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Essay on Liberalist Government in the 19th Century
Liberalism is an economic theory advocating free competition and a self-regulating market and the gold standards. Liberalism that has as its basic concerns the development of personal freedom and social progress. Liberalism eventually became identified with movements to change the social order through the further extension of democracy. In liberalism social change is conceived of as gradual and flexible, radicalism, in which social change is seen as fundamental and based on new principles of authority.The character of the prevailing form of government usually conditions the course of liberalism in a given country. For example, in countries in which the political and religious authorities are separate, liberalism connotes, mainly, political, economic, and social reform.
In domestic politics, liberals have opposed feudal fetters that prevent the individual from rising out of a low social status; barriers such as censorship that limit free expression of opinion; and arbitrary power exercised over the individual by the state. In international politics, liberals have opposed the domination of foreign policy by militarists and military considerations and the exploitation of native colonial people, and they have sought to substitute a cosmopolitan policy of international cooperation. In economics, liberals have attacked monopolies and mercantilist state policies that subject the economy to state control. In religion, liberals have fought against church interference in the affairs of the state and attempts by religious pressure groups to influence public opinion.
Beginning in the late 19th century, liberalism started to become the governing ideology in various countries, e.g. in the United Kingdom. At the same time, liberalism became a major ideology in virtually all developed countries. In some countries, liberalism limited government involvement in private transactions of whatever kind, with government being devoted only to protecting against threats from abroad and enforcing civil order at home, along with maintaining a stable currency, based on a "sound money" policy......
