From the 'End of History' to the 'End of Liberalism'?
A Re-evaluation of the Merits of Liberal Democracies in Contemporary Global Political Philosophy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22151/politikon.45.3Keywords:
Classical Liberalism, Collectivism, Democracies, Individualism, Liberty-limitations, Neoliberalism, System-flawsAbstract
A variety of pathologies within contemporary Western political regimes question the preference for liberal democracies: they can be contradictory, have produced significant economic inequalities, corroded social fabric, and lack a claim to exceptionalism. This judgment leads critics to conclude that not only the implementation but also the very foundation of liberal principles is flawed. In opposition to Francis Fukuyama’s initial (and now revised) claim from 1989, some argue that liberalism, rather than history, has come to its end. This essay argues that there are still merits to liberal democracies that are worth preserving. Utilising arguments from classical and neoliberal traditions it is possible to claim that individualism still serves as a bulwark against the subjugation of individuals and the arbitrary divisions based on ethnicity, race, religion, or nationality. Liberal principles continue to offer an antidote to the strengthening of authoritarian tendencies, nationalistic sentiments, xenophobia and non-democratic regimes in general.
References
Ashford, Nigel. 2003 [2001]. Principles for a Free Society. Bromma: Blomberg & Janson.
Berlin, Isaiah. 2002 [1969]. Liberty. Incorporating Four Essays on Liberty. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/019924989X.003.0007.
Blake, Michael. 2001. “Distributive Justice, State Coercion, and Autonomy.” Philosophy and Public Affairs 30, no. 3 (Summer 2001): 257-96. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1088-4963.2001.00257.x.
Brown, Wendy. 2015. Undoing the Demos: Neoliberalism’s Stealth Revolution. New York: Zone Books.
Carter, Ian. 2018 [2003]. “Positive and Negative Liberty”. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2018 Edition). https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2018/entries/liberty-positive-negative/ Accessed March 8, 2020.
Cerny, Philip G., Georg Menz, and Susanne Soederberg. 2005. “Different Roads to Globalization: Neoliberalism, the Competition State, and Politics in a More Open World.” Internalizing Globalization: The Rise of Neoliberalism and the Decline of National Varieties of Capitalism, edited by Susanne Soederberg, Georg Menz, and Philip G. Cerny, 1-30. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230524439_1.
Conly, Sarah. 2013. Against Autonomy. Justifying Coercive Paternalism. Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139176101.
Deneen, Patrick J. 2018. Why Liberalism Failed. New Haven, CT/London: Yale University Press. https://doi.org/10.12987/yale/9780300223446.001.0001.
Fukuyama, Francis. 1989. “The End of History?” The National Interest, no. 16 (Summer 1989): 3-18.
Fukuyama, Francis. 2018. Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. eBook.
Galston, William A. 2018. “The Populist Challenge to Liberal Democracy.” Journal of Democracy 29, no. 2: 5-19. https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.2018.0020.
Gaus, Gerald, Shane D. Courtland, and David Schmidtz. 2018 [1996]. “Liberalism.” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2018 Edition). Accessed March 6, 2019. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2018/entries/liberalism/
Genovese, Michael A., ed. 2009. The Federalist Papers: Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Gray, John. 1993. Post-liberalism: Studies in political thought. New York: Routledge.
Harvey, David. 2006. “Neo-liberalism as creative destruction.” Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography, 88 B, no. 2: 145-158. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0435-3684.2006.00211.x.
Kant, Immanuel. 1964 [1793]. Schriften zur Anthropologie, Geschichtsphilosophie, Politik und Pädagogik. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
Kramer, Matthew H. 2003. The Quality of Freedom. New York: Oxford University Press.
Lastra, Rosa M. and Alan H. Brener. 2017. “Justice, financial markets, and human rights.” Just Financial Markets? Finance in a Just Society, edited by Lisa Herzog, 39-55. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198755661.003.0002.
Lemke, Thomas. 2002. “Foucault, Governmentality, and Critique.” Rethinking Marxism 14, no. 3: 49-64. https://doi.org/10.1080/089356902101242288.
Locke, John. 2003 [1689]. Two Treatises of Government and A Latter Concerning Toleration. New Haven/London: Yale University Press.
Sandel, Michael. 2012. What Money can’t buy: The Moral Limits of Markets. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Van der Haar, Edwin. 2009. Classical Liberalism and International Relations Theory: Hume, Smith, Mises and Hayek. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230623972.
von Hayek, Friedrich A. 2006 [1944]. The Road to Serfdom. London/New York: Routledge.
von Hayek, Friedrich A. 1999 [1944]. The Road to Serfdom with the Intellectuals and Socialism. (condensed version). London: The Institute of Economic Affairs.
von Mises, Ludwig. 1963 [1949]. Human Action: A Treatise on Economics. San Francisco: Fox & Wilkes.
von Mises, Ludwig. 2001 [1957]. Theory and History: An Interpretation of Social and Economic Evolution. New Haven: Yale University Press.
von Mises, Ludwig. 1962. The Ultimate Foundation of Economic Science: An Essay on Method. Toronto/New York/London: D. van Nostrand Company Inc.
Walzer, Michael. 1983. Spheres of Justice. New York: Basic Books.
Wiener, Jarrod. 2001. “Globalization and Disciplinary Neoliberal Governance.” Constellations: An International Journal of Critical and Democratic Theory 8, no. 4: 461-79. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8675.00253.
Wike, Richard, Laura Silver, and Alexandra Castillo. 2019. “Many Across the Globe are Dissatisfied with How Democracy is Working.” Pew Research Center, April 29, 2019. https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2019/04/29/many-across-the-globe-are-dissatisfied-with-how-democracy-is-working/.
Wintrop, Norman. 1985. “Gerald F. Gaus, The Modern Liberal Theory of Man, (London and Canberra, Croom Holm, 1983), pp. 312.” Political Science 37, no. 1: 91–92. https://doi.org/10.1177/003231878503700115.
Berlin, Isaiah. 2002 [1969]. Liberty. Incorporating Four Essays on Liberty. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/019924989X.003.0007.
Blake, Michael. 2001. “Distributive Justice, State Coercion, and Autonomy.” Philosophy and Public Affairs 30, no. 3 (Summer 2001): 257-96. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1088-4963.2001.00257.x.
Brown, Wendy. 2015. Undoing the Demos: Neoliberalism’s Stealth Revolution. New York: Zone Books.
Carter, Ian. 2018 [2003]. “Positive and Negative Liberty”. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2018 Edition). https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2018/entries/liberty-positive-negative/ Accessed March 8, 2020.
Cerny, Philip G., Georg Menz, and Susanne Soederberg. 2005. “Different Roads to Globalization: Neoliberalism, the Competition State, and Politics in a More Open World.” Internalizing Globalization: The Rise of Neoliberalism and the Decline of National Varieties of Capitalism, edited by Susanne Soederberg, Georg Menz, and Philip G. Cerny, 1-30. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230524439_1.
Conly, Sarah. 2013. Against Autonomy. Justifying Coercive Paternalism. Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139176101.
Deneen, Patrick J. 2018. Why Liberalism Failed. New Haven, CT/London: Yale University Press. https://doi.org/10.12987/yale/9780300223446.001.0001.
Fukuyama, Francis. 1989. “The End of History?” The National Interest, no. 16 (Summer 1989): 3-18.
Fukuyama, Francis. 2018. Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. eBook.
Galston, William A. 2018. “The Populist Challenge to Liberal Democracy.” Journal of Democracy 29, no. 2: 5-19. https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.2018.0020.
Gaus, Gerald, Shane D. Courtland, and David Schmidtz. 2018 [1996]. “Liberalism.” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2018 Edition). Accessed March 6, 2019. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2018/entries/liberalism/
Genovese, Michael A., ed. 2009. The Federalist Papers: Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Gray, John. 1993. Post-liberalism: Studies in political thought. New York: Routledge.
Harvey, David. 2006. “Neo-liberalism as creative destruction.” Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography, 88 B, no. 2: 145-158. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0435-3684.2006.00211.x.
Kant, Immanuel. 1964 [1793]. Schriften zur Anthropologie, Geschichtsphilosophie, Politik und Pädagogik. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
Kramer, Matthew H. 2003. The Quality of Freedom. New York: Oxford University Press.
Lastra, Rosa M. and Alan H. Brener. 2017. “Justice, financial markets, and human rights.” Just Financial Markets? Finance in a Just Society, edited by Lisa Herzog, 39-55. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198755661.003.0002.
Lemke, Thomas. 2002. “Foucault, Governmentality, and Critique.” Rethinking Marxism 14, no. 3: 49-64. https://doi.org/10.1080/089356902101242288.
Locke, John. 2003 [1689]. Two Treatises of Government and A Latter Concerning Toleration. New Haven/London: Yale University Press.
Sandel, Michael. 2012. What Money can’t buy: The Moral Limits of Markets. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Van der Haar, Edwin. 2009. Classical Liberalism and International Relations Theory: Hume, Smith, Mises and Hayek. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230623972.
von Hayek, Friedrich A. 2006 [1944]. The Road to Serfdom. London/New York: Routledge.
von Hayek, Friedrich A. 1999 [1944]. The Road to Serfdom with the Intellectuals and Socialism. (condensed version). London: The Institute of Economic Affairs.
von Mises, Ludwig. 1963 [1949]. Human Action: A Treatise on Economics. San Francisco: Fox & Wilkes.
von Mises, Ludwig. 2001 [1957]. Theory and History: An Interpretation of Social and Economic Evolution. New Haven: Yale University Press.
von Mises, Ludwig. 1962. The Ultimate Foundation of Economic Science: An Essay on Method. Toronto/New York/London: D. van Nostrand Company Inc.
Walzer, Michael. 1983. Spheres of Justice. New York: Basic Books.
Wiener, Jarrod. 2001. “Globalization and Disciplinary Neoliberal Governance.” Constellations: An International Journal of Critical and Democratic Theory 8, no. 4: 461-79. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8675.00253.
Wike, Richard, Laura Silver, and Alexandra Castillo. 2019. “Many Across the Globe are Dissatisfied with How Democracy is Working.” Pew Research Center, April 29, 2019. https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2019/04/29/many-across-the-globe-are-dissatisfied-with-how-democracy-is-working/.
Wintrop, Norman. 1985. “Gerald F. Gaus, The Modern Liberal Theory of Man, (London and Canberra, Croom Holm, 1983), pp. 312.” Political Science 37, no. 1: 91–92. https://doi.org/10.1177/003231878503700115.
Downloads
Published
2020-06-29
How to Cite
Wedekind, Peter. 2020. “From the ’End of History’ to the ’End of Liberalism’? A Re-Evaluation of the Merits of Liberal Democracies in Contemporary Global Political Philosophy”. Politikon: The IAPSS Journal of Political Science 45 (June). Online:59-74. https://doi.org/10.22151/politikon.45.3.
Issue
Section
Review essays
