POLSCI 1AA3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Negative Liberty, Market Failure, Neoliberalism
16 Jan 2018
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Liberalism concerned above all else with freedom and how to secure it. Individual freedom is the starting point for any justification of the state. Note: individual freedom and democracy can conflict with each other. It is important avoid equating liberalism the theory with the liberal party not every policy pursued by the liberal party would be deemed liberal by all liberals (or even by all liberals) It is also important to note that there are variations in liberal theory. Each variant has its own justification, institutional requirements, and influence on history. Political liberalism: classical liberalism: 17th - 19th century. For classical liberalism legitimate political rule starts from the principle of individual freedom. Government might be required, rule might be necessary, but only for specific purposes: to protect freedom, meaning life, liberty, possessions . In sum, classical liberalism is concerned with promoting negative freedoms freedom from interference by government and others: reform liberalism: late 19th c 1970s.
