What even is a liberal?

At the 2021 Scottish elections, the Liberal Democrats polled five per cent of the regional vote, holding four seats (ironically elected by First Past the Post, a system the Liberal Democrats oppose). The casual observer – let’s call him Michael – might look at such a result, or any Liberal Democrat election result over the past decade, and conclude liberalism in Scotland is as good as dead.

Michael would be wrong.

Liberalism was for decades the only game in town in British politics, with liberal values being shared by the Conservatives and Labour in the post-war consensus. Labour claims credit for establishing the welfare state, though the foundations were laid by the Liberal Party; the Beveridge Report Labour implemented was written by a Liberal. Little wonder there did not seem to be much need or space for an avowedly Liberal party. “The Liberal Party buried itself with a kind of triumph. Because Britain as a whole is liberal, the Liberal Party dies”[i]. Though few would say today “I’m a liberal” if asked about their politics, many unknowingly are. I was surprised to realise I was a liberal. Perhaps Michael would be, too.

“So what’s it all about then?” Michael asks. Let’s start with some broad strokes and fill in the details later. Some say liberalism is an ideology. I disagree, siding instead with the British journalist Edmund Fawcett who writes “seen in the round, liberalism is to be taken as a practice of politics”[ii]. I see your raised eyebrow, so let’s rephrase: liberalism is a set of values making up a framework in which society and its politics can operate. The word ‘practice’ is key, used also by the American essayist Adam Gopnik. He describes liberalism as

an evolving political practice that makes the case for the necessity and possibility of (imperfectly) egalitarian social reform and ever greater (if not absolute) tolerance of human difference through reasoned and (mostly) unimpeded conversation, demonstration, and debate[iii].

It’s a messy, complicated sentence, but then the world is messy and complicated. It’s about as neat a one-sentence summary of liberalism as could be written. Read it again, slowly. There’s a lot in it to unpack, and Gopnik takes the rest of his book (well worth your time) to do so.

Nor is liberalism inherently left wing or right wing: rival economists Keynes and Hayek were both liberals; Denmark and the Netherlands have liberal parties of the centre-left (Radikale Venstre, D66) and centre-right (Venstre, VVD). There are liberals in all the UK’s major parties, pushed into sometimes uncomfortable coalitions by the electoral system (all parties are to some extent coalitions). Liberalism is “a big tent that encompasses a range of political views that nonetheless agree on the foundational importance of individual rights, law, and freedom”[iv]. It is a framework based on pluralism, the rule of law, egality, internationalism, scepticism of authority both governmental and societal, dialogue, and a reformist rather than revolutionary approach to progress. Pragmatism, realism. “We can want a better life for all,” writes Gopnik, “without thinking that a better life can cure the fact of death”[v].

(Liberalism being neither inherently left nor right does not, by the way, make it centrist, a distinction to be fleshed out elsewhere).

Michael looks bemused. “Alright, I agree with most of what you’ve said. But everyone does! It doesn’t make me a liberal! A lot of what you’ve said is just democracy.” Well, I’m not going to tell you what you should call yourself. I have to point out, though, not everyone does agree. Liberal democracy with its structures and restraints on power is a particular beast with particular predators. Democracy doesn’t have to be liberal. Just ask Orbán or any LGBT person in Poland. The UK has a government giving itself power to overturn court rulings, restrict protests, and confiscate passports. Labour’s “Controls on Immigration” mugs from 2015 have never been forgotten; Rachel Reeves’ recent comments arguing the UK government should do more to extradite immigrants, faster, are deeply illiberal too.

While One Nation Conservatism and social democracy can allow for liberal values, liberalism is unique in requiring them. Paternalistic Conservatism can and does go hand-in-hand with coercion; socialism or a subset of it in one country is perfectly possible. Economic redistribution doesn’t require acceptance of LGBT rights or religious minorities, or even independent courts. If you’re asking yourself now, as Keynes did in 1925 “Am I A Liberal?” (worth a read, too), here’s a rough-and-ready acid test: think of a flagship policy from your spot on the political spectrum, perhaps a hefty wealth tax if you’re on the centre left or a balanced budget if you’re on the centre right. Now ask yourself, “if my policy could be implemented, and the price would be closed borders, state-sanctioned hostility to minorities, or politicised courts, would I think the trade-off was worth it?” If the answer is no, congratulations. You’re probably a liberal too.

Further viewing and reading

YouTube: Social Democracy vs Social Liberalism Explained A ten-minute explainer on the similarities and differences between the philosophies.

How to be a Liberal – Ian Dunt at Milton Keynes Lit Fest

An hour-long discussion of his book, great you don’t have time to read it all. The Liberal Party and the Liberal Democrats Lecture on the Liberal Party, not entirely on liberalism but nonetheless interesting.

Books: Dunt, Iain How to be a Liberal (Canbury Press, 2020). A well-written history of Western liberal thought.

Fawcett, Edmund Liberalism, Life of an Idea (Princeton University Press, 2014). The introduction alone is a very good outline of liberalism.

Fukuyama, Francis Liberalism and its Discontents (Profile Books, 2022). For anyone more interested in the present challenges liberalism faces.

Gopnik, Adam A Thousand Small Sanities (Quercus, 2019). The easiest to read book cited, written as an extended letter to his daughter.

McCloskey, Deirdre Nansen Why Liberalism Works (High Bridge, 2019). Accessible, witty essays in defence of liberalism and liberal approaches to economics.

[i] Bogdanor, Vernon, Liberal Party Politics (Oxford University Press, 1983), p. 2 [ii] Fawcett, Edmund, Liberalism, Life of an Idea (Princeton University Press, 2014), p. 1 [iii] Gopnik, Adam, A Thousand Small Sanities: The Moral Adventure of Liberalism (Quercus, 2019), p. 25 [iv] Fukuyama, Francis, Liberalism and its Discontents (Profile Books, 2022), p. vii [v] Gopnik, Adam, A Thousand Small Sanities: The Moral Adventure of Liberalism (Quercus, 2019), p. 109