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82-404: The ideology incorporates the classical liberal view of minimal government intervention in the economy, according to which individuals should be free to participate in the market and generate wealth without government interference. However, liberal conservatives also hold that individuals cannot be thoroughly depended on to act responsibly in other spheres of life; therefore, they believe that

164-405: A negative nature and therefore stipulate that other individuals and governments are to refrain from interfering with the free market, opposing social liberals who assert that individuals have positive rights , such as the right to vote, the right to an education, the right to healthcare , and the right to a minimum wage. For society to guarantee positive rights, it requires taxation over and above

246-526: A pure democracy , reasoning that in a pure democracy a "common passion or interest will, in almost every case, be felt by a majority of the whole ... and there is nothing to check the inducements to sacrifice the weaker party". In the late 19th century, classical liberalism developed into neoclassical liberalism , which argued for government to be as small as possible to allow the exercise of individual freedom . In its most extreme form, neoclassical liberalism advocated social Darwinism . Right-libertarianism

328-445: A right-wing populist posture. Being liberal often involves stressing free market economics and the belief in individual responsibility together with the defense of civil rights and support for a limited welfare state . Compared to other centre-right political traditions such as Christian democracy , liberal conservatives are less socially conservative and more economically liberal, favouring low taxes and minimal state intervention in

410-475: A state of nature . These beliefs were complemented by a belief that financial incentive could best motivate labourers. This belief led to the passage of the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 , which limited the provision of social assistance, based on the idea that markets are the mechanism that most efficiently leads to wealth. Drawing on ideas of Adam Smith , classical liberals believed that it

492-727: A central part of its campaign for the European elections in 2009, the EPP approved its election manifesto at its Congress in Warsaw in April that year. The manifesto called for: Concerns that the Hungarian ruling party Fidesz and its leader Viktor Orbán were undermining the rule of law in Hungary caused a split in the EPP in the run-up of the 2019 European Parliament election . On one hand,

574-630: A defence of the Glorious Revolution of 1688. Although these writings were considered too radical at the time for Britain's new rulers, Whigs, radicals and supporters of the American Revolution later came to cite them. However, much of later liberal thought was absent in Locke's writings or scarcely mentioned and his writings have been subject to various interpretations. For example, there is little mention of constitutionalism ,

656-668: A dominant ideology following the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and was associated with supporting the British Parliament, upholding the rule of law, defending landed property and sometimes included freedom of the press and freedom of speech. The origins of rights were seen as being in an ancient constitution existing from time immemorial . Custom rather than as natural rights justified these rights. Whigs believed that executive power had to be constrained. While they supported limited suffrage, they saw voting as

738-454: A man tills, plants, improves, cultivates, and can use the product of", this principle held great appeal to individuals possessed of great wealth. Locke held that the individual had the right to follow his own religious beliefs and that the state should not impose a religion against Dissenters , but there were limitations. No tolerance should be shown for atheists , who were seen as amoral, or to Catholics , who were seen as owing allegiance to

820-510: A privilege rather than as a right. However, there was no consistency in Whig ideology and diverse writers including John Locke , David Hume , Adam Smith and Edmund Burke were all influential among Whigs, although none of them were universally accepted. From the 1790s to the 1820s, British radicals concentrated on parliamentary and electoral reform, emphasising natural rights and popular sovereignty. Richard Price and Joseph Priestley adapted

902-409: A strong state is necessary to ensure law and order and that social institutions are needed to nurture a sense of duty and responsibility to the nation. Liberal conservatives also support civil liberties , along with some socially conservative positions. They differ on social issues , with some being socially conservative and others socially liberal, though all liberal conservatives broadly support

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984-418: Is a European political party with Christian democratic , liberal-conservative , and conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily Christian-democratic parties in 1976, it has since broadened its membership to include liberal-conservative parties and parties with other centre-right political perspectives. On 31 May 2022,

1066-558: Is a modern form of neoclassical liberalism. However, Edwin Van de Haar states although classical liberal thought influenced libertarianism, there are significant differences between them. Classical liberalism refuses to give priority to liberty over order and therefore does not exhibit the hostility to the state which is the defining feature of libertarianism. As such, right-libertarians believe classical liberals do not have enough respect for individual property rights and lack sufficient trust in

1148-848: Is also associated with support for moderate forms of social safety net and environmentalism (see also green conservatism and green liberalism ). This variety of liberal conservatism has been espoused by Nordic conservatives (the Moderate Party in Sweden, the Conservative Party in Norway and the National Coalition Party in Finland) which have been fending off competition from right-wing populists to their right and do not include Christian democrats; and at times

1230-524: Is considered closely tied to, or synonymous with, American libertarianism . Core beliefs of classical liberals included new ideas – which departed from both the older conservative idea of society as a family and from the later sociological concept of society as a complex set of social networks . Classical liberals agreed with Thomas Hobbes that individuals created government to protect themselves from each other and to minimize conflict between individuals that would otherwise arise in

1312-472: Is far more anti-statist than liberal conservatism and is much more hostile to government intervention in both social and economic matters. Combining conservative cultural principles but with less social intervention and a more laissez faire economic system. Neoconservatism is sometimes described as the same or similar to liberal conservatism in Europe. However, Peter Lawler has regarded neoconservatism in

1394-458: Is how much government intervenes into the economy. ... When instead we discuss human purpose and the meaning of life, Adam Smith and John Maynard Keynes are on the same side. Both of them possessed an expansive sense of what we are put on this earth to accomplish. ... For Smith, mercantilism was the enemy of human liberty. For Keynes, monopolies were. It makes perfect sense for an eighteenth-century thinker to conclude that humanity would flourish under

1476-615: Is the case in continental Europe , Australia and Latin America . Classical liberalism Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics and civil liberties under 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

1558-469: Is the chief source from which it draws its strength". On the other hand, Gallican liberty "is sought in government ... . [T]he French look for the highest degree of political civilisation in organisation, that is, in the highest degree of interference by public power". French physiocracy heavily influenced British classical liberalism, which traces its roots to the Whigs and Radicals . Whiggery had become

1640-1115: The Christian Democratic Appeal in the Netherlands, the Christian Democratic Union in Germany and the People's Party in Austria) have become almost undistinguishable from other liberal-conservative parties. On the other hand, newer liberal-conservative parties (such as New Democracy in Greece, the Social Democratic Party in Portugal, the People's Party in Spain, Forza Italia / The People of Freedom / Forza Italia in Italy,

1722-648: The Civic Platform of Poland, the Social Democratic Party of Portugal and the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria . According to its website, the EPP is "the family of the political centre-right, whose roots run deep in the history and civilisation of the European continent, and [which] has pioneered the European project from its inception". The EPP was founded in Luxembourg on 8 July 1976 on

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1804-638: The Union for a Popular Movement / The Republicans in France and most centre-right parties from countries once belonging to the Eastern Bloc and Yugoslavia ) have not adopted traditional labels, but their ideologies are also a mixture of conservatism, Christian democracy and liberalism. In the modern European discourse, liberal conservatism usually encompasses centre-right political outlooks that reject at least to some extent social conservatism. This position

1886-643: The centre-left of the political spectrum, in contrast to many European countries where liberalism is often more associated with the centre and centre-right while social democracy makes up a substantial part of the centre-left. The opposite is true in Latin America , where economically liberal conservatism is often labelled under the rubric of neoliberalism both in popular culture and academic discourse. Although libertarian conservatism has similarities to liberal conservatism with both being influenced by classical liberal thought, libertarian conservatism

1968-598: The free market 's workings and spontaneous order leading to their support of a much larger state. Right-libertarians also disagree with classical liberals as being too supportive of central banks and monetarist policies. Friedrich Hayek identified two different traditions within classical liberalism, namely the British tradition and the French tradition: Hayek conceded that the national labels did not exactly correspond to those belonging to each tradition since he saw

2050-498: The rule of law regarding civil rights , social equality and the environment . This is equated with the creation of a cohesive and tolerant society with increased levels of individual responsibility and less inequality . Liberal conservatism shares the classical liberal tenets of a commitment to individualism , belief in negative freedom , a lightly regulated free market, and a minimal rule of law state. A number of commentators have stated that many conservative currents in

2132-927: The rule of law , private property , the market economy and constitutional representative government, the liberal element of liberal conservatism became consensual among conservatives. In some countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States, the term liberal conservatism came to be understood simply as conservatism in popular culture, prompting some conservatives who embraced more strongly classical-liberal values to call themselves libertarians instead. However, there are differences between classical liberals and libertarians. In their embrace of liberal and free market principles, European liberal conservatives are clearly distinguishable from those holding national-conservative , fully socially conservative and/or outright populist views, let alone

2214-449: The separation of powers and limited government . James L. Richardson identified five central themes in Locke's writing: Although Locke did not develop a theory of natural rights, he envisioned individuals in the state of nature as being free and equal. The individual, rather than the community or institutions, was the point of reference. Locke believed that individuals had given consent to government and therefore authority derived from

2296-536: The 1850s. Jeremy Bentham and James Mill , although advocates of laissez-faire , non-intervention in foreign affairs, and individual liberty, believed that social institutions could be rationally redesigned through the principles of utilitarianism . The Conservative Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli rejected classical liberalism altogether and advocated Tory democracy . By the 1870s, Herbert Spencer and other classical liberals concluded that historical development

2378-599: The 18th century, with origins in capitulations of the Ottoman Empire , dating back to the first commercial treaties signed with France in 1536 and taken further with capitulations in 1673, in 1740 which lowered duties to only 3% for imports and exports and in 1790. Ottoman free trade policies were praised by British economists advocating free trade such as J. R. McCulloch in his Dictionary of Commerce (1834) but criticized by British politicians opposing free trade such as Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli , who cited

2460-542: The 193 EPP delegates supported the common agreement with Fidesz on 20 March 2019 to partially suspend its membership. According to it, Fidesz was "until further notice" excluded from EPP meetings and internal elections, but remained in the European People's Party Group of the European Parliament . Fidesz did not deliver on its earlier promise to leave the EPP in case of a penalty. In February 2020,

2542-490: The 1980s, such as Thatcherism , were rejuvenated classical liberals in all but name. However, in contrast to classical liberalism there is a stronger social agenda and support for a greater degree of state intervention especially in certain areas of social life which liberal conservatives believe should not be subject to market forces. Particularly in regards to the family, sexuality, health and education, these should either always be periodically regulated or minimally protected by

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2624-677: The British Conservative Party . In an interview shortly after taking office as Prime Minister in 2010, David Cameron introduced himself as a liberal conservative. During his first speech to a party conference in 2006, Cameron had defined this as believing in individual freedom and human rights , but being skeptical of "grand schemes to remake the world". Defunct Newspapers Journals TV channels Websites Other Economics Gun rights Identity politics Nativist Religion Watchdog groups Youth/student groups Miscellaneous Other In

2706-534: The EPP extended the suspension of Fidesz indefinitely. On 2 April 2020, thirteen parties within the EPP issued a joint statement aimed at Donald Tusk, asking him to expunge Fidesz from the party. Three days before this, the Hungarian Parliament had passed a law, declaring a state of emergency within Hungary, granting Prime Minister Viktor Orbán the right to rule by decree. On 3 March 2021, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced that Fidesz would leave

2788-504: The EPP group after it changed its internal rules (to allow suspension and expulsion of multiple deputies and their groups), although Fidesz remained a suspended member of the EPP itself. On 18 March 2021, Fidesz decided to leave the European People's Party. In June 2024, The Hungarian Christian Democratic People's Party (KDNP), who serve in government with Fidesz, left the European People's Party. That same month, members of

2870-590: The EPP had been reluctant for years to address Fidesz's stance against the rule of law, expressed by the Article 7 proceedings of the European Parliament . On the other hand, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker , a prominent EPP-member, stated "I believe his [Fidesz's] place is not in the European People's Party". Orbán's campaigns targeting billionaire George Soros and Jean-Claude Juncker carried wide reverberations for Europe questioning

2952-558: The EPP the same year. The EPP has had seven Presidents: During its Congress in Bucharest in 2012, the EPP updated its political platform after 20 years (since its Congress in Athens in 1992) and approved a political manifesto in which it summarised its main values and policies. The manifesto highlights: The manifesto also describes the EPP's priorities for the EU, including: As

3034-558: The EPP's effort to install its lead candidate Manfred Weber as the next President of the European Commission . After years of deferring a decision about the Fidesz issue, the EPP was eventually compelled to address the problem two months before the 2019 European elections, as 13 outraged member parties requested the Hungarian party's exclusion from the EPP due to its billboard campaign featuring Jean-Claude Juncker. 190 of

3116-504: The EPP's organs and on all matters. Associate members have the same voting rights as full members except for matters concerning the EU's structure or policies. These associate members are parties from EU candidate countries and EFTA countries. Observer parties can participate in all the activities of the EPP, and attend the Congresses and Political Assemblies, but they do not have any voting rights. Special status of "supporting member"

3198-577: The EPP. Many of the founding fathers of the European Union were also from parties that later formed the EPP. The EPP includes major centre-right parties such as the CDU/CSU of Germany, ÖVP of Austria, CD&V of Belgium, PNL of Romania, Fine Gael of Ireland, National Coalition Party of Finland, New Democracy of Greece, the Moderates of Sweden, the People's Party (PP) of Spain,

3280-663: The European Union of Christian Democrats , founded in 1965. In the late 1990s, the Finnish politician Sauli Niinistö negotiated the merger of the European Democrat Union (EDU), of which he was president, into the EPP. In October 2002, the EDU ceased its activities after being formally absorbed by the EPP at a special event in Estoril, Portugal. In recognition of his efforts, Niinistö was elected Honorary President of

3362-670: The First World War. Its notable victories were the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 , the Reform Act of 1832 and the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846. The Anti-Corn Law League brought together a coalition of liberal and radical groups in support of free trade under the leadership of Richard Cobden and John Bright , who opposed aristocratic privilege, militarism, and public expenditure and believed that

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3444-681: The Frenchmen Montesquieu , Benjamin Constant , Joseph De Maistre and Alexis de Tocqueville as belonging to the British tradition and the British Thomas Hobbes , Joseph Priestley , Richard Price , Edward Gibbon , Benjamin Franklin , Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine as belonging to the French tradition. Hayek also rejected the label laissez-faire as originating from the French tradition and alien to

3526-445: The Ottoman Empire as "an instance of the injury done by unrestrained competition" in the 1846 Corn Laws debate, arguing that it destroyed what had been "some of the finest manufactures of the world" in 1812. Defunct Newspapers Journals TV channels Websites Other Economics Gun rights Identity politics Nativist Religion Watchdog groups Youth/student groups Miscellaneous Other In

3608-585: The Pope over their own national government. Adam Smith 's The Wealth of Nations , published in 1776, was to provide most of the ideas of economics, at least until the publication of John Stuart Mill 's Principles of Political Economy in 1848. Smith addressed the motivation for economic activity, the causes of prices and the distribution of wealth 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,

3690-414: The United States as conservative liberalism and distinguished it from liberal conservatism. Historically, conservatism in the 18th and 19th centuries comprised a set of principles based on concern for established tradition , respect for authority and religious values . This form of traditionalist or classical conservatism is often considered to be exemplified by the writings of Joseph de Maistre in

3772-512: The United States, conservatives often combine the economic individualism of classical liberals with a Burkean form of conservatism that emphasizes the natural inequalities between men, the irrationality of human behavior as the basis for the human drive for order and stability and the rejection of natural rights as the basis for government. From a different perspective, American conservatism (a "hybrid of conservatism and classical liberalism") has exalted three tenets of Burkean conservatism, namely

3854-498: The United States, liberalism took a strong root because it had little opposition to its ideals, whereas in Europe liberalism was opposed by many reactionary or feudal interests such as the nobility; the aristocracy, including army officers; the landed gentry; and the established church. Thomas Jefferson adopted many of the ideals of liberalism, but in the Declaration of Independence changed Locke's "life, liberty and property" to

3936-495: The backbone of Great Britain was the yeoman farmer. Their policies of low public expenditure and low taxation were adopted by William Gladstone when he became Chancellor of the Exchequer and later Prime Minister . Classical liberalism was often associated with religious dissent and nonconformism . Although classical liberals aspired to a minimum of state activity, they accepted the principle of government intervention in

4018-613: The bare term liberalism often means classical liberalism. Classical liberalism gained full flowering in 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

4100-510: The basis of current liberal conservatism which can be seen both in the works of Raymond Aron and Michael Oakeshott . However, there is general agreement that the original liberal conservatives were those who combined conservative social attitudes with an economically liberal outlook, adapting a previous aristocratic understanding of natural inequalities between men to the rule of meritocracy , without directly criticizing privileges of birth as long as individual liberties were guaranteed. Over time,

4182-699: The beliefs of Hume and Smith. Guido De Ruggiero also identified differences between "Montesquieu and Rousseau, the English and the democratic types of liberalism" and argued that there was a "profound contrast between the two Liberal systems". He claimed that the spirit of "authentic English Liberalism" had "built up its work piece by piece without ever destroying what had once been built, but basing upon it every new departure". This liberalism had "insensibly adapted ancient institutions to modern needs" and "instinctively recoiled from all abstract proclamations of principles and rights". Ruggiero claimed that this liberalism

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4264-521: The best guide and emphasised "limited government" while social liberals supported government regulation and the welfare state. Herbert Spencer in Britain and William Graham Sumner were the leading neo-classical liberal theorists of the 19th century. The evolution from classical to social/welfare liberalism is for example reflected in Britain in the evolution of the thought of John Maynard Keynes . The Ottoman Empire had liberal free trade policies by

4346-418: 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

4428-432: The diffidence toward the power of the state, the preference of liberty over equality and for patriotism while rejecting the three remaining tenets, namely loyalty to traditional institutions and hierarchies, skepticism regarding progress and elitism. Consequently, the term liberal conservatism is not used in the United States. Modern American liberalism happens to be quite different from European liberalism and occupies

4510-590: 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

4592-594: The economy from the early 19th century on, with passage of the Factory Acts . From around 1840 to 1860, laissez-faire advocates of the Manchester School and writers in The Economist were confident that their early victories would lead to a period of expanding economic and personal liberty and world peace, but would face reversals as government intervention and activity continued to expand from

4674-415: The economy, to supervise standards of life and labour, to regulate the methods of business competition, and to establish comprehensive patterns of social security. Alan Wolfe summarizes the viewpoint that there is a continuous liberal understanding that includes both Adam Smith and John Maynard Keynes : The idea that liberalism comes in two forms assumes that the most fundamental question facing mankind

4756-509: The economy. At the European level, Christian democrats and most liberal conservatives are affiliated to the European People's Party (EPP), while liberals (including conservative and social liberals) to the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE Party). In this context, some traditionally Christian-democratic parties (such as Christian-Democratic and Flemish in Belgium,

4838-475: The fathers of liberalism , including economic liberalism , the separation of church and state , social liberalism and utilitarianism . According to scholar Andrew Vincent, the maxim of liberal conservatism is "economics is prior to politics". Others emphasize the openness of historical change and a suspicion of tyrannical majorities behind the hailing of individual liberties and traditional virtues by authors such as Edmund Burke and Alexis de Tocqueville as

4920-479: The form of American conservatism . According to Deepak Lal , only in the United States does classical liberalism continue to be a significant political force through American conservatism. American libertarians also claim to be the true continuation of the classical liberal tradition. Central to classical liberal ideology was their interpretation of John Locke 's Second Treatise of Government and A Letter Concerning Toleration , which had been written as

5002-470: The highest-paying employers, while the profit motive would ensure that products that people desired were produced at prices they would pay. In a free market, both labour and capital would receive the greatest possible reward, while production would be organized efficiently to meet consumer demand. Classical liberals argued for what they called a minimal state and government , limited to the following functions: Classical liberals asserted that rights are of

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5084-594: The initiative of Jean Seitlinger ; Leo Tindemans , then Prime Minister of Belgium , who became the first President of the EPP; and Wilfried Martens , who later became both President of the EPP and Prime Minister of Belgium. It had been preceded by the Secretariat International des partis démocratiques d'inspiration chrétienne , founded in 1925, the Nouvelles Equipes Internationales , founded in 1946 (or 1948), and

5166-491: The language of Locke to the ideology of radicalism. The radicals saw parliamentary reform as a first step toward dealing with their many grievances, including the treatment of Protestant Dissenters , the slave trade, high prices, and high taxes. There was greater unity among classical liberals than there had been among Whigs. Classical liberals were committed to individualism, liberty, and equal rights, as well as some other important tenants of leftism , since classical liberalism

5248-529: The majority of conservatives in the Western world came to adopt free market economic ideas as the Industrial Revolution progressed and the monarchy, aristocracy and clergy lost their wealth and power, to the extent that such ideas are now generally considered as part of conservatism. Nonetheless, the term liberal is used in most countries to describe those with free-market economic views. This

5330-420: The market. For a twentieth century thinker committed to the same ideal, government was an essential tool to the same end. The view that modern liberalism is a continuation of classical liberalism is controversial and disputed by many. James Kurth , Robert E. Lerner , John Micklethwait , Adrian Wooldridge and several other political scholars have argued that classical liberalism still exists today, but in

5412-437: The minimum needed to enforce negative rights. Core beliefs of classical liberals did not necessarily include democracy nor government by a majority vote by citizens because "there is nothing in the bare idea of majority rule to show that majorities will always respect the rights of property or maintain rule of law". For example, James Madison argued for a constitutional republic with protections for individual liberty over

5494-482: The more socially liberal " Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness ". As the United States grew, industry became a larger and larger part of American life; and during the term of its first populist President , Andrew Jackson , economic questions came to the forefront. The economic ideas of the Jacksonian era were almost universally the ideas of classical liberalism. Freedom, according to classical liberals,

5576-513: The newly elected Hungarian Tisza Party led by Peter Magyar , a former Fidesz insider, applied to join EPP. In April 2023, Belgian police and German investigators carried out a raid at the EPP headquarters in Brussels as part of an investigation in Germany. Within the EPP there are three kinds of member organisations: full members, associate members and observers. Full members are parties from EU states. They have absolute rights to vote in all

5658-719: The party elected as its President Manfred Weber , who was also EPP's Spitzenkandidat in 2019. The EPP has been the largest party in the European Parliament since 1999 and in the European Council since 2002. It is also the largest party in the current European Commission . The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola are from

5740-489: The people rather than from above. This belief would influence later revolutionary movements. As a trustee, government was expected to serve the interests of the people, not the rulers; and rulers were expected to follow the laws enacted by legislatures. Locke also held that the main purpose of men uniting into commonwealths and governments was for the preservation of their property. Despite the ambiguity of Locke's definition of property, which limited property to "as much land as

5822-472: The post- Enlightenment age. Contemporaneous liberalism , now recalled as classical liberalism , advocated both political freedom for individuals and a free market in the economic sphere. Ideas of this sort were promulgated by John Locke , Montesquieu , Voltaire , Jean-Jacques Rousseau , Ben Franklin , Thomas Jefferson , Thomas Paine , Edward Gibbon , David Hume , Adam Smith , Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill , who are respectively remembered as

5904-507: The pursuit of material self-interest, rather than altruism, would maximise the wealth of a society through profit-driven production of goods and services. An " invisible hand " directed individuals and firms to work toward the public good as an unintended consequence of efforts to maximise their own gain. This provided a moral justification for the accumulation of wealth, which had previously been viewed by some as sinful. European People%27s Party The European People's Party ( EPP )

5986-576: The state involvement in the lives of individuals, and it advocates deregulation . Until the Great Depression and 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 ,

6068-464: The state. Both conservatism and liberalism have had different meanings over time in different centuries. The term liberal conservatism has been used in quite different ways. It usually contrasts with aristocratic conservatism, which deems the principle of equality as something discordant with human nature and emphasizes instead the idea of natural inequality. As conservatives in democratic countries have embraced typical liberal institutions such as

6150-446: The words of Arthur Schlesinger Jr. : When the growing complexity of industrial conditions required increasing government intervention in order to assure more equal opportunities, the liberal tradition, faithful to the goal rather than to the dogma, altered its view of the state. ... There emerged the conception of a social welfare state, in which the national government had the express obligation to maintain high levels of employment in

6232-450: The words of William Jennings Bryan , " You shall not crucify this nation on a cross of gold ". Classical liberalism remained the orthodox belief among American businessmen until the Great Depression . The Great Depression in the United States saw a sea change in liberalism, with priority shifting from the producers to consumers. Franklin D. Roosevelt 's New Deal represented the dominance of modern liberalism in politics for decades. In

6314-419: Was challenged by what he called the "new Liberalism of France" that was characterised by egalitarianism and a "rationalistic consciousness". In 1848, Francis Lieber distinguished between what he called "Anglican and Gallican Liberty". Lieber asserted that "independence in the highest degree, compatible with safety and broad national guarantees of liberty, is the great aim of Anglican liberty, and self-reliance

6396-579: Was in the common interest that all individuals be able to secure their own economic self-interest. They were critical of what would come to be the idea of the welfare state as interfering in a free market . Despite Smith's resolute recognition of the importance and value of labour and of labourers, classical liberals criticized labour's group rights being pursued at the expense of individual rights while accepting corporations' rights , which led to inequality of bargaining power . Classical liberals argued that individuals should be free to obtain work from

6478-489: Was intervention on behalf of consumers. The Nation magazine espoused liberalism every week starting in 1865 under the influential editor Edwin Lawrence Godkin (1831–1902). The ideas of classical liberalism remained essentially unchallenged until a series of depressions , thought to be impossible according to the tenets of classical economics , led to economic hardship from which the voters demanded relief. In

6560-403: Was introduced in the late 18th century as a leftist movement. They believed these goals required a free economy with minimal government interference. Some elements of Whiggery were uncomfortable with the commercial nature of classical liberalism. These elements became associated with conservatism. Classical liberalism was the dominant political theory in Britain from the early 19th century until

6642-571: Was maximised when the government took a "hands off" attitude toward the economy. Historian Kathleen G. Donohue argues: [A]t the center of classical liberal theory [in Europe] was the idea of laissez-faire . To the vast majority of American classical liberals, however, laissez-faire did not mean no government intervention at all. On the contrary, they were more than willing to see government provide tariffs, railroad subsidies, and internal improvements, all of which benefited producers. What they condemned

6724-518: Was turning against them. By the First World War, the Liberal Party had largely abandoned classical liberal principles. The changing economic and social conditions of the 19th century led to a division between neo-classical and social (or welfare) liberals, who while agreeing on the importance of individual liberty differed on the role of the state. Neo-classical liberals, who called themselves "true liberals", saw Locke's Second Treatise as

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