Classical vs.

Modern
Liberalism 1

Classical vs. Modern Liberalism

Essay 1
Jarrett Anderson
Political Ideologies-POLS 2300

Classical vs. Modern

Liberalism 2
Classical vs. Modern Liberalism
Liberalism, in general terms, is the fundamental ideology of western democratic societies.
Its core tenets are the fabric of western society. As feudalism began to decay in Europe, a market
system, otherwise known as a capitalist society, began to take its place. With the rise of
capitalism, the seemingly radical ideology of liberalism began to take shape. As described by
Andrew Heywood, the core themes of liberalism are, individualism, freedom, reason, justice,
[and] toleration (Heywood, 2007). The prime focus of liberalism was the preeminence of the
individual.
As liberal values evolved throughout the centuries and became normative in western
society, subdivisions arose within liberalism, a term which now describes a wide array of ideas
and modes of thinking focusing on the individual. Among these subdivisions are two that can be
starkly contrasted, namely classic liberalism and modern liberalism.
Towards the end of the 19th century a shift in the ideology of liberalism took place, this
shift being the belief in positive freedom. Beginning with the writings of T.H. Green who
influenced so called new liberals such as L.T Hobhouse and J.A. Hobson, the idea that the
unrestrained market led to unnecessary poverty and economic injustice came to be. This idea
conduced to new thought of the role of the state (Heywood, 52).
To give an example of the influence of this new mode of thinking, we see in history that
due to these new ideas of positive freedom in the United States, the United States federal
government began to become a welfare state, providing what was needed to impoverished
individuals. This began the new mode of what are considered social rights. Some of these new,
so called rights are listed by Andrew Heywood in his book Political Ideologies. Those he
mentioned are: the right to work, the right to education, the right to decent housing, etc.

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Liberalism 3
(Heywood, 56). The idea of positive freedom is that the state should provide these to those
individuals who lack such things in order to help individuals reach their full potential. This shift
in thinking was also influenced by Keynesian economics, which held that the government should
manage the economy of the state by influencing the level of aggregate demand.
Classic liberalism refers to the original ideas before the shift to the idea of positive
freedom. Modern liberalism claims to have built on classic liberalism in the sense that it takes
the principles of freedom and the individual and then gives power to the state in order to develop
the individual. Modern liberals believe in social liberalism, while classic liberals believe in
economic liberalism. The differences lie in what is the proper role of the state. Is it a tool to
enable the people by social welfare programs, or is it simply existent to protect the rights of the
people and stay out of the economic affairs of the individual and civil society? Modern liberalism
strives to rid society of socio-economic injustices through the state. This is not to say classic
liberals don't have the same desire, they just believe these injustices can be self corrected within
civil society without the help of the state, if the individual so desires. This is the idea of
meritocracy, if the individual works hard they can attain what is necessary. Classic liberals
believe this is due to the egoistic self-reliant nature of humans.
We can see the differences in these two ideologies by doing a comparison of how their
views on three separate policies would be based on their ideological perspectives. The three
issues we will compare are health care, taxation, and welfare.
In regards to health care, classic liberals see it as a responsibility that lies to the private
sector. This is because to classic liberals, the market is seen to be morally and practically
superior to government and any form of political control (Heywood). The premise is that
government has a role to protect rights, but not to provide or regulate economics. Modern

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liberals believe in a welfare state, or in other words, a belief that government needs to provide
quality of opportunity. Thus, the government needs to provide the opportunity of welfare to its
citizens. An example of a modern liberals view of healthcare is Barack Obama. In a speech in
Maryland in 2013 he explained that the healthcare system had been broken and for that reason,
thats why we took on a broken healthcare system (Obama, 2013). These ideas, and the
affordable care act developed from a belief that the market is fallible, therefore the government
has a duty to provide.
On taxes, classic liberals hold a belief in negative freedom, or minimal governmental
regulation of the economy. Therefore, taxes are necessary but only to the point of funding what is
absolutely necessary for the government. The government is to provide for defense, protect
rights, and otherwise stay out of economic affairs. Modern liberals, because of their belief in
economic management and a welfare state, will use taxation as a means to bring about equality
of opportunity. This is evident in the U.S. progressive tax, the idea of a higher tax rate as the
taxable increases.
Finally, the views on welfare. Classic liberals believe in a safety net welfare. The
government can help those when absolutely necessary, but once the individual is able to provide
for themselves, the government has no need to provide for said individual. In contrast, modern
liberals believe in cradle to grave welfare. Social inequalities can be diminished by the
government through the redistribution of wealth, but the purpose remains to empower the
individual thus it remains a liberal view, not that of a socialist.
In comparing the two, they stand in stark contrast in economic policy. The difference lies
in their ideas of the market and what truly liberates the individual. The question distinguishing
the two ideologies is simply, what is the proper role of the state?

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Liberalism 5
References
Heywood, Andrew. Political Ideologies: An Introduction. 5th ed. New York: St. Martins, 2012.
Print.
Obama, Barack. "Remarks by the President on the Affordable Care Act." The White House. The
White House, 26 Sept. 2013. Web. 13 June 2016.