Liberalisn in a huLshell

By Siegfried Herzog
Friedrich Naumann Stiftung
values: Freedon FirsL
Liberalisn uLs Lhe freedon of Lhe individual aL Lhe
cenLer: life, liberLy and Lhe ursuiL of hainess.
Peole need freedon Lo develo Lheir own hunan
oLenLial fully.
EqualiLy neans LhaL all eole are enLiLled Lo freedon
- hence Lhe freedon of one nay noL inede Lhe
freedon of anoLher.
lf eole are free Lo decide Lheir course in life, Lhey
also bear resonsibiliLy for Lheir acLions.
!he Liberal view of SocieLy
SocieLy is based on a volunLary associaLion of eole
Lhrouqh a social conLracL - an aqreenenL Lo live
LoqeLher under a |oinLly aqreed law.
6overnnenL auLhoriLy is deleqaLed fron Lhe eole.
!he sLaLe is h0! based on reliqion, eLhniciLy, lanquaqe,
culLure...
!he aLh of develonenL is indeLerninaLe. !here is no
uLoian end Lo Lhe rocess, and no eLernal cerLainLy.
Rerdinq CaLs: Row do You CoordinaLe
Free lndividuals
Arrows inossibiliLy Lheoren: Lhere's no sinqle
qood decision-nakinq rule saLisfyinq basic
loqical denands - hence no ob|ecLively
neasurable connon qood.
!he way we orqanize socieLy is Lherefore always
a roducL of Lrial and error and consLanL
neqoLiaLion.
!his exlains Lhe wide varieLy of sysLens even
anonq liberal denocracies.
!he ConsLiLuLion as Social ConLracL
A consLiLuLion enbodies Lhe idea of Lhe social
conLracL. lL lays down Lhe qround rules Lo which all
nenbers of socieLy aqree.
A liberal consLiLuLion should concenLraLe on rules of
inLeracLion LhaL naxinize freedon, noL fix ouLcones.
!hese should be lefL Lo Lhe oliLical rocess.
Since consLiLuLions enbody Lhe social conLracL, Lhey
should noL be an ob|ecL of Linkerinq.
Liberalisn as a oliLical force sLarLed as a fiqhL for
consLiLuLions in Euroe. lLs firsL vicLory was Lhe
Anerican consLiLuLion.
!he 8uildinq 8locks of a Liberal 0rder
Runan riqhLs: creaLinq a roLecLed zone for Lhe
individual
0enocracy wiLh diffused owers: leqiLinizinq
and liniLinq Lhe exercise of ower
MarkeL Econony: freedon of exchanqe and
LransacLion allocaLes resources efficienLly
Pule of Law: fairness in conflicL resoluLion,
roLecLinq riqhLs of Lhe weak, qivinq sLrucLure
Lo Lhe oLher buildinq blocks
Runan PiqhLs
PiqhLs Lo life, liberLy, roerLy, ursuiL of hainess,
freedon of seech, associaLion, reliqion, freedon fron
arbiLrary arresL, equaliLy before Lhe law, due rocess of
law
!hey define a sace of individual liberLy and resLricL
Lhe ower of Lhe sLaLe.
!hey enbody Lhe liberal view of Lhe individual.
!heir rooLs can be Lraced Lo Lhe Judaeo-ChrisLian-
LradiLion and Lhe leqal sysLen of Lhe Ponan enire,
Lhe Maqna CarLa, Lhe refornaLion, and Lhe
enliqhLennenL.
0enocracy wiLh SearaLion of Powers
0enocracy, rule by Lhe eole, enbodies Lhe rincile of
qovernnenL esLablished by Lhe exliciL consenL of Lhe qoverned.
lL realizes oliLical freedon in LhaL iL enables each ciLizen Lo
arLiciaLe in Lhe oliLical decision-nakinq rocess.
0enocracy as rule by Lhe na|oriLy can nean a Lyranny of Lhe
na|oriLy. lL does noL quaranLee freedon.
Liberal denocracy advocaLes liniLs Lo ower by searaLion of
owers - horizonLally (execuLive, leqislaLive, |udicial} and
verLically (decenLralizaLion} - and by lacinq liniLs on oliLical
decision-nakinq.
Liberal denocracy also calls for denocraLic decision-nakinq in
Lhe realn of volunLary associaLions, includinq oliLical arLies.
0enocracy ConLinued
0enocracy has iLs rooLs in 6reek ciLy sLaLes and
Lhe Ponan reublic, can be found in nany Lribal
socieLies, nedieval ciLy sLaLes and arlianenLs
Modern denocracy evolved in 8riLain and Lhe
bS, followed by Lhe French PevoluLion.
0enocracy only really becane doninanL afLer
World War ll and esecially afLer 1080.
Now for the Scary Part...
ConaraLive ldeoloqies
Connunisn: You have Lwo cows. !he qovernnenL Lakes boLh
and qives you soiled nilk.
Socialisn: You have Lwo cows. !he qovernnenL Lakes one and
qives iL Lo soneone else.
8ureaucraLic Socialisn: You have Lwo cows. !he qovernnenL
Lakes Lhen and uLs Lhen in a barn wiLh everyone else's cows.
!hey are cared for by ex-chicken farners. !he qovernnenL qives
you as nuch nilk and eqqs as Lhe requlaLions say you should
need.
Social 0enocracy: You have Lwo cows. Your neiqhbours decide
who qeLs Lhe nilk.
Classical Liberalisn: You have Lwo cows. You sell one and buy a
bull.
!he MarkeL Econony: ConsLiLuLive Princiles
MarkeL rice nechanisn
MoneLary sLabiliLy - no disLorLions, low risk
0en narkeLs Lo susLain coneLiLion
PrivaLe roerLy
Freedon of conLracL
LiabiliLy rincile
SLeadiness of econonic olicy - lower risk
MarkeL Econony and Lhe lndividual
8ased on Lhe hunan jrcjcrsity tc trvc|, bortcr, orJ
cxc|orc crc t|ir Icr orct|cr (Adan SniLh}.
!his is a fundanenLal freedon LhaL needs no
|usLificaLion (AnarLya Sen}.
ConeLiLive narkeLs coordinaLe individual inLeresLs
and references efficienLly by inLeqraLinq all relevanL
infornaLion by each individual.
ConeLiLive narkeLs reward efforL and sur
innovaLion.
!he SLruqqle for Lhe MarkeL Econony
!he sLruqqle for Lhe narkeL econony ofLen nirrored
Lhe sLruqqle for denocracy.
lL neanL a fiqhL aqainsL nedieval quild resLricLions,
feudalisn, slavery, confiscaLory LaxaLion,
roLecLionisn, and oressive requlaLion.
ProninenL Lhinkers: Adan SniLh, John SL. Mill, 0avid
Picardo
Ma|or breakLhrouqhs in 10Lh cenLury: AboliLion of
feudalisn, aboliLion of 8riLish Corn Laws, free Lrade,
qold sLandard
Crisis afLer WWl, renewed success afLer WWll
Pule of Law - Social lnLeracLion
6overnnenLal auLhoriLy is leqiLinaLely exercised only
in accordance wiLh wriLLen, ublicly disclosed laws
adoLed and enforced in accordance wiLh esLablished
rocedure.
lL requlaLes conflicLs in socieLy by layinq down a
nechanisn of seedy buL fair ad|udicaLion and
redressal.
lL should be desiqned Lo naxinize liberLy by resLricLinq
iLself Lo requlaLe only Lhose naLLers where riqhLs of
oLhers are infrinqed.
Pule of Law as ProLecLor of LiberLy
ProLecLs eole fron arbiLrariness of Lhe rulers
ProLecLs individual liberLy by realizinq equaliLy
of each individual before Lhe law - rules are
alied Lo all in Lhe sane way
ProLecLs Lhe riqhLs of Lhe weak aqainsL Lhe
sLronq
Places liniLs on execuLive ower
Enbodies naLion's sense of |usLice
Pule of Law as a bnifyinq ConceL
!he rule of law qives shae Lo Lhe roLecLion of
hunan riqhLs, Lhe denocraLic sysLen and Lhe
sysLen of Lhe narkeL econony.
lL resolves conflicLs arisinq in Lhe oLher
decision-nakinq sysLens.
WiLhouL iLs sLabilizinq corseL, Lhe oLher
decision-nakinq sysLens are LhreaLened by
breakdown or caLure by owerful qrous.
RisLorical 0evelonenL
PooLs: Ponan reublic
Evolvinq searaLion of church and sLaLe in
ChrisLianiLy
SLruqqles beLween kinqs, nobles, ciLies, and
easanLs
PefornaLion and wars of reliqion
ConeLinq sLaLes in Euroe - coneLinq rules
of law
Liberalisn and Social Policy
Liberals differ widely in Lheir aLLiLude Lo social
olicy.
For nany, Lhe riqhL Lo life inlies a sysLen of
basic roLecLion aqainsL hunqer and disease,
and Lhe riqhL Lo liberLy inlies a sysLen of
educaLion.
8asic divide beLween conceLs of |usLice: |usLice
as rules (hozick} or |usLice as fairness (Pawls}
Sone !enLaLive Princiles of Liberal Social
Policy
lL belonqs in Lhe oliLical rocess, noL in Lhe consLiLuLion.
lL should enower eole, noL creaLe deendency.
lL should follow Lhe rincile of subsidiariLy.
6overnnenL can subsidize access and requlaLe
inlenenLaLion, buL need noL necessarily build
inlenenLinq bureaucracies.
6overnnenL bureaucracies disensinq larqesse are rine
LarqeLs for oliLical nisuse.
Rel should be LarqeLLed Lo Lhe needy; by conLrasL, nosL
social sendinq in Lhe world qoes Lo Lhe niddle and
uer classes.
Liberalisn as a PoliLical MovenenL
ParLies callinq Lhenselves liberal arose in Lhe 10Lh
cenLury in Euroe and LaLin Anerica.
Liberals becone a na|or oliLical force vs.
ConservaLives in nany counLries.
!owards Lhe end of Lhe 10Lh cenLury, socialisL arLies
erode arL of Lhe liberal nass base.
AfLer WWll, Lhe develonenL of ChrisLian 0enocracy
nakes inroads inLo niddle class suorL.
!he failure of Connunisn and Lhe rise of qlobalizaLion
vindicaLe liberal ideas.