2.1.7 Specific Political and Economic Ideas

2.1.7 Specific Political & Economic Ideas

Classical Political Liberalism

The word politics refers to how power is distributed in society, including the powers of government. You have learned about the Western world before the ideas supporting classical liberalism came about. Specifically, what did these new ideas mean in terms of the distribution of power and the role of government?

In Social 20-1, you learned about the Enlightenment philosophers of France who rejected the idea of themselves as subjects of a king and replaced the concept with the idea of being citizens of a nation. Although the French Revolution was a nationalist movement, it was also a liberal movement. It represented a rejection of absolute rule by one individual in favour of rule by a government of the people. It replaced a social and governmental system based on heredity, privilege, and ties to the Church with one based on equality and rights. It replaced the substantial powers of the existing government with more limited government.

During the Enlightenment, many philosophes (French economists) questioned traditional ideas, including the existence of God, God's role in human affairs if He did exist, and the right of the king to rule over his subjects with absolute power.

Their ideas about human nature led them to believe that individual people should hold power in society by deciding who should rule. By challenging centuries-old ideas about government and the monarchs' right to rule, the thinkers of the Enlightenment laid the groundwork for the overthrow of many of Europe's monarchies. These monarchies were replaced eventually by liberal democracies.

Classical Economic Liberalism

In his 1776 work, The Wealth of Nations, Scottish economist Adam Smith argued that the freedom to own property and to produce, sell, and buy goods without government intervention would generate ultimately national wealth far more effectively that mercantilism. Smith believed that people seek instinctively what is best for them. He thought that this self-interest should be expressed freely in an environment of unlimited competition-a free-market system.

Smith held that the natural interplay between buyers and sellers and between workers and employers would ensure ultimately that goods were produced efficiently and economically. Government meddling in the economy would be unnecessary.

Competition among consumers for products, among businesses for consumers' dollars, among workers for jobs, and among employers for skilled workers would make the economy self-regulating. Smith referred to this as the invisible hand. As individuals strove to better their own economic situation, the economy of the nation as a whole would also benefit.

Classical liberals had a far more expansive understanding of the term minimal government interference than exists today. As capitalist ideals became popular, there was little government regulation or oversight of business or business practices.


In this section, you have looked at the ideas that influenced the development of classical liberalism.