  political freedom (also known as political autonomy or political agency) is a central concept in western history and political thought and one of the most important (real or ideal) features of democratic societies.hannah arendt, "what is freedom?", between past and future: eight exercises in political thought, (new york: penguin, 1993). it has been described as a relationship free of oppressioniris marion young, "five faces of oppression", justice and the politics of difference" (princeton university press, 1990), 39-65. or coercion;michael sandel, justice: what's the right thing to do? (farrar, straus and giroux, 2010). the absence of disabling conditions for an individual and the fulfillment of enabling conditions;amartya sen, development as freedom (anchor books, 2000). or the absence of lived conditions of compulsion, e.g. economic compulsion, in a society.karl marx, "alienated labour" in early writings. although political freedom is often interpreted negatively as the freedom from unreasonable external constraints on action,isaiah berlin, liberty (oxford 2004). it can also refer to the positive exercise of rights, capacities and possibilities for action, and the exercise of social or group rights.charles taylor, "what's wrong with negative liberty?", philosophy and the human sciences: philosophical papers (cambridge, 1985), 211-29. the concept can also include freedom from "internal" constraints on political action or speech (e.g. social conformity, consistency, or "inauthentic" behaviour.)ralph waldo emerson, "self-reliance"; nikolas kompridis, "struggling over the meaning of recognition: a matter of identity, justice or freedom?" in european journal of political theory july 2007 vol. 6 no. 3 277-289. the concept of political freedom is closely connected with the concepts of civil liberties and human rights, which in democratic societies are usually afforded legal protection from the state. == views == various groups along the political spectrum naturally differ on what they believe constitutes "true" political freedom. left wing political philosophy generally couples the notion of freedom with that of positive liberty, or the enabling of a group or individual to determine their own life or realize their own potential. freedom, in this sense, may include freedom from poverty, starvation, treatable disease, and oppression, as well as freedom from force and coercion, from whomever they may issue. friedrich hayek, a well-known [[classical liber
Civil_rights_and_liberties Political_concepts Social_concepts