Classical Liberal Property and the Question of Institutional Choice

2021 ◽  
Vol 50 (S2) ◽  
pp. S9-S25
Author(s):  
Thomas W. Merrill
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Choice ◽  
Classical Liberal

The Priority of Democracy

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack Knight ◽  
James Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Monetary Policy ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Federal Reserve ◽  
Democratic Politics ◽  
Institutional Choice ◽  
Democratic Process ◽  
Strong Case ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Relationship

Pragmatism and its consequences are central issues in American politics today, yet scholars rarely examine in detail the relationship between pragmatism and politics. This book systematically explores the subject and makes a strong case for adopting a pragmatist approach to democratic politics—and for giving priority to democracy in the process of selecting and reforming political institutions. What is the primary value of democracy? When should we make decisions democratically and when should we rely on markets? And when should we accept the decisions of unelected officials, such as judges or bureaucrats? This book explores how a commitment to pragmatism should affect our answers to such important questions. It concludes that democracy is a good way of determining how these kinds of decisions should be made—even if what the democratic process determines is that not all decisions should be made democratically. So, for example, the democratically elected U.S. Congress may legitimately remove monetary policy from democratic decision-making by putting it under the control of the Federal Reserve. This book argues that pragmatism offers an original and compelling justification of democracy in terms of the unique contributions democratic institutions can make to processes of institutional choice. This focus highlights the important role that democracy plays, not in achieving consensus or commonality, but rather in addressing conflicts. Indeed, the book suggest that democratic politics is perhaps best seen less as a way of reaching consensus or agreement than as a way of structuring the terms of persistent disagreement.

CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL IDEA OF THE “SOCIAL STATE” IN THE HISTORY OF LEGAL AND POLITICAL THOUGHT

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roman Fedorov
Keyword(s):  
Political Thought ◽  
Historical Development ◽  
Significant Contribution ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
State Structure ◽  
Thomas More ◽  
Social State ◽  
Classical Liberal ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of

The article is devoted to the problem of the social state as one of the fundamental constitutional principles of the state structure of modern developed countries. The course of historical development of philosophical and legal thought on this problem is considered. The idea of a close connection between the concept of the social state and the ideas of utopian socialism of Thomas More and Henri Saint-Simon is put forward. Liberals also made a significant contribution to the development of the idea of the social state, they argued that the ratio of equality and freedom is a key problem for the classical liberal doctrine. It is concluded that the emergence of the theory of the social state for objective reasons was inevitable, since it is due to the historical development of society.

Capitalism in the Classical and High Liberal Traditions

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Freeman
Keyword(s):  
Social System ◽  
Essential Role ◽  
Economic Justice ◽  
Marginal Contribution ◽  
Classical Liberalism ◽  
Economic Agents ◽  
Liberal Tradition ◽  
Classical Liberal ◽  
Distinguishing Features

This chapter discusses the main distinguishing features of two liberal traditions—classical liberalism and what I call “the high liberal tradition”—and their respective positions regarding capitalism as an economic and social system. It also compares the two traditions’ different positions regarding equality of opportunity and the distributive role of markets in establishing economic justice. I critically assess the classical liberal principle that economic agents deserve to be rewarded according to their marginal contribution to economic product. The chapter concludes with some reflections upon the essential role that dissimilar conceptions of persons and society play in grounding the different positions on economic justice that classical and high liberals advocate.

Libertarianisms

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Halliday
Keyword(s):  
Property Rights ◽  
Private Property ◽  
Private Property Rights ◽  
Classical Liberal ◽  
Inherited Wealth ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
The Common

This chapter considers various arguments both for and against taxing inherited wealth, each of these being associated with some or other type of libertarian outlook. Libertarianism in the Lockean guises (‘left’ and ‘right’ varieties) is distinguished from its classical liberal alternative, which downplays the Lockean emphasis on private property rights in favour of a more defeasible case for small government and low taxation. These different perspectives generate a variety of quite different arguments about inheritance, some more persuasive than others. Some attention is paid to the common claim that inheritance taxes ‘punish’ virtue and generosity. It is then argued that a Rignano scheme may be particularly attractive in light of certain left-libertarian commitments and as a way of accommodating a classical liberal concern about perpetual savings.

FREE EXPRESSION OR EQUAL SPEECH?

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-169
Author(s):  
Teresa M. Bejan
Keyword(s):  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Free Expression ◽  
Freedom Of Association ◽  
Classical Liberal ◽  
Freedom Of Thought ◽  
The Right ◽  
Equal Right ◽  
To Receive ◽  
The Ideal

AbstractThe classical liberal doctrine of free expression asserts the priority of speech as an extension of the freedom of thought. Yet its critics argue that freedom of expression, itself, demands the suppression of the so-called “silencing speech” of racists, sexists, and so on, as a threat to the equal expressive rights of others. This essay argues that the claim to free expression must be distinguished from claims to equal speech. The former asserts an equal right to express one’s thoughts without interference; the latter the right to address others, and to receive a hearing and consideration from them, in turn. I explore the theory of equal speech in light of the ancient Athenian practice of isegoria and argue that the equality demanded is not distributive but relational: an equal speaker’s voice should be counted as “on a par” with others. This ideal better captures critics’ concerns about silencing speech than do their appeals to free expression. Insofar as epistemic and status-harms provide grounds for the suppression and exclusion of some speech and speakers, the ideal of equal speech is more closely connected with the freedom of association than of thought. Noticing this draws attention to the continuing—and potentially problematic—importance of exclusion in constituting effective sites of equal speech today.

Refutation of neoliberal educational policies based on Millian principles

2021 ◽  
pp. 147821032110313
Author(s):  
Jaakko Honkanen ◽  
Rauno Huttunen
Keyword(s):  
Education Policy ◽  
John Stuart Mill ◽  
Educational Policies ◽  
Classical Liberalism ◽  
Classical Liberal ◽  
Future Analysis ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

This article attempts to start an in-depth consideration and analysis of modern neoliberal education policy through its philosophical roots. To achieve this, the article considers the ideology and philosophy of the classical liberal philosopher John Stuart Mill and the relationship of his philosophy with the modern-day neoliberalist education policy. The purpose of the article is to discuss the philosophical groundwork that drives Mill’s ideas on the establishment of education and compares it to the philosophical groundwork and implications present in modern neoliberal education policy, and through this begin to assert what neoliberalist education policy is. The paper asserts that while Mill’s version of classical liberalism holds similar views and forms of occurrence with modern neoliberalist policies, in many cases Mill’s philosophical groundwork seems to disagree fundamentally with that of neoliberalism. The study is based on literature detailing both the philosophical as well as polity aspects of both Mill’s ideas and modern neoliberalism from the viewpoint of education, and it presents considerations for the nature of neoliberal education policy and its future analysis.

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