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Liberalism | Definition, History, & Facts | Britannica

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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. The intellectual founders of liberalism were the English philosopher John Locke (1632–1704), who developed a theory of political authority based on natural individual rights and the consent of the governed, and the Scottish economist and philosopher Adam Smith (1723–90), who argued that societies prosper when individuals are free to pursue their self-interest within an economic system based on private ownership of the means of production and competitive markets, controlled neither by the state nor by private monopolies. In John Locke’s theory, the consent of the governed was secured through a system of majority rule, whereby the government would carry out the expressed will of the ele

liberalism Introduction & Top Questions General characteristics Classical liberalism Political foundations Liberalism and democracy Separation of powers Periodic elections Rights Economic foundations Liberalism and utilitarianism Liberalism in the 19th century Modern liberalism Problems of market economies The modern liberal program Limited intervention in the market Greater equality of wealth and income World War I and the Great Depression Postwar liberalism to the 1960s Contemporary liberalism The revival of classical liberalism Civil rights and social issues Legacy and prospects References

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