LIBERTY
Prepared by:
Thomas G.M.
Associate Professor &HOD,
Dept. of Political science,
Pompei college Aikala.
Introduction:
It is one of the basic concept in political
science & also a very important pillar of
democracy.
Liberty is required for everyone & its
absence is an injustice to mankind.
It is one of the ideal that inspires everyone &
which has led to many revolutions- e.g.
French revolution was fought for upholding
the ideals of liberty, equality &fraternity.
The term liberty & freedom are
synonyms.
Introduction contd…
The term liberty is derived from the Latin
word “Liber” meaning “free”. So liberty
means freedom.
Liberty is the freedom available to
develop the human personality.
Some people defines it as the absence of
restrictions to do as one pleases.
Negative & Positive Liberty:
Liberty has two aspects- negative & positive liberty.
Negative liberty means that the individual must be
left alone to enjoy maximum liberty.
In other words, it is the absence of restraints.
CDH Cole, Laski, Seeley and others support negative
liberty.
On the other hand, positive liberty implies the
creation of those conditions which help man to
develop his personality to the maximum
extent.
In other words, it provides an atmosphere which
helps the individuals to do their best.
Thus liberty is the priceless treasure of every man.
Definitions:
“Liberty is the freedom of the individual to
express without external hindrances to
personality.”- CDH Cole.
“Liberty is the opposite of over
government” –Seeley.
“Liberty is the power of a man to do
anything that does not injure others”-
UDHR.
“Liberty is the positive power of doing &
enjoying those things which are worthy of
enjoyment & work.”- Gettel.
Nature of Liberty:
Above definitions reveal the nature of liberty as given below-
1. It is a condition without which human beings cannot
develop their personality.
2. Liberty indicates the absence of special privileges.
Everyone should enjoy it.
3. It has both positive &negative aspects.
4. Liberty is closely connected to rights, there can be no
rights without liberty & also liberty without rights.
5. Liberty is also closely connected to law. Law promotes
the enjoyment of liberty.
Thus, liberty is not just “the absence of restraints” nor the
imposition of limits by the state but the synthesis of both so
as to provide for maximum liberty to the maximum number .
Kinds of Liberty:
The concept of liberty is not static but dynamic
&it has undergone many changes over the years.
So there are different varieties of liberty. They
are-
1. Natural Liberty: it implies the unrestrained
freedom to do what one pleases.
Natural liberty cannot exist in a state but created
prior to the creation of the state.
The three social contractualists like Hobbes,
Locke & Rousseau speak of natural liberty in
the state of nature.
It leads to anarchy & to the survival of the
fittest.
2. Personal/Civil Liberty:
It is granted by the law of the state & hence, limited and
protected by the law of the state.
It is called as personal as it is enjoyed by a person in
his capacity as an individual in the society.
Personal liberty is understood as a persons right not to be
subjected to imprisonment, arrest or other physical coercion
in any manner contrary to the legal procedures.
Civil liberty includes personal freedom which is of
tremendous importance to the individual, e.g.-right to life,
liberty, education, property, religion, family, speech, etc.
In totalitarian states, civil liberty is denied to the people, but
in democratic society which guarantee civil liberty
and people do not tolerate any kind of encroachment on it.
3. Economic Liberty:
All other types of liberty has no meaning
without economic liberty.
Economic Liberty means freedom from
wants, hunger & insecurity.
So economic liberty implies that a person
should have his basic necessities like
food, clothing and shelter if he has to
truly enjoy his civil or political liberty.
Political right has no meaning to a person
who is starving or unemployed.
Economic liberty contd…
Without economic liberty democracy will
be meaningless.
Examples for economic liberty are-
1. Right to work,
2. Equal pay for equal work .
3. Right to adequate Rest & Leisure.
4. Right to social security measures for
disabled, sick, old, unemployed & so on.
4. Political Liberty:
It is the foundation of democracy.
Any citizen who enjoys political liberty is
capable of taking part in the political affairs
of the state.
Leacock calls political liberty as constitutional
liberty and Gilchrist regards political liberty as
practically synonymous with democracy.
Political liberty being the product of political
rights include the following- right to vote, contest
for elections, hold public office, criticize the
government, freedom to form political parties,
freedom of press, etc.
5. National Liberty:
It means the liberty of the nation or
national freedom/independence.
National liberty indicates the internal &
external sovereignty of the state.
Every free nation enjoys this freedom
to determine its own political destiny
both internally & externally.
National liberty has to be ensured first in
order to realize the political, civil &
economic liberties.
National liberty is a collective sense of
liberty enjoyed by the nation as a whole.
Importance of Liberty:
Some of its significance are as follows-
1. Development of Personality: It is
essential for the development of
individual’s personality.
Liberty ensures the availability of
opportunities for development to
everyone in society.
In the absence of liberty, a person
remains weak as his initiative &
enthusiasms are curbed.
2. Rights are meaningful only with
liberty:
Rights & liberty are inseparable.
Rights exist due to the promotion of
liberty.
All the rights become significant if
connected to liberty.
Liberty be comes meaningful only if they
are transformed into rights & protected
by the state.
3. Liberty provides a sense of
satisfaction:
Liberty is a highly valued possession of
every man.
There is none in the world who does not
want who does not want liberty.
Many wars and revolutions were fought
to achieve liberty.
Thus liberty is regarded as a great value
for which people are ready to give up
anything. It is a self satisfying ideal.
4. Leads to creation of democratic
states:
Democracy is not merely a form of
government, but also a way of life.
An individual enjoys complete freedom
only in a democratic government.
It is the love of liberty by majority of
people leads to struggle for freedom &
creation of democratic states.
5. Liberty creates self Responsibility:
Liberty of one man has to be consistent
with the liberty of others.
Each individual enjoys liberty only if he
respects the liberty of others in society.
Liberty unaccompanied by reasonable
restraints ceases to be called as liberty.
Thus, liberty creates personal & group
responsibilities.(Rodee Anderson)
