Liberals

(noun)

Social liberals (modern liberals) and progressives constitute roughly half of the Democratic voter base. A large majority of liberals favor universal health care, with many supporting a single-payer system, diplomacy over military action, stem cell research, legalization of same-sex marriage, secular government, stricter gun control, and environmental protection laws as well as the preservation of abortion rights. Immigration and cultural diversity is deemed positive; liberals favor cultural pluralism, a system in which immigrants retain their native culture in addition to adopting their new culture.

Related Terms

Examples of Liberals in the following topics:

  • Liberalism

    • Liberalism is a broad political ideology or worldview founded on the ideas of liberty and equality.
    • Both modern American conservatism and social liberalism split from Classical Liberalism in the early 20th century.
    • Conversely social liberals adopted the Classical Liberal belief in defending social civil liberties.
    • Many fundamental elements of modern society have liberal roots.
    • In the 1960s and 1970s, feminism in the United States was advanced in large part by liberal feminist organizations.Many liberals also have advocated for racial equality, and the civil rights movement in the United States during the 1960s strongly highlighted the liberal crusade for equal rights.

  • The Spread of Liberal Democracy

    • Liberal democracy is a common form of representative democracy.
    • Reforms and revolutions helped move most European countries towards liberal democracy.
    • Liberalism ceased to be a fringe opinion and joined the political mainstream.
    • By the end of the 19th century, liberal democracy was no longer only a liberal idea, but an idea supported by many different ideologies.
    • Defend the notion of liberal democracy using examples from its enlightenment origins

  • Classical Liberalism

    • Classical liberalism is a political philosophy committed to limited government, the rule of law, individual liberties, and free markets.
    • Hence, classical liberals believed that individuals should be free to pursue their self-interest without societal control or restraint.
    • Classical liberalism determined that individuals should be free to obtain work from the highest-paying employers.
    • Classical liberals also saw poor urban conditions as inevitable, and therefore opposed any income or wealth redistribution.
    • Classical liberals extended protection of the country to protection of overseas markets through armed intervention.

  • Political Ideology

    • Among those who do identify as either liberal or conservative, few identify as "far left" or "far right. " Most Americans either identify as "moderate" or as "somewhat" liberal or conservative.
    • In another polling in June 2010, 40% of American voters identify themselves as conservatives, 36% as moderates and 22% as liberals, with a strong majority of both liberals and conservatives describing themselves as closer to the center than to the extremes .
    • Liberalism and conservatism are the most common ideologies in the U.S., apart from those who identify as moderate.
    • Moderates are commonly defined through limiting the extent to which they adopt liberal and conservative ideas.
    • Libertarians commonly hold liberal views on social issues but conservative views on economic issues.

  • Monarchies and Liberal Democracies

    • Monarchies, in which sovereignty embodied in a single individual, eventually gave way to liberal democracies.
    • Liberal democracy traces its origins, and its name, to the European 18th century, also known as the Age of Enlightenment.
    • Near the end of the 18th century, these ideas inspired the American and French Revolutions, the latter giving birth to the ideology of liberalism, and instituting forms of government that attempted to apply the principles of the Enlightenment philosophers into practice.
    • Reforms and revolutions helped move most European countries towards liberal democracy.
    • Liberalism ceased being a fringe opinion and joined the political mainstream.

  • The Democratic Party

    • The Democratic Party is a major political party in the US which promotes a social liberal, social democratic and progressive platform.
    • Since the 1930s, the party has promoted a social liberal, social democratic and progressive platform, and its Congressional caucus is composed of progressives, liberals, centrists, and left-libertarians.
    • New Deal liberalism meant the promotion of social welfare, labor unions, civil rights, and regulation of business.
    • Roosevelt's economic philosophy strongly influenced American liberalism and has shaped much of the party's economic agenda since 1932.
    • Since the 1890s, the Democratic Party has favored liberal positions ("liberal" in this case meaning social liberalism).

  • Reform and the Election of 1872

    • In response to President Grant's federal patronage, in 1870, Senator Carl Schurz from Missouri, a German immigrant and Civil War hero, started a second party known as the "Liberal Republicans."
    • The Liberal Republicans thought that the Grant administration, and the president personally, were fully corrupt.
    • The Liberal Republicans successfully ran B.G.
    • Grant also favored amnesty for former Confederate soldiers such as the Liberal Republicans.
    • Horace Greeley was soundly defeated as the candidate of the Liberal Republican Party during the election of 1872.

  • Terrorism

    • Some terrorist groups may see themselves as first and foremost fighting for liberation, a struggle so important that they argue it justifies unpalatable methods.
    • ETA is the main organization of the Basque National Liberation Movement and is the most important participant in the Basque conflict.
    • However, some groups, when involved in a liberation struggle, have been called terrorists by the Western governments or media.
    • In some liberation struggles, these same persons can become the leaders or statesman of these liberated nations .
    • The ETA is considered a terrorist organization by most governments, but proclaims its own mission to be liberation.

  • From Protectionism to Liberalized Trade

    • The United States supported trade liberalization and was instrumental in the creation of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), an international code of tariff and trade rules that was signed by 23 countries in 1947.
    • The Uruguay Round, so named because it was launched at talks in Punta del Este, Uruguay, liberalized trade further in the 1990s.

  • War of Black Liberation

    • The Civil War is sometimes referred to as The War of Black Liberation because the Civil War resulted in the end of slavery.
    • The Civil War is often referred to as "The War of Black Liberation", because it eventually resulted in the end of slavery through the Emancipation Proclamation and the passing of the 13th Amendment.
    • The Civil War then became known as a War of Black Liberation; however it was fueled by a mix of political, economic, and moral motives.
    • Explain why the Civil War is often referred to as the War of Black Liberation.