Brookings: Video: Stephen Grand & Shadi Hamid: The Tension Between Democracy and Liberalism

Liberalism and democracy are two different things. Liberals believe in both, but just because you are a Democrat doesn’t mean you are a Liberal as we see in the Democratic Party. Or if you are a small d democrat, meaning you are someone who believes in democracy, but you are not a member of the Democratic Party like let’s say center-right Republicans. So you can be both someone who believes in liberalism and democracy, but you can believe in another lets say democratic oriented ideology that believes in at least certain amount of individual freedom and believe in democracy as well.

Now there is also liberal democracy which is what the two men in this video were talking about to a certain extent. Liberal democracy would be a national system or governmental system where we have democracy based on lets say liberal values. Where everyone is treated the same and fairly under law. Where we all have a certain amount of individual rights and liberty under a Constitution that can’t be taken away even if there’s some democratic or majoritarian will to do so. Which is how the American founding fathers set up America. A liberal democracy based on liberal values and constitutionalism.

Liberal Democrats

 

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About Erik Schneider

I use the American Liberal photo as the cover photo for this blog, because that’s exactly what I am. And no, not in the stereotypical, sort of pop culture sense of what an American Liberal is supposed to be. But someone who represents what American liberalism, as well as European liberalism, and perhaps the liberalism of the rest of the world outside of the United States. Liberals are people who believe in defense of liberal democracy, as well as the preservation of liberal democracy. And of course we also believe in liberal democracy with all the individual rights, and other liberal values that come from liberal democracy, the liberal democratic form of government, like equal opportunity, equal rights, equal justice, property rights, individual freedom and freedom of choice for everybody, as well as limited but responsible government, and fiscal responsibility
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