POLI 1160 Contemporary Ideologies: Liberalism Comparison Essay

This argumentative essay from a university student, available on Desklib, provides a detailed comparison between classical and modern liberalism. The author argues in favor of modern liberalism, emphasizing its focus on actual freedom, its anti-free market capitalism approach, and its ability to overcome the limitations of classical liberalism. The essay explores the concepts of liberty, free trade, and individual rights within both ideologies, highlighting how modern liberalism addresses the shortcomings of its predecessor. The author contrasts the narrow view of liberty in classical liberalism with modern liberalism's broader perspective, which seeks to protect individuals from both governmental overreach and the negative impacts of capitalism. Furthermore, the essay discusses the evolution of liberalism, its emphasis on individual liberties, and its stance on free markets. The essay concludes by summarizing the key arguments and reiterating the preference for modern liberalism due to its comprehensive approach to individual liberty and economic justice. The essay includes citations and a list of academic references.

Running head: CONTEMPORARY IDEOLOGIES
DO YOU PREFER CLASSICAL OR MODERN LIBERALISM?
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

1CONTEMPORARY IDEOLOGIES
As stated by Lemke (2017), the political and the moral ideology of liberalism focus on
the concepts of liberty, equality before the law and the consent or the approval of all the
individuals who are being governed. Colander and Freedman (2018) are of the viewpoint that
liberalism emerged in the wake of the autocratic rule which had been followed by the different
rulers or the kings since the traditional times and thus the various leaders of the Glorious
Revolution (1688), the American Revolution (1776) and the French Revolution (1789) focused
on this particular ideology. More importantly, this particular political ideology advocates for free
trade, freedom of speech, free markets, freedom of the press, individual liberty of the individuals,
inequality and other similar concepts (Bastos, 2019). However, over the years it had been seen
that this particular ideology had undergone a significant transformation and on the basis of these
changes is being categorized into classical liberalism and modern liberalism. I personally prefer
the political ideology of modern liberalism in comparison to classical liberalism because of its
emphasis on actual freedom of the individuals, its anti-free market capitalism approach and also
the manner in which it had helped in overcoming the shortcomings or the limitations of the
classical liberalism.
An important factor because of which I prefer modern liberalism over classical liberalism
is because of its emphasis on the aspect of the actual freedom of the individual rather than
merely supposed freedom on which classical liberalism focuses upon. Hunt Jr.and Ross (2019)
are of the viewpoint that it is true that the ideology of classical liberalism focused on the concept
of liberty at the same time it was seen that the focus of this particular ideology on the attribute of
liberty was too narrow in outlook. Adding to this, Gaus (2019) has noted that within the premise
of classical liberalism, liberty denoted the liberty of the individual from the different forms of
government and that they should have the right to do things that they wanted (within the limits of

2CONTEMPORARY IDEOLOGIES
law) and also should be treated with equality. However, as Rousseau stated “Man is born free but
every where he is in chain” it had been seen that although through the usage of the ideology of
classical liberty the leaders were being able to offer from the governmental forms to the people
yet they failed in doing so when it came to capitalism (McCoy, 2017). For instance, it was seen
that because of the insistent focus of this particular ideology on the attributes of free markets and
free trade a situation emerged wherein only a few individuals had the liberty to advantage of
these constructs (Deneen, 2017). However, the ideology of modern liberalism does not hold this
narrow view of liberty and thus it is seen that the focus of this particular ideology is on the
liberty of the individuals both from the different governmental forms and also from the negative
connotations of the process of capitalism as well (Berg, 2018). More importantly, it is seen that
this particular ideology tries to nullify the above mentioned verdict or the dictum of Rousseau by
trying to create the kind of world wherein the individuals would have all forms of liberty and
thereby would be able to do all the things that they want to without hindering the fulfillment of
the fundamental rights of the others as well as within the premise of the law as well.
The anti-free market capitalism approach of modern capitalism is another important
attribute of the same which makes it more appealing in comparison to the ideology of classical
liberalism. Bean et al. (2017) are of the viewpoint that during the rule of the different kings or
the rulers in the ancient or the traditional times the liberties of the individuals were significantly
restricted and thus it was seen that only a handful of individuals were being able to prosper
because of the favor that they received from the kings or the rulers. Adding to this, Ellerman
(2020) has noted that the ideology of liberalism emerged or arouse primarily to stop this
particular evil and thereby to offer adequate amount of opportunities to all the individuals.
However, over the years it had been seen that the over-emphasis of the ideology of classical

3CONTEMPORARY IDEOLOGIES
ideology on the aspects of free markets, free trade, economic freedom of the individuals and
others had given to the situation wherein just like the ancient or the traditional times only a
handful number of people with the right of power as well as influence had been able to benefit
from these (Deneen, 2019). More importantly, this also culminated in the situation wherein it
was seen that although the individuals were being able to able to attain personal and political
liberty yet a substantial void still remained when it came to economic liberty. However, this
problem does not arise with the usage of the ideology of modern liberalism which is completely
has an anti-free market capitalism approach and thereby strongly repudiates all forms of
capitalistic activities (Schaefer, 2019). In this relation, it needs to be said that the focus of this
particular ideology is on offering adequate amount of liberty wherein while getting adequate
economic liberty they would be able to fulfill their economic expectations in such a manner that
it would interfere with the fulfillment of the economic expectations of the other individuals
(Berg, 2018). This in turn would lead to the creation of a world wherein the individuals would
not only have adequate amount of economic liberty but would also not have to face the
exploitations that they had to face on the score of the capitalism which grew popular in the face
of the extensive usage of the ideology of classical liberalism (Lemke, 2017). This strong stance
of the ideology of modern liberalism against the evil of capitalism by adopting an anti-free
market capitalism approach is an important factor that had propelled me to prefer modern
liberalism over classical liberalism.
An important aspect of modern liberalism which not it makes it better but also preferable
in comparison to the ideology of classical liberalism can be attributed to the fact that it actually
tries to overcome the limitations or for that matter the shortcoming of classical liberalism.
Colander and Freedman (2018) are of the viewpoint that an important limitation of the ideology

4CONTEMPORARY IDEOLOGIES
of classical liberalism was the fact whereas it claimed to focus on the aspect of liberty of all
forms for the individuals yet in reality it was seen that the major form of liberty on which the
concerned ideology actually focused on the liberty of the individuals from the coercive actions of
the governments or the rulers. This however did not safeguard the individuals from the evils of
capitalism and others which equally impacted their lives and thereby reduced the quality of life
that they led. The ideology of modern liberalism on the other hand advocates for the liberty of
the individuals from all forms of evils be it from the government, from economic suppression
and others (McCoy, 2017). This becomes apparent from the anti-free market capitalism approach
or the stance of the ideology of modern liberalism which is completely missing in classical
liberalism and in a way it can be said that this particular stance of modern liberalism makes it a
significantly improvement ideology over the classical liberalism and also helps it to overcome
the shortcomings or the limitations of the same as well (Berg, 2018). Adding to this, Hunt Jr. and
Ross (2019) has noted that another important limitation of classical liberalism is that by focusing
too much on the aspects of free markets, free trade and others it created the kind of situation
wherein capitalism reigned supreme. This in turn also gave rise to different unfortunate incidents
like the Great Depression of the 1930s wherein the individuals struggled to meet even the bare
necessities of their life (Gaus, 2019). Thus, the anti-free market capitalism approach of modern
capitalism can been seen as a effort of the concerned ideology to overcome this particular
limitation or the shortcoming of the classical liberalism and this in turn makes modern liberalism
more preferable to me.
To conclude, the construct of liberalism argues for liberty of all the individuals, their
equality, the consent of the individuals who are being government and others. More importantly,
over the years it had been seen that two major forms of liberalism had gained prominence,

5CONTEMPORARY IDEOLOGIES
namely, the classical liberalism and the modern liberalism. However, at the same time it needs to
be said that the modern liberalism is better as well as preferable in comparison to classical
liberalism. In this relation, it needs to be said that the focus of modern liberalism on forms of
liberty rather than just political liberty, its anti-free market capitalism approach or stance and the
fact that it tries to overcome the shortcomings or for that matter the limitations of classical
liberalism makes it appealing as well as preferable. These aspects of liberalism become apparent
from the above discussion of the same in the particular context of classical liberalism and
modern liberalism.

6CONTEMPORARY IDEOLOGIES
References
Bastos, F. I. (2019). Drug policies in contemporary Brazil: contributions from science, clinical
practice, and modern liberalism. Cadernos de saude publica, 35, e00125519.
Bean, J., Beito, D. T., Brown, M., Bunyk, M., Ealy, L. T., Eicholz, H., & Skwire, S.
(2017). What is Classical Liberal History?. Lexington Books.
Berg, C. (2018). Classical Liberalism and the Public-Private Division. In The Classical Liberal
Case for Privacy in a World of Surveillance and Technological Change (pp. 17-34).
Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Berg, C. (2018). The Classical Liberal Case for Privacy in a World of Surveillance and
Technological Change. Springer.
Colander, D., & Freedman, C. (2018). Where Economics Went Wrong: Chicago's Abandonment
of Classical Liberalism. Princeton University Press.
Deneen, P. J. (2017). The Tragedy of Liberalism. The Hedgehog Review, 19(3), 38-52.
Deneen, P. J. (2019). Why liberalism failed. Yale University Press.
Ellerman, D. P. (2020). Reclaiming Democratic Classical Liberalism. In Reclaiming
Liberalism (pp. 1-39). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Gaus, G. F. (2019). The modern liberal theory of man. Routledge.
Henry, C. (2016). Review of" Hayek's Modern Family: Classical Liberalism and the Evolution of
Social Institutions" by Steven Horwitz. Journal of Markets and Morality, 19(1).

7CONTEMPORARY IDEOLOGIES
Hunt Jr, B. A., & Ross, R. (2019). Limits of modern liberalism during the american founding:
The'Anti-democratic thought'of Jefferson and Adams. History of Political
Thought, 40(2), 302-326.
Lemke, J. (2017). Steven Horwitz, Hayek’s Modern Family: Classical Liberalism and the
Evolution of Social Institutions. The Review of Austrian Economics, 30(4), 533-537.
McCoy, C. N. (2017). The Outcome of Autonomous Natural Law: Classical Liberalism and
Conservatism. In The Structure of Political Thought (pp. 189-214). Routledge.
McCoy, C. N. (2017). The structure of political thought: a study in the history of political ideas.
Routledge.
Schaefer, D. L. (2019). Montaigne: Founder of Modern Liberalism. Perspectives on Political
Science, 48(1), 33-45.