Q. Define liberalism . What did it stand for In the fields like politics society and economy ?
Liberalism implies the following:
a. The ideology of liberalism is very broad and comprehensive.
b. The ideology became popular in the early 19th century.The term ‘liberalism’ is derived from the Latin word liber, meaning free.
c. For the new middle classes liberalism stood for freedom for the individual and equality of all before the law.
d. Politically Liberalism, emphasized on the government based on consent. Government where constitution is supreme and is based on the free will of the people where Parliament as the elected body represents symbol of Democracy, as reflected in the French revolution.
e. It meant end of autocracy and clerical privileges.
f. Economically, The ideology propagated natural right to Property and stood for the freedom of markets and the abolition of state-imposed restrictions on the movement of goods and capital.
g. Liberals argued for the unified economic territory comprising of common currency, unrestricted mobility of people, goods and services.