liberalism

Political and social theory that supports representative government, freedom of the press, speech, and worship, the abolition of class privileges, the use of state resources to protect the welfare of the individual, and international free trade. It is historically associated with the Liberal Party in the UK and the Democratic Party in the USA.

Liberalism developed during the 17th to 19th centuries as the distinctive theory of the industrial and commercial classes in their struggle against the power of the monarchy, the church, and the feudal landowners. Economically it was associated with laissez faire, or non-intervention of the state. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries its ideas were modified by the acceptance of universal suffrage (voting rights for all citizens) and a certain amount of state intervention in economic affairs, in order to ensure a minimum standard of living and to remove extremes of poverty and wealth. The classical statement of liberal principles is found in On Liberty and other works of the British philosopher J S Mill.