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Liberalism: A Political Ideology Explained

Definition of liberalism.

Liberalism is a political ideology that emphasizes individual rights , liberty, and limited government. It is based on the idea that individuals have certain inherent rights, such as the right to life, liberty, and property, and that the role of government is to protect these rights. Liberalism also emphasizes free markets and free trade, and advocates for the rule of law and limited government intervention in economic and social affairs. Liberalism has had a significant influence on the development of modern democratic systems, and it is often associated with ideas like individualism, progress, and the Enlightenment .

Brief History of Liberalism

The origins of liberalism can be traced back to the Enlightenment era in the 18th century, a period of intellectual and philosophical ferment in Europe. During this time, a number of influential thinkers emerged who laid the foundations for liberal thought.

John Locke, an English philosopher, argued that individuals have natural rights to life, liberty, and property, and that the role of government is to protect these rights. Locke’s ideas had a profound influence on the American Revolution and the development of the United States Constitution.

Adam Smith , a Scottish economist, is often referred to as the “father of capitalism.” In his influential work “The Wealth of Nations,” Smith argued that free markets, guided by the “invisible hand” of competition, would lead to economic growth and prosperity.

The French Revolution , which began in 1789, was a key moment in the spread of liberal ideas. The revolution overthrew the monarchy and established a constitutional monarchy in its place, and it also inspired similar movements in other countries. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which was adopted by the National Assembly in 1789, enshrined the principles of liberty , equality , and fraternity and became an important influence on liberal thought.

Liberalism became a dominant force in European and North American politics in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and it continues to be a major influence on political thought and policy today. However, it has faced various criticisms and challenges over the years, including from rival ideologies such as conservatism and socialism.

The Core Tenets of Liberalism

The main ideas and principles of liberalism include:

• Individual rights and liberty: Liberalism holds that individuals have inherent rights, such as the right to life, liberty, and property, and that the role of government is to protect these rights. This means that the government should not be able to dictate how people live their lives or what they can and cannot do.
• Limited government: In order to protect individual rights and liberty, liberals believe in limited government. They argue that the role of government should be restricted to certain essential functions, such as maintaining law and order, protecting property rights, and providing basic public goods like education and infrastructure. Anything beyond these core functions is seen as an unnecessary intrusion into people’s lives.
• Free markets and free trade: Liberalism emphasizes free markets and free trade, and holds that economic freedom is closely tied to political freedom. A free market system allows individuals to pursue their own economic interests and create wealth, and liberals argue that this leads to economic growth and prosperity.
• The rule of law: Liberalism places a strong emphasis on the rule of law, which means that everyone, including the government, must be subject to the same legal rules and principles. The rule of law ensures that individuals are treated fairly and that the government does not have arbitrary power to infringe on people’s rights.
• Democracy: Liberalism and democracy are often seen as closely related, and liberal principles have played a significant role in shaping modern democratic systems. In a liberal democracy, individual rights and liberty are protected, and the government is accountable to the people through regular elections and the rule of law. However, it’s important to note that democracy and liberalism are not the same thing, and there are many non-liberal democracies in the world.

Liberalism and Democracy

Liberalism and democracy are often seen as closely related, and liberal principles have played a significant role in shaping modern democratic systems. In a liberal democracy, individual rights and liberty are protected, and the government is accountable to the people through regular elections and the rule of law.

However, it’s important to note that democracy and liberalism are not the same thing, and there are many non-liberal democracies in the world. For example, some democracies have strong centralized governments that are more interventionist in economic and social affairs, while others have more decentralized systems with greater regional autonomy.

Moreover, not all liberal systems are democratic, and there are examples of liberal autocracies, in which the government is not democratically elected but still respects individual rights and liberties. Conversely, there are also examples of democratic systems that are not liberal, in which the government does not fully protect individual rights or the rule of law.

Overall, while liberalism and democracy often go hand in hand, they are not synonymous, and it is possible to have one without the other.

Liberalism has faced various criticisms and challenges over the years, including from rival ideologies such as conservatism and socialism . Some of the main criticisms of liberalism include:

• Lack of attention to social justice and equality: Some critics on the left argue that liberalism is too focused on individual rights and not enough on social justice and equality. They argue that a pure focus on individual liberty can lead to social and economic inequality, and that the government has a role to play in addressing these issues.
• Limited government intervention: Critics on the left also argue that liberalism’s emphasis on limited government intervention can be harmful, especially in cases where the market fails to address important social and economic issues. For example, they may argue that the government needs to play a more active role in addressing poverty, inequality, or environmental problems.
• Promotion of self-interest: Some critics argue that liberalism’s emphasis on individual rights and economic freedom promotes a culture of self-interest and greed, and that it is incompatible with the idea of the common good. They may argue that a more collectivist approach is needed to address societal problems.
• Critiques from the right: Critics on the right, such as conservatives, may argue that liberalism is too permissive and that it undermines traditional values and social order. They may also argue that liberalism’s emphasis on limited government is harmful, and that the government has a role to play in promoting certain moral or social values.

While liberalism has had a significant influence on political thought and policy, it is not without its detractors, and there are ongoing debates about the strengths and limitations of the ideology.

In conclusion, liberalism is a political ideology that emphasizes individual rights, liberty, and limited government. It originated in the Enlightenment era and has since become a dominant force in modern political thought.

The core tenets of liberalism include individual rights and liberty, limited government, free markets and free trade, and the rule of law. Liberalism and democracy are often seen as closely related, and liberal principles have played a significant role in shaping modern democratic systems.

However, liberalism has faced various criticisms and challenges over the years, including from rival ideologies such as conservatism and socialism. Despite these criticisms, liberalism remains an influential force in contemporary political discourse, and its ideas continue to shape political systems and policies around the world.

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Free Political Ideologies Essay Examples & Topics

A political ideology essay can be a struggle to write. It is especially the case if you are not a big fan of politics. So, let’s begin with the basic terms. You will definitely need them to complete such an assignment.

First and foremost, ideology is a set of collectively held ideas and beliefs. They explain a particular pattern of political, social, or economic relationships, agreements, etc.

Political ideology is a collection of ideas and political views on a social movement, class, or group of people. Nowadays, citizens of the USA usually relate themselves to either liberal, progressive, moderate, or conservative ideologies. Each of the political movements is based on a specific set of principles.

In this article, our team has analyzed key political ideologies in the United States. Moreover, we prepared some useful writing tips on how to structure your paper. Below, you will find political ideology essay examples written by fellow students.

Key Political Ideologies in the USA

Need to write a political ideologies essay? Then, you should know the key principles of these two concepts: conservatism and liberalism. In this section, you’ll get an explanation of the essential political ideologies of the USA.

Conservatism is a political ideology that stands for preserving traditional values. Its proponents aim to promote personal responsibility. They also argue for these aspects:

• the limited role of the government,
• free trade,
• individual freedom,
• and a strong national defense.

Liberalism is the second major political ideology in the USA. It highlights the idea of empowering the government with the purpose of achieving equal opportunities for all members of society. In other words, the government’s key aim is to solve community issues and protect human rights.

For a better understanding, we’ve decided to compare conservative and liberal political ideas. You can explore them in your essay about political ideology.

To see the differences, you should consider four key areas:

• Political ideas. In terms of politics, conservators are considered right-wing and anti-federalists. Naturally, liberalists are left-wing and federalists. Moreover, conservatism stands for a free market. In contrast, the proponents of liberalism aim to get free services (e.g., health care services) from the government.
• Economic Ideas. According to the principles of conservatism, taxation and government spending should decrease. People with high incomes should have an incentive to invest. In contrast, liberals claim that taxes can increase if it benefits society.
• Social Ideas. Conservatism has tighter social principles than liberalism. Its proponents fight against gay marriages and abortions. In contrast, liberals consider that each person has a right to marry or have an abortion. Plus, they oppose the death penalty that some conservatives accept. The proponents of conservatism stand for the legalization of guns. Meanwhile, liberals believe that gun usage should be restricted.
• Personal Responsibility Ideas. In conservatism, laws are enacted to reflect the interest of society as a whole. Liberals believe that legislation is intended to protect every person for an equal society. According to conservatives, everyone is responsible for solving their own problems. Liberals, however, rely on the government when it comes to solving some major issues.

How to Write a Political Ideology Essay

In a political ideologies essay, you can elaborate on a huge number of concepts, events, figures, etc. You may be assigned to compare and contrast some political movements or examine a famous manifesto. Here, we have explained how to how to write an ideology essay on situations from the past.

To compose an essay about political ideologies, you should try the following steps:

• Find or formulate a topic .

For your paper, select a topic that would create a space for substantive research. Keep in mind that you’ll have to describe the political ideology you’ve chosen. Thus, find something that is interesting for you and fits the assignment requirements. Our topic generator can help you with that.

• Conduct research.

Conduct preliminary research to have a general understanding of your topic. First, explore different political ideologies that fit your assignment. Get to know related personalities, examine various political parties and communities, etc. Only with a clear vision of the political ideas will you come up with a sufficient thesis statement.

• Develop a thesis.

Writing an effective thesis statement is the most significant part of the entire writing process. It’s the central point of your paper. Make sure it is stated clearly and concisely – you can let our thesis generator formulate one for you. Include your thesis statement at the end of the introduction. Here, the readers will quickly identify it.

• Organize your thoughts and arguments.

After you come up with your thesis statement, start structuring your ideas. Develop several arguments and devote a separate paragraph for each of them. Ensure your points are logical and relevant. Add solid supportive evidence (evidence, examples, etc.). As you’ve dealt with your arguments, write an introduction and conclusion to your paper.

• Pick quotes to use as your examples.

For political ideologies essay, quotes are the best examples! There is a great variety of sources. You can check the Constitution, remarks of famous politicians, doctrines, official documents. Just make sure the source is trustworthy. And don’t forget to cite your quotes appropriately.

• Write and proofread.

Never underestimate the power of proofreading! Ideally, do it twice. For the first time, pay attention to spelling, grammar, and punctuation. For the second time, concentrate on the structure:

• Are your arguments presented logically?
• Does the introduction correspond to the conclusion?
• Are your ideas clear and coherent?

Thanks for reading the article! Below you will find political ideology essay examples. They will help you explore the structure and format of such papers.

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POLSC101: Introduction to Political Science

This section describes the ideology of liberalism. Liberalism values individual freedom, open economic systems, and democracy. As you read this section, consider how the ideology of liberalism compares to socialism or fascism. What sets liberalism apart? Also, pay close attention to the distinction between classical liberalism and modern liberalism.

Liberalism is a broad political ideology or worldview founded on the ideas of liberty and equality.

Learning Objective

Discuss the central tenets and principles of liberalism as a political philosophy

• Liberalism espouses a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, and can encompass ideas such as free and fair elections, free trade, private property, capitalism, constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free press, and the free exercise of religion.
• Liberalism first became a powerful force in the Age of Enlightenment, rejecting several foundational assumptions that dominated most earlier theories of government, such as nobility, established religion, absolute monarchy, and the Divine Right of Kings.
• John Locke, credited with the creation of liberalism, argued that the rule of law should replace both tradition and absolutism in government; that rulers were subject to the consent of the governed; and that individuals had a fundamental right to life, liberty, and property.
• With the rise of social liberalism in Europe and North America, the meaning of "liberalism" began to diverge. In the U.S., ideas of individualism and laissez-faire economics previously associated with classical liberalism became the basis for right wing libertarian thought.
• The revolutionaries in the American and France used liberal philosophy to justify the armed overthrow of what they saw as tyrannical rule. The nineteenth century saw governments established around liberalist political ideology in nations across Europe, Latin America, and North America.
• John Locke: Widely known as the Father of Classical Liberalism, he was an English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers. His contributions to classical republicanism and liberal theory are reflected in the United States Declaration of Independence.
• Liberal internationalism: A foreign policy doctrine that argues that liberal states should intervene in other sovereign states in order to pursue liberal objectives.

Sources of Liberal Thought

Liberalism, from the Latin liberalis, is a broad political ideology or worldview founded on the ideas of liberty and equality. Liberalism espouses a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, and can encompass ideas such as free and fair elections, free trade, private property, capitalism, constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free press, and the free exercise of religion.

Liberalism first became a powerful force during the Enlightenment , when it became popular among philosophers and economists in the Western world. Liberalism rejected the notions, common at the time, of hereditary privilege, state religion, absolute monarchy, and the Divine Right of Kings. The early liberal thinker John Locke, who is often credited with the creation of liberalism as a distinct philosophical tradition, employed the concept of natural rights and the social contract to argue that the rule of law should replace both tradition and absolutism in government; that rulers were subject to the consent of the governed; and that private individuals had a fundamental right to life, liberty, and property.

Liberalism and Revolution

The revolutionaries in the American and France used liberal philosophy to justify the armed overthrow of what they saw as tyrannical rule. The nineteenth century saw governments established around liberalist political ideology in nations across Europe, Latin America, and North America. Liberalist ideas spread even further in the twentieth century, when liberal democracies were on the winning side in both World Wars I and II, and when liberalism survived major ideological challenges from fascism and communism. Today, liberalism remains a political force with varying degrees of power and influence in many countries.

Classical vs. Modern Liberalism

Classical liberalism is a political philosophy and ideology belonging to liberalism in which primary emphasis is placed on securing the freedom of the individual by limiting the power of the government. The philosophy emerged as a response to the Industrial Revolution and urbanization in the 19th century in Europe and the United States. It advocates civil liberties with a limited government under the rule of law, private property, and belief in laissez-faire economic policy.

Both modern American conservatism and social liberalism split from Classical Liberalism in the early 20th century. At that time conservatives adopted the Classic Liberal beliefs in protecting economic civil liberties. Conversely social liberals adopted the Classical Liberal belief in defending social civil liberties. Neither ideology adopted the pure Classical Liberal belief that government exists to protect both social & economic civil liberties. Conservatism shares an ideological agreement on limited government in the area of preventing government restriction against economic civil liberties as embodied in the ability of people to sell their goods, services or labor to anyone they choose free from restriction except in rare cases where society's general welfare is at stake.

While many modern scholars argue that no particularly meaningful distinction between classical and modern liberalism exists, others disagree. According to William J. Novak, liberalism in the United States shifted in the late 19th and early 20th century from classical liberalism (endorsing laissez-faire economics and constitutionalism) to "democratic social-welfarism" (endorsing such government involvement as seen in the New Deal). This shift included qualified acceptance of government intervention in the economy and the collective right to equality in economic dealings. These theories came to be termed "liberal socialism", which is related with social democracy in Europe. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, "In the United States, liberalism is associated with the welfare-state policies of the New Deal program of the Democratic administration of Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt, whereas in Europe it is more commonly associated with a commitment to limited government and laissez-faire economic policies". Consequently in the U.S., the ideas of individualism and laissez-faire economics previously associated with classical liberalism, became the basis for the emerging school of right wing libertarian thought.

Liberalism and Socialism

Some confusion remains about the relationship between social liberalism and socialism, despite the fact that many variants of socialism distinguish themselves markedly from liberalism by opposing capitalism, hierarchy and private property. Socialism formed as a group of related yet divergent ideologies in the 19th century such as Christian socialism, Communism and Social Anarchism. These ideologies — as with liberalism — fractured into several major and minor movements in the following decades. Marx rejected the foundational aspects of liberal theory, hoping to destroy both the state and the liberal distinction between society and the individual while fusing the two into a collective whole designed to overthrow the developing capitalist order of the 19th century.

Social democracy, an ideology advocating progressive reform of capitalism, emerged in the 20th century and was influenced by socialism. Yet unlike socialism, it was not collectivist nor anti-capitalist. It was not against the state; rather it was broadly defined as a project that aims to correct, through government reformism, what it regards as the intrinsic defects of capitalism by reducing inequalities. Several commentators have noted strong similarities between social liberalism and social democracy, with one political scientist even calling American liberalism "bootleg social democracy".

American Tradition and Liberal Heritage

Many fundamental elements of modern society have liberal roots. The early waves of liberalism popularized economic individualism while expanding constitutional government and parliamentary authority. One of the greatest liberal triumphs involved replacing the capricious nature of royalist and absolutist rule with a decision-making process encoded in written law. Liberals sought and established a constitutional order that prized important individual freedoms, such as the freedoms of speech and association, an independent judiciary and public trial by jury, and the abolition of aristocratic privileges. These sweeping changes in political authority marked the modern transition from absolutism to constitutional rule.

Later waves of liberal thought were strongly influenced by the need to expand civil rights. In the 1960s and 1970s, feminism in the United States was advanced in large part by liberal feminist organizations. Many liberals also have advocated for racial equality, and the civil rights movement in the United States during the 1960s strongly highlighted the liberal crusade for equal rights.

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Introduction: Approaching political ideologies

Learning Objectives

At the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

• Critically assess the various definitions of ideology;
• Situate ideologies using the political spectrum;
• Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the political spectrum;
• Assess the dynamism of ideologies.

Political Ideologies and Worldviews: An Introduction Copyright © 2021 by Valérie Vézina is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Liberal socialism now

As the crisis of democracy deepens, we must return to liberalism’s revolutionary and egalitarian roots.

by Matthew McManus   + BIO

Very few of us expected liberalism to have such a rocky 21st century. At the turn of the 20th, liberal ideology and liberal democratic political institutions seemed more legitimate and secure than ever before. Liberals had defeated their great geopolitical rivals on the fascist Right and the communist Left. How things change.

Over the past few decades, discontent and disdain for liberalism have spread across huge swathes of the globe, led by a resurgent Right-wing populism that denounced its materialism, universalism and libertine decadence. Wannabe strongmen like Victor Orban declared they were constructing new kinds of ‘illiberal democracy’ – a half truth, since the regimes would be illiberal, but not particularly democratic. Books flooded the market with alarmist or triumphalist titles such as Why Liberalism Failed (2018) or A World After Liberalism (2021), all of which diagnosed its failures with relish or fear. Theories about what had gone wrong multiplied. Liberalism was too atomistic, too alienating, too antidemocratic, too democratic for its own good, too beholden to the ignorant masses, too elitist, even too boring and politically correct for its own good.

What was often lost in the discourse around liberalism in the 21st century was whether it could simultaneously be worth saving while also having deserved the ignominy into which it was falling. From the 1970s onwards, many liberal politicians and theorists had backed away from the more progressive and transformative propensities of the tradition. The era of big liberal dreams about establishing a ‘great’ or ‘just’ society was over.

Internalising a host of conservative arguments, liberals like Isaiah Berlin or Friedrich Hayek argued that big dreams were dangerous and contrary to liberalism, its revolutionary past aside. The best one could hope for was a competitive and highly inequitable neoliberal society defined by ordered liberty and at most a minimal welfare state. That such a consciously deflated vision became associated with technocratic aloofness, a lack of principled conviction and a wariness of democratic accountability came as a surprise only to neoliberals c 2016. More thoughtful commentators followed Samuel Moyn’s claim in Liberalism Against Itself (2023) that if liberals couldn’t rediscover how to not just fearmonger, but inspire, they were unlikely to see their doctrine survive much longer and, ‘anyway, survival is not good enough.’

Moyn is right that, if liberals trade off presenting an inspiring vision of the future for mere survival, they are unlikely to get either. The existential woes of 21st-century liberalism require we do more than return to the forms of neoliberal governance that generated discontent in the first place. It requires retrieving the revolutionary emancipatory and egalitarian ethos that defined liberalism at its revolutionary best to offer a new deal to citizens of liberal states. The strand of liberal political theory that offers the richest guidance on what form this new deal should take is liberal socialism.

T he idea of ‘liberal socialism’ might appear odd and even oxymoronic. This is especially true for those on the Right and the Left who regard liberalism as the philosophy of market capitalism. Of course, there are many classical and neoliberal thinkers for whom that is true. From John Locke ’s emphatic defence of life, liberty and property to Hayek’s declaration that state planning in the economy was the road to serfdom, liberal defences of the ethics of capitalism are easy to find. The economist Ludwig von Mises no doubt spoke for many (including plenty on the Left) when, in his polemical tract Liberalism (1927), he proudly declared that:

[The] programme of liberalism … if condensed into a single word, would have to read: property , that is, private ownership of the means of production … All the other demands of liberalism result from this fundamental demand.

Adam Smith , artist unknown, painted posthumously c 1795. Courtesy the National Gallery of Scotland

But this would be to ignore the reality that many great liberal thinkers have historically been wary (to downright critical) of capitalism. This goes far back. Adam Smith may have been an enthusiast for free trade and market liberties, but in The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) he also decried how:

This disposition to admire, and almost to worship, the rich and the powerful, and to despise, or, at least, to neglect persons of poor and mean condition, though necessary both to establish and to maintain the distinction of ranks and the order of society, is, at the same time, the great and most universal cause of the corruption of our moral sentiments.

This was reiterated in Smith’s polemics against monopolisation and the alienating effects of the division of labour in The Wealth of Nations (1776) . By the industrial era, some of the greatest liberal thinkers expressed sympathy and even came to align themselves with socialism. John Stuart Mill , the greatest liberal philosopher of the 19th century, openly declared himself a socialist in his Autobiography (1873) and stressed in Socialism (1879) how ‘great poverty, and that poverty very little connected with desert – are the first grand failure of the existing arrangements of society.’

Mill was hardly alone in sympathising with such a fusion of liberalism and socialism. In his essay collection Democratic Theory: Essays in Retrieval (1973), the political theorist C B Macpherson coined the term ‘retrieval’ to refer to getting ‘clear of the disabling central defect of current liberal-democratic theory, while holding on to, or recovering, the humanistic values which liberal democracy has always claimed.’ We must now make an effort to retrieve the political theory of liberal socialism and make the case for its salience in the 21st century (a project I continue in my forthcoming book The Political Theory of Liberal Socialism ).

L iberal socialism is a political ideology that combines support for many liberal political institutions and rights with a socialist desire to establish far more equitable and democratic economic arrangements. The latter point is put plainly by Michael Walzer in his book The Struggle for a Decent Politics (2023), in which he writes that, while ‘liberal socialists are not “egalitarianist”, they are serious about equality – more so, generally, than liberal democrats.’ This deeper concern for equality relative to classical liberals becomes apparent when we look at when liberal socialism emerged and how its major figures defended its core arguments.

There is extensive debate over periodising classical liberal theory. Many date its origins to the 17th century and the writings of Locke, Baruch Spinoza and Hugo Grotius among others. Whether or not these thinkers can be correctly labelled ‘liberals’ full stop, they undoubtedly developed or systematised a lot of the theoretical architecture that later liberals would rely on. By contrast, in Liberalism (2nd ed, 2014) Edmund Fawcett insists that mature liberal political philosophy only really appeared on the scene in the 19th century, when the term itself became popularised, and self-described ‘liberal’ parties and movements began to appear.

Whoever you agree with, there’s no doubt that liberal socialism emerged later than classical liberalism, extending the latter’s antipathy to the hierarchical ancien régimes of Europe to demand more radical changes still. While mature forms of liberal socialist political theory didn’t appear until the mid-19th century, there were important precursor figures. Two of the most influential predecessors to liberal socialism were Thomas Paine and Mary Wollstonecraft .

Thomas Paine insists that property is an eminently social phenomenon

Paine remains most famous for his stirring rhetorical defences of the American and French revolutions and his acidic polemics against Edmund Burke and conservatism in the Rights of Man (1791) . Until recently, Paine was largely viewed as an extraordinary pamphleteer for the classical liberal and republican viewpoint, while not being an especially original thinker or theorist. That appraisal has since undergone a major shift, with Robert Lamb in 2015 stressing Paine’s importance as a theorist whose ‘every instinct’ was egalitarian.

Thomas Paine ( c 1806-07) by John Wesley Jarvis. Courtesy the NGA, Washington

Paine is an important precursor to liberal socialism because he embraced the importance of individual flourishing and rights, while becoming increasingly sceptical that this could be achieved without a major redistribution of wealth and privilege. In the pamphlet ‘Agrarian Justice’ (1797), he rejects the methodological individualism of classical liberal approaches to property rights, and insists that property is an eminently social phenomenon:

Personal property is the effect of society; and it is as impossible for an individual to acquire personal property without the aid of society, as it is for him to make land originally. Separate an individual from society, and give him an island or continent to possess, and he cannot acquire personal property.

He goes on to suggest that, since many wealthy people monopolise productive land and capital without giving anything back, they owe a major debt to the poor as a matter of right. In the second part of the Rights of Man and in ‘Agrarian Justice’, Paine develops these arguments into a call for redistribution, sketching out an early scheme for the welfare state. This includes providing money for education, guaranteed employment for those who want it, a stipend for every child born, and a prototype of an old-age pension.

Mary Wollstonecraft ( c 1797) by John Opie. Courtesy the National Portrait Gallery, London

Wollstonecraft was less policy-minded than her contemporary Paine, but even more scathing in her contempt for the corrosive effect of the inequities of property that defined aristocratic and early capitalist societies. In her classic A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), Wollstonecraft insisted that:

From the respect paid to property flow, as from a poisoned fountain, most of the evils and vices which render this world such a dreary scene to the contemplative mind. For it is in the most polished society that noisome reptiles and venomous serpents lurk under the rank herbage; and there is voluptuousness pampered by the still sultry air, which relaxes every good disposition before it ripens into virtue. One class presses on another; for all are aiming to procure respect on account of their property: and property, once gained, will procure the respect due only to talents and virtue.

In her later Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark (1796), she lambasts the nouveaux riches as a ‘fungus’ with the criticism that:

An ostentatious display of wealth without elegance, and a greedy enjoyment of pleasure without sentiment, embrutes them till they term all virtue of a heroic cast, romantic attempts at something above our nature, and anxiety about the welfare of others, a search after misery in which we have no concern.

Wollstonecraft believed in private property, arguing it was a just reward for labour. But even this had a radical connotation, as she was critical of those who lived in luxury or defended privilege while ignoring the ‘women who gained a livelihood by selling vegetables or fish, who never had had any advantages of education…’ Her critique of the idle or undeserving rich both echoes Locke’s condemnation of aristocracy and anticipates later Ricardian socialist and Marxist condemnations of the parasitic wealthy.

Much like Paine, Wollstonecraft had an unfailingly egalitarian instinct (including, of course, on gender relations) insisting there ‘must be more equality established in society, or morality will never gain ground…’ In her ideal society there would be neither rich nor poor, and the competitive race to accumulate private property would be a far less significant social priority than the relatively equal development of human intellectual, artistic and moral powers. It’s this solidaristic emphasis on the development of human powers in a society of equals that makes Wollstonecraft such an important figure in the movement towards liberal socialism.

L iberal socialism reached its maturity in the 19th century with John Stuart Mill, its most articulate and well-known spokesman. Early in his career, Mill had been a more conventional supporter of the free market. But, later in life, mostly under the influence of the utopian socialist St Simonians, he shifted his views markedly. In his Autobiography , Mill declared that his ‘ideal of ultimate improvement went far beyond Democracy, and would class us decidedly under the general designation of Socialists.’ While being critical of statist forms of socialism and expressing a wariness of the threat they posed to liberty, he claimed to look ‘forward to a time when society will no longer be divided into the idle and the industrious; when the rule that they who do not work shall not eat, will be applied not to paupers only, but impartially to all.’

This shift towards socialism was reflected in later editions of the Principles of Political Economy (1848) . Mill defended extensive experiments with workplace democracy and cooperatives, arguing that they would potentially be less domineering, more economically efficient, and more conducive to the flourishing of workers. As Helen McCabe traces in her excellent book John Stuart Mill: Socialist (2021), he also came to advocate for wealth redistribution through:

state ownership of railways and roads, and municipal ownership (and provision) of utilities such as gas and water. He also at least suggested it would be permissible for the government to provide public hospitals; national banks; a postal service; ‘manufactories’; and a corps of civil engineers, so long as the government did not maintain a monopoly on these professions or services.

Mill’s flavour of liberal socialism based around cooperatives and a generous welfare state anticipated many contemporary forms of market socialism, as well as being a direct inspiration to important ethical and Christian socialists such as R H Tawney.

‘Socialism … is liberalism in action; it means that liberty comes into the life of poor people’

In the early to mid-20th century, an impressive array of authors came to endorse liberal socialism. In a 1939 interview with The New Statesman and Nation , John Maynard Keynes proposed:

[A move out of the] 19th-century laissez-faire state into an era of liberal socialism … where we can act as an organised community for common purposes and to promote economic and social justice, whilst respecting and protecting the individual – his freedom of choice, his faith, his mind and its expression, his enterprise and his property.

A variety of European democratic socialists such as Eduard Bernstein and Carlo Rosselli worked to theorise closer connections between liberalism and socialism, echoing Mill’s claim that socialists were the more ‘far-sighted successors’ of liberalism. Bernstein’s classic The Preconditions of Socialism (1899) offered a sustained critique of orthodox Marxist revolutionary theory and proposed a conciliation with liberalism. He insisted that ‘with respect to liberalism as a historical movement, socialism is its legitimate heir, not only chronologically, but also intellectually’, and stressed that there is ‘no liberal thought that is not also part of the intellectual equipment of socialism.’ Rosselli made similar claims in his book Liberal Socialism (1930), holding that:

Socialism is nothing more than the logical development, taken to its extreme consequences, of the principle of liberty. Socialism, when understood in its fundamental sense and judged by its results – as the concrete movement for the emancipation of the proletariat – is liberalism in action; it means that liberty comes into the life of poor people.

While he never identified with the label, I’d argue that Macpherson can also be correctly characterised as a liberal socialist, given his lifelong effort to ‘retrieve’ a radical democratic and egalitarian core to the liberal tradition.

Finally, in the United States John Dewey worked hard to extend American conceptions of democracy beyond the horizon of the state. His most famous contributions were of course in education, where Dewey insisted on the pedagogical superiority a more egalitarian classroom where students actively participated in their learning, rather than being regarded as passive recipients of knowledge delivered by an intellectual superior. But Dewey was also keen to extend democratic principles to the workplace, becoming president of the League for Industrial Democracy in 1939 and advocating for the labour movement.

I n the postwar era, there have been several prominent figures aligned with liberal socialism, including Irving Howe, Michael Walzer and Chantal Mouffe. But by far the most significant figure to express sympathy for liberal socialism was John Rawls . For a long time, Rawls’s brick-like Theory of Justice (1971) was taken as an apologia for the welfare state system that, tragically, began to decline right about when the book was published. But this understates Rawls’s radicalism. In his Lectures on the History of Political Philosophy (2000), Rawls described Karl Marx as ‘heroic’ and praised his ‘marvellous’ intellectual gifts. By the time of his swan song Justice as Fairness: A Restatement (2001), Rawls insisted that welfarism did not do a good enough job of realising liberal principles of justice. Only a property-owning democracy or ‘liberal socialism’ would be sufficient. While Rawls himself wrote more about property-owning democracy, Edmundson’s book John Rawls: Reticent Socialist (2017) makes a powerful case for why the most rigorous interpretation of justice as fairness would require liberal socialism instead.

As history shows, liberal socialists are not a monolith. They disagree on many core points. Some of these are theoretical: is the strongest basis for liberal socialism some kind of utilitarianism, deontology or pragmatism? Other divides are over practical questions such as the relationship between statist welfarism and bottom-up democratisation of the economy; Mill famously vested his hopes in worker co-ops where many modern liberal socialists focus on social programmes. Nevertheless, all liberal socialists are committed to three central principles, which I’ve arranged from the more abstract to the more concrete.

First, liberal socialists are committed to methodological collectivism and normative individualism. They believe that the wellbeing and free development of individual persons (and, for a growing number, nonhuman animals) is the highest moral priority. However, they disagree with many classical liberals’ insular and competitive conception of human nature and their individualist approach to conceiving social relations. Liberal socialists hold that, to properly think through how individuals will best thrive, one must recognise their embeddedness in society, and how it can improve or disrupt their capacity to lead a good life.

Taking seriously commitments to liberty, equality and solidarity requires going beyond the social hierarchies established under capitalism

Secondly, liberal socialists are committed to each person having as equal an opportunity to lead as good a life as possible through the provision of shared resources for the development and expression of their human powers. To put it another way, liberal socialists focus on the free development of human powers or capabilities along a wide array of metrics. What Macpherson calls this developmental ethic can be contrasted with the extractive and possessive ethic characteristic of classical liberalism and hedonistic forms of utilitarianism. Where the extractive/possessive ethic holds that the good life comes from production and consumption, the developmental ethic of liberal socialism emphasises the equal development and application of each individual’s powers as a condition for their flourishing.

Thirdly, liberal socialists are committed to instituting a basic social structure characterised by highly participatory liberal-democratic political institutions and protections for liberal rights concurrent with the extension of liberal democratic principles into the economy and family to establish more egalitarian economic arrangements free of domination and exploitation. This also means that liberal socialists do not ascribe the same weight of private property rights to the means of production that many classical liberals do. While all liberal socialists believe in rights to personal property, this doesn’t extend to rights to acquire forms of property that would enable forms of workplace domination or political plutocracy to develop. In these instances, what impacts all should, in part, be decided upon by all.

Liberal socialist authors will defend and articulate these principles in various idioms, and emphasise one or another to various degrees. This testifies to the internal diversity of the tradition, if nothing else. Macpherson was very critical of atomistic ‘possessive individualism’ but supported a liberal humanist ethic of developing people’s capacities or powers. Nevertheless, he had comparatively little to say about what kind of social structure could realise this ethic. In The Socialist Decision (1933), Paul Tillich offers a theological defence of liberal democratic socialism, which obviously runs counter to the secular approaches of Mill and Rawls. Mouffe’s agonistic liberal socialism foregrounds the importance of political contestation far more than Rawls’s temperate insistence that a pluralistic society needs to unite around an ‘overlapping consensus’. Charles Mill’s ‘black radical liberalism’ rightly takes many Left-liberals to task for ignoring, or even supporting, imperialism and racism. But behind this variety is a core conviction that taking seriously commitments to liberty, equality and solidarity requires going beyond the social hierarchies established under capitalism.

Given the eminence of many of the figures attracted to liberal socialism, it is somewhat perplexing that the term can seem oxymoronic. The explanation probably has more to do with politics than philosophy, especially in the US. As Moyn points out in Liberalism Against Itself , throughout the mid-20th century, many prominent ‘Cold War’ liberals turned against the more progressive and egalitarian elements in the tradition. This led to the banishing of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, G W F Hegel and Marx to the fringes, and the dilution of the more radical arguments of prominent liberals like Mill. By the time liberal egalitarians began to marshal formidable theoretical arguments for welfarism and social democracy in the 1970s, the time to realise such an agenda had passed. Neoliberalism had taken hold across much of the world, further squeezing out progressive forms of liberalism and liberal socialism.

Nevertheless, the future for liberal socialist political theory is bright. While not everyone listed below would identify with the label (and some might reject it), a considerable number of prominent and up-and-coming theorists have been working to bring out the affinities between the two traditions and canonise (or re-canonise) the major figures. These include Helen McCabe, Michael Walzer, James Crotty, Chantal Mouffe, Igor Shoikhedbrod, Lillian Cicerchia, Samuel Moyn, Daniel Chandler, William Edmundson, Elizabeth Anderson, Tony Smith, Rodney Peffer and many more.

It isn’t hard to see why the prospect of liberal socialism would be appealing today. Liberalism remains in or near crisis, and vast numbers express discontent with the neoliberal status quo. At the same time, there are very good reasons to reject revisiting forms of authoritarian ‘real existing socialism’ and communism. Liberal socialism offers the prospect of combining respect for liberal rights, checks and balances on state power, and participatory democracy with socialist concerns for the equal flourishing of all in a sustainable environment, the extension of democratic concerns into the workplace and ‘private government’, and pushing back on plutocratic rule. It also philosophically aligns well with concrete democratic socialist and radical movements appearing in the US, Chile, Brazil and elsewhere that want radical economic change but align with liberal values. Whether liberal socialism can transition from being a theoretical tradition and become a popular political ideology is a hard question. But, in a world defined by growing anger at inequality and plutocracy, liberal socialism is worthy of our loyalty.

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Topic: Politics , Ideology , Democracy , Sociology , Government , Supreme Court , Freedom , Justice

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I would describe my political ideology as social liberal democrat if there is such an ideology. This is based on the fact that, on the one hand, I am socially liberal. I believe that there is a role for the government in addressing economic and social issues such as unemployment, healthcare and education. I also believe that the government must be dedicated to protecting the civil and human rights of its citizens. That is to say the government must be dedicated to social justice. I also believe in environmental sustainability, free trade. On the other hand, I would also consider myself a social democrat in that I believe in both multi-party democracy and political freedom, or the idea that every person has the right to decide how she lives and that the state cannot interfere with this freedom unreasonably. I also believe that the law should treat everyone equally and that everyone has an equal opportunity to be the best that they can be. Lastly, I believe that everyone should contribute to the greater good so taxes are alright if they are used to fund public education or universal healthcare. Moreover, one of the key goals of the government is to help mitigate the injustices of modern society and make it more equitable, whether that is requiring business to protect the environment, treat their workers fairly or support a social welfare program. I think, initially, the biggest influences on the development of my political ideology were my parents and family. My parents had a fairly liberal point-of-view on a range of topics and always supported liberal candidates. Moreover, one of my favorite aunts was a nurse and so from her I learned the power of social justice and helping those that cannot help themselves. Later, as I got older, I began exploring on my own some of the ideas and principles that I came into contact with when I was younger. I found that the more I learned about these concepts of social justice, political freedom, civil and human rights, the more they seemed agreeable to me. My political ideology is important to me. I think that it informs many of the decisions that I make whether it is deciding to offer my assistance to a stranger on the street to deciding a product or service to buy (in the sense of does the company share my political ideology). As mentioned, I think that my political ideology definitely influences many of the decisions I make but not all and not in every situation. In fact, I do not think one should be absolutely controlled by their political ideology because not every situation will be able to be explained by it. Lastly, I think that the results of the typology test accurately reflect my political ideology. This is based on the fact that it indicated my tendencies to support liberal points of view. Moreover it was accurate in illustrating my “all for one and one for all” attitude.

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Home — Essay Samples — Government & Politics — Political Ideology — Personal Political Ideology Of Republican Party

Personal Political Ideology of Republican Party

• Categories: Political Ideology Political Participation Republican Party

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Words: 612 |

Published: May 31, 2021

Words: 612 | Page: 1 | 4 min read

Works Cited

• Abrajano, M. A., & Alvarez, R. M. (2010). Mobilization, participation, and democracy in America. American Journal of Political Science, 54(3), 685-705.
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• Greenberg, A. (2013). Influence of parents' political ideologies on college students' political ideologies and party affiliations. College Student Journal, 47(2), 280-294.
• Jost, J. T., Federico, C. M., & Napier, J. L. (2009). Political ideology: Its structure, functions, and elective affinities. Annual Review of Psychology, 60, 307-337.
• Kinder, D. R., & Sears, D. O. (1985). Public opinion and political action. American Political Science Review, 79(1), 1-15.
• Mason, L. (2018). Uncivil agreement: How politics became our identity. University of Chicago Press.
• Prior, M. (2013). Media and political polarization. Annual Review of Political Science, 16, 101-127.
• Sides, J., & Citrin, J. (2007). European opinion about immigration: The role of identities, interests, and information. British Journal of Political Science, 37(3), 477-504.
• Zaller, J. (1992). The nature and origins of mass opinion. Cambridge University Press.
• Zuckerman, A. S., & Dalton, R. J. (1990). A theory of political party formation. American Journal of Political Science, 34(3), 565-598.

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Introduction

• Published: February 2012
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This introduction gives a brief summary of Michael Freeden’s academic writings, and provides an overview of the themes explored in each chapter of this book.

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Read our research on: Gun Policy | International Conflict | Election 2024

Regions & Countries

1. the partisanship and ideology of american voters.

The partisan identification of registered voters is now evenly split between the two major parties: 49% of registered voters are Democrats or lean to the Democratic Party, and a nearly identical share – 48% – are Republicans or lean to the Republican Party.

The partisan balance has tightened in recent years following a clear edge in Democratic Party affiliation during the last administration.

• Four years ago, in the run-up to the 2020 election, Democrats had a 5 percentage point advantage over the GOP (51% vs. 46%).

The share of voters who are in the Democratic coalition reached 55% in 2008. For much of the last three decades of Pew Research Center surveys, the partisan composition of registered voters has been more closely divided.

Partisans and partisan leaners in the U.S. electorate

About two-thirds of registered voters identify as a partisan, and they are roughly evenly split between those who say they are Republicans (32% of voters) and those who say they are Democrats (33%). Roughly a third instead say they are independents or something else (35%), with most of these voters leaning toward one of the parties. Partisan leaners often share the same political views and behaviors as those who directly identify with the party they favor.

The share of voters who identify as independent or something else is somewhat higher than in the late 1990s and early 2000s. As a result, there are more “leaners” today than in the past. Currently, 15% of voters lean toward the Republican Party and 16% lean toward the Democratic Party. By comparison, in 1994, 27% of voters leaned toward either the GOP (15%) or the Democratic Party (12%).

Party identification and ideology

While the electorate overall is nearly equally divided between those who align with the Republican and Democratic parties, a greater share of registered voters say they are both ideologically conservative and associate with the Republican Party (33%) than say they are liberal and align with the Democratic Party (23%).

A quarter of voters associate with the Democratic Party and describe their views as either conservative or moderate, and 14% identify as moderates or liberals and are Republicans or Republican leaners.

The partisan and ideological composition of voters is relatively unchanged over the last five years.

(As a result of significant mode differences in measures of ideology between telephone and online surveys, there is not directly comparable data on ideology prior to 2019.)

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Table of contents, behind biden’s 2020 victory, a voter data resource: detailed demographic tables about verified voters in 2016, 2018, what the 2020 electorate looks like by party, race and ethnicity, age, education and religion, interactive map: the changing racial and ethnic makeup of the u.s. electorate, in changing u.s. electorate, race and education remain stark dividing lines, most popular.

About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts .

NPR Editor Speaks Out: How National Public Radio Lost Americans' Trust Honestly with Bari Weiss

• Society & Culture

Uri Berliner is a senior business editor at NPR. In his 25 years with NPR, his work has been recognized with a Peabody Award, a Gerald Loeb Award, an Edward R. Murrow Award, and a Society of Professional Journalists New America Award, among others. Today, we published in The Free Press his firsthand account of the transformation he has witnessed at National Public Radio. Or, as Uri puts it, how it went from an organization that had an “open-minded, curious culture” with a “liberal bent” to one that is “knee-jerk, activist, scolding,” and “rigidly progressive.”  Uri describes a newsroom that aimed less to cover Donald Trump but instead veered towards efforts to topple him; a newsroom that reported the Russia collusion story without enough skepticism or fairness, and then later largely ignored the fact that the Mueller report found no credible evidence of collusion; a newsroom that purposefully ignored the Hunter Biden laptop story—in fact, one of his fellow NPR journalists approved of ignoring the laptop story because “covering it could help Trump.” A newsroom that put political ideology before journalism in its coverage of Covid-19. And, he describes a newsroom where race and identity became paramount in every aspect of the workplace and diversity became its north star.  In other words, NPR is not considering all things anymore.  On today’s episode: How did NPR lose its way? Why did it change? And why does this lone journalist feel obligated to speak out? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Editorials | Editorial: Liberal bias at NPR, old-school…

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Editorials | Editorial: Liberal bias at NPR, old-school journalism and the reluctance to admit a mistake

Uri Berliner, a journalist of a certain age, has been feeling some heartburn over what has been transpiring at his longtime employer, National Public Radio.

In a nuanced and thoughtful essay on the website The Free Press, founded by Bari Weiss and Nellie Bowles, Berliner detailed what he has seen as egregious liberal bias at his employer. Among Berliner’s most notable charges: the network’s refusal to admit that its oft-told story of the Trump presidential campaign colluding with Russia was a canard, even after Robert Mueller found no evidence of collusion; NPR’s determination to keep ignoring the clearly relevant Hunter Biden laptop story, even in the face of evidence that it contained politically relevant details of Biden family business dealings; and its stubborn refusal to take the “lab leak” theory of COVID origin seriously, clinging to the idea it was a right-wing conspiracy theory, even as more and more evidence was pointing in that direction.

In essence, looking back at the last presidential campaign, Berliner argued that the station had unethically refused to run anything that it thought might help Trump. And, therefore, NPR had thus changed from a neutral news outfit, following the facts, to a cabal of advocates for one side of the political divide.

We suspect few of our readers would be surprised to hear evidence that NPR has a liberal bias, both nationally and within its local affiliates. And we’ll point out that in all three of the cases cited above, the issue perhaps wasn’t so much political bias so much as a reluctance to admit mistakes had been made in past coverage or follow up sufficiently when there’s new evidence. We journalists hate to fess up as a breed; only the best of us do so in a timely and complete way. In all three cases, those same charges also have been credibly leveled against The New York Times and others. Even many progressive journalists in many newsrooms quietly acknowledge those errors. The pendulum swung too far, and it’s swung back only a little.

But Berliner, whose point of view is shared among veterans of many newsrooms, was actually defending a particular brand of journalistic thinking: “It’s true NPR has always had a liberal bent, but during most of my tenure here, an open-minded, curious culture prevailed,” he wrote. “We were nerdy, but not knee-jerk, activist, or scolding. In recent years, however, that has changed.”

He’s right, of course. So what happened? Part of the answer is the chicken-and-egg segmentation of the audience: the reason all the late-night comedy hosts are progressives is that like-minded viewers are watching TV at that hour. The Times has mostly urban liberals as its subscribers, so it fiscally behooves it to super-serve them.

Part of the answer has to be the rise of critical race theory and the George Floyd-induced reckoning, wherein old-line centrism came to be seen by many on the left as unhelpful at best or a continuance of historical racism at worst. And a big part of the blame goes to Donald J. Trump, who convinced plenty of young journalists he was such a threat to democracy that refusing to write a story which might help him win the presidency was a patriotic act. Of course, that only backfired, as we all now can see. But plenty of smart, leftist journalists still openly decry “bothsidesism,” once a defining ethos of journalists in a free society.

And then, of course, there is the media mogul Rupert Murdoch, whose outlets became so conservative that the old centrists worried they were falling into the same trap that snared Democrats at the 1991 Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas hearings: Hill faced Republican prosecutors, cautiously neutral Democrats and had no defense counsel. It was crushingly unfair. Lots of newspeople, especially women, don’t want to see that happen again on their watch. Not with Trump around.

So what to do? The idea that we’re going to see a sudden resurgence of open-minded thinking and ideological de-emphasis is probably pie in the sky, as helpful as that would be for those of us who dislike America’s political extremes. Take, for example, CNN reporter Oliver Darcy’s coverage of a piece he clearly hated : “Regardless of the questionable merits of Berliner’s sweeping conclusions,” Darcy wrote, ironically confirming the premise of the article he was critiquing, “his piece has been nothing short of a massive gift to the right, which has made vilifying the news media its top priority in recent years.”

If that’s CNN’s response to a thoughtful critique, that’s a problem. As a journalist, Berliner shouldn’t be worrying about what a political movement could, or even will, do with his piece: his job is to state the evidence and make his point. Of all organizations, CNN should see that. We certainly do.

We commend Berliner’s courage in taking a stand that probably alienated him from many of his colleagues. We think it has good lessons for all news organizations, and it’s equally applicable to those on the right. Journalism has become a lot like nuclear proliferation and deterrence; someone has to have the courage to disarm. For the sake of the country.

There’s a business case to be made here too. The best news outlets, columnists and editorializers have the capacity to surprise readers and viewers, and don’t hesitate to do so. Predictability is a turnoff for readers and listeners. If you know what someone is going to say about something in advance, you’re more inclined not to bother finding out.

Journalists are doing a lot of fretting these days about AI and a possible dystopian future in which that technology eliminates their jobs. One way to ward off that threat is to surprise people. It’s easer to replicate a publication and its writers if they’re beating the same drum all the time.

Still, we’re optimists when it comes to our profession. We see some wise newsroom heads, not all of them old, who realize that foregrounding ideology or political mission doesn’t help report the news or summon the courage to stand up to journalists who are activists in disguise. Plenty of courageous newsroom stands are taken, often with little notice, as facts lead in inconvenient directions, as they so often do.

Readers most often write letters to the editor when they are aggrieved by something. Here’s a suggestion: We think you can help journalism and the country when you write one to praise a courageous journalist who has admitted to a past mistake or wrong take, even if that confession undermines a favored cause.

We doubt AI will do that.

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Editorials | Editorial: We need cool heads — and no more knee-jerk responses — regarding the police shooting of Dexter Reed

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