Resistance to Liberalism Essay

People’s views on a wide range of issues are influenced or determined by the kind of foundational belief systems they hold. Therefore, the difference in the nature of opinions among individuals or groups of people alludes to the existence of distinct belief systems. In the course of history, the distinction between Liberalism and Conservatism has become more vivid particularly in the political arena where various players have expressed opposing points of view regarding the nation’s future. It is indeed undisputable that the foundational beliefs of Liberalism are diametrically opposed to those of Conservatism. This essay will give a definition of each term and describe how the two oppose each other.

Classic liberalism is a political ideology that advocates limited government constitutionalism, rule of law, due process, individual liberties including freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and free markets. The Age of Enlightenment was a cultural movement of intellectuals in Europe and the United States, whose purpose was to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted science and intellectual interchange and opposed superstition, intolerance and abuses by church and state.

Liberalism started with the ideas of the Enlightenment. Two of these ideas were freedom of speech and freedom of the individual, and kept growing from there. Liberalism is the belief in a small central government and no monarchy. The liberalists defended the ideas of the definitive rights of an individual’s liberty, equality and property. The liberalists wanted their government to be established on written laws and a constitution based on equality.

Typically Liberalism can be categorized into two different strands, Classical and Modern (yet some thinkers advocate a third strand that is referred to as Neo-Liberalism), each characterized by their differing and to some extent unavoidably overlapping attitudes regarding the theory behind the ideology and how it should be put into practice. Prior to examining how these relate to one another and before making any comparisons, it is important to give a definition, as best as possible, of Liberalism as a concept.

The latter part of the Civil Rights Movement was characterized by action and change as it was no longer centralized in the South or only fought for by black individuals. Rather, northerners were active in achieving black equality and the white community was campaigning for integration. Although many lost their lives in this struggle, their valiancy did not go unrewarded and soon enough African Americans were able to vote, work, study, and simply eat lunch beside white individuals.

The conservative movement has played a crucial role in American politics in the post war era. Ronald Story and Bruce Laurie indentify various elements of the American conservatism. These elements include challenging authoritarian governments and modernist culture, upholding tradition, Christian religion and the rule of law, defending western civilization, and supporting republicanism. American conservatism has been characterized by competing ideologies and tension throughout history. The Americans who are politically liberal and economically conservative favor free trade, minimal state intervention, low taxes, and a small government. On the other hand, conservatives hold the view that American traditional values are normally undermined by

civil and political liberties, and protection under the law. In the 19th Century, liberalism was centered on a transfer of power from the church to the state. They favored individual rights, state control on eduction, an end to slavery, and on

Liberalism is a collection of political, social and economic philosophies that is centered around the rights of personal liberties, civil rights, economic freedom, controlled and democratic government and the rule of law. A controlled and democratic government is instrumental to liberalism. A controlled government is one restricted by the law. The most common example of this can be found in the United States Constitution. The Constitution has outlined the roles and restrictions of each branch of government while also setting a system of checks and balances.

Realism and Liberalism are two extremely prominent theories of international relations. These doctrines exhibit sagacious perceptions about war, foreign affairs and domestic relations. The fundamental principles of protocol in which we rely upon aren’t always apprehensive (Karle, Warren, 2003). By interpreting the data one could fathom these ideas. The assessment of these faculties wield noteworthy dominance about the concepts of international affairs. In analyzing this data, you will comprehend the variant relationship between Realism and Liberalism.

Liberalism repeatedly challenged revived conservatism in the period between 1815 and 1900. Liberalism demanded representative government, equality before the law, and specific individual freedoms: freedom of the press, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom from arbitrary arrest. In 1815, only France and Great Britain had realized much of the liberal program. Liberalism in this time period was dulled down. Liberalism faced radical ideological competitors in the early 19th century, like Metternich. The idea of laissez faire economics and Adam Smith’s Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations resonated with the British business class. Liberal economic ideas helped promote economic growth during the Industrial Revolution.

Classical liberalism is the transition from focusing on government to focusing on the rights of individuals. This transition came about during the time of the Enlightenment in the eighteenth century. The Enlightenment period was when man started to have more faith in his own reasoning. People began to look for evidence on their beliefs themselves and to find proof on these beliefs, so that they could come up with their own opinions on things. One way that they did this was by going back and rereading Roman and Greek texts and retranslating these texts. This new way of thinking also caused the Protestant Reformation to occur. Some of the most influential Enlightenment writers were John Locke, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, and the people of France’s National Constituent Assembly.

In a world where the drive for power and the will to dominate are held to be fundamental aspects of human nature as the Classical Realists would argue, the necessity for International Organizations cannot be dismissed as some liberalists argue. According to Iriye 2002, IGO’s consists of institutions that come into existence through formal agreements among nations and represent their corresponding governments (Iriye 2002, Pg. 12-14). With that in mind, some liberalists argue that joining international organizations and institutions like the United Nations socializes some leaders so that their motivations are more benign (Dunne 2011, Pg. 103). I am convinced to a certain extent with this idea as I feel that even though classical realists argue that every man has within him the desire to rule or the desire for power (Dunne and Schmidt 2011, Pg. 90). When several leaders come together all from different IR theoretical backgrounds (liberalists, realists, constructivists) each decision they make comes collectively thus not leaving too much room for their individual biases based on their theoretical perspectives to impact important international relations issues "negatively". Although I highly doubt if anything can be done to control the human desire for power accumulation as a classical realist would say, a part of the psyche of man, I do believe the liberalists argument to be of substance.

Resistance to liberalism starts from the desire to change old structures and build new ones. This can sometimes involve burning down nations while making another stronger. History began to see stronger ideas of change and new thoughts as the enlightenment came about. Not wanting to be challenged, the church forced many to stay quiet, some of which brought new ideas that we know of today. Galileo was told to keep quiet about his inquiries on the universe, as the church feared that people would begin to question them. These thoughts were founded in a resistance to liberalism, and without change, would have impeded societal and scientific progress. Therefore the reformation came, and freedom of thought challenged the overpowering church. One can see that liberalism is a key to progress in many aspects of society and

Liberalism is one of the dominant international as well as national theories in the world. Despite this, realism also considered the strongest international theory especially last five decades due to international conflicts occurred many times such as war, cold war and terrorism and liberalism was not effective policy. On the other hand, liberalism is still major subject in politics at the present time and it has also been very influential in history of world politics. Initially, it is useful to look at key dates and definition of liberalism. The knowledge of liberalism emerged in 17-18 century and Emmanuel Kant (1724-1804) had a major influence on this subject. This theory is been evolved since that and liberalism was very influential on western states especially by top policy makers in the begging of 20th century as well as it was regarded as idealism. (((Tim dune , smith book, p102))). Generally, liberalism can be defined as democracy, free trade, law and international institutions and this will result in peace and progress (lec slide show Kant fomula))). However, it is worth discussing broader definition of liberalism with four dimensional definition (((Doyle 1997:207, smith book, p 102, 1st row)))). Firstly, according to Doyle all citizens have equal right and have power for basic rights such as freedom of speech, education and religious rights. Secondly, state cannot mistreat citizens and it should be investigated by the people. Next, individuals have a liberty to

Liberalism is……………………………………., first liberal was Johan Locke who was ‎liberal in the 17th century. Liberalist have optimistic conceive of human nature. They ‎also identified that every person is self-interested and even combative.Liberlists ‎disagreed with the statement that conflict and warfare are unavoidable.‎‏"‏Conflict and ‎war are not inevitable; when people employ their reason they can achieve mutually ‎beneficial cooperation not only within states but also across international ‎boundaries‏"‏‎ Jackson &Sorensen,( 2010, p.97) . What is more it that , the basic ‎