Modern Political Thoery and Liberalism

Modern Political Thoery and Liberalism

The subject given for this paper was to “assess the alienation from liberalism found in modern and contemporary political theory.” To be honest, I don’t see a correlation with alienating liberalism and modern political thought through the time line of political theory in the 18th and19th century and through the 20th century. So, for this paper, I will prove the opposite. I will show, in my opinion, how the rise of liberalism has kept alive modern and contemporary political thought and action. I will begin with what I know of the beginning of liberal ideas and move through time showing how these liberal movements have been the basis for major changes in countries and that liberalism, in my opinion, has not been alienated.

The French Revolution marks the beginning of liberalism where the community lashed out against French society. This is where status was legally stratified by birth. In consequence, French citizens persistently negotiated with one another and with the crown for better and more human rights. This is the marking of citizens wanting “natural rights” and lashing out against a political organization/government in order to achieve this. Webster’s Dictionary defines Liberal as “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.”(Webster) I think that the rebel of citizens in the French Revolution fits perfectly into this definition and marks the basis for the subject of political thought.

During the and after Industrial Revolution, due to liberalism, the social structure of society changed considerably. Before the Revolution most people lived in small villages, working either as farmers or craftsmen. With industrialization everything changed. The new enclosure law had left many poor farmers bankrupt and unemployed and machines capable of huge outputs made small hand weavers redundant. As a result, there were many people who were forced to work at the new factories. This required them to move to towns and cities so that they could be close to their new jobs. It also meant that they made less money for working longer hours. Add to this the higher living expenses due to urbanization and one can easily see that many families' resources would be extremely ...

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...ere many outcries for women’s rights through liberalism and this was the basis of Political thought in the late 19th century and early 20th century. This is another example of how liberalism was kept alive in modern Political Thought.

There are many feats in liberalism that lead the topic of Modern Political Thought The effect of liberal thought and ideals such as anti-welfare, anti-government regulation of business, anti-minimum wage, anti-income tax, pro-free trade, etc, is the basis for modern Political Thought which leads the way in conversation and essays about Modern Political Thought through liberalism.

In this paper I have shown a timeline of modern liberal thinking which translates into Modern Political Theory and thought. I have shown how, in my opinion, the rise of liberalism has kept alive modern and contemporary political thought and action. I began with the French Revolution and showed the timeline of liberal movements and liberal thought which in turn a basis for political thinking was. All of which shows the opposite of the “Alienation form liberalism mound in modern and contemporary theory and thinking.”

Works Cited

http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary