Political liberalism is a doctrine that aims to guarantee rights considered fundamental:the right to liberty, property and equality before the law .
Liberal thought emerges, in the 17th century, as a critical response to the unlimited power of the absolutist monarchy. It proposes a new society, with limitations on the power of the State and the guarantee of individual freedom.
According to Thomas Paine, in Common Sense (1776), the State is "a necessary evil". This is because the State would be a risk to freedoms, but also responsible for guaranteeing rights based on the laws.
This relationship between guaranteeing rights and limiting the power of the State is a fundamental feature of liberal thought.
For John Locke, "father of liberalism", laws are the guarantee of protection of the natural rights of human beings:life, liberty and property.
He stated that:
Locke proposed that the state should intervene as little as possible in people's lives , acting only as a judge for the resolution of conflicts.
Thus, the idea is born that all individuals are equal before the laws, without privileges , like those previously attributed to the nobility.
Liberal thought guided the bourgeois revolutions that took place from the 17th century onwards. The power of absolutist monarchies lost strength and gave way to a new organization of the State. The liberal state.
Thus, political liberalism became fundamental to the development of economic liberalism. According to which the economy, like the lives of individuals, should not have a direct influence of the State.
Read more:
- Economic Liberalism
- Populism