fear of democracy runs

throughout liberalism', Discuss.

Liberalism is an ideology that comprises of many different strains,

each offering often extremely conflicting views on situations. The
two main strands are classical liberalism - often referred to as neo-
liberalism - and modern liberalism. The liberal view of human nature
is fairly constant throughout these strands, and states that humans
are naturally selfish and greedy beings, always wanting to better
themselves, even at times at the expense of others. The liberal fear
of democracy originates with the fact that most liberals the people
as a mass do not have the correct knowledge or discretion to make
decisions that are for the best of the people as a whole and not just
for themselves. Also mass government goes against the idea of
individual liberty. However in many ways democracy protects
individual freedom and balances rival interests in society.

A key fundamental belief of liberalism is that individuals should be

able to live their life as they please, without extensive external
constraints pushing them in a particular direction, whether it be in
terms of a career or even how they should conduct their day to day
life. In a majoritarian democratically elected system, naturally some
opinions are going to be left out, creating a 'Tyranny of the Majority'
- a phrase coined by Alexis De Tocqueville. This endangers individual
freedom as