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148-744: The alliance aimed to restrain liberalism in Europe in the wake of the devastating French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars ; it nominally succeeded in this until the Crimean War . Chancellor Otto von Bismarck managed to reunite the Holy Alliance, as League of the Three Emperors , following the unification of Germany in 1871; the alliance again faltered by the 1880s over Austrian and Russian conflicts of interest over

296-719: A Central - Eastern European block which once again congregated to suppress the Revolutions of 1848 . The Austro-Russian alliance finally broke up in the Crimean War . Though Russia had helped to suppress the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 , Austria did not take any action to support her ally, declared herself neutral, and even occupied the Danubian Principalities upon the Russian retreat in 1854. Thereafter, Austria remained isolated, which added to

444-465: A dictatorship , sometimes successfully. A demagogue, in the strict signification of the word, is a 'leader of the rabble'. Demagogue, a term originally referring to a leader of the common people, was first coined in ancient Greece with no negative connotation, but eventually came to mean a troublesome kind of leader who occasionally arose in Athenian democracy . Even though democracy gave power to

592-558: A duty to promote the common good . His ideas spread rapidly and were developed by other thinkers such as Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse and John A. Hobson . In a few years, this New Liberalism had become the essential social and political programme of the Liberal Party in Britain, and it would encircle much of the world in the 20th century. In addition to examining negative and positive liberty, liberals have tried to understand

740-878: A " coon -flavored miscegenationist " and once posted an ad in a newspaper for "sixteen big, fat, mellow, rancid coons" to sleep with Roosevelt during a trip to Mississippi. A common demagogic technique is to pin an insulting epithet on an opponent, by saying it repeatedly, in speech after speech, when saying the opponent's name or in place of it. For example, James Curley referred to Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. , his Republican opponent for Senator, as "Little Boy Blue". William Hale Thompson called Anton Cermak , his opponent for mayor of Chicago, "Tony Baloney". Huey Long called Joseph E. Ransdell , his elderly opponent for Senator, "Old Feather Duster". Joe McCarthy liked to call Secretary of State Dean Acheson "The Red Dean of Fashion". The use of epithets and other humorous invective diverts followers' attention from soberly considering how to address

888-584: A bastion against democracy and citizen-nationalism. It also allowed coordinating suppression of Polish efforts to restore an independent state, by Austria in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria , by Russia in its Congress Poland and by Prussia in the Grand Duchy of Posen and in West Prussia . The Alliance is usually associated with the later Quadruple and Quintuple Alliances, which included

1036-578: A central role in the ideas of Kant and John Stuart Mill. Both thinkers believed that society would contain different conceptions of a good ethical life and that people should be allowed to make their own choices without interference from the state or other individuals. Adam Smith 's The Wealth of Nations , published in 1776, followed by the French liberal economist Jean-Baptiste Say 's treatise on Political Economy published in 1803 and expanded in 1830 with practical applications, were to provide most of

1184-433: A central role in the economy through their coordinating function. He also highlights qualities essential for successful entrepreneurship and focuses on judgement, in that they have continued to assess market needs and the means to meet them. This requires an "unerring market sense". Say views entrepreneurial income primarily as the high revenue paid in compensation for their skills and expert knowledge. He does so by contrasting

1332-467: A challenge to anyone looking for a clear definition. Although all liberal doctrines possess a common heritage, scholars frequently assume that those doctrines contain "separate and often contradictory streams of thought". The objectives of liberal theorists and philosophers have differed across various times, cultures and continents. The diversity of liberalism can be gleaned from the numerous qualifiers that liberal thinkers and movements have attached to

1480-411: A class of yeoman farmers. Beginning in the late 19th century, a new conception of liberty entered the liberal intellectual arena. This new kind of liberty became known as positive liberty to distinguish it from the prior negative version , and it was first developed by British philosopher T. H. Green . Green rejected the idea that humans were driven solely by self-interest , emphasising instead

1628-428: A dangerous existence was to form a common and supreme power capable of arbitrating between competing human desires. This power could be formed in the framework of a civil society that allows individuals to make a voluntary social contract with the sovereign authority, transferring their natural rights to that authority in return for the protection of life, liberty and property. These early liberals often disagreed about

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1776-500: A demagogue can be defined independently of whether the speaker favors or opposes a certain political leader. A demagogue is defined by how they gain or hold democratic power: by exciting the passions of the lower classes and less-educated people in a democracy toward rash or violent action and breaking established democratic institutions such as the rule of law. James Fenimore Cooper in 1838 identified four fundamental characteristics of demagogues: The central feature of demagoguery

1924-693: A failed revolt by the city of Mytilene , Cleon persuaded the Athenians to slaughter not just the Mytilenean prisoners, but every man in the city, and to sell their wives and children as slaves. The Athenians rescinded the resolution the following day when they came to their senses. Second, after Athens had completely defeated the Peloponnesian fleet in the Battle of Sphacteria and Sparta could only beg for peace on almost any terms, Cleon persuaded

2072-531: A fundamental weakness in democracy: Because ultimate power is held by the people, it is possible for the people to give that power to someone who appeals to the lowest common denominator of a large segment of the population. Demagogues have usually advocated immediate, forceful action to address a crisis while accusing moderate and thoughtful opponents of weakness or disloyalty. Many demagogues elected to high executive office have unraveled constitutional limits on executive power and tried to convert their democracy into

2220-421: A general defence for religious toleration . Three arguments are central: Locke was also influenced by the liberal ideas of Presbyterian politician and poet John Milton , who was a staunch advocate of freedom in all its forms. Milton argued for disestablishment as the only effective way of achieving broad toleration . Rather than force a man's conscience, the government should recognise the persuasive force of

2368-536: A governing framework that harmonises and minimises conflicting views but still allows those views to exist and flourish. For liberal philosophy, pluralism leads easily to toleration. Since individuals will hold diverging viewpoints, liberals argue, they ought to uphold and respect the right of one another to disagree. From the liberal perspective, toleration was initially connected to religious toleration , with Baruch Spinoza condemning "the stupidity of religious persecution and ideological wars". Toleration also played

2516-485: A home, an automobile, a radio, and $ 2,000 yearly. He was vague about how he would make that happen, but people still joined his Share-the-Wealth clubs. Another kind of empty demagogic promise is to make everyone wealthy or "solve all the problems". The Polish demagogue Stanisław Tymiński , running as an unknown "maverick" on the basis of his prior success as a businessman in Canada, promised "immediate prosperity"—exploiting

2664-648: A low, resonant voice, telling of his life in poverty after serving in World War I, suffering in the chaos and humiliation of postwar Germany, and resolving to reawaken the Fatherland. Gradually, he would escalate the tone and tempo of his speech, ending in a climax in which he shrieked his hatred of Bolsheviks, Jews, Czechs, Poles, or whatever group he currently perceived as standing in his way—mocking them, ridiculing them, insulting them, and threatening them with destruction. Normally reasonable people became caught up in

2812-494: A mercantile society where there were no slaves, but almost everybody had to earn a living through work. Instead, the voters would elect representatives who would deliberate in Parliament on the people's behalf and would save citizens from daily political involvement. The importance of Constant's writings on the liberty of the ancients and that of the "moderns" has informed the understanding of liberalism, as has his critique of

2960-497: A number of common tactics demagogues have employed throughout history to manipulate public sentiment and incite crowds. Not all demagogues use all of these methods, and no two demagogues use exactly the same methods to gain popularity and loyalty. Even ordinary politicians use some of these techniques from time to time; a politician who failed to stir emotions at all would have little hope of being elected. What these techniques have in common, and what distinguishes demagogues' use of them,

3108-583: A pejorative remark—in the 16th and the 17th centuries. In the 16th-century Kingdom of England , liberal could have positive or negative attributes in referring to someone's generosity or indiscretion. In Much Ado About Nothing , William Shakespeare wrote of "a liberal villaine" who "hath ... confest his vile encounters". With the rise of the Enlightenment , the word acquired decisively more positive undertones, defined as "free from narrow prejudice" in 1781 and "free from bigotry" in 1823. In 1815,

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3256-820: A popular leader, a leader of a mob, from δῆμος , people, populace, the commons + ἀγωγός leading, leader), or rabble-rouser , is a political leader in a democracy who gains popularity by arousing the common people against elites , especially through oratory that whips up the passions of crowds, appealing to emotion by scapegoating out-groups, exaggerating dangers to stoke fears, lying for emotional effect, or other rhetoric that tends to drown out reasoned deliberation and encourage fanatical popularity. Demagogues overturn established norms of political conduct, or promise or threaten to do so. Historian Reinhard Luthin defined demagogue as "a politician skilled in oratory, flattery and invective; evasive in discussing vital issues; promising everything to everybody; appealing to

3404-606: A press release demanding that his name be removed from the Washington Social Register . "Alfalfa Bill" made sure to remind people of his rural background by talking in the terminology of farming: "I will plow straight furrows and blast all the stumps. The common people and I can lick the whole lousy gang." Demagogues commonly treat complex problems, which require patient reasoning and analysis, as if they result from one simple cause or can be solved by one simple cure. For example, Huey Long claimed that all of

3552-538: A reception at the White House: "Let Teddy take coons to the White House. I should not care if the walls of the ancient edifice should become so saturated with the effluvia from the rancid carcasses that a Chinch bug would have to crawl upon the dome to avoid asphyxiation." Vardaman's speeches tended to have little content; he spoke in a ceremonial style even in deliberative settings. His speeches served mostly as

3700-560: A sense of crisis within Islam , which continues to this day, leading to Islamic revivalism . Before 1920, the main ideological opponents of liberalism were communism , conservatism , and socialism ; liberalism then faced major ideological challenges from fascism and Marxism–Leninism as new opponents. During the 20th century, liberal ideas spread even further, especially in Western Europe, as liberal democracies found themselves as

3848-508: A show of appearing to be down-to-earth, ordinary citizens just like the people whose votes they seek. In the United States, many took folksy nicknames: William H. Murray (1869–1956) was "Alfalfa Bill"; James M. Curley (1874–1958) of Boston was "Our Jim"; Ellison D. Smith (1864–1944) was "Cotton Ed"; the husband-and-wife demagogue team of Miriam and James E. Ferguson went by "Ma and Pa"; Texas governor W. Lee O'Daniel (1890–1969)

3996-574: A slump as the present one, so great as to bring production altogether to a standstill". At the height of the Great Depression in 1933, Keynes published The Means to Prosperity , which contained specific policy recommendations for tackling unemployment in a global recession, chiefly counter cyclical public spending. The Means to Prosperity contains one of the first mentions of the multiplier effect . Demagogue A demagogue ( / ˈ d ɛ m ə ɡ ɒ ɡ / ; from Greek δημαγωγός ,

4144-647: A variety of liberalism that endorses a regulated market economy and the expansion of civil and political rights , with the common good considered as compatible with or superior to the freedom of the individual. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica : "In the United States, liberalism is associated with the welfare-state policies of the New Deal programme of the Democratic administration of Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt , whereas in Europe it

4292-532: A vehicle for his personal magnetism, charming voice, and graceful delivery. The demagogues' charisma and emotional oratory many times enabled them to win elections despite opposition from the press. The news media informs voters, and often the information is damaging to demagogues. Demagogic oratory distracts, entertains, and enthralls, steering followers' attention away from the demagogue's usual history of lies, abuses of power, and broken promises. The advent of radio enabled many 20th-century demagogues' skill with

4440-460: Is a simple way to shut down reasoned deliberation of competing ideas, especially with an unsophisticated audience. "Pitchfork Ben" Tillman, for example, was a master of the personal insult. He got his nickname from a speech in which he called President Grover Cleveland "an old bag of beef" and resolved to bring a pitchfork to Washington to "poke him in his old fat ribs." James Kimble Vardaman consistently referred to President Theodore Roosevelt as

4588-427: Is also credited with Say's law , or the law of markets which may be summarised as " Aggregate supply creates its own aggregate demand ", and " Supply creates its own demand ", or "Supply constitutes its own demand" and "Inherent in supply is the need for its own consumption". The related phrase "supply creates its own demand" was coined by John Maynard Keynes , who criticized Say's separate formulations as amounting to

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4736-721: Is applied to making one product and not enough to another" (1803, pp. 178–179). Related reasoning appears in the work of John Stuart Mill and earlier in that of his Scottish classical economist father, James Mill (1808). Mill senior restates Say's law in 1808: "production of commodities creates, and is the one and universal cause which creates a market for the commodities produced". In addition to Smith's and Say's legacies, Thomas Malthus ' theories of population and David Ricardo 's Iron law of wages became central doctrines of classical economics. Meanwhile, Jean-Baptiste Say challenged Smith's labour theory of value , believing that prices were determined by utility and also emphasised

4884-462: Is considered closely tied to, or synonymous with, American libertarianism . Liberalism—both as a political current and an intellectual tradition—is mostly a modern phenomenon that started in the 17th century, although some liberal philosophical ideas had precursors in classical antiquity and Imperial China . The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius praised "the idea of a polity administered with regard to equal rights and equal freedom of speech, and

5032-492: Is made up by a voluntary compact between men and women". Locke maintained that the grant of dominion in Genesis was not to men over women , as Filmer believed, but to humans over animals. Locke was not a feminist by modern standards, but the first major liberal thinker in history accomplished an equally major task on the road to making the world more pluralistic: integrating women into social theory . Locke also originated

5180-639: Is more commonly associated with a commitment to limited government and laissez-faire economic policies." This variety of liberalism is also known as modern liberalism to distinguish it from classical liberalism , which evolved into modern conservatism . In the United States, the two forms of liberalism comprise the two main poles of American politics, in the forms of modern American liberalism and modern American conservatism . Some liberals, who call themselves classical liberals , fiscal conservatives , or libertarians , endorse fundamental liberal ideals but diverge from modern liberal thought on

5328-426: Is nothing but the consent of any number of freemen capable of a majority to unite and incorporate into such a society. And this is that, and that only, which did or could give beginning to any lawful government in the world". The stringent insistence that lawful government did not have a supernatural basis was a sharp break with the dominant theories of governance, which advocated the divine right of kings and echoed

5476-542: Is often associated with this principle, with Friedrich Hayek arguing in The Road to Serfdom (1944) that reliance on free markets would preclude totalitarian control by the state. The development into maturity of modern classical in contrast to ancient liberalism took place before and soon after the French Revolution. One of the historic centres of this development was at Coppet Castle near Geneva , where

5624-556: Is often used as a pejorative. This political philosophy is exemplified by enactment of major social legislation and welfare programs. Two major examples in the United States are Franklin D. Roosevelt 's New Deal policies and later Lyndon B. Johnson 's Great Society , as well as other accomplishments such as the Works Progress Administration and the Social Security Act in 1935, as well as

5772-420: Is persuasion by means of passion, shutting down reasoned deliberation and consideration of alternatives. While many politicians in a democracy make occasional small sacrifices of truth, subtlety, or long-term concerns to maintain popular support, demagogues do these things relentlessly and without self-restraint. Demagogues "pander to passion, prejudice, bigotry, and ignorance, rather than reason." In every age

5920-544: Is the Liberal Party , and the Democratic Party is usually considered liberal in the United States. In the United States, conservative liberals are usually called conservatives in a broad sense. Over time, the meaning of liberalism began to diverge in different parts of the world. Since the 1930s, liberalism is usually used without a qualifier in the United States, to refer to social liberalism ,

6068-491: Is their consistent intent to prevent reasoned deliberation by stirring up overwhelming passion. In contrast to a demagogue, a politician's ordinary rhetoric seeks "to calm rather than excite, to conciliate rather than divide, and to instruct rather than flatter." The most fundamental demagogic technique is scapegoating : blaming the in-group's troubles on an out-group, usually of a different ethnicity , religion , or social class . For example, McCarthy claimed that all of

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6216-1070: The New York Post , The New York Times , the New York Herald Tribune , The Washington Post , the St. Louis Post-Dispatch , and other leading American newspapers of being "Communist smear sheets" under the control of the Kremlin. The shortest way to ruin a country is to give power to demagogues. In executive office, demagogues have often moved quickly to expand their power, both de jure and de facto : by getting legislation passed to officially expand their authority, and by building up networks of corruption and informal pressure to ensure that their dictates are followed regardless of constitutional authority. For example, within two months of being appointed chancellor, Hitler unraveled all constitutional limitations on his power. He achieved this through near-daily acts of chaos, destabilizing

6364-792: The British liberal tradition has emphasized expanding democracy, French liberalism has emphasized rejecting authoritarianism and is linked to nation-building . Leaders in the British Glorious Revolution of 1688, the American Revolution of 1776, and the French Revolution of 1789 used liberal philosophy to justify the armed overthrow of royal sovereignty . The 19th century saw liberal governments established in Europe and South America , and it

6512-708: The Carlsbad Decrees of the following year. At the Congress of Troppau in 1820 and the succeeding Congress of Laibach in 1821, Metternich tried to align his allies in the suppression of the Carbonari revolt against King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies . The Quintuple Alliance met for the last time at the Congress of Verona in 1822 to advise against the Greek Revolution and to resolve upon

6660-546: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 . Modern liberalism, in the United States and other major Western countries, now includes issues such as same-sex marriage , transgender rights , the abolition of capital punishment , reproductive rights and other women's rights , voting rights for all adult citizens, civil rights, environmental justice , and government protection of

6808-699: The Enabling Act was passed, giving Hitler full legislative powers, thus ending all constitutional restraint and making Hitler absolute dictator. Consolidation of power continued even after that; see Early timeline of Nazism . Even local demagogues have established one-man rule, or a near approximation of it, over their constituencies. "Alfalfa Bill" Murray , a demagogue who was elected governor of Oklahoma by appealing to poor rural animosity toward "craven wolves of plutocracy", promised to "make an open season on millionaires." Despite having presided over Oklahoma's constitutional convention, Murray routinely violated

6956-621: The French invasion of Spain . The last meetings had revealed the rising antagonism between Britain and France, especially on Italian unification , the right to self-determination , and the Eastern Question . The Alliance is conventionally taken to have become defunct with Alexander's death in 1825. France ultimately went her separate way following the July Revolution of 1830, leaving the core of Austria, Prussia, and Russia as

7104-627: The Mytilenian Debate over whether to recall the ships he had sent the previous day to slaughter and enslave the entire population of Mytilene, he opposed the very idea of debate, characterizing it as an idle, weak, intellectual pleasure: "To feel pity, to be carried away by the pleasure of hearing a clever argument, to listen to the claims of decency are three things that are entirely against the interests of an imperial power." Distracting from his lack of evidence for his claims, Joe McCarthy persistently insinuated that anyone who opposed him

7252-832: The United Kingdom and (from 1818) France with the aim of upholding the European peace settlement and balance of power in the Concert of Europe concluded at the Congress of Vienna. On 29 September 1818, Alexander, Emperor Francis I of Austria and King Frederick William III of Prussia met with the Duke of Wellington , Viscount Castlereagh and the Duc de Richelieu at the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle to demand stern measures against university " demagogues ", which would be realized in

7400-534: The divine right of kings by appealing to biblical teaching, claiming that the authority granted to Adam by God gave successors of Adam in the male line of descent a right of dominion over all other humans and creatures in the world. However, Locke disagreed so thoroughly and obsessively with Filmer that the First Treatise is almost a sentence-by-sentence refutation of Patriarcha . Reinforcing his respect for consensus, Locke argued that "conjugal society

7548-561: The right to an adequate standard of living . National social services , such as equal educational opportunities, access to health care, and transportation infrastructure are intended to meet the responsibility to promote the general welfare of all citizens as established by the United States Constitution . Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics and civil liberties under

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7696-521: The rights of minorities . Besides liberty, liberals have developed several other principles important to the construction of their philosophical structure, such as equality, pluralism and tolerance. Highlighting the confusion over the first principle, Voltaire commented, "equality is at once the most natural and at times the most chimeral of things". All forms of liberalism assume in some basic sense that individuals are equal. In maintaining that people are naturally equal, liberals assume they all possess

7844-474: The rule of law , with special emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government , economic freedom , political freedom and freedom of speech . Classical liberalism, contrary to liberal branches like social liberalism , looks more negatively on social policies , taxation and the state involvement in the lives of individuals, and it advocates deregulation . Until the Great Depression and

7992-479: The workhouses and asylums for the mentally ill. During the Great Depression , the English economist John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946) gave the definitive liberal response to the economic crisis. Keynes had been "brought up" as a classical liberal, but especially after World War I, became increasingly a welfare or social liberal. A prolific writer, among many other works, he had begun a theoretical work examining

8140-493: The 20th century achieved several objectives towards both goals. Other goals often accepted by liberals include universal suffrage and universal access to education . In Europe and North America, the establishment of social liberalism (often called simply liberalism in the United States) became a key component in expanding the welfare state . Today, liberal parties continue to wield power and influence throughout

8288-535: The Athenians to reject the peace offer. Third, he taunted the Athenian generals over their failure to bring the war in Sphacteria to a rapid close, accusing them of cowardice, and declared that he could finish the job himself in twenty days, despite having no military knowledge. They gave him the job, expecting him to fail. Cleon shrank at being called to make good on his boast, and tried to get out of it, but he

8436-509: The Christian community and offer mutual service. In the first draft Tsar Alexander I made appeals to mysticism through a proposed unified Christian empire that was seen as disconcerting by the other monarchies. Following revision, a more pragmatic version of the alliance was adopted by Russia, Prussia, and Austria. The document was called "an apocalypse of diplomacy" by French diplomat Dominique-Georges-Frédéric Dufour de Pradt . The agreement

8584-441: The Congress in 2004, former U.S. president Bill Clinton opined: "When people are feeling insecure, they'd rather have someone who is strong and wrong rather than somebody who is weak and right." The Clinton aphorism was later applied to describe why the political tactics of Donald Trump were successful, and how Democrats might do better in related elections. Demagogues typically choose their words for their emotional effect on

8732-546: The French Revolution. The British philosopher and historian of ideas, Sir Isaiah Berlin , has pointed to the debt owed to Constant. Liberalism in Britain was based on core concepts such as classical economics , free trade , laissez-faire government with minimal intervention and taxation and a balanced budget . Classical liberals were committed to individualism, liberty and equal rights. Writers such as John Bright and Richard Cobden opposed aristocratic privilege and property, which they saw as an impediment to developing

8880-776: The Jews gave Hitler a way to intensify nationalism and unity. The claims made about the scapegoated class are mostly the same regardless of the demagogue and regardless of the scapegoated class or the nature of the crisis that the demagogue is exploiting. "We" are the "true" Americans/​Germans/​Christians/etc., and "they", the Jews/​;bankers/​communists/​capitalists/​unions/​foreigners/​elites/​etc., have cheated "us" plain folk and are living in decadent luxury off riches that rightfully belong to "us". "They" are plotting to take over, are now rapidly taking power, or are already secretly running

9028-560: The Secretary of State for discharge but "approximately" 80 were actually discharged. McCarthy never found a Communist in the State Department. Many demagogues have demonstrated remarkable skill at moving audiences to great emotional depths and heights during a speech. Sometimes this is due to exceptional verbal eloquence, sometimes personal charisma, and sometimes both. Hitler often began his speeches by speaking slowly, in

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9176-564: The U.S.'s economic problems could be solved just by " sharing the wealth ". Hitler claimed that Germany had lost World War I only because of a " Stab in the Back ". Scapegoating ( above ) is one form of gross oversimplification . Because factual information reported by the press can undermine a demagogue's claims and standing among followers, modern demagogues have attacked the press intemperately. At times, demagogues have called for violence against newspapers who opposed them. Some have claimed that

9324-424: The absence of interference from government and other individuals, claiming that all people should have the freedom to develop their unique abilities and capacities without being sabotaged by others. Mill's On Liberty (1859), one of the classic texts in liberal philosophy, proclaimed, "the only freedom which deserves the name, is that of pursuing our own good in our own way". Support for laissez-faire capitalism

9472-508: The anarchic and brutal state of nature came together and voluntarily ceded some of their rights to an established state authority, which would create laws to regulate social interactions to mitigate or mediate conflicts and enforce justice. Whereas Hobbes advocated a strong monarchical commonwealth (the Leviathan ), Locke developed the then-radical notion that government acquires consent from the governed , which has to be constantly present for

9620-409: The attention that it brings. The common people might find the demagogue disgusting, but the demagogue can use the upper class's contempt for him to show that he will not be shamed or intimidated by the powerful. For example, Huey Long famously wore pajamas to highly dignified occasions where others were dressed at the height of formality. He once stood "bukk nekkid" at his hotel suite when laying down

9768-756: The audience, often without regard for factual truth or for potential danger. Demagogues are opportunistic, saying whatever will generate controversy and spur public energy. Other demagogues may believe falsehoods they tell. If one lie does not work, a demagogue often adds more lies. Joseph McCarthy claimed to have a list of 205 members of the Communist Party working in the State Department . Then, he announced there were 57 "card-carrying Communists". When pressed for names, McCarthy said that records were not available to him, but he knew "absolutely" that "approximately" 300 Communists were certified to

9916-505: The basis of liberalism based on social contract theory. To these early enlightenment thinkers, securing the essential amenities of life— liberty and private property —required forming a "sovereign" authority with universal jurisdiction. His influential Two Treatises (1690), the foundational text of liberal ideology, outlined his major ideas. Once humans moved out of their natural state and formed societies , Locke argued, "that which begins and actually constitutes any political society

10064-403: The benefit of free internal and international trade , which he thought could increase wealth through specialisation in production. He also opposed restrictive trade preferences , state grants of monopolies and employers' organisations and trade unions . Government should be limited to defence, public works and the administration of justice , financed by taxes based on income . Smith

10212-427: The board of education, acquiring corporation-owned land, and giving him extraordinary power over the budget, but these were defeated. Demagogues often appoint people to high office based on personal loyalty without regard to competence for the office—opening up extraordinary avenues for graft and corruption. During "Alfalfa Bill" Murray's campaign for governor, he promised to crack down on corruption and favoritism for

10360-515: The capitol building, and violated all the other promises. When the State Auditor pointed out that 1,050 new employees had been added to the state payroll, Murray simply said, "Just damned lies." For each abuse of power, Murray claimed a mandate from "the sovereign will of the people". The Athenian leader Cleon is often cited as a demagogue because of three events described in the writings of Thucydides and Aristophanes . First, after

10508-409: The citizens the right to influence politics directly through debates and votes in the public assembly. In order to support this degree of participation, citizenship was a burdensome moral obligation requiring a considerable investment of time and energy. Generally, this required a sub-group of slaves to do much of the productive work, leaving citizens free to deliberate on public affairs. Ancient Liberty

10656-423: The common people, elections still tended to favor the aristocratic class, which favored deliberation and decorum. Demagogues were a new kind of leader who emerged from the lower classes. Demagogues relentlessly advocated action, usually violent—immediately and without deliberation. The term "demagogue" has been used to disparage leaders perceived as manipulative, pernicious, or bigoted. However, what distinguishes

10804-668: The common people, inciting intense passions among them, exploiting those reactions to take power, and breaking or at least threatening established rules of political conduct, though each in different ways. Demagogues have often exploited the lower classes and less-educated people in society. While democracies are designed to ensure freedom for all and popular control over government authority, demagogues gain power by using popular support to undermine those same freedoms and laws. The Greek historian Polybius thought that democracies are inevitably undone by demagogues. He said that every democracy eventually decays into "a government of violence and

10952-410: The complex circumstances involved in the evolution of our moral character . In a very profound step for the future of modern liberalism, he also tasked society and political institutions with the enhancement of individual freedom and identity and the development of moral character, will and reason and the state to create the conditions that allow for the above, allowing genuine choice . Foreshadowing

11100-485: The concept of the separation of church and state . Based on the social contract principle, Locke argued that the government lacked authority in the realm of individual conscience , as this was something rational people could not cede to the government for it or others to control. For Locke, this created a natural right to the liberty of conscience, which he argued must remain protected from any government authority. In his Letters Concerning Toleration , he also formulated

11248-566: The constitution, ruling by executive order whenever the legislature or the courts got in his way. When federal courts ruled against him, he prevailed by relying on the National Guard, even donning a military hat and pistol and personally commanding the troops—and seeing to it that the confrontation was filmed by movie cameras. Murray attempted to expand gubernatorial powers with a set of four initiatives, replacing existing income-tax law with his own, giving him power to appoint all members of

11396-418: The context of American politics, "classical liberalism" may be described as "fiscally conservative" and "socially liberal". Despite this, classical liberals tend to reject the right 's higher tolerance for economic protectionism and the left's inclination for collective group rights due to classical liberalism's central principle of individualism . Additionally, in the United States, classical liberalism

11544-416: The country. "They" are subhuman, sexual perverts who will seduce or rape "our" daughters, and if "we" do not expel or exterminate "them" right away, doom is just around the corner. Many demagogues have risen to power by evoking fear in their audiences, to stir them to action and prevent deliberation. Fear of rape , for example, is easily evoked. "Pitchfork Ben" Tillman 's rhetoric was most vivid when he

11692-563: The critical role of the entrepreneur in the economy. However, neither of those observations became accepted by British economists at the time. Malthus wrote An Essay on the Principle of Population in 1798, becoming a major influence on classical liberalism. Malthus claimed that population growth would outstrip food production because the population grew geometrically while food production grew arithmetically. As people were provided with food, they would reproduce until their growth outstripped

11840-540: The decline of the Ottoman Empire . Ostensibly, the alliance was formed to instil the divine right of kings and Christian values in European political life, as pursued by Alexander I under the influence of his spiritual adviser Baroness Barbara von Krüdener . It was written by the Tsar and edited by Ioannis Kapodistrias and Alexandru Sturdza . Under the treaty European rulers would agree to govern as "branches" of

11988-500: The earlier thought of Aristotle . Dr John Zvesper described this new thinking: "In the liberal understanding, there are no citizens within the regime who can claim to rule by natural or supernatural right, without the consent of the governed". Locke had other intellectual opponents besides Hobbes. In the First Treatise , Locke aimed his arguments first and foremost at one of the doyens of 17th-century English conservative philosophy: Robert Filmer . Filmer's Patriarcha (1680) argued for

12136-502: The early 18th century, building on ideas dating at least as far back as the 16th century, within the Iberian, British, and Central European contexts, and it was foundational to the American Revolution and "American Project" more broadly. Notable liberal individuals whose ideas contributed to classical liberalism include John Locke , Jean-Baptiste Say , Thomas Malthus , and David Ricardo . It drew on classical economics , especially

12284-416: The economic difficulties of laborers, especially miners and steelworkers. Tymiński forced a runoff in the 1990 presidential election, nearly defeating Lech Wałęsa . Demagogues have often encouraged their supporters to violently intimidate opponents, both to solidify loyalty among their supporters and to discourage or physically prevent people from speaking out or voting against them. "Pitchfork Ben" Tillman

12432-590: The economic ideas espoused by Adam Smith in Book One of The Wealth of Nations , and on a belief in natural law . In contemporary times, Friedrich Hayek , Milton Friedman , Ludwig von Mises , Thomas Sowell , George Stigler , Larry Arnhart , Ronald Coase and James M. Buchanan are seen as the most prominent advocates of classical liberalism. However, other scholars have made reference to these contemporary thoughts as neoclassical liberalism , distinguishing them from 18th-century classical liberalism. In

12580-482: The end of the rule of the East India Company over India in 1858. In his Treatise (Traité d'économie politique), Say states that any production process requires effort, knowledge and the "application" of the entrepreneur. He sees entrepreneurs as intermediaries in the production process who combine productive factors such as land, capital and labour to meet the consumers' demands. As a result, they play

12728-437: The enterprise and supply-of-capital functions, distinguishing the entrepreneur's earnings on the one hand and the remuneration of capital on the other. This differentiates his theory from that of Joseph Schumpeter , who describes entrepreneurial rent as short-term profits which compensate for high risk (Schumpeterian rent). Say himself also refers to risk and uncertainty along with innovation without analysing them in detail. Say

12876-756: The eponymous Coppet group gathered under the aegis of the exiled writer and salonnière , Madame de Staël , in the period between the establishment of Napoleon 's First Empire (1804) and the Bourbon Restoration of 1814–1815. The unprecedented concentration of European thinkers who met there was to have a considerable influence on the development of nineteenth-century liberalism and, incidentally, romanticism . They included Wilhelm von Humboldt , Jean de Sismondi , Charles Victor de Bonstetten , Prosper de Barante , Henry Brougham , Lord Byron , Alphonse de Lamartine , Sir James Mackintosh , Juliette Récamier and August Wilhelm Schlegel . Among them

13024-558: The established traditions of Georgia." His grammar and vocabulary became more refined when speaking before an urban audience. Talmadge was famous for wearing gaudy red galluses , which he snapped for emphasis during his speeches. On his desk, he kept three books that he loudly told visitors were all that a governor needed: a bible , the state financial report, and a Sears–Roebuck catalog . Huey Long emphasized his humble roots by calling himself "The Kingfish" and gulping down pot likker when visiting northern Louisiana. He once issued

13172-430: The ethical primacy of the human being against the pressures of social collectivism ; the egalitarian element assigns the same moral worth and status to all individuals; the meliorist element asserts that successive generations can improve their sociopolitical arrangements, and the universalist element affirms the moral unity of the human species and marginalises local cultural differences. The meliorist element has been

13320-539: The first use of liberalism appeared in English. In Spain, the liberales , the first group to use the liberal label in a political context, fought for decades to implement the Spanish Constitution of 1812 . From 1820 to 1823, during the Trienio Liberal , King Ferdinand VII was compelled by the liberales to swear to uphold the 1812 Constitution. By the middle of the 19th century, liberal

13468-439: The following major common facets of liberal thought: Enlightenment philosophers are given credit for shaping liberal ideas. These ideas were first drawn together and systematized as a distinct ideology by the English philosopher John Locke , generally regarded as the father of modern liberalism. Thomas Hobbes attempted to determine the purpose and the justification of governing authority in post-civil war England. Employing

13616-486: The food supply. Nature would then provide a check to growth in the forms of vice and misery. No gains in income could prevent this, and any welfare for the poor would be self-defeating. The poor were, in fact, responsible for their problems which could have been avoided through self-restraint. Several liberals, including Adam Smith and Richard Cobden , argued that the free exchange of goods between nations would lead to world peace. Smith argued that as societies progressed,

13764-448: The former version of Lockean equality . To contribute to the development of liberty, liberals also have promoted concepts like pluralism and tolerance. By pluralism, liberals refer to the proliferation of opinions and beliefs that characterise a stable social order . Unlike many of their competitors and predecessors, liberals do not seek conformity and homogeneity in how people think. Their efforts have been geared towards establishing

13912-513: The gospel. As assistant to Oliver Cromwell , Milton also drafted a constitution of the independents ( Agreement of the People ; 1647) that strongly stressed the equality of all humans as a consequence of democratic tendencies. In his Areopagitica , Milton provided one of the first arguments for the importance of freedom of speech—"the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties". His central argument

14060-452: The government to remain legitimate . While adopting Hobbes's idea of a state of nature and social contract, Locke nevertheless argued that when the monarch becomes a tyrant , it violates the social contract, which protects life, liberty and property as a natural right. He concluded that the people have a right to overthrow a tyrant. By placing the security of life, liberty and property as the supreme value of law and authority, Locke formulated

14208-407: The grounds that economic freedom is more important than social equality . Consequently, the ideas of individualism and laissez-faire economics previously associated with classical liberalism are key components of modern American conservatism and movement conservatism , and became the basis for the emerging school of modern American libertarian thought. In this American context, liberal

14356-462: The idea of a state of nature — a hypothetical war-like scenario prior to the state — he constructed the idea of a social contract that individuals enter into to guarantee their security and, in so doing, form the State, concluding that only an absolute sovereign would be fully able to sustain such security. Hobbes had developed the concept of the social contract, according to which individuals in

14504-681: The idea of a kingly government which respects most of all the freedom of the governed". Scholars have also recognised many principles familiar to contemporary liberals in the works of several Sophists and the Funeral Oration by Pericles . Liberal philosophy is the culmination of an extensive intellectual tradition that has examined and popularized some of the modern world's most important and controversial principles. Its immense scholarly output has been characterized as containing "richness and diversity", but that diversity often has meant that liberalism comes in different formulations and presents

14652-592: The ideas of economics until the publication of John Stuart Mill 's Principles in 1848. Smith addressed the motivation for economic activity, the causes of prices and wealth distribution , and the policies the state should follow to maximise wealth . Smith wrote that as long as supply, demand , prices and competition were left free of government regulation, the pursuit of material self-interest, rather than altruism, maximises society's wealth through profit-driven production of goods and services. An " invisible hand " directed individuals and firms to work toward

14800-406: The important public issues of the time, scoring easy laughs instead. Legislative bodies usually have sober standards of decorum that are intended to quiet passions and favor reasoned deliberation. Many demagogues violate standards of decorum outrageously, to show clearly that they are thumbing their noses at the established order and the genteel ways of the upper class, or simply because they enjoy

14948-477: The law to a meeting of political fuglemen. Long was "intensely and solely interested in himself. He had to dominate every scene he was in and every person around him. He craved attention and would go to almost any length to get it. He knew that an audacious action, although it was harsh and even barbarous, could shock people into a state where they could be manipulated." He was "...so shameless in his pursuit of publicity, and so adept at getting press coverage, that he

15096-409: The law. Liberals also ended mercantilist policies, royal monopolies , and other trade barriers , instead promoting free trade and marketization. Philosopher John Locke is often credited with founding liberalism as a distinct tradition based on the social contract , arguing that each man has a natural right to life, liberty and property , and governments must not violate these rights . While

15244-839: The loss of her leading role in the German states, culminating in her defeat during the Austro-Prussian War in 1866. Liberalism Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual , liberty , consent of the governed , political equality , right to private property and equality before the law . Liberals espouse various and often mutually warring views depending on their understanding of these principles but 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

15392-466: The material means to benefit from those rights and call for a greater role for government in the administration of economic affairs. Early liberals also laid the groundwork for the separation of church and state. As heirs of the Enlightenment, liberals believed that any given social and political order emanated from human interactions , not from divine will . Many liberals were openly hostile to religious belief but most concentrated their opposition to

15540-422: The moderate customs of the aristocratic elite. Modern demagogues include Adolf Hitler , Benito Mussolini , Huey Long , Father Coughlin , and Joseph McCarthy , all of whom built mass followings the same way that Cleon did: by exciting the passions of the masses against customs and norms of the aristocratic elites of their times. All, ancient and modern, meet Cooper's four criteria above: claiming to represent

15688-467: The most appropriate form of government, but all believed that liberty was natural and its restriction needed strong justification. Liberals generally believed in limited government, although several liberal philosophers decried government outright, with Thomas Paine writing, "government even in its best state is a necessary evil". As part of the project to limit the powers of government, liberal theorists such as James Madison and Montesquieu conceived

15836-404: The nation's good as an unintended consequence of efforts to maximise their gain. This provided a moral justification for accumulating wealth, which some had previously viewed as sinful. Smith assumed that workers could be paid as low as was necessary for their survival, which David Ricardo and Thomas Robert Malthus later transformed into the " iron law of wages ". His main emphasis was on

15984-496: The new liberty as the freedom to act rather than to avoid suffering from the acts of others, Green wrote the following: If it were ever reasonable to wish that the usage of words had been other than it has been ... one might be inclined to wish that the term 'freedom' had been confined to the ... power to do what one wills. Rather than previous liberal conceptions viewing society as populated by selfish individuals, Green viewed society as an organic whole in which all individuals have

16132-775: The notion of separation of powers , a system designed to equally distribute governmental authority among the executive , legislative and judicial branches. Governments had to realise, liberals maintained, that legitimate government only exists with the consent of the governed , so poor and improper governance gave the people the authority to overthrow the ruling order through all possible means, even through outright violence and revolution , if needed. Contemporary liberals, heavily influenced by social liberalism, have supported limited constitutional government while advocating for state services and provisions to ensure equal rights. Modern liberals claim that formal or official guarantees of individual rights are irrelevant when individuals lack

16280-457: The passions rather than the reason of the public; and arousing racial, religious, and class prejudices—a man whose lust for power without recourse to principle leads him to seek to become a master of the masses. He has for centuries practiced his profession of 'man of the people'. He is a product of a political tradition nearly as old as western civilization itself." Demagogues have appeared in democracies since ancient Athens . Demagogues exploit

16428-643: The peculiar rapport that Hitler established with his audience, believing even the most obvious lies and nonsense while under his spell. Hitler was not born with these vocal and oratorical skills; he acquired them through long and deliberate practice. A more ordinary silver-tongued demagogue was the Negro-baiter James Kimble Vardaman (Governor of Mississippi 1904–1908, Senator 1913–1919), admired even by his opponents for his oratorical gifts and colorful language. An example, responding to Theodore Roosevelt's having invited black people to

16576-562: The press , freedom of assembly , and freedom of religion . Liberalism is frequently cited as the dominant ideology of modern history . Liberalism became a distinct movement in the Age of Enlightenment , gaining popularity among Western philosophers and economists . Liberalism sought to replace the norms of hereditary privilege , state religion , absolute monarchy , the divine right of kings and traditional conservatism with representative democracy , rule of law, and equality under

16724-593: The press was acting secretly in the service of moneyed interests or foreign powers or that newspapers had a personal vendetta against them. Huey Long accused the New Orleans Times–Picayune and Item of being "bought", and had his bodyguards rough up their reporters. Oklahoma governor "Alfalfa Bill" Murray (1869–1956) once called for a bomb to be dropped on the offices of the Daily Oklahoman . Joe McCarthy accused The Christian Science Monitor ,

16872-521: The problems of the U.S. resulted from "communist subversion." Denis Kearney blamed all the problems of laborers in California on Chinese immigrants. Hitler blamed Jews for Germany's defeat in World War I as well as the economic troubles that came afterward. This was central to his appeal: many people said that the only reason they liked Hitler was because he was against the Jews. Fixing blame on

17020-573: The proper relationship between liberty and democracy. As they struggled to expand suffrage rights , liberals increasingly understood that people left out of the democratic decision-making process were liable to the " tyranny of the majority ", a concept explained in Mill's On Liberty and Democracy in America (1835) by Alexis de Tocqueville . As a response, liberals began demanding proper safeguards to thwart majorities in their attempts at suppressing

17168-461: The relationship between unemployment, money and prices back in the 1920s. Keynes was deeply critical of the British government's austerity measures during the Great Depression . He believed budget deficits were a good thing, a product of recessions . He wrote: "For Government borrowing of one kind or another is nature's remedy, so to speak, for preventing business losses from being, in so severe

17316-459: The rich, to abolish half the clerk jobs at the State House, to appoint no family members, to reduce the number of state-owned cars from 800 to 200, never to use convict labor to compete with commercial labor, and not to abuse the power of pardon. Once in office, he appointed wealthy patrons and 20 of his relatives to high office, purchased more cars, used prisoners to make ice for sale and clean

17464-449: The rise of social liberalism, classical liberalism was called economic liberalism . Later, the term was applied as a retronym , to distinguish earlier 19th-century liberalism from social liberalism. By modern standards, in the United States , the bare term liberalism often means social liberalism, but in Europe and Australia , the bare term liberalism often means classical liberalism. Classical liberalism gained full flowering in

17612-555: The same right to liberty. In other words, no one is inherently entitled to enjoy the benefits of liberal society more than anyone else, and all people are equal subjects before the law . Beyond this basic conception, liberal theorists diverge in their understanding of equality. American philosopher John Rawls emphasised the need to ensure equality under the law and the equal distribution of material resources that individuals required to develop their aspirations in life. Libertarian thinker Robert Nozick disagreed with Rawls, championing

17760-453: The same thing. Some advocates of Say's law who disagree with Keynes have claimed that Say's law can be summarized more accurately as "production precedes consumption" and that what Say is stating is that for consumption to happen, one must produce something of value so that it can be traded for money or barter for consumption later. Say argues, "products are paid for with products" (1803, p. 153) or "a glut occurs only when too much resource

17908-487: The spoils of war would rise, but the costs of war would rise further, making war difficult and costly for industrialised nations. Cobden believed that military expenditures worsened the state's welfare and benefited a small but concentrated elite minority, combining his Little Englander beliefs with opposition to the economic restrictions of mercantilist policies. To Cobden and many classical liberals, those who advocated peace must also advocate free markets. Utilitarianism

18056-414: The spoken word to drown out the written word of newspapers. Cleon of Athens , like many demagogues who came after him, constantly advocated brutality in order to demonstrate strength, and argued that compassion was a sign of weakness that would only be exploited by enemies. "It is a general rule of human nature that people despise those who treat them well and look up to those who make no concessions." At

18204-582: The state and providing ever stronger reasons to justify taking more power. Hitler was appointed on January 30, 1933; on February 1, the Reichstag was dissolved; on February 27, the Reichstag building burned ; on February 28, the Reichstag Fire Decree gave Hitler emergency powers and suspended civil liberties; on March 5, new general elections were held; on March 22, the first concentration camp opened, taking political prisoners. On March 24,

18352-452: The strong hand", leading to "tumultuous assemblies, massacres, banishments". While conventional wisdom positions democracy and fascism as opposites, ancient political theorists understood that democracy had an innate tendency to lead to an extreme populist government and provide demagogues with an ideal opportunity to gain power. Ivo Mosley argued that totalitarian regimes may be the logical outcome of unfettered mass democracy. There are

18500-695: The subject of much controversy, defended by thinkers such as Immanuel Kant , who believed in human progress, while suffering criticism by thinkers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau , who instead believed that human attempts to improve themselves through social cooperation would fail. The liberal philosophical tradition has searched for validation and justification through several intellectual projects. The moral and political suppositions of liberalism have been based on traditions such as natural rights and utilitarian theory , although sometimes liberals even request support from scientific and religious circles. Through all these strands and traditions, scholars have identified

18648-492: The term "liberalism", including classical , egalitarian , economic , social , the welfare state , ethical , humanist , deontological , perfectionist , democratic , and institutional , to name a few. Despite these variations, liberal thought does exhibit a few definite and fundamental conceptions. Political philosopher John Gray identified the common strands in liberal thought as individualist , egalitarian, meliorist and universalist . The individualist element avers

18796-465: The union of religious and political authority, arguing that faith could prosper independently without official sponsorship or administration by the state. Beyond identifying a clear role for government in modern society, liberals have also argued over the meaning and nature of the most important principle in liberal philosophy: liberty. From the 17th century until the 19th century, liberals (from Adam Smith to John Stuart Mill ) conceptualised liberty as

18944-451: The vileness of Cleon's real character. Both had personal conflicts with Cleon, and The Knights is a satirical, allegorical comedy that does not even mention Cleon by name. Cleon was a tradesman—a leather-tanner. Thucydides and Aristophanes came from the upper classes, predisposed to look down on the commercial classes. Nevertheless, their portrayals define the archetypal example of the "demagogue" or "rabble-rouser". Alcibiades convinced

19092-505: The vilest specimens of human nature are to be found among demagogues. Demagogues have risen to power in democracies from Athens to the present day. While many demagogues have unique, colorful personalities, the psychological tactics they use have been similar throughout history (see below ). Often considered the first demagogue, Cleon of Athens is remembered mainly for the brutality of his rule and his near destruction of Athenian democracy, resulting from his "common-man" appeal to disregard

19240-617: The winners in both world wars and the Cold War . Liberals sought and established a constitutional order that prized important individual freedoms , such as freedom of speech and freedom of association ; an independent judiciary and public trial by jury ; and the abolition of aristocratic privileges. Later waves of modern liberal thought and struggle were strongly influenced by the need to expand civil rights. Liberals have advocated gender and racial equality in their drive to promote civil rights, and global civil rights movements in

19388-444: The world . The fundamental elements of contemporary society have liberal roots. The early waves of liberalism popularised economic individualism while expanding constitutional government and parliamentary authority. Liberal , liberty , libertarian , and libertine all trace their etymology to liber , a root from Latin that means " free ". One of the first recorded instances of liberal occurred in 1375 when it

19536-532: Was "Pappy-Pass-the-Biscuits". Georgia governor Eugene Talmadge (1884–1946) put a barn and a henhouse on the executive mansion grounds, loudly explaining that he could not sleep nights unless he heard the bellowing of livestock and the cackling of poultry. When in the presence of farmers, he chewed tobacco and faked a rural accent—though he himself was college-educated—railing against "frills" and "nigger-lovin' furriners". Talamadge defined " furriner" as "Anyone who attempts to impose ideas that are contrary to

19684-608: Was a communist sympathizer. G.M. Gilbert summarized this rhetoric as "I'm agin' Communism; you're agin' me; therefore you must be a communist." Another fundamental demagogic technique is making promises only for their emotional effect on audiences, without regard for how they might be accomplished or without intending to honor them once in office. Demagogues express these empty promises simply and theatrically, but remain extremely hazy about how they will achieve them because usually they are impossible. For example, Huey Long promised that if he were elected president, every family would have

19832-533: Was also limited to relatively small and homogenous male societies, where they could congregate in one place to transact public affairs. In contrast, the Liberty of the Moderns was based on the possession of civil liberties , the rule of law, and freedom from excessive state interference. Direct participation would be limited: a necessary consequence of the size of modern states and the inevitable result of creating

19980-687: Was also one of the first thinkers to go by the name of "liberal", the Edinburgh University -educated Swiss Protestant, Benjamin Constant , who looked to the United Kingdom rather than to ancient Rome for a practical model of freedom in a large mercantile society. He distinguished between the "Liberty of the Ancients" and the "Liberty of the Moderns". The Liberty of the Ancients was a participatory republican liberty, which gave

20128-558: Was at first secret, and mistrusted by liberals though liberalism was effectively restrained in this political culture until the Revolutions of 1848 . About three months after the Final Act of the Congress of Vienna , the monarchs of Catholic (Austria), Protestant (Prussia), and Orthodox (Russia) confession promised to act on the basis of "justice, love, and peace", both in internal and foreign affairs, for "consolidating human institutions and remedying their imperfections". The Alliance

20276-541: Was describing imaginary scenes in which white women were raped by black men lurking by the side of the road. He depicted black men as having an innate "character weakness" consisting of a fondness for raping white women. Tillman was elected governor of South Carolina in 1890, and elected senator repeatedly from 1895 to 1918. After the September 11 attacks in the United States, terrorism and national security became prominent political issues. After Democrats lost control of

20424-537: Was forced to take the command. In fact, he succeeded—by getting the general Demosthenes to do it, now treating him with respect after previously slandering him behind his back. Three years later, Cleon and his Spartan counterpart Brasidas were killed at the Battle of Amphipolis , enabling a restoration of peace that lasted until the outbreak of the Second Peloponnesian War . Modern commentators suspect that Thucydides and Aristophanes exaggerated

20572-478: Was one of the progenitors of the idea, which was long central to classical liberalism and has resurfaced in the globalisation literature of the later 20th and early 21st centuries, that free trade promotes peace. Smith's economics was carried into practice in the 19th century with the lowering of tariffs in the 1820s, the repeal of the Poor Relief Act that had restricted the mobility of labour in 1834 and

20720-636: Was quickly rejected by the United Kingdom (though George IV declared consent in his capacity as King of Hanover ), the Papal States , and the Ottoman Empire . Lord Castlereagh , the British Foreign Secretary, called it "a piece of sublime mysticism and nonsense". Nonetheless, Britain participated in the Concert of Europe . In practice, the Austrian state chancellor and foreign minister, Prince Klemens von Metternich made it

20868-632: Was repeatedly re-elected to the U.S. Senate largely through violence and intimidation. He spoke in support of lynch mobs, and he disenfranchised most black voters with the South Carolina constitution of 1895 . Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf that physical intimidation was an effective way to move the masses. Hitler intentionally provoked hecklers at his rallies so that his supporters would become enraged by their remarks and assault them. Many demagogues have found that ridiculing or insulting opponents

21016-431: Was seen as a political justification for implementing economic liberalism by British governments, an idea dominating economic policy from the 1840s. Although utilitarianism prompted legislative and administrative reform, and John Stuart Mill's later writings foreshadowed the welfare state, it was mainly used as a premise for a laissez-faire approach. The central concept of utilitarianism, developed by Jeremy Bentham ,

21164-435: Was soon attracting more attention from the press and the galleries than most of the rest of his colleagues combined." In ancient Greece, Aristotle pointed out the bad manners of Cleon more than 2,000 years ago: "[Cleon] was the first who shouted on the public platform, who used abusive language and who spoke with his cloak girt about him, while all the others used to speak in proper dress and manner." Demagogues often make

21312-518: Was that public policy should seek to provide "the greatest happiness of the greatest number". While this could be interpreted as a justification for state action to reduce poverty , it was used by classical liberals to justify inaction with the argument that the net benefit to all individuals would be higher. His philosophy proved highly influential on government policy and led to increased Benthamite attempts at government social control , including Robert Peel 's Metropolitan Police , prison reforms ,

21460-402: Was that the individual could use reason to distinguish right from wrong. To exercise this right, everyone must have unlimited access to the ideas of his fellow men in " a free and open encounter ", which will allow good arguments to prevail. In a natural state of affairs, liberals argued, humans were driven by the instincts of survival and self-preservation , and the only way to escape from such

21608-599: Was used as a politicised term for parties and movements worldwide. Yellow is the political colour most commonly associated with liberalism. The United States differs from other countries in that conservatism is associated with red and liberalism with blue. In Europe and Latin America, liberalism means a moderate form of classical liberalism and includes both conservative liberalism ( centre-right liberalism) and social liberalism ( centre-left liberalism). In North America, liberalism almost exclusively refers to social liberalism. The dominant Canadian party

21756-416: Was used to describe the liberal arts in the context of an education desirable for a free-born man. The word's early connection with the classical education of a medieval university soon gave way to a proliferation of different denotations and connotations. Liberal could refer to "free in bestowing" as early as 1387, "made without stint" in 1433, "freely permitted" in 1530, and "free from restraint"—often as

21904-678: Was well-established alongside republicanism in the United States . In Victorian Britain , it was used to critique the political establishment, appealing to science and reason on behalf of the people. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, liberalism in the Ottoman Empire and the Middle East influenced periods of reform, such as the Tanzimat and Al-Nahda , and the rise of constitutionalism , nationalism , and secularism . These changes, along with other factors, helped to create

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