Term: 2nd Term

Week: 4
Class: Senior Secondary School 1
Age: 15 years
Duration: 40 minutes of 2 periods each
Date:
Subject: Civic Education
Topic:- Liberty
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES: At the end of the lesson, pupils should be able to
1. Explain the meaning of liberty
2. Discuss the types of liberty
INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNIQUES: Identification, explanation, questions and answers,
demonstration, videos from source
INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS: Videos, loud speaker, textbook, pictures
INSTRUCTIONAL PROCEDURES
PERIOD 1-2
PRESENTATION TEACHER’S ACTIVITY STUDENT’S ACTIVITY

STEP 1 The teacher reviews the Students pay attention

previous lesson on the rule
INTRODUCTION of law

STEP 2 She defines liberty Students pay attention and

participates
EXPLANATION

STEP 3 She lists and explains the Students pay attention and
types of liberty participate
DEMONSTRATION

STEP 4 The teacher writes a The students copy the note

summarized note on the in their books
NOTE TAKING board

NOTE
LIBERTY
Liberty stands derived from the Latin word ‘Liber” which means ‘free’. In this sense liberty
means freedom from restraints and the freedom to act as one likes.
TYPES OF LIBERTY
(1) Natural Liberty:
Natural liberty is taken to mean the enjoyment of unrestrained natural freedom. It is
justified on the ground that since man is born free, he is to enjoy freedom as he wills. All
restraints negate his freedom.
The social contractual lists (Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau) championed the cause of natural
liberty. Rousseau became famous for his words: “Man is born free, but is in chains
everywhere.” It is popularly believed that man has inherited the right to liberty from
nature. Natural reason is the basis of liberty.
However, the concept of natural liberty is now considered to be an imaginary one. There
can be no real freedom in a state of nature or a ‘jungle society’. Unrestrained freedom can
create anarchy. It is only in an orderly society characterised by essential restraints based
on laws and rules that real liberty can be possible. Natural liberty can lead to a living based
on the evil principle of ‘might is right’ or the ‘rule of muscle power.’

(2) Civil Liberty:

The liberty which each individual enjoys as a member of the society is called civil liberty. It
is equally available to all the individuals. All enjoy equal freedom and rights in society. Civil
liberty is not unrestrained liberty. It is enjoyed only under some restrictions (Laws and
Rules) imposed by the state and society. Civil Liberty is the very opposite of Natural liberty.
Whereas Natural Liberty denounces the presence of restraints of any kind, Civil Liberty
accepts the presence of some rational restraints imposed by the State and Society.

Further, Civil Liberty has two features:

(i) State guarantees Civil Liberty:
Civil liberty means liberty under law. Law creates the conditions necessary for the
enjoyment of liberty. However, it refrains from creating obstacles in the way of enjoyment
of liberty by the people. It protects liberty from such obstacles and actions of other men
and organisations as can limit the equal liberty of all. The Laws of State imposes such
reasonable restraints as are deemed necessary for the enjoyment of liberty by the people.
(ii) Civil liberty also stands for the protection of Rights and Freedom from undue
interferences:
Civil liberty involves the concept of limiting the possibilities for violation of the rights of the
people by the government. This is ensured by granting and guaranteeing the fundamental
rights of the people. It also stands for providing constitutional and judicial protection to
rights and liberty of the people.

(3) Political Liberty:

Good and adequate opportunities for using political rights by the people are defined as
political liberty. When the people have the freedom of participation in the political process,
it is held that they enjoy political liberty.
Political of liberty involves the freedom to exercise the right to vote, right to contest
elections, right to hold public office, right to criticise and oppose the policies of the
government, right to form political parties, interest groups and pressure groups, and the
right to change the government through constitutional means.
Laski observes “Political liberty means the power to be active in the affairs of the state.”
Such a liberty is possible only in a democracy. The real exercise of political rights by the
people is a sure sign of the presence of political liberty and democracy.

(4) Individual Liberty/ Personal Liberty:

Individual liberty means the freedom to pursue one’s desires and interests as a person, but
which do not clash with the interests or desires of others. The freedom of speech and
expression, freedom of residence, freedom of movement, freedom of conscience, freedom
of tastes and pursuits, freedom to choose any profession or trade or occupation, the
freedom to enjoy the fruits of one’s labour, the right to personal property, the freedom to
profess or not to profess any religion, and freedom to accept or not to accept any ideology,
all fall under the category of individual freedom. However, all these freedoms are to be
exercised in a way as does not hinder the equal freedom of others as well as does not
violate public order, health and morality.

(5) Economic Liberty:

Laski defines economic liberty as freedom from the wants of tomorrow and availability of
adequate opportunities for earning the livelihood. It stands for freedom from poverty,
unemployment and the ability to enjoy at least three basic minimum needs — food,
clothing and shelter. Laski writes, “Economic Liberty means security and opportunity to
find reasonable significance in the earning of one’s daily bread”.
Economic Liberty can be enjoyed only when there is freedom from hunger, starvation,
destitution and unemployment. Positively, it means the availability of the right to work and
adequate opportunities for earning ones livelihood. Without fair economic liberty, political
liberty becomes meaningless. When the people are not free from the fear of hunger,
starvation and destitution they can never think of enjoying their rights and freedoms.
The grant of economic liberty to the people demands the grant of right to work, right to
reasonable wages, adequate opportunities for livelihood, right to rest and leisure, and right
to economic security in the old age.

(6) National Liberty:

National liberty is another name for independence of the nation.
It means complete freedom of the people of each state:
(i) To have a constitution of their own,
(ii) To freely organise their own government,
(iii) To freely adopt their policies and programmes,
(iv) To pursue independence in relations with all countries of the world, and
(v) Freedom from external control.

(7) Religious Liberty:

It means the freedom to profess or not to profess any religion. It means the freedom of faith
and worship and non-intervention of State in religious affairs of the people. It also means
equal status of all religions to freely carry out their activities in society. Secularism
demands such a religious freedom.

(8) Moral Liberty:

It means the freedom to act according to one’s conscience. It stands for the liberty to work
for securing moral self-perfection. Freedom to pursue moral values is moral freedom.
Thus, when one demands the right to liberty one really demands liberty in all these forms
EVALUATION: 1. Explain the meaning of liberty
2. Discuss the types of liberty
CLASSWORK: As in evaluation
CONCLUSION: The teacher commends the students positively