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{{use British English|date=January 2014}}
{{Liberalism sidebar}}
'''Liberalism''' is a [[Political philosophy|political]] and [[moral philosophy]] based on [[liberty]] and [[Egalitarianism|equality]].<ref>"liberalism In general, the belief that it is the aim of politics to preserve individual rights and to maximize freedom of choice." ''Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics'', Iain McLean and Alistair McMillan, Third edition 2009, {{ISBN|978-0-19-920516-5}}.</ref><ref>"political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for conservatism and for tradition in general, tolerance, and [...] individualism". John Dunn. ''Western Political Theory in the Face of the Future'' (1993). Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-521-43755-4}}.</ref><ref>"With a nod to [[Robert Trivers]]' definition of altruistic behaviour" ({{Harvnb|Trivers|1971|p=35}}), [[Satoshi Kanazawa]] defines liberalism (as opposed to conservatism) as "the genuine concern for the welfare of genetically unrelated others and the willingness to contribute larger proportions of private resources for the welfare of such others" ({{Harvnb|Kanazawa|2010|p=38}}).</ref> Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but they generally support [[civil rights]], [[democracy]], [[secularism]], [[gender equality|gender]] and [[Racial equality|race equality]], [[Internationalism (politics)|internationalism]] and the [[freedom]]s of [[Freedom of speech|speech]], [[Freedom of the press|the press]], [[Freedom of religion|religion]], [[Separation of powers]], [[government transparency]] and [[Free market|market economiesmarkets]].<ref name="LInternational">{{cite web|url=http://www.liberal-international.org/editorial.asp?ia_id=537|title=The Liberal Agenda for the 21st Century|accessdate=20 March 2015|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110207012341/http://www.liberal-international.org/editorial.asp?ia_id=537|archivedate=7 February 2011}}</ref><ref name="Nader Hashemi">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/?id=UkVIYjezrF0C&dq=liberalism+secularism|author=Nader Hashemi|title=Islam, Secularism, and Liberal Democracy: Toward a Democratic Theory for Muslim Societies|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|quote=Liberal democracy requires a form of secularism to sustain itself|year=2009|isbn=978-0-19-971751-4}}</ref><ref name="Kathleen G. Donohue">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/?id=htuTnexZAo8C&pg=PA1&dq=liberalism+freedom+of+religion#v=onepage&q=liberalism%20freedom%20of%20religion&f=false|author=Kathleen G. Donohue|title=Freedom from Want: American Liberalism and the Idea of the Consumer (New Studies in American Intellectual and Cultural History)|publisher=[[Johns Hopkins University Press]]|quote=Three of them – freedom from fear, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion – have long been fundamental to liberalism.|isbn=978-0-8018-7426-0|date=19 December 2003|accessdate=31 December 2007}}</ref><ref name="The Economist">{{cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/?id=KBzHAAAAIAAJ&q=liberalism+freedom+of+religion&dq=liberalism+freedom+of+religion|title=The Economist, Volume 341, Issues 7995–7997|work=[[The Economist]]|quote=For all three share a belief in the liberal society as defined above: a society that provides constitutional government (rule by law, not by men) and freedom of religion, thought, expression and economic interaction; a society in which [...]|year=1996|accessdate=31 December 2007}}</ref><ref name="Sheldon S. Wolin">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/?id=ndAdGl8ScfcC&pg=PA525&dq=liberalism+freedom+of+religion#v=onepage&q=liberalism%20freedom%20of%20religion&f=false|author=Sehldon S. Wolin|title=Politics and Vision: Continuity and Innovation in Western Political Thought|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|quote=The most frequently cited rights included freedom of speech, press, assembly, religion, property, and procedural rights|isbn=978-0-691-11977-9|year=2004|accessdate=31 December 2007}}</ref><ref name="Edwin Brown Firmage, Bernard G. Weiss, John Woodland Welch">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/?id=mQJgnEITPRIC&pg=PA366&dq=liberalism+freedom+of+religion#v=onepage&q=liberalism%20freedom%20of%20religion&f=false|author1=Edwin Brown Firmage|author2=Bernard G. Weiss|author3=John Woodland Welch|title=Religion and Law: Biblical-Judaic and Islamic Perspectives|publisher=[[Eisenbrauns]]|quote=There is no need to expound the foundations and principles of modern liberalism, which emphasises the values of freedom of conscience and freedom of religion |isbn=978-0-931464-39-3|year=1990 |accessdate=31 December 2007}}</ref><ref name="John Joseph Lalor">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/?id=Xsk6AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA760&dq=liberalism+freedom+of+religion#v=onepage&q=liberalism%20freedom%20of%20religion&f=false|first=John Joseph|last=Lalor|authorlink=John Joseph Lalor|title=Cyclopædia of Political Science, Political Economy, and of the Political History of the United States|publisher=Nabu Press|quote=Democracy attaches itself to a form of government: liberalism, to liberty and guarantees of liberty. The two may agree; they are not contradictory, but they are neither identical, nor necessarily connected. In the moral order, liberalism is the liberty to think, recognised and practiced. This is primordial liberalism, as the liberty to think is itself the first and noblest of liberties. Man would not be free in any degree or in any sphere of action, if he were not a thinking being endowed with consciousness. The freedom of worship, the freedom of education, and the freedom of the press are derived the most directly from the freedom to think.|year=1883|accessdate=31 December 2007}}</ref>
Liberalism became a distinct [[Political movement|movement]] in the [[Age of Enlightenment]], when it became popular among [[Western world|Western]] philosophers and economists. Liberalism sought to replace the [[Norm (social)|norms]] of [[Nobility|hereditary privilege]], [[state religion]], [[absolute monarchy]], the [[divine right of kings]] and [[Traditionalist conservatism|traditional conservatism]] with [[representative democracy]] and the [[rule of law]]. Liberals also ended [[Mercantilism|mercantilist]] policies, [[Legal monopoly|royal monopolies]] and other [[Trade barrier|barriers to trade]], instead promoting free markets.<ref name="Gould, p. 3"/> Philosopher [[John Locke]] is often credited with founding liberalism as a distinct tradition, arguing that each man has a [[Natural and legal rights|natural right]] to [[life, liberty and property]],<ref>"All mankind [...] being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions", John Locke, ''Second Treatise of Government''</ref> adding that governments must not violate these [[rights]] based on the [[social contract]]. While the [[Gladstonian liberalism|British liberal tradition]] has emphasised expanding democracy, [[Liberalism and radicalism in France|French liberalism]] has emphasised rejecting [[authoritarianism]] and is linked to [[Nationalism|nation-building]].<ref name="Kirchner, p. 3">Kirchner, p. 3.</ref>
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