a level politics liberalism essay questions

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Liberalism | A-Level Politics | Core Ideologies

Last updated 23 Dec 2023

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This page brings together our new revision quizzes on different aspects of liberalism as a core ideology.

Overview Quiz

Liberalism | A-Level Politics | Core Ideologies

This quiz tests your knowledge on the economy is theorised within the ideology of liberalism. It is perfect for A-Level Politics students preparing to sit a paper on political ideas.

Liberalism & The Economy | A-Level Politics | Core Ideologies

A-Level Politics students, test your knowledge on how the state is theorised within liberal political philosophy.

Liberalism & The State | A-Level Politics | Core Ideologies

A-Level Politics students, test your knowledge on how human nature is theorised in liberal political thought with this topic quiz from tutor2u Politics.

Liberalism & Human Nature | A-Level Politics | Core Ideologies

A-Level politics students, test your knowledge on how society is theorised in liberal political philosophy

Liberalism & Society | A-Level Politics | Core Ideologies

• Modern Liberalism
• Neo-liberalism
• Classical liberalism

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A* Politics Liberalism Essays (+ Essay Plans)

Subject: Government and politics

Age range: 16+

Resource type: Assessment and revision

Last updated

16 August 2021

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Edexcel A Level Politics Liberalism Essays (+ Essay Plans), including -

• ‘Liberal Democracy is a contradiction in terms.’ Discuss.
• The similarities between classical liberalism and modern liberalism are greater than their differences. HFDYA?
• To what extent do Liberals agree over the economy?

All 3 are full essays, and also include other - similar - possible title suggestions for, essentially, the same essay. Note - Achieved an A* in Edexcel A Level Politics.

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Liberalism arose amongst the educated middle classes in the 18 th century, and was characterised by a desire to maximise the freedoms and opportunities for individuals to grow, develop and maximise their talents and skills. It is closely linked to the Enlightenment, the moving from traditional, faith-based beliefs towards scientific methods and intellectual enquiry.

Liberalism is in many ways the ideology of the industrialised West. It is so deeply embedded that liberalism and ‘western civilisation’ are difficult to distinguish from each other. Early liberalism proposed that liberal values would progress and ‘triumph’, and the nature of liberalism was quite radical and revolutionary when it first emerged, as it was a threat to the existing order.

By the 20th century it had become characterised as morally neutral- liberalism attempts to provide conditions in which people can pursue the good life, but what is ‘good’ is not prescribed. However, it would be misleading to portray liberalism as ‘just do your own thing’, as there is a moral basis to liberal ideas, and there are distinctive principles to liberalism.

The Individual

The focus of liberalism as a political ideology is its focus on the individual person as a primary political unit. In medieval feudal times, there was little importance placed on individual people. People were identified as members of their social grouping rather than as individuals (such as by village, family or social class). As feudalism was replaced by a free market (capitalism) people suddenly had choices in their lives – and were encouraged to think for themselves. The choices such as where to work, what to do for a living and who to marry suddenly meant thinking, and being treated, as sovereign individuals. Philosophers began to examine life by looking at individuals and their own abilities to make choices and think for themselves. Political philosophies began to develop to adapt to these theories such as the ideas of ‘natural rights’ (meaning that every person, because they were human had their own rights, given to them at birth). Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher, expressed the idea of the individual and thought of people as ‘ends in themselves’, and not merely as part of a greater grouping.

The stressing of people as individuals means that people are different from each other and have unique tastes and characters. Each person, no matter how different to others, has the same status and therefore rights as everyone else. Liberalism therefore believes in the ‘primacy of the individual’, although this has been expressed in different ways. Classical liberals believe in egoistical individualism, where individuals look after their own interests ahead of any collective interest, and therefore ‘society’ does not exist. Modern liberals more support developmental individualism , where freedom means that people can grow and develop, fulfilling their potential. This suggests that some state intervention may be needed to help this happen. People still think as individuals, but as result wish to look after each other to create a better world. Therefore, toleration will be a feature of a liberal society. Toleration is the acceptance of different views and ideas, for example religious beliefs. This is best summed up in the quote attributed to the French thinker Voltaire- ‘I detest what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it’.

Freedom / Liberty

Liberals believe in the individual, so also believe in individual freedoms as individuals can’t exist if they are not entitled to certain rights. Many early liberals called this freedom ‘liberty’ and said it was a ‘natural right’ of a human. It provided the individual with the ability to make the free choices that were so important for them to live how they wanted to live. They said that if you were not free you could not express your individuality or uniqueness. This was influenced by the concept of utilitarianism , where human motivation is explained by the desire to maximise ‘utility’ (pleasure/happiness) and avoid pain. Since each person is the best judge of what gives them pleasure, they should be allowed to decide how to live their lives. Liberals argue that liberty should only be limited if an individual is going to limit someone else’s liberty (commit a crime, or make them do something against their will). Such a view is called libertarian and is represented by the philosopher John Stuart Mill.

Mill stressed that freedom could be classified by making ‘self-regarding’ rules (the amount of freedom people should have to do things to themselves, for instance wear a seat belt or not) and ‘other regarding’ (the freedom to do things to others, for instance physical violence). Mill argued that ‘self-regarding’ actions should never be limited. This is known as negative freedom – the absence of restrictions on an individual’s freedom to act, by bodies such as the state.

By the late 19 th century, liberals saw this idea of freedom as too restrictive. Thinkers such as TH Green argued that people do not simply pursue their own interests, but also common goals for the good of society. From this came the concept of positive freedom – the ability of individuals to decide what they can or can’t/will or won’t do, as they have been allowed to develop their potential. This may involve help and action by others such as the state.

The State Is a Necessary Evil

Liberals do not believe that a free, balanced and tolerant society will just naturally develop. They disagree with anarchists about this who believe that laws and government are unnecessary and corrupting. Liberals believe that free individuals may use that freedom to exploit others and so limit their freedom. They think that the liberty of one person is always naturally a threat to another person, even if they are not being threatening deliberately. They think that a sovereign state is the only way in which individual freedom can be persevered for all.

Although liberals are convinced of the need for government they are also aware of the dangers it entails. There are two main reasons that they fear governments. Firstly, a sovereign government operates with sovereign power and is therefore capable of restricting liberty and controlling individuals. Secondly, they are convinced of an individual’s capacity for selfishness, and therefore their ability to exploit or harm others. They claim that an individual who gains power will naturally try to use it for their own benefit. They are therefore convinced that power corrupts individuals and leads them to use government to limit the freedoms of others. This is best summed up by a quote from the Victorian historian Lord Acton: ‘power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely’.

Liberals therefore believe that there should be a limited government where there are checks and balances on government power. This can be achieved through a constitution. A constitution is a set of rules that sets out duties, powers and functions for various institutions of government. It governs the government. It defines the extent of what the government can do, its power, and therefore, limits it. These limits could be expressed in a legal document or written constitution, such as the US Constitution. They could also be achieved through in-built checks on power, such as a separation of the executive, legislature and judiciary, to ensure not one branch of government is overly dominant.

In addition to this, state activity should be limited in the economic sphere, as competition between individuals who are seeking profit is beneficial to all. The economist Adam Smith supported laissez-faire capitalism , where the economy is organised by the market, there is a free exchange of goods and services, and wealth is privately owned.

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NPR defends its journalism after senior editor says it has lost the public's trust

David Folkenflik

NPR is defending its journalism and integrity after a senior editor wrote an essay accusing it of losing the public's trust. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

NPR is defending its journalism and integrity after a senior editor wrote an essay accusing it of losing the public's trust.

NPR's top news executive defended its journalism and its commitment to reflecting a diverse array of views on Tuesday after a senior NPR editor wrote a broad critique of how the network has covered some of the most important stories of the age.

"An open-minded spirit no longer exists within NPR, and now, predictably, we don't have an audience that reflects America," writes Uri Berliner.

A strategic emphasis on diversity and inclusion on the basis of race, ethnicity and sexual orientation, promoted by NPR's former CEO, John Lansing, has fed "the absence of viewpoint diversity," Berliner writes.

NPR's chief news executive, Edith Chapin, wrote in a memo to staff Tuesday afternoon that she and the news leadership team strongly reject Berliner's assessment.

"We're proud to stand behind the exceptional work that our desks and shows do to cover a wide range of challenging stories," she wrote. "We believe that inclusion — among our staff, with our sourcing, and in our overall coverage — is critical to telling the nuanced stories of this country and our world."

NPR names tech executive Katherine Maher to lead in turbulent era

She added, "None of our work is above scrutiny or critique. We must have vigorous discussions in the newsroom about how we serve the public as a whole."

A spokesperson for NPR said Chapin, who also serves as the network's chief content officer, would have no further comment.

Praised by NPR's critics

Berliner is a senior editor on NPR's Business Desk. (Disclosure: I, too, am part of the Business Desk, and Berliner has edited many of my past stories. He did not see any version of this article or participate in its preparation before it was posted publicly.)

Berliner's essay , titled "I've Been at NPR for 25 years. Here's How We Lost America's Trust," was published by The Free Press, a website that has welcomed journalists who have concluded that mainstream news outlets have become reflexively liberal.

Berliner writes that as a Subaru-driving, Sarah Lawrence College graduate who "was raised by a lesbian peace activist mother ," he fits the mold of a loyal NPR fan.

Yet Berliner says NPR's news coverage has fallen short on some of the most controversial stories of recent years, from the question of whether former President Donald Trump colluded with Russia in the 2016 election, to the origins of the virus that causes COVID-19, to the significance and provenance of emails leaked from a laptop owned by Hunter Biden weeks before the 2020 election. In addition, he blasted NPR's coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

On each of these stories, Berliner asserts, NPR has suffered from groupthink due to too little diversity of viewpoints in the newsroom.

The essay ricocheted Tuesday around conservative media , with some labeling Berliner a whistleblower . Others picked it up on social media, including Elon Musk, who has lambasted NPR for leaving his social media site, X. (Musk emailed another NPR reporter a link to Berliner's article with a gibe that the reporter was a "quisling" — a World War II reference to someone who collaborates with the enemy.)

When asked for further comment late Tuesday, Berliner declined, saying the essay spoke for itself.

The arguments he raises — and counters — have percolated across U.S. newsrooms in recent years. The #MeToo sexual harassment scandals of 2016 and 2017 forced newsrooms to listen to and heed more junior colleagues. The social justice movement prompted by the killing of George Floyd in 2020 inspired a reckoning in many places. Newsroom leaders often appeared to stand on shaky ground.

Leaders at many newsrooms, including top editors at The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times , lost their jobs. Legendary Washington Post Executive Editor Martin Baron wrote in his memoir that he feared his bonds with the staff were "frayed beyond repair," especially over the degree of self-expression his journalists expected to exert on social media, before he decided to step down in early 2021.

Since then, Baron and others — including leaders of some of these newsrooms — have suggested that the pendulum has swung too far.

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Legendary editor marty baron describes his 'collision of power' with trump and bezos.

New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger warned last year against journalists embracing a stance of what he calls "one-side-ism": "where journalists are demonstrating that they're on the side of the righteous."

"I really think that that can create blind spots and echo chambers," he said.

Internal arguments at The Times over the strength of its reporting on accusations that Hamas engaged in sexual assaults as part of a strategy for its Oct. 7 attack on Israel erupted publicly . The paper conducted an investigation to determine the source of a leak over a planned episode of the paper's podcast The Daily on the subject, which months later has not been released. The newsroom guild accused the paper of "targeted interrogation" of journalists of Middle Eastern descent.

Heated pushback in NPR's newsroom

Given Berliner's account of private conversations, several NPR journalists question whether they can now trust him with unguarded assessments about stories in real time. Others express frustration that he had not sought out comment in advance of publication. Berliner acknowledged to me that for this story, he did not seek NPR's approval to publish the piece, nor did he give the network advance notice.

Some of Berliner's NPR colleagues are responding heatedly. Fernando Alfonso, a senior supervising editor for digital news, wrote that he wholeheartedly rejected Berliner's critique of the coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict, for which NPR's journalists, like their peers, periodically put themselves at risk.

Alfonso also took issue with Berliner's concern over the focus on diversity at NPR.

"As a person of color who has often worked in newsrooms with little to no people who look like me, the efforts NPR has made to diversify its workforce and its sources are unique and appropriate given the news industry's long-standing lack of diversity," Alfonso says. "These efforts should be celebrated and not denigrated as Uri has done."

After this story was first published, Berliner contested Alfonso's characterization, saying his criticism of NPR is about the lack of diversity of viewpoints, not its diversity itself.

"I never criticized NPR's priority of achieving a more diverse workforce in terms of race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. I have not 'denigrated' NPR's newsroom diversity goals," Berliner said. "That's wrong."

Questions of diversity

Under former CEO John Lansing, NPR made increasing diversity, both of its staff and its audience, its "North Star" mission. Berliner says in the essay that NPR failed to consider broader diversity of viewpoint, noting, "In D.C., where NPR is headquartered and many of us live, I found 87 registered Democrats working in editorial positions and zero Republicans."

Berliner cited audience estimates that suggested a concurrent falloff in listening by Republicans. (The number of people listening to NPR broadcasts and terrestrial radio broadly has declined since the start of the pandemic.)

Former NPR vice president for news and ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin tweeted , "I know Uri. He's not wrong."

Others questioned Berliner's logic. "This probably gets causality somewhat backward," tweeted Semafor Washington editor Jordan Weissmann . "I'd guess that a lot of NPR listeners who voted for [Mitt] Romney have changed how they identify politically."

Similarly, Nieman Lab founder Joshua Benton suggested the rise of Trump alienated many NPR-appreciating Republicans from the GOP.

In recent years, NPR has greatly enhanced the percentage of people of color in its workforce and its executive ranks. Four out of 10 staffers are people of color; nearly half of NPR's leadership team identifies as Black, Asian or Latino.

"The philosophy is: Do you want to serve all of America and make sure it sounds like all of America, or not?" Lansing, who stepped down last month, says in response to Berliner's piece. "I'd welcome the argument against that."

"On radio, we were really lagging in our representation of an audience that makes us look like what America looks like today," Lansing says. The U.S. looks and sounds a lot different than it did in 1971, when NPR's first show was broadcast, Lansing says.

A network spokesperson says new NPR CEO Katherine Maher supports Chapin and her response to Berliner's critique.

The spokesperson says that Maher "believes that it's a healthy thing for a public service newsroom to engage in rigorous consideration of the needs of our audiences, including where we serve our mission well and where we can serve it better."

Disclosure: This story was reported and written by NPR Media Correspondent David Folkenflik and edited by Deputy Business Editor Emily Kopp and Managing Editor Gerry Holmes. Under NPR's protocol for reporting on itself, no NPR corporate official or news executive reviewed this story before it was posted publicly.