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To define the system in practice, liberal democracies often draw upon a constitution, either formally written or uncodified, to delineate the powers of government and enshrine the social contract. After a period of sustained expansion throughout the 20th century, liberal democracy became the predominant political system in the world.
Why Liberalism Failed is a critique of political, social, and economic liberalism as practiced by both American Democrats and Republicans.According to Deneen, "we should rightly wonder whether America is not in the early days of its eternal life but rather approaching the end of the natural cycle of corruption and decay that limits the lifespan of all human creations."
The diversity of liberalism can be gleaned from the numerous qualifiers that liberal thinkers and movements have attached to the term "liberalism", including classical, egalitarian, economic, social, the welfare state, ethical, humanist, deontological, perfectionist, democratic, and institutional, to name a few. [64]
Examples of democratic backsliding include: [19] [20] Free and fair elections are degraded; [ 19 ] Liberal rights of freedom of speech , press [ 21 ] and association decline, impairing the ability of the political opposition to challenge the government, hold it to account, and propose alternatives to the current regime; [ 19 ] [ 21 ]
[40] In Europe, liberalism usually means what is sometimes called classical liberalism, a commitment to limited government, laissez-faire economics. This classical liberalism sometimes more closely corresponds to the American definition of libertarianism, although some distinguish between classical liberalism and libertarianism. [41]
Liberal philosopher Thomas Hill Green began to espouse a more interventionist government approach. Green's definition of liberty, influenced by Joseph Priestley and Josiah Warren, was that the individual ought to be free to do as he wishes unless he harms others. [67] Mill was also an early proponent of feminism.
John Locke, a liberal philosopher, was an important theorist of liberal government. Writing in his Two Treatises of Government, Locke reasoned that men living in a state of nature would voluntarily join in a social contract, forming a "commonwealth" or government. Locke further reasoned that the powers of the government had to be restricted to ...
Liberalism is a school of thought within international relations theory which revolves around three interrelated principles: [citation needed] [1] Rejection of power politics as the only possible outcome of international relations; it questions security/warfare principles of realism; Mutual benefits and international cooperation