DR.

RAM MANOHAR LOHIYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

POLITICAL SCIENCE-II

FINAL DRAFT

LIBERALISM

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:

DR. MONICA SRIVASTAVA PARUL GUPTA

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR ENROLMENT NO.: 220101115

POLITICAL SCIENCE B.A. LL.B. (HONS.)

RMLNLU 2nd SEMESTER, SECTION-‘B’

 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the project work entitled “LIBERALISM” submitted to

the DR. RAM MANOHAR LOHIYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY,
Lucknow is a record of an original work done by me under the guidance of DR.
MONIKA SRIVASTAVA, Assistant Professor, Political science, RMLNLU
and this project work is submitted in the partial fulfilment of the requirements
for the award of the degree of B.A. LLB. (Hons.).

The outcomes epitomized in this work have not been presented by me to some
other University for the honor of any degree or confirmation.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Foremost I would like to thank Hon’ble Vice Chancellor, Prof. Subir K
Bhatnagar, and DR. RAM MANOHAR LOHIYA NATIONAL LAW
UNIVERSITY for providing me with such an enriching opportunity to work
and research on this topic.

I would like to extend my thanks to my teacher DR. MONIKA SRIVASTAVA

for giving me her unwavering support, guidance and constant encouragement
throughout the course of this project.

I owe a ton to my parents and seniors who consistently remained by me at

every single step of this improving excursion. I would accept this open door to
thank every one of the creators and scientists upon whose work I put together in
my exploration with respect to.

Last yet not the least I would make a move to thank the best and the most
preeminent; imperceptible yet ever-present all-powerful who kept me inside his
protected hands and furnished me with every one of the assets I might have
expected to finish this task.
Contents
DECLARATION..................................................................................................2
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT....................................................................................3
ABSTRACT.........................................................................................................5
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................6
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND.........................................................................8
Theory of Classical Liberalism.............................................................................9
Theory of Modern Liberalism............................................................................10
CONCLUSION...................................................................................................11
REFERENCES...................................................................................................12
 ABSTRACT
Liberalism must be the first political ideology discussed in any analysis. The
ideology of the industrialized West, liberalism is sometimes portrayed as a
meta-ideology that can embrace a wide variety of opposing values and
viewpoints. Liberalism is a political and philosophical philosophy that upholds
equality, consent, and personal freedom. Based on how they interpret this
ideology, different liberals hold a wide variety of opinions. These viewpoints
prioritize individual rights, including civil and human rights. Although liberal
theories and principles had been gradually developing over the previous 300
years, liberalism did not become a fully developed political creed until the early
nineteenth century.
 INTRODUCTION
Liberalism is a political and economic philosophy that places a strong emphasis
on the autonomy of the individual, equality of opportunity, and the protection of
individual rights (primarily to life, liberty, and property), initially in opposition
to the state and later in opposition to both the state and private economic actors,
such as businesses.

Liberals frequently hold that government is necessary to shield people from

harm by others, but they also understand that government can be a threat to
freedom in and of itself. Government is, at best, "a necessary evil," as American
Revolutionary pamphleteer Thomas Paine put it in Common Sense (1776).
Although laws, judges, and the police are necessary to protect a person's life and
freedom, they can also be used against them. Consequently, the challenge is to
create a system that gives government. Therefore, the challenge is to create a
system that grants government the authority required to safeguard individual
liberties while also preventing those in charge from abusing that authority.

Firstly, liberalism places the individual at the heart of society and argues that
the highest value social order is one that is built around the individual.
Secondly, the purpose of society is to allow individuals to reach their full
potential if they want to, and that the best way to do this is to give the individual
as much liberty as possible. These two key principles are the foundations upon
which the various elements of liberalism spring forth. Liberalism is too dynamic
and flexible a concept to be contained in a precise definition. Right from its
inception, it has been continuously changing, adding something and discarding
the other.

The words liberty and equality are the foundation of liberalism, a broad political
ideology or worldview. Theorists contend that liberalism is a political
philosophy whose central concern is preserving and advancing individual
liberty. Liberal politics didn't start to take hold as a concept until the early
nineteenth century. However, since the sixteenth century, there have been
significant social changes that have led to the development of liberal ideas and
values, which can even be found in ancient Greece and Rome.
 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Liberalism did not emerge as a developed political creed until the early
nineteenth century, distinctively liberal theories and principles had gradually
been developed during the previous 300 years.

Early liberalism undoubtedly reflected the hopes of a rising industrial middle

class, and liberalism and capitalism have remained inextricably linked ever
since. Liberalism was originally a political doctrine. It opposed absolutism and
feudal privilege, as advocated by thinkers such as John Locke, in favour of
constitutional and, later, representative government.

By the early nineteenth century, a distinctively liberal economic creed that

extolled the virtues of laissez-faire and condemned all forms of government
intervention had emerged. This became the focal point of classical liberalism, or
nineteenth-century liberalism. However, beginning in the late nineteenth
century, a form of social liberalism emerged that favoured welfare reform and
economic intervention. This emphasis became a defining feature of modern, or
twentieth-century, liberalism.

Liberalism emerged as a distinct political movement during the Age of

Enlightenment and spread among western economists and philosophers. It
challenged hereditary privilege, absolute monarchy, state creed, and the Divine
Right of Kings. It opposed traditional conservatism and orthodoxy, as well as
the rule of law and representative democracy. Liberals also abolish royal
monopolies, mercantilist policies, and other trade barriers. It instead promoted
free trade, globalisation, and marketization.
 Theory of Classical Liberalism
The commitment to an extreme form of individualism is the central theme of
classical liberalism. Humans are viewed as egoistical, self-seeking, and largely
self-sufficient creatures. They are taken to be the proprietors of their own
persons and capacities, owing nothing to society or other individuals, according
to C. B. Macpherson (1962). This atomist view of society is founded on a belief
in 'negative' liberty, or the absence of external constraints on the individual.
This implies a profound hostility toward the state and all forms of government
intervention.

The state is a "necessary evil," in the words of Tom Paine. It is 'necessary' in the
sense that it establishes order and security and ensures contract enforcement.
However, it is 'evil' in that it imposes a collective will on society, limiting the
individual's freedom and responsibilities. The classical liberal ideal thus entails
the establishment of a minimal or 'night-watchman' state, whose role is limited
to protecting citizens from the encroachments of fellow citizens.

This position, known as economic liberalism, is based on a strong belief in the

mechanisms of the free market and the belief that the economy works best when
government leaves it alone. Laissez-faire capitalism is thus seen as ensuring
prosperity, preserving individual liberty, and ensuring social justice by allowing
individuals to rise and fall based on merit.
 Theory of Modern Liberalism
Modern liberalism is distinguished by a more favourable attitude toward state
intervention. Indeed, in the United States, the term "liberal" is almost always
interpreted to mean support for "big" government rather than "minimal"
government. This shift arose from the realisation that industrial capitalism had
merely created new forms of injustice and left the majority of the population
vulnerable to the whims of the market. The so-called 'New Liberals,' influenced
by J. S. Mill's work, advocated a broader, 'positive' view of freedom. According
to this viewpoint, freedom does not simply imply being left alone, which may
imply nothing more than the freedom to starve. Rather, it is linked to personal
development and individual flourishing; that is, the ability of the individual to
gain fulfilment and achieve self-realization.

This viewpoint served as the foundation for social or welfare liberalism. This is
distinguished by the recognition that state intervention, particularly in the form
of social welfare, can increase liberty by protecting individuals from the social
evils that blight individual existence. In the United Kingdom, the 1942
Beveridge Report identified these evils as the "five giants": want, ignorance,
idleness, squalor, and disease. Similarly, modern liberals abandoned their belief
in laissez-faire capitalism, owing largely to J. M. Keynes' insight that growth
and prosperity could only be sustained through a system of managed or
regulated capitalism, with key economic responsibilities placed in the hands of
the state. Nonetheless, support for collective provision and government
intervention has always been conditional among modern liberals. Their attention
has been drawn to the plight of the weak and vulnerable, those who are unable
to help themselves. Their goal is to raise individuals to the point where they can
once again accept responsibility for their own circumstances and make moral
decisions for themselves. John Rawls made the most influential modern attempt
to reconcile liberalism's principles with welfare and redistribution politics.

CONCLUSION
Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the
individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality
before the law. Liberals espouse various views depending on their
understanding of these principles. However, they generally support private
property, market economies, individual rights (including civil rights and human
rights), liberal democracy, secularism, rule of law, economic and political
freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and
freedom of religion. Liberalism is frequently cited as the dominant ideology of
modern history.
REFERENCES