Liberalism | Definition, History, & Facts | Britannica
Jan 13, 2025 · Liberalism is a political and economic doctrine that emphasizes individual autonomy, equality of opportunity, and the protection of individual rights (primarily to life, liberty, and property), originally against the state and later against both the state and private economic actors, including businesses.
Liberalism - Equality, Rights, Democracy | Britannica
Jan 13, 2025 · Liberalism - Equality, Rights, Democracy: Such, at any rate, was the verdict reached by an increasing number of liberals in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As noted above, modern liberals held that the point of government is to remove the obstacles that stand in the way of individual freedom.
Liberalism - Equality, Rights, Democracy | Britannica
Liberalism - Equality, Rights, Democracy: The three decades of unprecedented general prosperity that the Western world experienced after World War II marked the high tide of modern liberalism. But the slowing of economic growth that gripped most Western countries beginning in the mid-1970s presented a serious challenge to modern liberalism.
liberalism summary | Britannica
liberalism, Political and economic doctrine that emphasizes the rights and freedoms of the individual and the need to limit the powers of government. Liberalism originated as a defensive reaction to the horrors of the European wars of religion of the 16th century ( …
Liberalism - Individualism, Free Markets, Liberty | Britannica
Jan 13, 2025 · Liberalism - Individualism, Free Markets, Liberty: Although liberal ideas were not noticeable in European politics until the early 16th century, liberalism has a considerable “prehistory” reaching back to the Middle Ages and even earlier.
Classical liberalism | Definition, Origins, Policies, Neoclassical ...
Jan 6, 2025 · classical liberalism, an early form of liberalism, the political-philosophical doctrine which holds that the central problem of politics is the protection of individual freedom or liberty. The term classical liberalism may also refer to actual political systems that instantiate classical-liberal principles.
The origins and evolution of liberalism | Britannica
Liberalism is a political and economic philosophy emphasizing individual autonomy, equal opportunity, and protection of individual rights to life, liberty, and property. Who were the intellectual founders of liberalism?
liberal democracy - Encyclopedia Britannica
Dec 11, 2024 · Liberal democracy, a form of democracy in which the power of government is limited, and the freedom and rights of individuals are protected, by constitutionally established norms and institutions. Like the broader concept of democracy, liberal democracy is what the Scottish philosopher and
Liberalism - Rights, Equality, Freedom | Britannica
Jan 13, 2025 · Liberalism - Rights, Equality, Freedom: The third part of the solution followed from liberalism’s basic commitment to the freedom and integrity of the individual, which the limitation of power is, after all, meant to preserve.
liberalism - Students | Britannica Kids | Homework Help
The political point of view known as liberalism is opposed to any system that threatens the freedom of the individual and prevents people from realizing their full human potential. Liberalism has flourished in Western society since the 18th century, but its history may be divided into two markedly distinct periods—the classical and the modern.