LIBERALISM
Can you define it?
a political orientation that favors social progress by reform and by changing laws
rather than by revolution.
Description:
Generally liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free
and fair elections, human rights, capitalism, and the free exercise of religion.
Examples in real life: Canada, The United States, The United Kingdom are all
examples of Liberal Democracies
HISTORY OF LIBERALISM
Liberalism
We can see foundations of Liberalism dating back to the Middle Ages i.e. The
signing of the Magna Carta in 1215
Foundations of Liberalism were established by John Locke as he drew ideas
from the Enlightenment, which questioned old traditions about societies and
governments, in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Locke’s contributions to liberal theory are reflected in the United States
Declaration of Independence which is one of the first examples of a true
Liberal Democracy.
LOCKE
Locke was the first to define the self through a continuity of consciousness.
He postulated that the mind was a blank slate or tabula rasa. (latin)
Contrary to pre-existing philosophy, he maintained that we are born without innate
ideas, and that knowledge is instead determined only by experience derived from
sense perception.
YES
NO
THE MAGNA CARTA
The 1215 charter required King John of England to proclaim certain liberties, and
accept that his will was not arbitrary, for example by explicitly accepting that no
"freeman" (in the sense of non-serf) could be punished except through the law of
the land, a right which is still in existence today in England.
Magna Carta was the first document forced onto an English King by a group of his
subjects, the feudal barons, in an attempt to limit his powers by law and protect
their privileges. It was preceded and directly influenced by the Charter of Liberties
in 1100, in which King Henry I had specified particular areas wherein his powers
would be limited.
CLASSIC VS. MODERN LIBERALISM
Classical Liberalism supports:
- laissez-faire liberalism
- limited government involvement
- free market
-capitalist society
- individual property rights
-individualism
Modern Liberalism supports:
- government involvement
-cradle to grave welfare
-free trade
http://redstateeclectic.typepad.com/redstate_commentary/2011/02/what-is-classical-liberalism.html
CANADA AND LIBERALISM
Historically, Canada has had two liberal phases. Prior to the 1960s, Canadian politics were
classically liberal, i.e., there was a focus on individual liberty, representative
government, and free markets
This brand of liberalism can be traced to the arrival in Canada of the United Empire
Loyalists and the enactment of the Constitutional Act of 1791. The Constitutional Act
established representative government through the elected assemblies of Upper and
Lower Canada.
What was the problem with the elected assembly of Upper and Lower Canada?
This eventually led to the signing of the British North America Act of 1867 on July 1st 1867
What provinces originally joined confederation?
CANADA AND LIBERALISM
Canadians were committed to North American ideals of individual liberty and
representative government.
This brand of liberalism was prominent though the Liberal government of Wilfrid
Laurier, which advocated such policies as free trade with the United States, and
beyond.
Which went against many of the ideas of John A. MacDonald during the 1870’s i.e.
The National Policy and its policy of Protectionism
Laurier’s dream of Free Trade would come to reality in the 1980’s thanks to Brian
Mulroney.
CANADA AND LIBERALISM
The second liberalism began, roughly, in the 1960s with the election of
Lester B. Pearson as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and can
be traced through the politics of Pierre Trudeau, Jean Chrétien, and
Paul Martin.
This liberalism is what is properly called in a global context social
liberalism, democracy, social justice, social progressivism, Third Way,
multiculturalism, diplomacy in foreign policy, and a regulated free
market economy (during the Trudeau era the Liberals arguably
supported a mixed economy).
Canada is presently one of the more liberal countries in the Americas.
By contrast, prior to the 1960s, Canada was one of the most liberal
countries in the world.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SOCIALISM AND
LIBERALISM
These are generalizations however most modern Social Scientists agree that:
Modern Liberalism and Socialism both trace their roots to Classical Liberalism
Socialists believe in the abolition of private property. Modern liberals do not.
Example:
As recently as the 1980s the British Labour Party included the call for the abolition of
private property in its official party platform. Socialist parties elsewhere in Europe
– from Spain to France to Germany and on – either still call for the abolition of
private property or did so until very recently.
In North American the closest the Obama Administration has come to socialism is the
automotive bailout. But even that plan was initiated only because of bankruptcy
in the private sector, and the ultimate goal is to release the company back to the
private marketplace. It is emergency and short-term socialism.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SOCIALISM AND
LIBERALISM
Most socialist states in reality have been controlled by a strong centralized
government
Liberalism calls for open and free elections (in theory) Is this always true?
Socialism calls for major government reform and a push away from capitalism
generally. Is it possible to have a socialist government working with a capitalist
economy?
Almost all Liberal democracies in reality have operated under a capitalist system.
Does capitalism allow for individual freedoms in modern day? How has capitalism
influenced Canadian politics in modern day?
HOME SWEET CANADA
WHICH OF THESE ARE EXAMPLES OF LIBERALISM?
The Woman’s Suffrage Movement in Canada 1900’s-present day
The Red and White Papers 1969 Trudeau and Chretien vs. First Nations Canadians
The Charter of Rights and Freedoms 1982
The Canadian Constitution coming home 1982
Free Trade 1989 USA and Canada
NAFTA 1995 Canada, Mexico, USA
THE FAMOUS FIVE
Emily Murphy (the British Empire's first female judge);
Irene Marryat Parlby (farm women's leader, activist and first female Cabinet minister
in Alberta);
Nellie Mooney McClung (a suffragist and member of the Alberta legislature)
Louise Crummy McKinney (the first woman elected to the Legislative Assembly of
Alberta, or any legislature in Canada or the rest of the British Empire) and
Henrietta Muir Edwards (an advocate for working women and a founding member of
the Victorian Order of Nurses).[1]
THE FAMOUS FIVE
The Famous Five or The Valiant Five were five Canadian women who asked the
Supreme Court of Canada to answer the question, "Does the word 'Persons' in
Section 24 of the British North America Act, 1867, include female persons?" in
the case Edwards v. Canada (Attorney General).[1] The petition was filed on
August 27, 1927,[2] and on 24 April 1928, Canada's Supreme Court summarized
its unanimous decision that women are not persons.
The last line of the judgment reads, "Understood to mean 'Are women eligible for
appointment to the Senate of Canada,' the question is answered in the negative."
This judgment was overturned by the British Judicial Committee of the Privy
Council.
This case, which came to be known as the Persons Case, had important ramifications
not just for women's rights but also because in overturning the case, the Judicial
Committee of the Privy Council engendered a radical change in the Canadian
judicial approach to the Canadian constitution, an approach that has come to be
known as the "living tree doctrine".
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
"The Conservatives want to keep things as they are; the Socialists want to change
everything; the Liberals want to change things too but not so as you'd notice; but
the Communists want to go round killing people."
John Bromilow, 1967 Political Scientist UK
IS THIS TRUE?
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?