In 2012, the efforts of the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM) conducted a survey in which the Russians were asked to explain who such a liberal is. More than half of the participants in this test (or rather, 56%) found it difficult to disclose this term. It is unlikely that this situation has changed dramatically in a few years, and so let's look at what principles liberalism professes and what this socio-political and philosophical trend actually consists of.
Who is a liberal?
In the most general terms, we can say that a person who is a supporter of this trend welcomes and approves the idea of limited interference by state bodies in public relations. The basis of this system is based on a private entrepreneurial economy, which, in turn, is organized on market principles.
Answering the question of who such a liberal is, many experts say that he is the one who considers political, personal and economic freedom to be the highest priority in the life of the state and society. For supporters of this ideology, the freedoms and rights of each person are a kind of legal basis on which, in their opinion, an economic and public order should be built. Now let's find out who a liberal democrat is. This is a person who, in defending freedom, is an opponent of authoritarianism.
Liberal democracy, according to Western political scientists, is the ideal that many developed countries strive for. However, one can speak about this term not only from the point of view of politics. In its original meaning, this word was called all free-thinkers and freethinkers. Sometimes they included those who in society were inclined to excessive indulgence.
Modern liberals
As an independent worldview, the ideological movement under consideration arose at the end of the 17th century. The basis for its development was the work of such well-known authors as
C. Montesquieu, J. Locke, A. Smith and J. Mill. At that time, it was believed that free enterprise and non-interference by the state in private life would inevitably lead to prosperity and better welfare of society. However, as it turned out later, the classical model of liberalism did not justify itself. Free, state-uncontrolled competition led to the emergence of monopolies that drove prices up. Interested groups of lobbyists appeared in politics. All this made legal equality impossible and significantly narrowed the possibilities for all who wanted to do business. In the 80-90 years. The 19th century, the ideas of liberalism began to experience a serious crisis. As a result of long theoretical searches, a new concept was developed at the beginning of the 20th century, called neoliberalism or social liberalism. Its supporters advocate protecting the individual from negative consequences and abuses in the market system. In classical liberalism, the state was a bit of a “night watchman.” Modern liberals admitted that this was a mistake, and included ideas such as:
- limited state intervention in social and economic spheres;
- state control over the activities of monopolies;
- mass participation in politics;
- guarantees of a number of limited social rights (old-age allowance, the right to education, work, etc.);
- consensus of the governed and governing;
- political justice (democratization of decision-making in politics).
Russian liberals
In the polytypic discussions of modern Russia, this trend causes a lot of controversy. For some, liberals are conformists who play along with the West, and for others, they are a panacea that can save the country from the undivided power of the state. This disagreement is to a large extent connected with the fact that several varieties of this ideology operate simultaneously on the territory of Russia. The most notable of these are liberal fundamentalism (representative - Alexei Venediktov, editor-in-chief of Echo Moscow station), neoliberalism (representative - Andrei Illarionov), social liberalism (Yabloko party) and legal liberalism (Republican Party and PARNAS Party).