DEMOCRACY AND LIBERALISM - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

DEMOCRACY AND LIBERALISM

‘Give me the liberty know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience.’

John Milton

‘Laissez-faire, laissez-passer.’

UnknownSlide2

Democracy and Liberalism

the individual – cast in terms of natural rights –

freedom and equality

e

arly liberalism directed against 18

th

century

absolutism

and many

feudal

practices

l

aissez-faire capitalism

middle class

f

reedom of movement and trade –

against political and economic constraints

a

ppealed to a large sector of society – new risings classes, peasants, workers – against the

landed aristocracy

, while also being opposed by the monarchy and the church

The Three Cores of Liberalism

Moral –

freedom, dignity and life

– what does it mean to be human?

Economic – rights and freedoms of individuals to produce and to consume, to enter contractual relations, to buy/sell through a

market

economy

, to satisfy wants in one’s own way, to dispose of one’s property and

labour

as one decides

Political – the right to vote, to participate, to decide what kind of government to elect,

and what kind of policies to follow. Think:

representative democracy

.Slide3

Adam Smith (1723-1790)

and

The Wealth of Nations (1776)the ‘bible’ of liberal economic theory…fundamental economic laws exist – such as the law of supply and demand – that provide self-regulation of the economyfavoured a limited statestaunchest supporter of a worldwide free trade‘Divine Hand of Providence’free competition and interplay of economic interests and forces would lead to social and economic harmony….laissez-faireSlide4

Jeremy Bentham (1748-1831) and Utilitarianism

Every object can satisfy a want

This is subjective – For some, a poem has a greater ‘utility’ than a hot dog. For others, the hot dog comes first. The ‘market’ decides….Our purpose is to please ourselves and avoid painBut – pain is inevitable – hence:Self-interest gives way to enlightened self-interestSlide5

John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) and Enlightened Self-Interest

On Liberty

(1859)Moral individualism – links it to requirements of education and enlightenmentWhat is ‘Enlightened Self-Interest?’Someone who forgos an immediate pleasure in order to derive a greater one laterSame criteria applies to groups or classes of people – If we act in terms of enlightened self-interest, we may consider concessions to other groups or classes than risk the loss of all we haveSome pleasures are better than others because of their intrinsic quality, not because of the particular pleasure they give to an individual – So……..A poem has more utility than a hot dog?!?!

But how can the people be led to make the right decision?

Education –

Obligation of the state to establish education, and….

It is the function of education to enlighten.....transforming an essentially hedonistic society into a body of civic-minded individuals….who would put the general good above their own particular pleasureSlide6

John Locke (1632-1704)

Two Treatises on Government (1693)

the state is the custodian of natural rights and is founded upon the consent of the government in order to protect these rights – life, liberty, and property.contract theory led to the elaboration of institutions of limited state and a limited gov’tRepresentative Gov’t political authority derives from the peopleIn the British tradition – parliamentary sovereignty and majority ruleMust restrain from violating people’s natural rightsElitist?Applied to only those who held property

Middle class

Landed Aristocracy

Note:

It was only much later, when the vote was expanded to ultimately to all citizens, that the problem of how to limit the majority assumed particular importanceConstitutionalism – (Think: US Constitution)Emphasis on restraining political power of majority rule on individualSeparation of powers = one power checks anotheridea of limitations is more important than popular sovereigntySlide7

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)

The Social Contract (1762)

argued for the sovereignty of the peoplethe ‘general will’ of the people is ‘inalienable, infallible, and indestructible’Rousseau believed in direct government by the people - no restraints on popular willNobody could really represent anybody else....representative government? Meh.More like uninhibited majority rule…..So, how is the ‘general will expressed? What does it look like?Nationalism?Slide8

The State and the Individual

Liberalism as an

antistate philosophy?Role of the state is to protect the individual – On Liberty (1859)That every restraint imposed by the state is badThat even if the individual cannot do certain things well, the state should not do them for fear that it might undermine the individual’s independence and initiativeIncrease of the power of the state is bad and prejudicial to individual freedomAchievements: The Expansion of Liberalism Slavery was abolishedReligious disabilities against holding public office abandonedFreedom of press, speech and association grantedPublic EducationUniversal Suffrage

Constitution-making

Representative gov’t became increasingly accepted throughout Europe (not Russia!)

Free(r) Trade

Self-determinationSlide9

THE CONSERVATIVE TRADITION

“When the leaders choose to make themselves bidders at an auction of popularity, their talents, in the construction of the state, will be of no service. They will become flatterers instead of legislators; the instruments, not the guides, of the people”

Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, 1790Slide10

Historical Roots of Conservatism

Our society today is based on

liberal ideas and valuesliberalism is the dominant political ideology but not everyone buys in, and not everyone bought in during the Enlightenmentlanded aristocracyrural groups, those who live in small towns, the old, and the uneducated Why?Is Conservatism more a state of mind than a political ideology?

to conserve – what?

p

roperty

status A response to the French Revolution?powera way of life A defense of the status quo?Slide11

The Seven Pillars of Conservative Thought?

The logic of conservative ideology –

Individual liberties are more important than ‘equality’Against the concentration of power in the hands of anybody, especially peopleInsist on a hierarchy of groups and classes and a cooperation among themRespect for tradition and ‘inheritance’Religion, with its reverence for authority, is dear to conservativesDistrust ‘reason’ and the propriety of using it as a solution for social problemsElitist – Some are better equipped than others to lead, some are superior, while some (generally the many) are inferiorSlide12

Edmund

BurkeClassic Conservatism: The British ModelPolitical SocietyIdea is that society is a tapestry, a fabric woven of different threads, so everyone depends on everyone else…..but hierarchical and with social inequality Political AuthorityDisagree with ‘contract’ theory of state propounded by liberalsWe are born into society like our father and forefathers – we do not make itChangeChange should be gradual, not revolutionary

Leadership

‘Natural leaders’ – men, or women of talent, high birth, and property –

should govern and the many should followPaternalisticsocial welfare?Slide13

American Conservative Tradition

s

elf-made mans person’s worth lies in achievement, not birth, inheritance or statusthe Constitutionlimitations on direct democracy & emphasis on lawopposed to majoritarianism and reasonrestraints placed on both government and the people‘wisdom of the framers’The 2nd amendment to the US constitution?

Economics

e

conomic liberalism or paternalistic capitalism?

free market, free enterprisehostility to big government, government spending and high taxes Moral Issues

religious values?

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aw and order