TYPES OF LIBERTY AND

IMPLEMENTATION IN
AFRICA
HOST :ASHLEY MAENZANISE
SPEAKER : MUNASHE MUSEBA
Personal Liberty

The concept of personal liberty means the availability of those conditions

in which the individual can act as he pleases without being under any
type of arbitrary and illegitimate restraint. It also means that every
individual has the right not to permit any other individual to interfere in the
affairs of his personal life.
Every individual should have the the liberty to dress, food, standard of
living, marriage and education of children etc. The state should not
interfere in the personal matters of the individual such liberty is essential for
the free development of human society.
Natural Liberty

The concept of Natural liberty means–an unrestrained freedom.

It is the liberty which men enjoyed in the imaginary ‘state of nature’ when civil
society did not exist. It is generally identified with absence of all restraints,
unlimited and unrestricted freedom to do whatever one likes. Rousseau was the
chief exponent of the concept of natural liberty. In his opinion, man lost natural
liberty with the emergence of the state or civil society. But such a concept of
liberty is illusory. It is license, not liberty.

Liberty, in the political sense, cannot exist prior to state. Liberty, as a political
concept, is based on a system of rights. It is the state which guarantees rights. It is,
therefore, impossible to conceive of any liberty in the ‘state of nature’. This is a
misconception of liberty.

The concept of natural liberty is a contradiction in terms because law or authority

is the essential condition of liberty but the same was conspicuous by its absence in
the ‘state of nature’. In the ‘state of nature’ liberty was enjoyed only by the strong.
Might was right. In a civil society, on the other hand, liberty is the common
possession of all.
Civil Liberty

The concept of civil liberty reflects “Rule of law” civil liberty indicates the
liberty man enjoyed in the society it prevails in the state. It denotes the
enjoyment of our rights within the limits of law. . Civil rights consist in the
right to life, liberty, property, speech, press, association, education etc. The
more the civil rights, the greater the civil liberty.

It has both positive and negative aspects. In the negative sense, it means
freedom or the immunity of an individual from interference on the part of
others. In the positive sense, it implies the right to free action, the
opportunity of self expansion and self expression.

According to Gettel, ‘Civil liberty consists of the rights and privileges which
the state creates and protects for its subjectsThe protection of civil liberty is
guaranteed by the laws of the state
Political Liberty

The concept of political liberty means liberty of citizen to participate in the

political life, the affairs of the state and implies rights to determine
government and share in authority of the state.. Leacock calls political
liberty as constitutional liberty and Gilchist consider political liberty as a
concept synonymous with democracy. Without political liberty, neither,
state can be democratic nor the individual can enjoy full civil liberties. Civil
liberty is meaningless if people do not possess the power to compel the
government to accept their view-point.

Political liberty is variously defined by different philosophers defines it as

the right of the people to choose their government which should be
responsible to the general body of the people”. Laski defines it as “the power
to be active in affairs of the state. Political liberty is identical with
constitutional liberty which means democratic rule.”
Political Liberty Revolves around the
Following Points

(a) The Right to Vote: The right to vote to all adults to elect their
representatives who constitute the legislatures. This right has now been granted
by all the democratic states to its citizens irrespective of caste, sex or economic
status.

(b) Right to be Elected: The right to be elected to all the representative offices
in the state irrespective of discrimination.

(c) Periodical Election: The accountability of the legislature to the electorate

necessitates periodical elections.

(d) The Right to Criticize the Government: This is provided by the right of
speech, public meeting, publication and association.
 Economic Liberty

The concept of economic liberty means the liberty to earn one’s daily bread. Beyond the
distinction of colour and gender every individual should have liberty to earn his daily
bread by fair means. Civil and political liberties become meaningless in the absence of
economic liberty. Economic liberty does not imply free competition in the economic
sphere. It lies in the absence of gross inequalities of wealth that may enable some to
obtain an unfair control over the lives and happiness of others by the mere fact of their
economic superiority. It implies a socialist or socialistic system of economy. It may not
mean economic equality but it means removal of wide economic disparities.

It further means that material needs do not become a hindrance to the growth of human
personality. Therefore, not only it implies right to work, but also right to a decent wage,
right to leisure and right to social insurances like old age, sickness, disablement and
unemployment insurances.

It further implies that no person or a body of persons should be in a position to exploit

other citizens. Thus the ownership of means of production by the community is the
condition precedent of economic liberty. Private property must not become an
institution of exploitation but of social good. It must be earned and socially justifiable. 
Fiscal Liberty

According to this principle; there should be no taxation without

representation. It was the slogan given by middle classes who claimed that
they should be allowed to decide as to how and on whom their money
was to be spent. Both civil and fiscal liberty were related to property and
the rights of their owners . It was felt by the middle classes that without
fiscal and civil liberty they would not be able to exist and be exploited by
arbitrary rulers
National Liberty

It means the liberty of the nation or the country. National liberties exist
where the nation or the community is independence and sovereign
implying that every nation has a birth right to be free from political
domination of others. National liberty can otherwise also called as National
sovereignty. Every nation has a right to regulate its national life according to
its own will to stay independent and without this independence No cultural
social, economic or political development is possible so long as one nation is
ruled by another. It is only when freedom is achieved by all nations of the
world that a real international community can grow and possibilities of
permanent peace can arise. Thus Liberation was an ultimate slogan for all
those nations enslaved by imperialistic forces. Nations colonialized by
imperialist force struggled against foreign empire until freedom was
restored.

The struggle of African countries against imperialist forces was made

ultimately for restoring the liberty of the Nation. ‘Liberty does not descend
upon a person. People must raise themselves to liberty. Liberty is a blessing
that must be earned in order to be enjoyed’ For Freedom is the necessary
condition of development of every nation
International Liberty

This concept implies peace and international cooperation and the

formation of world federation of states. Liberals were opposed to the use of
force as an instrument of national policy. capitalism needed peace and
international cooperation for the free flow of goods from one country to
another and they needed all political and other barriers to be removed
that stood in the way of the development of world resources
Thank you all for attending this online event
GOOD NIGHT ,ASANTE SANA …WE BID YOU FAREWELL UNTIL NEXT TIME