Liberty and Political Liberalism

The political liberalism of the 17th and 18th centuries was far different than the contemporary conceptualization of liberal politics. In the evolution of modern liberalism, liberalism was once conceived as an absence of coercion by a sovereign. "The heart of liberty is the absence of coercion by others; consequently, the liberal state's commitment to protecting liberty is, essentially, the job of ensuring that citizens do not coerce each other without compelling justification." (Gaus 2010). This stood in direct contrast to the concept of the divine right of kings, which presumed that a leader, by virtue of his power, had the ability to do what he willed in relation to his subjects, without justification, and that the subjects had no right of revolt. Classical liberalism, perhaps in reaction to the once-assumed fiat of sovereigns to tax as they willed and to take property away from subjects as...
[ View Full Essay]