HOME WEB NEWS IMAGES CLASSIFIEDS YELLOW PAGESPOLLS - SURVEYS WIKI COUNTRIES PHOTOS US UK INDIA
Cities Stocks Weather Movies Coupons Travel Blogs Health Horoscope Maps ASIA EUROPE Classifieds Yellow Pages
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| The Liberalism series, part of the Politics series |
|---|
|
Development
Schools
Ideas
Thinkers
Regional variants
Organizations |
| Portal:Politics |
Social liberalism, also called new liberalismNot to be confused with neoliberalism, a very different concept which has a similar name[1]Shaver, Sheila (July 1997). "Liberalism, Gender and Social Policy" (PDF). EconPapers. (as it was originally termed), radical liberalism,Marks, Gary and Wilson, Carole (July 2000). "The Past in the Present: A Cleavage Theory of Party Response to European Integration" (PDF). British Journal of Political Science 30: 433-459. modern liberalism,Richardson, James L. (2001). Contending Liberalisms in World Politics: Ideology and Power. Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publishers. 155587939X. or in North America and the British Isles simply liberalism, is a political philosophy that emphasises mutual collaboration through liberal institutions. Social liberalism, as a branch of liberalism, contends that society must protect liberty and opportunity for all citizens. It forms the core of the somewhat wider movement of left-liberalism, with which it is often (if not usually) conflated. Used as a term it has also meant support for civil and human rights and freedoms, particularly in opposition to traditional values and beliefs, but as defined here social liberalism is concerned with the economic as well as the social dimension of politics.
It has been a label used by progressive liberal parties in order to differentiate themselves from classical liberal parties, especially when there are two or more liberal parties in a country. Classical liberalism, believes that the provision of negative freedom, that is freedom from coercion, constitutes liberty, and is therefore, a strictly laissez-faire philosophy. Social liberalism however sees a role for the State in providing positive liberty for individuals. McGowan, J. (2007). American Liberalism: An Interpretation for Our Time. Chapel Hill, NC: North Carolina University Press. They believe that lack of positive rights, such as economic opportunity, education, health-care, and so on can be considered to be threats to liberty.
Social liberals, therefore, support a mixed economy of mainly private enterprise with some state provided or guaranteed public services. In the process, it expects legitimate governments to provide a basic level of welfare or workfare, health and education, supported by taxation, intended to enable the best use of the talents of the population, prevent revolution, or simply for the perceived public good and accepts some restrictions in economic affairs, such as anti-trust laws to combat economic monopolies and regulatory bodies or minimum wage laws intending to secure economic opportunities for all. Moreover, the accumulation of wealth by a small group is seen as the consolidation of power within a small faction of society and, therefore, seen as a threat to liberty.
Rejecting both the most extreme forms of capitalism and the revolutionary elements from the socialist school, social liberalism emphasizes what it calls "positive liberty", seeking to enhance the "positive freedoms" of the poor and disadvantaged in society by means of government regulation.
Like all liberals, social liberals believe in individual freedom as a central objective. They believe that lack of economic opportunity, education, health-care, and so on can be considered to be threats to liberty. Social liberals are strong defenders of human rights and civil liberties. They support a mixed economy of mainly private enterprise with some state provided or guaranteed public services (ex: some social liberals defend obligatory universal health insurance, with the state paying a basic health insurance to the most poor of the society).
Social liberalism is a development of liberalism stemming from the late 19th century. While the usage of the term social liberalism differs between Europe and the United States, Modern American liberalism and European social liberalism are highly similar with only few distinctions. In the English-speaking world however the term "social liberalism" is generally used as a synonym for social progressivism meaning liberalism in individual civil rights and liberties, while in Continental Europe "social liberalism" is used expressly in contradistinction to "liberalism", which there is economically an ideology of the right (known also as neo-liberalism/conservative liberalism/liberal conservatism and, especially in Anglo-American parlance, classical liberalism).
Contents |
In Britain, in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, a group of thinkers known as the New Liberals made a case against laissez-faire classical liberalism and in favor of state intervention in social, economic and cultural life. The New Liberals, who included T.H. Green and L.T. Hobhouse, saw individual liberty, especially as positive liberty, as something to be achievable only under favorable social and economic circumstances.
The poverty, squalor and ignorance in which many people lived made it impossible in their view for freedom and individuality to flourish, and the New Liberals believed that these conditions could only be ameliorated through collective action coordinated by a strong welfare-oriented interventionist state. The Routledge encyclopaedia of philosophy, p.599
Social liberals value liberty, rights and freedoms, and private property as fundamental to individual happiness, and regard democracy as an instrument to maintain a society where each individual enjoys the greatest amount of liberty possible (subject to the Harm Principle). Hence, democracy and parliamentarianism are mere political systems which legitimize themselves only through the amount of liberty they promote, and are not valued per se. While the State does have an important role in ensuring positive liberty, social liberals tend to trust that individuals are usually capable in deciding their own affairs, and generally do not need deliberate steering towards happiness.
Social democracy, on the other hand, has its roots in socialism, and (especially in democratic socialist forms) typically favours a more community-based view. While social democrats also value individual liberty, they do not believe that real liberty can be achieved for the majority without transforming the nature of the State itself. Having rejected the revolutionary approach of Marxism, and choosing to further their goals through the democratic process instead, social democrats nevertheless retain a strong skepticism for capitalism, which they believe needs to be regulated (or at least "managed") for the greater good. This focus on the greater good may, potentially, make social democrats more ready to step in and steer society in a direction that is deemed to be more equitable.
In practice, however, the differences between the two may be harder to perceive. This is especially the case nowadays as many social democratic parties have shifted towards the centre and adopted one version of Third Way politics or another.See, for example, "The overlap between social democracy and social liberalism".[2]
Social liberalism (also known as New Liberalism) is very different from the ambiguous term neoliberalism, a name given to various proponents of the free markets and also to some conservative opponents of free markets, such as mercantilistic conservatives, in the late 20th century\'s global economy. Neoliberalism has been used to describe the liberal economic policies of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. As a body of thought, neoliberalism advocates positions contrary to many of those taken by social liberals, especially with regard to the former\'s commitments to free trade and dismantling of government "social" programs.
Both share the concern with the freedom of the individual, but while social liberalism is appropriate for describing some liberal parties that are left-of-centre on economic issues and support a broad interpretation of democratic rights, Conservative liberalism emphasizes economic freedom and tends to be right of centre. For example, Conservative liberal parties, such as the Dutch VVD and the German Free Democratic Party adopt an economically conservative agenda, advocating a minimal role for the state in the economy. Some authors, like Merquior, also claim that conservative liberalism is based on the concept of negative liberty - "where there is no law there is no transgression"), moral pluralism, progress, individualism, and accountable government, while social liberalism focuses both on the illegitimacy of a tyrannical government that uses prerogative power and on the social conditions that make such tyrannical government possible.Merquior, J.G. (1991). Liberalism Old and New. Boston: Twayne Publishers.
Classical liberals such as Nozick and others reject social liberalism as a true liberalism. For these authors government has no duty to intervene in society to aid the disadvantaged as this means taking wealth from others (as taxes). They also consider that interfering in the market is destroying freedom and doing this to make people free is self-contradictory.Adams, Ian (2001). Political Ideology Today (Politics Today). Manchester: Manchester University Press. 0719060206.
Modern liberalism in the United States is highly similar to the European definition of social liberalism. The agendas of European social liberals and modern American liberals tend to be almost identical, with both taking a distinctly left-of-center stance on social issues, whilst taking a more centrist stance on economic issues.Judis, B. J. (11 July, 2003). The trouble with Howard Dean. Salon.com.. Retrieved on 2007-07-19. Since the ideological center of the United States lies further to the right than that of Western Europe, policies considered centrist, or even right-wing, in Europe may be considered left-of-center in the U.S. Universal single-payer health care, for example, is considered a largely centrist policy in Europe but distinctly center-left in the U.S. Social democrats and socialists may also be labeled as "liberal" in the U.S. but constitute only a small minority of the American left. Liberals in the U.S. constitute roughly 19% to 26% of the population and form circa 46% of the Democratic base.Pew Research Center. (10 May, 2005). Beyond Red vs. Blue.. Retrieved on 2007-07-12.
Like European social liberals, most modern American liberals advocate a free market economy, cultural pluralism, diplomacy over military action, stem-cell research, the legalization of same-sex marriage, secular government, stricter gun control and environmental protection laws as well as the preservation of abortion rights.
However, there are also some relevant differences. For example, American liberals tend to be rather divided on free trade agreements and organizations such as NAFTA.Pew Research Center. (10 May, 2005). Beyond Red vs. Blue.. Retrieved on 2007-07-12., while the international social liberals are very strong supporters of free trade Liberal International. The Liberal Agenda for the 21st Century.. Also, while most liberals oppose increased military standing and the display of the Ten Commandments in public buildings, the Democratic party still has references to religion and God on its party documents Strong at Home, Respected in the World, Democratic Party, 2004, <http://www.democrats.org/pdfs/2004platform.pdf>The Charter & The Bylaws of the Democratic Party of the United States of America, Democratic Party, 2005, <http://a9.g.akamai.net/7/9/8082/v001/democratic1.download.akamai.com/8082/pdfs/20060119_charter.pdf>, something that goes against the clearly anti-clerical stance of social liberal parties worldwide. We can also find differences regarding immigration and cultural diversity, which while deemed positive by social liberals worldwide, is handled in a different way by the American liberals with the so called positive discrimination, which would be considered anti-liberal by other social-liberal parties, as they would consider it to be an effective form of discrimination.
Social liberalism in the U.S. is most commonly embraced by college-educated professionals[citation needed] who have shifted the focus of the Democratic Party. American liberals are the most highly educated and affluent ideological demographic.[citation needed] They differ greatly from the traditional working class wing of party.[citation needed] While the former is centrist on economic issues and left on social issues,[citation needed] the latter is socially conservative but left-of-center on economic issues.[citation needed] The ideological position of the Democratic Party has, therefore, shifted considerably towards resembling that of social liberal party.[citation needed] The current compromise between the widely diverging typological groups that constitute the Democratic base is a centrist stance on fiscal policy and a center-left stance on social issues.
The key distinction between social liberalism in a European and American sense is mostly semantics. European social liberalism in the U.S. is simply referred to as liberalism. Social Democracy and Socialism, however, may also be referred to as liberalism since Americans commonly label all ideologies of the center-left and beyond as "liberal." The term "social liberalism" is used as a synonym for social progressivism, an ideology that is often combined with social liberalism to form modern American liberalism.
Some parties which are arguably social liberal may include:
Some notable social liberal thinkers are:
In general, contemporary social liberals support:
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia