Impacts and Responses to Impacts and Responses to Classical LiberalismClassical Liberalism

Conditions Created by Conditions Created by Classical LiberalismClassical Liberalism• Industrialization was

possible due to the political climate– Adam Smith

• Laissez-Faire capitalism – John Stuart Mill

• Individual choices

• A reliance on these opinions led to the development of a society where inequalities were present and excused– Capitalist argument– Libertarian argument

• Disparity– Standard of living

Assignment:Assignment:“How the other half lives”

◦ Page 120 Questions 1-3‘A contemporary Example of Income

Gap’◦ Page 121 Questions 1-3

‘Child Labourers Speak’◦ Page 123 Questions 1-2

‘Dickens and Child Labour’◦ Page 124 Question 1

Responses to the Responses to the Conditions Created Conditions Created by Classical by Classical LiberalismLiberalism

• Luddites– Against machinery replacing labourers

• Human Rights movements– Looked to establish a standard for the equal

treatment of all people• Factory Acts

– 1802 • Established a base level of protection for children in

factories – 1819

• Limited hours of work for children to 12 hours per day– 1833

• Illegal to employ children under the age of 9, maximum of 48 hours per week if children were over the age of 13

– 1878• Established compulsory education for children up to

the age of 10 and limited hours of work. Children from the ages of 10-14 could only work half days 6 hours

– 1874• No worker was able to work more than 56.5 hours per

week

Working Class Perspectives:

• The squeeze of economic growth– Cost of living– Wages – Net result in

Standard of Living • Working Conditions

– Unsafe, overcrowded, noisy, and had very little access to light or ventilation

– Child Labour

Responses to the Conditions Responses to the Conditions Created by Classical Created by Classical LiberalismLiberalism• Labour Unions

– Worked to try to improve the working conditions of either a specific group of workers or an entire industry

– Some view the formation of unions as a necessary organization to prevent abuses in the work place and ensure workers rights against factory owners who would exploit them

– Others view unions as organizations which simply establish artificially high prices for labour, and as such, prices

Suffrage and Suffrage and DemocracyDemocracy

• In 1800 there were no liberal democracies – Governments where all members of

the society have the right to vote• By ~1850-1890s the state had

expanded voting rights as part of their expansion into liberal beliefs– Focus on the individual

• No longer simply based on land now seen more as a fundamental right

• This led to the development of modern politics – To get elected you must be popular

• The change in who was allowed to vote led to different policies

• The welfare state – Public housing– Education– Health care– Employment and disability insurance – Social assistance

• Modern liberal values

Modern Modern Liberal Liberal ValuesValuesAll people are

equal both in opportunity and in rights◦ Feminism ◦ Welfare state◦ Government

involvement in both economic and social aspects of peoples lives

The return of the spectrum!

Protection of Human RightsProtection of Human RightsLiberal goverments seek to identify human

rights20th c. people argue for rights protection in

and out of workplaceUN Universal Declaration of Human

Rights (1948) – standard for all countries to adopt as law for their citizens

These laws include: right to take part in govt., be treat equally, right to liberty, freedom of thought and worship, to own property

Declaration also addresses working conditionsTo promote human rights, liberal

governments may economically punish countries accused of abusing human rights

So what is the deal with So what is the deal with Liberalism?Liberalism?

Classical Liberal Values:Classical Liberal Values: Political

◦ Establishment of democratic values Individual decision making

◦ Limited government involvement Based around the

protection of rights and freedoms

Economic◦ Limited government

involvement ◦ Individual initiative ◦ Competition

Social ◦ Disparity◦ Middle class life style

Philanthropy ◦ Establishment of the working

classes◦ Urbanization

Political ◦ Representative democracy◦ Responsible government ◦ Rights and responsibilities

Economic◦ Government intervention in

the economy balanced with some individual initiative

◦ Equality (extreme to limited) This is really dependant on the

type of system Social

◦ Some disparity but government programs to ensure equality of the very least opportunity

◦ System is still based on the principles of middle class

Figure 5-18: Figure 5-18: The shift from classical liberalism to modern liberalism in The shift from classical liberalism to modern liberalism in western democracieswestern democracies

Classical LiberalismClassical Liberalism EffectsEffects Modern LiberalismModern Liberalism

•Involves no government intervention in the economy (hands-off)•Proposes that the only function for government is to protect individuals’ natural rights to life, liberty and property•Emphasizes economic liberalism and promotes the freedoms of risk takers, such as business owners

•Allowed people the freedom to innovate and increase production•Contributed to the great wealth for some •Contributed to the wealth gap (disparity) between people who were rich and those who were poor•Contributed to the development of ideologies that opposed capitalism, such as communism and fascism, and led to the development of a new modern liberalism•Contributed to the Depression in the 1930s

•Involved significant government intervention at times (hands-on)•Proposes that peoples rights should be included as a part of the political systems in society, including that all individuals should be valued equally•Proposes the development of government programs to help disadvantaged individuals and eliminates the cause of poverty crime and abuse•Promotes sharing the benefits of economic development and having some consideration for the environment

Examples:•Adam Smith’s invisible hand•Free market systems•Laissez-faire policies

Examples:•New businesses•Inventions and technologies•The success of the nouveau riche•The rise of child labour •Extreme poverty of the working class

Examples:•The creation of public education•Welfare•Public housing•Unions•Rights movements•Civil rights legislation•Labour standards and labour laws•Protection of the environment

Political-Economic SpectrumPolitical-Economic Spectrum

Left RightCentre

Democratic Socialism

Communism Modern liberalism

Classical Liberalism

High LowDegree of government intervention to ensure

the well being of society

Society though the state, is

responsible for everyone's well-

being

Individuals are responsible for their own well-

being

Conservative

Political SpectrumPolitical Spectrum

Left RightCentre

• Favor change through peaceful and legal means using government policy

• Typically define this as progress

• Favor immediate and fundamental social change

• Extreme radicals favor change through violence

• Want to keep the status Quo

• Favors a return to the ‘good old days’ extreme reactionaries favor change through violence

LiberalRadical Conservative Reactionary

Social Change Less social change

moderate

• Are open to change if necessary

Assignment:Assignment:‘Early Feminism’

◦Page 132 Questions 1-2Knowledge and Understanding

◦Page 136 Questions 1-3‘Winnipeg General Strike’

◦Pages 137-138 Questions 1-2