today.
Liberals were business owners, bankers, lawyers, news writers/editors, and politicians. They spoke mostly for the bourgeoisie and wanted governments to be based on written constitutions and separation of powers. Liberals spoke out against divine-right monarchy and old aristocracy. The liberals of the early 1800s defended natural rights and supported the laissez-faire economics of Adam Smith. Liberals eventually supported the principle of universal manhood suffrage, which gave all men the right to vote (Doc. 1). In France, many liberals sought to replace the July Monarchy with a democratic republic. However, most of the revolts resulted in a widespread disillusionment among the
Modern and Classical liberalism can be distinguished historically. Indeed when most people attempt to distinguish the two, placing the strands into time periods is perhaps the most obvious and easiest distinctions to make. The period in between the late 18th century and the mid 19th is that magnanimous with Classical liberalism. It was the earliest liberal tradition, and reached its high point during the early industrialization of the 19th century and is therefore sometimes referred to as ‘19th century liberalism’. Politicians and thinkers associated with it are Smith, Ricardo and Locke. Modern liberal ideas were related to the further development of industrialization and thus people associate it with the period between the mid-19th century and the mid-20th century and with figures such as J. S. Mill, Green and Lloyd- George. Indeed the historical development of society led to a parallel evolution of liberalism, with the character of liberalism changing as the ‘rising middle classes’ succeeded in establishing their economic and political dominance. Liberalism was no longer radical or revolutionary, but had become increasingly conservative and concerned itself less with change and reform, but instead with the maintenance of the status quo. This lead to liberals in the late 19th century beginning to question the
civil and political liberties, and protection under the law. In the 19th Century, liberalism was centered on a transfer of power from the church to the state. They favored individual rights, state control on eduction, an end to slavery, and on
What exactly is liberalism? According to Sidlow (2013), liberalism is the belief that "big government" is necessary for the promotion of the common good (p.16). Without government action, many social and economic outcomes for many people would turn out badly. In other words, without
The basic principles of contempary socialism have their origin in the economic, social and cultural transformations of Europe which occurred during the 18th and 19th centuries. Contributing factors were the Industrial Revolution and the rise of the bourgeois’ and proletarian classes, the enlightenment’s secular and rationalistic view of men and society, and the democratic demands of the French Revolution.
Liberalism is a collection of political, social and economic philosophies that is centered around the rights of personal liberties, civil rights, economic freedom, controlled and democratic government and the rule of law. A controlled and democratic government is instrumental to liberalism. A controlled government is one restricted by the law. The most common example of this can be found in the United States Constitution. The Constitution has outlined the roles and restrictions of each branch of government while also setting a system of checks and balances.
Classical liberalism is the transition from focusing on government to focusing on the rights of individuals. This transition came about during the time of the Enlightenment in the eighteenth century. The Enlightenment period was when man started to have more faith in his own reasoning. People began to look for evidence on their beliefs themselves and to find proof on these beliefs, so that they could come up with their own opinions on things. One way that they did this was by going back and rereading Roman and Greek texts and retranslating these texts. This new way of thinking also caused the Protestant Reformation to occur. Some of the most influential Enlightenment writers were John Locke, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, and the people of France’s National Constituent Assembly.
Classical liberalism is an ideology that is usually unfavorable to using authority of the state other than ensuring rights and liberties. Government and individuals agree to protect people’s rights and allow for maximum freedom. Laissez-faire focuses on the liberty of an individual and the lack of social equality. Laissez-faire capitalism is where people are unrestricted to invest in what the prices of services will be, what the produce will sell at. In a modern welfare-state capitalism has influenced our understanding of the terms of the social contract because they practice a system of mixed capitalist that have rules by the government for businesses and marketing.
This essay will assess the relationship between liberalism and conservatism by exploring the differences in ideological beliefs of these two ideologies. Ideology can be defined as “set of interrelated and more or less coherent ideas” that constitutes of both “descriptive and normative element” on how a society works (Heywood, 2007, pp. 6-7). One of the most popular ideology in contemporary politics is liberalism which accord individual liberty and free market as its primary priority. On the other hand, conservatism is generally known for advocating tradition, societal state and authority. Firstly, we will look at theories developed by liberalism and conservatism on creation of state. It would then be followed by liberalism’s notion of individuality and individual liberty versus conservatism’s emphasis on individual imperfectionism and need for society. Thereafter, we will observe liberalism and conservatism as political ideology and how it has evolved over time. The essay will be summed up by a conclusion in the end. The terms, liberalism and conservatism mentioned in this essay are intended to be synonymous to their traditional or classical thoughts and beliefs. Every argument presented in this essay are intended to support the claim that liberalism and conservatism are not compatible ideologies. By compatible, I meant being consistent without any disagreements.
When looking at International Relations, there are two main political theories that tell us why countries function and work the way they do. Realism is a school of thought that defines international relations in terms of power, whereas Liberalism is a school of thought that argues that with the correct institutions, states can independently function resulting in growth and minimal conflict (Goldstein 43). While both theories have their strengths and weaknesses, truth and rationale lie behind both as well. Today’s world politics are better defined by