In 1982, President Reagan gave a speech before the British Parliament, he announced a “crusade for freedom” and a “campaign for democratic development”. These liberal claims are that of Liberal Peace, also called Democratic Peace or Democratic Liberalism. 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 …show more content…
The Liberal Peace Theory
A/ What is the definition of the Liberal Peace Theory ?
According to Zenonas Tziarras, “Democratic Liberalism is based on the notion that liberal democracies are more peaceful and law-abiding in relation to other political systems. The liberal peace theory and therefore liberal peace-building, have become more prominent after the end of the Cold War because of the predominance of the western ideology”. The liberal peace theory is based on the fact that liberal democracies have never fought a war against each other, they only fight autocracies. In his essay A dyad of Democracy and Economic Interdependence, Ground in Agent Desires, David R. Newbrander explains that the desire of individuals for security and felicty is what encourages people to get together in order to create a government that would “provide protection from threats, enforcement of law, and stability for industry”.
B/ Evolution of the theory
The Liberal Peace theory appeared in the late 1970s but has deeper roots. Indeed, its main principles can be found in Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan (1651) and in Immanuel Kant Perptual Peace (1795). Principles from those two books are gathered to create this
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They explained that the main goal of political leaders is to be reelected in order to remain in office and that to achieve this goal they will threaten to use force to resolve a conflict only if there is a high possibility of a successful result. Indeed, according to Kant, when given the choice, very few people would vote positively to go to war and since the state is ruled by a democratic government representing the people, it is supposed to make the same choice as the people. The theorists of this era said that democracies were characterized by norms of non-violent conflict resolution, compromise and the rule of law. They claimed that these norms are externalized into the international
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 ...
Classical liberalism is a theory of democracy that saids the best kind of government is one
- Liberalism is a form of political structure where the powers of the government are limited against the people and their property
He then further explains the growth pattern between those eras which has led to the current ideology of liberal democracy. He believes that liberal democracy is the best ideology and that it is the final stage in human ideological development. He further suggested that human history should be viewed as a progression or battle of ideologies. With the current trend of universalization of liberal democracy and individualism, both characteristics of Western culture, he argues that Western liberal democracy has become the grand victor. He also asserts that despite the liberal democratic ideology has not completely been realized in the material world, the idea has been accepted and has triumphed over all alternate ideologies.
Liberalism is an ideology and due to the changing views of historical persons, who have each viewed themselves to be Liberals, is difficult to define precisely. There are five agreed defining tenants of Liberalism. The most important of these, percolating through the ideology, is the ‘Importance of the Individual’, and closely interlinked with this is ‘Freedom’, which leads on to the concept of ‘Individual Freedom or liberty’. Liberals believe that humankind is a rational species, and thus ‘Reason’ is a third tenant. Furthermore Liberalism advocates that the principle of ‘Justice’ and Toleration’ are fundamental in the well being of society and each of these aspects relates directly back to the quintessential first tenant. Liberalism, according to Habermas “emphasizes individual freedom from restraint and is usually based on free competition, the self-regulating market, and the gold standard; c: a political philosophy based on belief in progress, the essential goodness of the human race, and the autonomy of the individual and standing for the protection of political and civil liberties.” As an individualist, rather than a collectivist ideology the individual is placed as the building block of society. J. S. Mill says ...
Liberalism, formed in the latter part of the 18th Century from opposition to existing political monarchies in Europe, was based on rights of individuals and the responsibility of government to protect those rights. Conservative philosophy was born as a reaction to dangerous tendencies detected within the liberal movement toward excessive governmental control. While conservatives form the base of their beliefs on traditional values, respect for authority, and maintaining custom, liberals fought government tendencies to diminish, ignore, or abuse individual human rights. Both beliefs balanced each other until liberalism shifted its emphasis from protecting individual rights from government to using government as a source for supplying basic life necessities. The modern liberal agenda began as President Johnson's Great Society to wipe out poverty and enhance the quality of life for all Americans.
In order for countries to cohesively overcome international barriers, frameworks of ideal political standards must be established. Two of these frameworks constantly discussed in international relations are the theories of Neo-realism and Liberalism; two theories with their own outlook at the way politicians should govern their country as well as how they should deal with others. Neo-realism lies on the structural level, emphasizing on anarchy and the balance of power as a dominant factor in order to maintain hierarchy in international affairs. In contrast, Liberalism's beliefs are more permissive, focusing on the establishments of international organizations, democracy, and trade as links to strengthen the chain of peace amongst countries. Liberalism provides a theory that predominantly explains how states can collaborate in order to promote global peace; however, as wars have been analyzed, for example World War II, the causes of them are better explained by Neo-realist beliefs on the balance of power and states acting as unitary actors. Thus, looking out for their own self interest and security.
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-derived from the Latin word ‘liber’ which means “free and not enslaved”- is seen as the dominant ideology of the western civilisation. During the European history before the modern society, it was characterised by absolutism and feudalism. That time was also called ‘the age of absolutism’.... ... middle of paper ... ...
In conclusion realist and liberalist theories provide contrasting views on goals and instruments of international affairs. Each theory offers reasons why state and people behave the way they do when confronted with questions such as power, anarchy, state interests and the cause of war. Realists have a pessimistic view about human nature and they see international relations as driven by a states self preservation and suggest that the primary objective of every state is to promote its national interest and that power is gained through war or the threat of military action. Liberalism on the other hand has an optimistic view about human nature and focuses on democracy and individual rights and that economic independence is achieved through cooperation among states and power is gained through lasting alliances and state interdependence.
The liberalism and the realism approaches the international relations from very different perspective, and even though many of its views contrast from each other, the ...
By Kukathas’ definition, liberalism is the freedom from oppression, or the freedom to do as one pleases, and has nothing to do with the active promotion of one or any group. He states the best liberal government, in essence, does nothing at all. As soon as the government gets involved in the interests of different groups and the promotion of certain qualities, the ideals of the government no longer align with the ideals of true
The democratic peace theory stems from the generally optimistic liberal tradition which advocates that something can be done rectify the effects of an anarchical system, especially when it comes to war or conflict. For democratic peace theorists, the international system should be one in which there is cooperation and mutual benefits of the states are taken into consideration. The theory depends on liberal ideologies of civil liberties, democratic institutions and fairly elected governments and claims that liberal democracies are different from other systems of government as they do not conflict with other democracies due to the very nature of the liberal thinking and the pacifying role that democracy itself plays. According to the theory, the thought process behind democracies abstaining from war is that...
To start, Liberalism traces its roots back to the Enlightenment period (Mingst, 2008) where many philosophers and thinkers of the time began to question the established status quo. Such as the prevailing belief in religious superstition and began to replace it with a more rational mode of thinking and a belief in the intrinsic goodness of mankind. The Enlightenment period influenced Liberalism’s belief that human beings are thinkers who are able to naturally understand the laws governing human social conduct and by understanding these laws, humans can better their condition and live in harmony with others (Mingst, 2008). Two of the most prominent Liberal Internationalists of the Enlightenment period were Immanuel Kant and Jeremy Bentham who both thought that international relations were conducted in a brutal fashion. It was Kant who compared international relations as “the lawless state of savagery” (Baylis and Smith, 2001, pp 165). It was also Kant who believed nations could form themselves into a sort of united states and overcome international anarchy through this (Mingst, 2008). This was probably the beginning of a coherent belief in a sort of union of sovereign states. Toward the end of the seventeenth century William Penn believed a ‘diet’ (parliament) could be set up in Europe, like the European Union of today (Baylis and Smith, 2001). We can see much of this liberal thinking today in organizations such as the United Nations.
...titutions and most importantly the citizens. To expect all the citizens in a democracy to lack ambition and greed is practically impossible, especially when modern society teaches individuals that ambition is a necessary component of success. Yet, there are nations that do ascribe to the democratic ideals as realistically as possible. By allowing and encouraging citizens to vote and by creating and implementing laws equally these democratic governments are instituting some of the most important ideals of a democratic government.