Politics Essay: Liberalism

Modern liberals support state intervention, but only within limits. Discuss. 45

Modern liberal ideas were related to the further development of industrialisation. Social inequality became difficult to maintain the belief that industrial capitalism had brought general prosperity and liberty for all. Modern liberals revised the classic liberal expectation that the unrestrained pursuit of self-interest produced a socially just society. As economic individualism came under attack, liberals rethought their attitude to the state. A minimal state was incapable of rectifying the injustices and inequalities of civil society and so modern liberals were prepared to advocate an interventionist state.

Modern liberal’s support of state intervention relates heavily to their idea of freedom. John Mills said that liberty gives individuals the ability to take control of their own lives, gain autonomy or achieve self-realisation and the value of liberty is that it enables individuals to develop, to gain talents, skills and knowledge and to refine their sensibilities. T.H Green challenged the classic liberal notion of liberty. Negative freedom merely removes the constraints on the individual giving them freedom of choice. Economic freedom however can lead to exploitation and therefore freedom of choice in the marketplace is an inadequate conception of individual freedom. Green proposed the idea of positive freedom. Negative freedom only recognises the legal and physical constraints on liberty but positive freedom recognises that liberty can also be threatened by social inequality. This implied a revised view of the state. By protecting individuals from social evils, the state can expand freedom and not merely diminish it.

Modern liberals therefore endorsed an enabling state exercising a wide range of social and economic responsibilities. The state could not force people to be good but could provide conditions in which they can make more responsible moral decisions. This shows a belief in ethical individualism as the state should be constructed to benefit the individual. This also shows that modern liberals still believe in a healthy civil society that enjoys independence from the state as they share the classic liberal preference for self-reliant individuals who take responsibility for their own lives. The difference is that modern liberals recognise that this can only occur if social conditions are conducive to it.

The 20^th century saw the growth of state intervention in the form of social welfare and welfare states. Modern liberals defend welfarism on the basis of equality of opportunity, arguing that the state possesses a social responsibility to reduce social disadvantages to create more equal life chances. Citizens have therefore acquired a range of welfare rights such as the right to work, education and decent housing. The welfare state in the UK was based on the Beveridge report which promised to protect citizens ‘from the cradle to the grave’.

Social liberalism developed further in the second half of the 20^th century with the emergence of social-democratic liberalism which is distinguished by its support for relative social equality. John Rawls defended redistribution and welfare based on the idea of ‘equality as fairness’. If people were unaware of their social position then they would view an egalitarian society as ‘fairer’ than an inegalitarian one, on the grounds that the desire to avoid poverty is greater than the attraction of riches. He therefore proposed the ‘difference principle’ that social and economic inequalities should be arranged to benefit the least well-off. This theory suggests that modern liberals support state intervention to the extent of social democrats who also believe in relative social equality. However, while modern liberals have taken social justice to imply a belief in some measure of social equality, they still believe complete social equality is unjust as it treats unlike individuals alike. Also, this theory is rooted in assumptions about egoism and self-interest and modern liberals still place the individual above society. Therefore while modern liberals support a welfare state, they would not support a ‘nanny’ state or collectivisation or nationalisation by the state.

As it was economic inequalities that caused these social disadvantages in the first place, modern liberals support state intervention in the form of economic management. Interventionist policies were guided by the work of J.M Keynes who believed the level of economic activity is determined by the total amount of demand and governments could manage their economies by influencing the level of demand. This promised to give governments the ability to manipulate employment and growth levels and hence secure general prosperity. Modern liberals see economic management as constructive in promoting prosperity and harmony in civil society as it increases equality of opportunity by reducing economic inequalities through less unemployment.

John Mill laid the foundations for the modern liberal developmental model of individualism that placed emphasis on human flourishing rather than the crude satisfaction of interests. Modern liberals therefore use the state to assist individuals in their self-development by providing equality of opportunity through reduced social and economic inequalities. However the central thrust of modern liberalism is to help individuals to help themselves. Therefore they would not support state intervention on civil society and still believe all private and moral matters should be left to the individual.