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POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC LIBERALISM, image, image, image, image, image,…
POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC LIBERALISM
Criticism of the old regime
Political theories developed that advocated reforms to guarantee individual rights and moderate power of kings
Thinkers:
Montesquie, Voltaire and Rousseau
Liberals developed a radical opposition to Old Regime
Aspects
Survival of a feudal economy
liberals criticised obstacles to development
Power of absolute monarchs and the church
power of monarchies and privileges of church and their ability to influence laws limited individual rigths and freedom of expression
Monarchs and clerics censored criticism and development of new ideas
Legal inequality of the estate system
absence of equality between all people before the law, society was divided
Survival of manorialism in the fiefdoms of the nobility and church
inhabitants of fiefdoms had to work for their lords, pay taxes and be subject to their laws
SERFS AND SUBJECTS
Serfs were required to serve a lord, inhabitants of a fiefdom
Subjects were all the inhabitants of a kingdom
Ideas of political liberalism
Equality of people before the law
abolition of all privileges, fiefdoms, manoralism and the whole estate system. Subject to the same laws regardless of their social origin
Existence of unalienable individual rights
Human beings naturally possessed the right to life, liberty and property. (press, printing, education and assembly)
Division of powers
Executive, exercised by the government
Legislative, exercised by parliament
Judicial, hands of the courts
Separation between the church and the state to prevent religious interference in civil society
Sovereignty resides in the nation
Liberals advocated that the people should govern themselves, they proposed representative political power
Citizens are individuals who enjoy all the rights and duties established by law
Ideas of economic liberalism
The British economist Adam Smith developed a theory called economic liberalism
It defend the freedom of individual to produce and buy within a free market and own private property
Liberals believed that the role of public power should be reduced to mediating in economic relationships
Law of supply and demand in a free market would determine what to produce
MERCANTILISM AND PHYSOCRACY
Mercantilism supported the idea that the more precious metals a kingdom owned
Craft exports were therefore encouraged and imports limited by tariffs
Physocracy stated that agriculture should be the main source of wealth
MODERATE AND RADICAL LIBERALS
Moderate liberals were monarchiests wanted to keep the king, and official religion
reserved part of the executive and legislative power of the king and limited the right of election through censitary suffrage
Radical liberals were democrats and advocated universal suffrage
they understood that broad freedoms and the suppression of role of religion in any area of public civil life be guaranteed
