Why do liberals favour limited government and how they propose it be achieved? (45 marks) Classical Liberalism advocates what is called the ‘minimal state’, in this style of government the influence of the state upon society is kept to its absolute basic necessities. Namely the only public sector services available is an army – to prevent attack by a foreign nation, a police force to keep law and order, and an adjoining judicial system to pronounce judgement upon criminals who break laws. The state is seen as a ‘night watchman’ and exists only to preserve the liberties of civil society. This is seen by Classical Liberals as a society in which individuals are allowed the most possible freedom to the extent to which they do not interfere with any other person’s freedom as the ‘harm principle’, written by J.S Mill suggests. This form of freedom is known as ‘negative liberty’ or freedom ‘from’ any external constraints. According to Thomas Hobbes using negative liberty, "a free man is he that in those things which by his strength and wit he is able to do is not hindered to do what he hath the will to do".
The opposite style of government to this is what is known as the ‘enabling state’. The government has increasing more influence upon the people and often establishes certain methods of welfare to ensure that all have an equal amount of opportunities or liberties. This can manifest itself in the form of institutions such as ‘free health care’ as was established in Britain in 1948. Free schooling is also provided in certain enabling states, as well as certain welfare allowances such as disability benefits, or child benefits. This form of welfare is known as ‘cradle to grave’ welfare and its resulting freedom is known as ‘positive liberty’ or freedom ‘to’ act to fulfil one’s own potential. Modern Liberals in contrast to Classical Liberals believe that everyone should have the freedom to start with the same opportunities as others, and from this point onwards it is up to them to realise the potential they have so as to produce the best life possible for themselves, resulting in a more Meritocratic society.
Liberals who favour ‘limited government’ support this idea because they believe that no single establishment should have ultimate power over society, this is because the risk of the government becoming tyrannical and reducing people’s liberties is too high. Therefore if governments are only small, limited institutions then it is increasingly difficult for them to reduce anyone’s freedom. Liberals also believe strongly in the view that ‘power corrupts’, or that ‘absolute power corrupts absolutely’.
Liberals traditionally believe that the state is the only institution capable of restraining all individuals and groups within society to prevent them encroaching on the freedom of others. Freedom can therefore only exist ‘under the law’; as John Locke put it ‘where there is no law there is no freedom’. Without a government or a social contract Liberals believe that humanity may revert to the ‘state of nature’ as we are all selfish, greedy and power-seeking, the state of nature would be characterized as an unending civil war of each against all. As Thomas Hobbes put it life would be ‘solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short’. All individuals would therefore recognize that it is in their collective interests to sacrifice a portion of their liberty in order to set up a system of law and government. The state embodies the interests of all citizens and acts as neutral arbiter amongst the competing individuals and groups in society. The state does not exist to further its own interests, just the interests of the individual. If the state becomes tyrannical then it is within the rights of its citizens to rebel against the state.
The state exercises sovereign power and poses a constant threat to individual liberty. Liberals therefore fear arbitrary government and uphold the principle of limited government. Liberals have created solutions devising how to limit the influence of government. The powers of government and politicians can be limited by the introduction of external constraints. The most major of these would be a constitution which codifies the responsibilities of government institutions into one document. A second method of limited government can be applying the doctrine of the separation of powers. This means that the legislative, executive and judicial powers of government are separated and are used by three independent institutions, hereby preventing any person from becoming a tyrant. This strict separation of powers means that no single group can have too much power.
There are many other checks on the power of government including Cabinet Government, which spreads the power of the executive over several individuals instead of one exclusive authority. In Prime Ministers Question Time, the PM has to answer a variety of unrehearsed questions in which he must defend both himself and his actions; the Prime minister is therefore entirely accountable to parliament. Devolution also largely decentralizes a lot of the power in government, for instance in Scotland government can no longer influence decisions in healthcare or education – instead the elected Scottish parliament makes these decisions. A further instance of decentralizing government power would be the effects of Britain’s membership into the EU, treaties such as the Maastricht treaty make government subservient to the EU in most economic policies.
In conclusion the evidence suggests that Liberals favour limited government because it means that an individual can receive (in their view) the most – and therefore the best amount of freedom possible without the state interfering with these freedoms, as it would if it had more influence. They propose that a limited government can be achieved permanently by placing upon it restraints that will prevent a group, or an individual from becoming dictatorial. These restraints will ultimately distribute power evenly and so promote an even, stable government with liberties for all.