Liberal views are one of the most influential ideological and political movements. The principles of freedom of personality and speech, the rule of law, and the separation of powers that he developed today are the most important values of a democratic society.
The origins of liberalism
The concept of liberalism (from the Latin liberalis - free) first appeared in literature in the 19th century, although it was formed much earlier in the course of socio-political thought. Ideology arose in response to the disenfranchised position of citizens in an absolute monarchy.
The main achievements of classical liberalism are the development of the Theory of Social Contract, as well as the concepts of the natural rights of the individual and the theory of separation of powers. The authors of The Theory of Social Contract were D. Locke, S. Montesquieu, and J.-J. Russo. According to her, the origin of the state, civil society and law is based on an agreement between people. The social contract implies that people partially give up sovereignty and transfer it to the state in return for ensuring their rights and freedoms. The key principle is that a legitimate governing body must be obtained with the consent of the governed and that it has only those rights delegated to it by citizens.
Based on these signs, the proponents of liberalism did not recognize the absolute monarchy and believed that such power corrupts, because it has no limiting principles. Therefore, the first liberals insisted on the appropriateness of the separation of powers into legislative, executive and judicial. Thus, a system of checks and balances is created and there is no room for arbitrariness. A similar idea is described in detail in the works of Montesquieu.
The ideological founders of liberalism have developed the principle of natural inalienable rights of a citizen, including the right to life, liberty and property. Their possession does not depend on belonging to any class, but is given by nature.
Classic liberalism
In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, a form of classical liberalism took shape. His ideologists include Bentham, Mill, Spencer. Proponents of classical liberalism did not focus on social, but individual interests. Moreover, the priority of individualism was defended by them in a radical extreme form. This distinguished classical liberalism from the form in which it originally existed.
Another important principle was anti-paternalism, which involved minimal government intervention in private life and the economy. State participation in economic life should be limited to the creation of a free market for goods and labor. Liberals perceived freedom as a key value, the main guarantee of which was private property. Accordingly, economic freedom had the highest priority.
Thus, the basic values of classical liberalism were personal freedom, the inviolability of private property, and minimal state participation. However, in practice, such a model did not contribute to the formation of the common good and led to social stratification. This led to the spread of the neoliberal model.
