Liberalism, Socialism, and Modern Democratic Thought
Liberalism
Liberalism was born in England in the 18th century as an opposition to tyrannical powers. It argued that the fundamental right is freedom. The most important theorists of this doctrine were Locke and Montesquieu. Locke established that the individual has three basic inalienable rights: the right to life, the right to liberty, and property rights. From this approach, the following consequences are derived:
- The exclusive function of the state is to protect citizens’ rights. The state is not entitled to intervene in any other way in public life.
- It is necessary to control government action to prevent it from using its power to assume functions that are not assigned to it or to violate the rights of citizens.
To exercise the necessary control, the following conditions are required:
- The public authorities must be subject to the law. This is one of the foundations of the rule of law.
- The division of powers. This is the distinction of three levels of power: legislative, executive, and judicial.
Montesquieu formalized this idea, and it inspired its application to modern states. We owe the traditional division into three branches to this thinker:
- Legislative: deals with passing laws and is exercised by Parliament.
- Executive: implements and enforces the laws.
- Judicial: enforces laws through the courts.
The government must be representative of the people. For Locke, the people should elect their representatives by voting to be those who pass the legislation. The power is thus vested in the people.
Socialism and Social Democracy
Socialism is the ideology that underpins the social movements that emerged during the 19th and 20th centuries associated with the labor movement. One of the pioneers of this ideology was Rousseau. In this author, we find two basic notions for socialism:
- The defense of democracies, understood as the realization of the general will. This current claims greater citizen participation in state power.
- The search for equality. Rousseau says there is no freedom if there is no genuine equality.
Welfare State
Social democracy takes the basic tenets of liberalism and accepts private ownership but gives a greater role to state intervention.
Current Democratic Thought
Two different models of society have been given within liberal democracies: the Social and Liberal.
- Social Model: It puts equality on par with freedom. The economic inequality of citizens is corrected by state intervention in social organization.
- Liberal Model: It puts equality on par with freedom. The state does not interfere in the market and economic relations of individuals, as this would restrict the right to private property and freedom.
John Rawls and Neocontractualism
Rawls rephrases the classical idea of the social contract to defend his conception of the welfare state. Thus, his theory is described as neocontractualism. Justice is the cornerstone on which we must build societies, and according to Rawls, all members of society share the same notion of justice.
The Veil of Ignorance
The veil of ignorance prevents people from knowing what position they will occupy in society, what their economic gains and property will be. Rawls thus ensures the impartiality of the members of the group since their positions are not determined by interests that they want to keep. According to Rawls, the principles around which society should be articulated are:
- First principle: Each person must have an equal right to the most extensive system of basic liberties compatible with a similar system of liberty for all.
- Second principle: Social and economic inequalities should be arranged so that both are:
- Addressed to the greatest benefit of the least advantaged.
- Attached to offices and positions open to all under conditions of fair equality of opportunity.
Rawls advocates for an interventionist state that governs social aspects.
Robert Nozick and Liberalism
The most important work of this author is Anarchy, State, and Utopia. Nozick intended to review the state of nature and correct imbalances without having to resort to the state contract. He then introduced a series of protective agencies that individuals would freely join, at their convenience, to protect their rights. Among them, they would establish systems of arbitration to settle their conflicts. Eventually, a dominant protective agency would emerge, which is the minimal state that maintains a monopoly on all use of force.
The state appears spontaneously. It is the theory of the invisible hand of Adam Smith. The state must be reduced to a minimum, such as protecting private property and enforcing contractual agreements.
Nozick asserts the general principle that everything that comes from a just situation by just steps is itself just. This justice takes shape in three parts:
- Justice in acquisitions: how people legitimately come to own property.
- Transfer of belongings: mechanisms of just acquisition.
- Correction of injustice or violation of the two principles above.