7.1.8 Evaluating Illiberal Acts in a Liberal Democracy


Martin Luther King, Jr. arrested for 'loitering" in Montgomery  Alabama, September 4th, 1958. Image courtesy of the Associated Press, Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain.
In this section, you considered how to balance individual and collective rights in modern liberal societies.

How can we ensure that individual and collective rights are maintained in the face of the following challenges?

  1. religious rights vs equality rights
  2. individual rights vs rule of law
  3. individual freedoms vs collective security
  4. economic freedom today vs sustainability for the future

These are serious issues faced by all modern societies, and there are no easy answers. However, these questions lie at the heart of the issue for this section, which is:


  • To what extent is modern liberalism a viable ideology to deal with contemporary issues?
  • How do you, as a participant in a democratic society, decide when illiberalism is justified?



Read "Ethics and the Common Good" on page 351 of your text Perspectives on Ideology.