We trace liberalism from eighteenth century France, through nineteenth century England, to today's world of the twentieth century. This chapter contains an unusual number of direct quotes from the works of these authors because the grace and power of their writing is irresistible. Liberalism, like many other terms we use in IPE, suffers from something of a personality disorder. The same set of letters means different things in different contexts. Liberals, in the classical sense used here, fear the heavy hand of government and seek to liberate the individual from state oppression.
Liberals believe in freedom, individual rights, and free markets.
It is no accident and liberal and liberty have the same Latin root. Liberalism arose and evolved in reaction to important trends and events in the real world. In plotting liberalism's path from its origins to the present day, we will necessarily pause to consider the events that shaped this point of view. A case study of the Corn Laws will illustrate the political economy of liberalism in the context of nineteenth century Britain. This chapter also introduces the important notion of hegemony.