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POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC LIBERALISM - Coggle Diagram
POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC LIBERALISM
CRITICISM OF THE OLD REGIME
Political theories
advocated reforms to guarantee individual rights and moderate the power of kings.
most important contributions of the Enlightenment and parliamentarianism
enlightened thinkers
Voltaire
formulated more radical criticisms that led to liberalism
Rousseau
Montesquieu
the liberals developed a radical opposition
OLD REGIME
This term was used to describe the feudal system of their time
characterised by political absolutism
the estate system and a mainly agricultural economy based on the primary sector
liberals criticised different aspects.
The legal inequality of the estate system
absence of equality between all people before the law
Society was divided into privileged social groups
clerics
nobles
the rest of the population, the commoners or third estate
artisans
peasants
shopkeepers
merchants
professionals
doctors
notaries
The survival of a feudal economy
there was great commercial and market growth during previous centuries
liberals criticised obstacles to
goods that could not be sold
bought and trade restrictions
privileged corporations such as guilds
price controls established by the authorities during emergencies like poor harvests
development caused by fiefdoms
The survival of manorialism in the fiefdoms of the nobility and the Church
the situation was not the same everywhere
pay taxes and be subject to their laws
inhabitants of fiefdoms had to work for their lords
The power of absolute monarchs and the Church
The power of monarchies and the privileges of the Church and their ability to influence
freedom of expression
laws limited individual rights
Monarchs and clerics censored criticism and the development of new ideas
IDEAS OF POLITICAL LIBERALISM
Old Regime was heavily criticised
so a group of ideas formed around political liberalism
so a group of ideas formed around political liberalism
Equality of people before the law
the abolition of
fiefdoms
manorialism
all privileges
the whole estate system
Everyone, including the king, should be subject to the same laws regardless of their social origin
The existence of unalienable individual rights
This idea was inspired by the work of Jhon Locke
meant that human beings naturally possessed the right
liberty
property
to life
also implied the establishment of freedoms regarding
areas
the press, printing, education and assembly / the right to inform, publish, teach and assemble
issues
This rights cannot be taken away
The division of powers
Montesquieu’s theories
the liberals argued that power had to be moderated by individual rights and by division into three powers
the legislative
exercised by parliament
the judicial
in the hands of the courts
the executive
exercised by the government
there should be a separation between the Church and the state to prevent religious interference in civil society
Sovereignty resides in the nation
Based on the parliamentary political tradition and the teachings of Rousseau
the liberals advocated that the people should govern themselves through their representatives in Parliament
These should be elected by suffrage or by voting
They proposed a representative political power
The triumph of these principles would mean that people would no longer be serfs and subjects
Instead citizens
who are individuals who enjoy all the rights and duties established by law
