An Analysis of Political Ideologies: Freedom, Tolerance & Human Rights

This essay examines political ideologies, focusing on the concepts of freedom and tolerance through the lens of liberalism. It discusses the limits of liberal toleration, highlighting the distinction between liberal and illiberal thoughts and the challenges associated with implementing liberal approache...Read More

Running head: POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES
Political Ideologies
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES
The Limits of Liberal Toleration:
It is evident that the concept of freedom is a long debated topic and therefore is
essentially contested. In this regard, it is noteworthy to mention here that the view of
classical conservatives differs from the perspective of a liberalist. It is worth noting that
the existing ideologies in the society are engaged in the promotion of freedom. The
essay is commissioned to examine the approach of liberalism towards the concepts of
freedom and tolerance. (75).
With the emergence of liberalism in a modern society, individuals were concerned that
actual freedom has not been obtained. However, according to the theory of liberalism,
states play a major role in identifying the importance of freedom in a modern world. It
can be mentioned that the concept of classical liberalism not only forms an important
part of political philosophy but is also concerned with those attributes of life which
preserves life and promotes individual liberty (BALL, DAGGER and I. O’NEILL 2011).
From the very beginning, freedom of speech and freedom of association were
considered to be legitimate however; in recent era classical liberals emphasized that it
is the duty of the State to protect life and property of the individuals. In the perspective
of the liberals, there is a right entrusted on every individual regarding equal and moral
rights (Galeotti 2015). According to liberalism, it is important on the part of individuals to
work according to their free will. However, it is important on the part of the society to
accept the changing array of lifestyles and choices and be tolerant towards those differ
from the norms of the society. Modern authors argued that with the implementation of

2POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES
liberalism on the concept of tolerance, the end results were not satisfactory (Galeotti
2015). However, the classical liberals entirely accepted the diversity of lifestyle choices
that the society refused to tolerate. (230).
It can be noted that various difficulties are associated with the approach initiated by the
liberals. Contemporary authors were of the view that the approach implemented by
classical liberalists restricted the application of certain laws which promotes freedom
and tolerance. The perspectives of the contemporary authors can be agreed on the
ground that there is a distinction between liberal and illiberal thoughts. Liberal thoughts
can be tolerated as it promotes well being of the society. On the other hand, illiberal
thoughts cannot be tolerated because it spreads hatred among the individuals. In the
argument, it can be stated that tolerance means to show a degree of endurance
towards the diversity of human life. Liberals have accepted these diversities because it
deals with the freedom of individuals in a society. In their perspective, the exposure of
human beings to accept diverse way of living proves to be beneficial for the society.
However, in modern era these approaches do not apply as every person has the right to
express their thoughts and religious belief however; such belief should not be
associated with hatred and prejudice. (183).
The Politics of Human Rights:
The author intended to highlight the rights depicted in the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

3POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES
The author emphasized that there is a major distinction between positive and negative
freedoms. In his perspective, the subject matter of positive freedom deals with the ability
to prove something while negative freedom is associated with the existing laws required
for combating discrimination. Therefore, the intention of the author is to emphasize that
both positive and negative freedom are important in terms of their roles in the state. In
this regard, the author stated that the subject matter of negative freedom occupies
limited position while positive freedom acquires greater role for the purpose of state
activities. Therefore, the author presented a brief argument regarding negative by
stating that due to the nature of these First Generation Rights, it has been difficult on
the part of the States to protect these rights (The Economist 2018). However, it was
also emphasized that the nature of positive freedom is often difficult to determine
especially in case of right to health care. Therefore, it is important for the government
authorities to recognize these liberties and determine them accordingly (Cowan and
Billaud 2015). However, in most of the cases, the government fails to recognize the
presence of negative and positive liberties based on economical grounds. (226)
The Universal Declaration of 1948 included in Article 25 that every individual possesses
the right to an adequate standard of living which includes heath and well being on his
part and his family as well (Cowan and Billaud 2015). The right involving food, shelter,
clothing and right to security was been formulated in 1966 by the Covenant on Social,
Economic and Cultural Rights (Shestack 2017). It can be agreed that poverty and poor
healthcare can be considered as a violation of universal human rights. It can be
mentioned that the violations of human rights can be manifested in various forms.

4POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES
However, with the elimination of poverty, universal human rights could be protected. It is
worth mentioning that, since time immemorial, poverty has created certain limits for the
individuals to exercise their liberty and enjoy the fundamental rights existing in the
society. It can be stated that as a result of existing poverty within the society, it will not
be possible for the individuals to enjoy the right to free expression. It is evident that how
can an individual enjoy the fundamental rights of life if he dies early as a result of
poverty. It can also be argued that how an individual can enjoy the right to occupation,
shelter and health if he has does not have a place to live in. It can stated that in spite of
various measures undertaken on the part of the government, the officials failed to
address the factors associated with poverty. To improve protect the nature of human
rights, it is important to improve poor healthcare conditions and eliminate poverty.
Therefore, it can be stated that poverty and poor healthcare conditions violate the scope
of human rights to a large extent. (288)

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References:
BALL, T., DAGGER, R. and I. O’NEILL, D. (2011). POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES AND THE
DEMOCRATIC IDEAL. [online] Available at: http://www.politicalavenue.com/free
%20political%20ebooks/Political%20Avenue%20-%20Political%20Ideologies%20and
%20the%20Democratic%20Ideal,%209th%20Edition [Accessed 12 Apr. 2018].].
Cowan, J.K. and Billaud, J., 2015. Between learning and schooling: the politics of
human rights monitoring at the Universal Periodic Review. Third World Quarterly, 36(6),
pp.1175-1190.
Galeotti, A.E., 2015. The range of toleration: From toleration as recognition back to
disrespectful tolerance. Philosophy & Social Criticism, 41(2), pp.93-110.
Shestack, J.J., 2017. The philosophic foundations of human rights. In Human
Rights (pp. 3-36). Routledge.
The Economist. (2018). The politics of human rights. [online] Available at:
https://www.economist.com/node/739475 [Accessed 12 Apr. 2018].