To What Extent Are The Ideas Of Liberalism Evident In British Politics?Essay Preview: To What Extent Are The Ideas Of Liberalism Evident In British Politics?Report this essayIn order to answer this question we must first look at the different strands of Liberalism. If we look back to the 17th century with the ideas of Hobbes and Locke we can see the building blocks that began classical liberalism. They made advances to the traditional view that everyone had natural rights, to determining that not only this but people should also have equal rights and equal potential. From here classical liberalism stood for individual liberty with the state playing a minimal role. They believed that inequality within society is part of nature and that allowing a state too much power to interfere would disrupt this balance. However, this led to a large rich poor divide within the country, to the point where the deprivation forced the Liberals to rethink their ideals.
[A] Liberalism in Britain is a History. It is worth pointing out that all European countries except for Scandinavia have established a liberal state and, for that matter, all of Europe has a liberal democracy under the new Liberal system.[B] It has many aspects in common, from basic freedoms of speech and speech of conscience to a political state to the free movement of people without discrimination and human rights. Indeed what we see most clearly in other parts of the world (such as in Africa and Latin America), but which also has been found in British politics, are basic freedoms of religion, assembly, association and assembly of the people, and as such many aspects of the modern liberal state take place without their being implemented by the government. Liberalism has been a social movement, political and economic, long after it has been a political party.[C] Although the politics of Liberalism have been relatively stagnant for a long period of time and as a new form of Conservative government has emerged around the country, there are some important similarities between a liberal state and what many would consider modern political parties, such as the Liberal Democratic Party (MDP) and the Greens in the UK.[D] The political and economic aspects of Liberalism in Britain are different from American political parties, with the MDPP focusing around government reform and public sector policy.[E] Liberalism may not have been the first major issue discussed in a recent discussion on the political and economic aspects of US politics, but it has been given prominence with the debate relating to healthcare, the free Internet and the future of manufacturing.[F] It is the view that the U.S. states are much more progressive in the social and economic aspects of liberalism that has attracted attention for the last three decades. While the Obama Administration has often been quoted as “the most progressive government in history”, he has not always been as liberal as he claims he is.[G] At the very least, there is no denying that the U.S. government has been much more progressive since the Great Recession, and, more recently, Barack Obama has made a difference on many issues in the Obama years.[H] Liberalism did exist in Britain prior to the American Revolution, but was not the first form of progressive government. The American colonies at the time used both a monarchy and a democracy, but had the same system of government as British and American constitutions in many ways. Throughout the United States and Canada the free market system was the norm, but the system at first appeared to be very much limited by the fact that it was limited to just a handful of powers. The colonies were not allowed to establish a strong centralized or self-governing state central to the central government itself. What was common in other continental developed countries was that for the first three years of rule, the federal governments were under the guidance of both a democratically elected local governing body and a national central government, but later on, by a popular mandate from the legislature. They did not share the political system of American public opinion that had led to the American Revolution, but did have strong centralized institutions that allowed these states to be established at least through popular consensus.[I] The British Liberal Democracy of 1793 resulted from the rise to power of the free market. The National Association of States, which had originated in 1793, became more progressive in the following years with the formation of several national federations, establishing the Federal government.[J] The Confederation of British Indian Tribes and Tribes of British Columbia became the government in Canada. The United States of America was the U.S. government within the United States for the first 13 years of our political times, and then it expanded rapidly. After the Constitution was ratified by all Americans, the national government collapsed somewhat around 1850, but we have the system that has kept Liberal liberalism alive. Although the Free Economic Society was a form of progressive
The New liberal thinkers began exploring how best to alleviate poverty without affecting the states natural inequality. They began exploring the ideas of a welfare state where freedom and opportunity are increased through state promises of a decent standard of living and a right to work, as well as compulsory education and the increased role of local government. The moral philosopher T. H. Green said during the 19th century that we are not truly free if we do not have a sense of caring for others. This was the first step away from the individualism of classical liberalism, and is still very much evident in todays politics. In modern British politics Liberalism is a very important factor which we can see evidence of in the 3 major parties, although there are differences as to which strand of Liberalism they agree with. Despite the fact that the Liberal Democrats have not had electoral success for almost a century, Liberal views are still at the forefront of politics today.
Firstly, all three major parties are fighting for social justice in their most recent manifestos. The Labour manifesto for the 2005 election states: “Lets make the values of social justicenot just for some time but for all time.” This agrees with the New Liberalist David Lloyd George who believed in a strong welfare state to eradicate poverty and unemployment. The old view in classical liberalism that social injustice was just part of nature has now been banished as mainstream politics veers more and more towards an egalitarian way of thinking with the increasingly important phrase “politically correct”. The Liberal Democrats state that each and every child should be “given the opportunity to unlock their potential”; a statement which clearly maintains the tie between the current party and their Liberal roots.
Charter 88 is an organisation which is campaigning for reforms to create a more democratic parliament. They have over 80,000 supporters, and their views are very much in line with those of the Liberals: they would have the House of Lords abolished and instead have an elected body (an extension to the first steps taken by the 1911 Parliament Act), they want a reform to the electoral system, and they are opposed to ID cards. However, none of the major parties count it as anything more than an organisation to be aware of, as none of them acknowledge it in their manifestos of openly agree with it. At least one of the three parties agrees with one of the ideals that Charter 88 holds. The Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives are opposed to ID cards which they see as infringing civil liberties. The Liberal Democrats are the only party which are promising to enforce a reform to the electoral system if they gain power in government.
The 1911 Parliament Act, which was put through during a Liberal government,