Liberalism
From Wikiversity
 Please help develop this page
This page was created, but so far, little content has been added. Everyone is invited to help expand and create educational content for Wikiversity. If you need help learning how to add content, see the editing tutorial and the MediaWiki syntax reference. To help you get started with content, we have automatically added references below to other Wikimedia Foundation projects. This will help you find materials such as information, media and quotations on which to base the development of "Liberalism" as an educational resource. However, please do not simply copy-and-paste large chunks from other projects. You can also use the links in the blue box to help you classify this page by subject, educational level and resource type. |
|
These learning materials are part of unit 2 of the course Introduction to International Relations
Contents |
[edit] Liberalism
Liberalism seeks to defend and protect individuals' personal, civil, social, and economic rights and freedoms.[1] Often, it is categorized by a laissez-faire style of government.[1] There are two different branches of Liberalism: reform liberalism and classical liberalism.
[edit] History
Classical Liberalism was started in the mid-1700 as a reaction against absolute monarchy, religious persecution, and feudal economical and social constraints.
Reform Liberalism began in the late 1800s. It was a reaction against the effects of unconstrained capitalism and socialist ideas. Some key thinkers of this ideology include J.S. Mill, J. Dewey, J.M. Keynes, and J. Rawls.
[edit] Views
Liberalism in general believes that the rational self interest of people will improve society. It also focuses in limited government, individual rights, free trade, and equality. While both branches of liberalism idealizes these values, they have different views on how those should be achieved. Reform liberalism promotes equality of opportunity and the ability to enjoy rights (positive liberty) as a way to encourage democracy. Government policy should be used to create equality. Classical liberalism discourages government intervention and emphasizes free competition (negative liberty).
[edit] References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Boyd A. Martin (1948). "Liberalism". The Western Political Quarterly.
