Freedom (political)
For other uses of Freedom, see Freedom (disambiguation).Political freedom is the
right, or the capacity, of self-determination as an expression of the individual will.
Philosophers have identified a positive and negative aspect to the concept of "freedom". "Positive freedom" may generally be defined as the ability of an individual to act to fulfill their potential (see
positive liberty). "Negative freedom" may generally be defined as the absence of constraint upon an individual (see
negative liberty).
For example, according to
Thomas Hobbes an individual is free to act when the
law does not prohibit an act or is otherwise silent on the matter.
Isaiah Berlin and others examined the difference between the positive and negative views of freedom in his
1958 essay
Two Concepts of Liberty.
One of the most notable contributors to the modern concept of political freedom was the
Victorian philosopher
John Stuart Mill who, in his magnus opus
On Liberty, outlined several freedoms that were not recognized during the Victorian period in
Britain. He largely based his political philosophy on the
harm principle, which essentially posits that people should be allowed to do as they wish provided others are not harmed.
Following from this distinction, when an individual is free from social and political ills they may enjoy
safety or
security, while an individual who is free to act generally enjoys
liberty.
The concept of political freedom is closely allied with the concepts of
civil liberties and
human rights, and the fundamental idea of positive and negative freedom corresponds with the concept of
negative and positive rights.Most
democratic societies are characterised by various freedoms which are afforded the legal protection of the
state. Some of these freedoms include (in alphabetical order):
*
Freedom of assembly*
Freedom of association*Freedom from
government sanctioned discrimination*
Freedom of education*
Freedom of movement (or travel)
*
Freedom of the press *
Freedom of religion (or belief)
*
Freedom of speech*
Freedom of thought (or conscience)The
constitutions of many nations specifically codify some of these freedoms in a
bill of rights.
Various groups along the
political spectrum naturally differ on what they believe constitutes "true" political freedom. Germane to the debate are
Friedrich Hayek's comments
on the meaning of words. It is interesting that, following those comments in his book, he wrote that the most abused words have been "liberty" and "freedom".
In
libertarianism, freedom is defined in terms of lack of government interference in the individual pursuit of happiness, as long as others' freedom is not thereby harmed; for example,
capitalists place a high value on freedom from government interference in the economy. This kind of freedom may be referred to as a kind of
negative liberty.
On the other hand, those on the
political left place more emphasis on freedom as the ability of the individual to realize one's own potential and pursue happiness. Freedom in this sense may include freedom from want, poverty, deprivation, or oppression. These kinds of freedom may be referred to as
positive liberty, however nearly all such freedoms involve a cost of
negative liberty. For example, providing many of these freedoms may require the services (time or money) of others, such as doctors for 'free health care', restricted employer freedoms for 'freedom of opportunity', lower economic freedom (in taxes) to provide 'free legal representation', and so forth.
Since virtually no
positive liberty can be enforced without sacrificing the freedom of others, the weight assigned to specific freedoms are controversial. Often some deem fundamental freedoms (as in freedom of speech or religion) more important than others.
Many
anarchists (but not
anarcho-capitalists) see negative and positive liberty as complementary concepts of freedom.
Some treat freedom as if it were almost synomymous with
democracy, while others see conflicts or even opposition between the two concepts.
Environmentalists often argue that political freedoms should include some social constraint on use of
ecosystems. They maintain there is no such thing, for instance, as "freedom to pollute" or "freedom to deforest" given the
downstream consequences. The popularity of
SUVs,
golf, and
urban sprawl has been used as evidence that some ideas of freedom and
ecological conservation can clash. This leads at times to serious confrontations and clashes of
values reflected in advertising campaigns, e.g. that of
PETA regarding
fur.
In
jurisprudence, freedom is the
right to autonomously determine one's own actions; generally it is granted in those fields in which the subject has no
obligations to fulfill or
laws to obey, according to the interpretation that the hypothetical natural unlimited freedom is limited by the law for some matters.
In modern times the expansion of "freedom" around the world is considered by some to be synonymous with increased participation in
democratic political systems.
During the 20th century overall, there was a dramatic growth in democracy, especially among the
more developed countries, and decline in autocracy and colonialism . However, there was also an increase in various types of
authoritarian regimes, and currently 33 to 40% percent of people in
less developed countries live in countries subject to some kind of authoritarian rule which lacks political freedoms.
(see also
Quotes about Freedom)
*"Eλευθερια ή θανατος" (Freedom or Death!)
—Greek War cry during their war of independence.
*"Give me Liberty or give me Death!"
—
Patrick Henry*"Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains."
—
Jean-Jacques Rousseau*"Sloboda ili Smrt"
—Macedonian national motto
*
Libertarianism*
Political usages of the term freedom *
Freedom House*
International Freedom of Expression Exchange*
Freedom in the World Ranking
