Liberalism (fragmentation of power)
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Liberalism supports individual freedom and limiting the power of political bodies. It proposes fragmenting power through mechanisms like separation of powers, federalism/devolution, bicameral legislatures, codified constitutions, and regular elections. This ensures no single group can dominate and individuals are protected from tyranny. Specifically, liberals argue power should be divided between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches to provide checks and balances, as well as devolving some powers to subnational governments.
Liberalism (fragmentation of power)
- 1. Liberalism Fragmentation of power. Chloe Tidmarsh
- 2. Define Liberalism O Latin – ‘Liber’ (referring to a class of free men). O Widely recognized in Europe by 1840s. O First liberal government under Gladstone in 1868. O Committed to the individual and a society where people can achieve fulfilment. O People are entitled to equal and political rights, and should be rewarded in line with their talents and intent to work. O Classical and modern liberalism are very different – classical wants a minimal state for maintenance of domestic order and personal security whereas modern accepts that the state should be used to help people help themselves.
- 3. What is fragmentation of power? O The fragmentation of power is ensuring that any political or social body of power, influencing society, has limits to what it can do or encourage in society. O To avoid too much influence on society, liberals have acknowledged different checks and balances on bodies of power. O Bi-cameralism, codified constitution, regular elections/referendums, and devolution and federalism in both the UK and USA.
- 4. Why do liberals propose fragmentation of power? O Liberals are, above all, for the individual’s freedom and ability to fulfil their moral potential. O Montesquieu (enlightenment) – “Power should be a check to power”. He proposed the doctrine of separation of powers. O These are essential aspects of politics to Liberals because they ensure the safety, rights, and freedoms of the individual.
- 5. Bicameralism O Bicameralism is a form of separation of powers and is essentially having two cabinets in the UK government who act to check each other when coming to a decision on a matter affecting the country (Laws). O This is distinguished from unicameralism whereby there is only one body which is not checked by any other power body in parliament.
- 6. Codified constitution O This is a single authoritative document which defines the duties, powers, and functions of government institutions and hence constitutes “higher” law. O The difference between a codified and uncodified constitution is that codified is one single document that cannot easily be altered whereas an uncodified constitution is more flexible and unwritten; instead coming from a variety of sources such as prerogatives, conventions, common and statute law. O Liberals tend to prefer a codified constitution as it is “set in stone” and confirms individual rights and freedom.
- 7. Devolution/federalism O The US Presidential System is based on the separation of powers between the Congress, the presidency, and the Supreme Court. The judiciary must maintain political independence and neutrality in order to protect the individual from the state. O In the UK, the cabinet checks the power of the PM, the parliamentary government checks the power of the executive, and bicameralism checks the power of each legislative chamber.
- 8. Regular election/ referendums O These are vital in Liberalism as they allow the individual to have a say in the politics surrounding their lives, and ensure that power has not been fully consumed by parliament or other political bodies. O They also keep the public involved in politics and ensure they are up-to-date and thus accessing their full potential.
- 9. Conclusion O The separation of powers ensures that political tyrannies and dictators cannot put down individual freedoms and rights. The democratic solution must be an application of majority rule (the Liberals call this the “tyranny of the masses”). However, this tyranny can lead to a government unwanted by minorities in society which the government can manipulate into things that individuals do not want. Liberals believe the best way to solve this problem is with checks and balances to make a government consider the minority groups too. Having the separation of power will ensure that individual rights and freedoms of everyone (including minorities) will be considered as well as avoiding both a tyranny of the masses and a tyranny by dictatorship.