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Features of liberal democracy. Free essay
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Liberal Democracy
Representatives elected by the people through free and fair elections. A liberal democracy is a form of representative democracy. Elected representatives who hold power are limited by a constitution that emphasizes protecting individual liberties equality rights to minority groups. Many liberties protected such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion, right to private property. Privacy, equality before the law is guaranteed through various institutions and statutory laws. Liberal democracy prevents majoritarism. The system supports free market system and the demands of goods steer the economy rather than the government. However the few elite that are chosen to represent in liberal democracy may not respect the will of the
Characterized by constitutionally-limited government, an emphasis on (and a wide-spread popular ideological enshrinement of) individual civil rights and liberties, and economic policy exhibiting strong laissez-faire overtones, the American political system certainly warrants the designation liberal democracy. This designation distinguishes the United States from similar advanced industrial democracies whose political systems lend themselves to preserving the public welfare rather than individual rights. With their government bound to precepts established in a constitution drafted and revised by a group of tyranny-fearing individuals, the American populace enjoys one of the most liberal, unrestrictive governments
Liberal freedom is the absence of subjective legal or institutional restraints on the individual, containing the idea that all citizens are to be treated equally. Freedom as self-government involves an assumed individual state of independence, self-determination, superiority, and self-confidence. Participatory freedom includes the right to the individual to partake fully in the political process. Collective deliverance is agreed as the liberation of a group from outside control-from imprisonment, bondage, or domination. (Walton Jr & Smith,
Liberalism is an ideology which advocates equality of opportunity for all within the framework of a system of laws. It includes a belief in government as an institution whose primary function is to define and enforce the laws. Furthermore, a Constitution, must be developed not solely by one ruler but by representatives of the elite groups. Therefore, liberalism invariably involves a belief in the need for legislative bodies which represent the influential groups. The Constitution then defines ...
- Liberalism is a form of political structure where the powers of the government are limited against the people and their property
To begin democracy simply is defined as being for the people, but Zakaria explains how western countries governments version of democracy has meant liberal democracy, a system that has the qualities where there is not only fair and free election, but also constitutional limitation of power that the government has, separation of powers and protection of basic rights such as freedom of speech, assembly, religion and property. Liberal Democracy avoided civil war by providing protection of its citizens and their rights. This form of democracy differs from the historical and theoretical form of democracy. There are many different forms of government besides liberal democracy, in fact, many countries goes through many types of government before becoming a liberal democracy. Countries tend to start of with self-elected ruler that do not protect its people rights, this form of government is an Illiberal Autocracy, then they go on to become a Liberal Autocracy, still self elected but protects its peoples rights, and then finally become Liberal Democracy. Another form of government is illiberal democracy; this government is not free and fair.
Throughout the course of history, mankind has been recorded to corrupt itself. Men have grown tired of simply surviving; they have had to take and conquer others. Absolute monarchies control wealth, land, and even lives of men. The conditions of the people were solely dependent on the conditions of the one who was in power in that particular place and time. History has proven that most men rule unwisely in their kingdoms. To avoid tyrannical rule, some make an attempt to set up a government in which the people ruled themselves. This form of government is called a democracy, or “rule of the people.” History has also revealed through the Greeks and the French Revolution, that a democracy that gives complete power to the people, “absolute democracy”, is nothing more than a short prelude to tyranny.
Can social order be maintained without power? Some political thinkers believe that political order can be maintained with sources such as human nature, the natural harmony of interests, and customs other than power. Rousseau and Marx believed in human nature if men and women were basically good. Locke thought that humans were at bottom reasonable. Edmund Burke was a proponent of habit, prejudice, and respect. The concept of natural harmony of interest is essentially summarized by the theory of classical economists, which is basic rationale for free enterprise. The classical economist regarded humans as materialistic and self-seeking and the social order could be created and sustained with power. The government role would be to ensure and maintain
According to Doyle in his Liberalism and World Politics, “there is no canonical description of liberalism”. But, there are some characteristics that are commonly related to what we call liberal, such as “democracy, individual freedom, political participation, private property and equality of opportunity”. So liberalism is a set of principles and institutions with certain characteristics. The notion of democracy which is part of liberalism is important to fully understand the theory of
Gradually, it was transformed followed in favour of the people and is now known as the representative democracy. Based on the fundamental systems of the direct and the representative democracy, there are three more known democratic systems that was developed and are commonly in use by the people. First, the govern of the liberal democracy, a “version of representative democracy that developed in modern Western societies” (198) which combines the idea of liberalism “with a democratic system of governing based on the election of representatives” (198). This type of democratic system believes in having greater amount of rights and freedom in individuals and establishes laws that limits the actions of the government to avoid the abuse of authorities. This practice of system is currently in use by countries such as Canada, Mexico, and also Asian countries like South Korea. Next, the democratic system with even more superior amount of control within the citizens is referred as the plebiscitary democracy. This type of political system can be related to “populism” which is a view that allows the exercise of giving the citizens full control rather than trusting their decisions on behalf on the representatives. Moreover, plebiscitary democracy believes that the representatives tend to pursue their own career opportunities and additional interests more than the people’s. Thus, prevention
Liberal democracy is capitalistic, industrialized, and democratic. It’s a social democracy was a response to the Great Depression. A free market economy allows collective bargaining to take place throughout these countries – United States, Britain, and France. Additionally, during the 1930s, President Franklin Roosevelt created the New Deal (relief, reform, and recovery), providing jobs, social welfare, and security. It was successful but was unsettled during the Depression.
Liberalism is a political or social philosophy that advocating the freedom of the individual, parliamentary system of government, nonviolent modification of political, social, or economic institutes to assure unrestricted development in all sphere of the human endeavor, and governmental guarantees of individual rights and civil liberties.
Liberalism is universalistic and tolerant. It believes that all persons share fundamental interest in self preservation and material well being. Each individual must be allowed to follow hi s or her own preferences as long as they do not d...
Furthermore, liberalism then leads to democracy which is a form of government in which all eligible citizens participate equally. This can either be done directly or by elected representatives. Democracy encompasses racial, religious, ethnic, social an...
In order to enforce it, however, ideal liberalism calls for mass action. This is due to the fact that the government holds power to execute administrative functions of a state, meaning that an individual has minimal bargaining power. All types of liberalism are founded on this aspect of democracy. Examples include classic liberalism and modern American liberalism. Classic liberalism is based on the limitation of state power. (Hansen 1). This type of liberalism recognizes the state as a powerful being and therefore a threat to individual freedom. On the other hand, modern American liberalism advocates for an advancement of social justice and the rights of individuals. (Hansen 1). The common factor between the two is the need for mass action to enforce them. Therefore, in order to protect the rights of individuals, people have to take it upon themselves to voice concern for violation and to address the risks to their
The idea of an ideal democracy is not a particularly obtainable idea, considering the different in culture and history of countries this could be a dramatic change to previous authoritarian regimes. Although we can work towards this idea of an ideal democracy reaching this goal will be a much harder task. The attributes that contribute to having an ideal democracy are free and fair elections, their capability to implement policies, political participation of the masses and universal adult suffrage, and a multiple party political system.