Concept of Liberty in Political Science

Liberty is a concept which attracts attention of all because human life is not possible without it and the man cannot make any progress in his life without liberty. This is the reason that from the very beginning, the man has been struggling for the attainment of liberty and whenever he found any danger to his liberty, he opposed it with his full mind.

Liberty is such a concept, everybody knows it, loves it and tries to achieve it. The word “Liberty” has been derived from the Latin word “Liber”, which means absence of restraints.

If we accept this meaning of Liberty, then men are free to do whatever he wants to do. But, this is the negative aspect of liberty. In fact, liberty is possible only with restraints.

According to McKechnie, “Freedom is not the absence of all restraints, rather the substitution of rational for the irrational one.  

Definitions of Liberty:

Few definitions of liberty are as follows: -

1. According to Seeley, “Liberty is the opposite of over-governance.”

1. According to G.D. H Cole, “Liberty is the freedom of the individual to express without external hindrance to his personality.”

1. According to T.H. Green, “Freedom is the positive power of doing or enjoying something worth doing or enjoying and that too, something we do or enjoy with others.”

1. According to Laski, “Liberty is the larger maintenance of that atmosphere in which men have the opportunity to be at their best selves.”

Different Kinds of Liberty:

Liberty can be categorised as Natural Liberty, Civil Liberty, Political Liberty, Economic Liberty, National Liberty, Religious Liberty, Moral Liberty, and Individual Liberty.

Various types of Liberty are as follows: -

1. Natural Liberty –

The concept of natural liberty indicates unrestrained freedom to do whatever one likes. The supporters of natural liberty are of the opinion that man is born free, therefore, he should be given absolute freedom.

According to Rousseau, “Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains.”

Contractualists like Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau think that men have actual freedom only in the state of nature but with the origin of the State, men have lost his natural freedom. But in civilised societies, no such liberty can be given which is against social and moral principles. 

Liberty is not a license, real freedom can be enjoyed only in the state and society.  

2. Civil Liberty –

The liberties which men gets being the member of the society is termed as Civil Liberty. This concept of liberty is against the concept of natural liberty. This concept does not bear absolute rights according to one’s wishes, but this liberty can be enjoyed within the restrictions imposed by the state and the society.

3. Political Liberty –

It means active participation in the administration of the state.

According to Laski, “Political Liberty is the power to be active in the affairs of the State.”

Political Liberty is that constitutional liberty in which the people have right to elect their own government.  

It includes:

1. Right to Vote
2. Right to be Elected
3. Right to Hold Public Office according to One’ s Qualifications
4. Right to Criticise the Policies of the Government.

According to Prof. Laski, two conditions are necessary for the protection of political liberty and these are:

1. Everybody should get equal opportunities to get education. It will create awareness among the people and they will be able to enjoy their rights and liberties properly.
2. The press should be free and fair so that the people get right information.

4. Economic Liberty –

It is the base of all other liberties because in the absence of this liberty, man cannot enjoy other liberties. It means security from poverty, unemployment etc.

This liberty frees the man from the exploitation of the master and gives them proper chance to earn livelihood.

According to Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it includes:

1. Right to Work
2. Right to Reasonable Wages
3. Right to Form Trade Unions
4. Right to Rest and Leisure

According to Laski, “Economic Liberty also includes right to participate in administration of the factory. He further says, economic liberty implies democracy in industry.”

5. National Liberty –

It is opposite to colonialism and imperialism. According to this, a state has right to self-determination and self-government.

According to Jefferson, National Liberty means, “Every man and everybody of men on Earth, possess the right to self-government.”

According to national liberty, every nation has the right to establish a sovereign state and can be free from any external or internal control.

6. Religious Liberty –

Religion has got a great impact on human being. Nobody can tolerate any type of interference in his religious matters. This is the reason why many states give religious liberty to its citizens.

Secular state provides the liberty to adopt any religion and keeps herself neutral from religious affairs. But in the dictatorial state no religious liberty is provided to the citizens. Besides this, the state cannot impose any particular religion.

7. Moral Liberty –

Moral liberty creates such conditions which enable an individual to become a rational being as a result of which he becomes able to distinguish between right and wrong, true and false, moral and immoral, religious and irreligious etc. The individual, therefore should be morally free and the state should create such conditions necessary to ensure moral liberty to man.

T.H. Green, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel and Bosanquet are in the favour of moral liberty.

8. Individual Liberty –

It means that man has liberty to do anything which does not affect others. It is called “Personal Liberty.”

According to J.S. Mill, “Man should have liberty in self-regarding actions and in his words, over himself, over his body and mind, the individual is sovereign.”

After reading the various kinds of liberty, we can say that every kind has its own importance and in the absence of any one, an individual cannot enjoy his freedom properly. Therefore, each individual should have economic, political, individual, religious and civil liberty etc. in equal proportion and to enjoy all these liberties, national liberty is essential. Before 1947, there was absence of national liberty with India, therefore, the people did not have the other forms of liberty. Today, India is free nation and its citizens enjoy all types of freedom. But all the liberties can be enjoyed within restraints.

Safeguards of Liberty:

Following safeguards are necessary for the protection of Liberty:

1. Eternal Vigilance –

Vigilance among people is very necessary for the protection of liberty. Men should be aware of their liberty, rights and duties. If they are not aware of their responsibilities towards liberty, they will lose their liberty.

2. Democratic Government –

For the development of liberty, democratic government provides an appropriate atmosphere. Democratic government is of the people and is responsible to the people. Government can be changed according to time and man has liberty to express his thoughts and views and to criticize the government. People do not let the government to limit the liberty of people.

3. Co-operation between the People and the Government –

Government can protect liberty only when the people give proper co-operation to the Government. If the people do not obey the laws and do not help in apprehending the culprits, government cannot protect the liberty. The people should strongly oppose any attack on their liberty and they should support the government to suppress such elements.

4. Fundamental Rights –

Fundamental Rights should be included in the constitution and there should be arrangement for the protection of those Fundamental Rights. Fundamental Rights act as a shield for the protection of freedom and create proper conditions for the enjoyment of liberty. According to some scholars, rights and liberty are the two sides of the same coin and in the absence of rights, there is no place of liberty.

5. Separation of Powers –

The powers of the government should be separated among executive, legislature and the judiciary. This will help in preventing any organ of the government to become absolute. Every organ of the government will operate in its own framework.

According to Montesquieu, “separation of powers is an essential condition for the enjoyment of liberty and the countries where there is separation of powers the people enjoy more liberty.”

6. Independent Judiciary –

Independent, powerful and impartial judiciary is the biggest protector of liberty. Whenever any individual, organization or government violates the liberty of an individual he/ she can knock at the door of the judiciary and where there are no such provisions, the liberty becomes just a mockery.

7. Rule of Law –

For the protection of liberty, rule of law is more important than the rule of individual. Rule of law should be applicable. Man should be given punishment on breach of law. Laws should be similar and equal for each citizen. Where there is no rule of law, there only powerful and the rich will be able to enjoy the freedom and liberty of the common people will be in peril and they will not be able to get the protection of law for the protection of their liberty.

8. Absence of Special Privileges –

According to Laski, “for the protection of liberty nobody should be given special privileges. Every man should have equal rights.”

If the people are given any special privileges on the basis of their caste, religion, race, or status etc., it will have negative impact on the liberty of others. Therefore, the provision of special rights is against the concept of liberty.

9. Decentralisation of Powers –

Decentralization of powers is dangerous for human liberty. Therefore, decentralization of powers should be at every level.

10. Economic Security –

Marxists are of the opinion that for the protection of liberty, economic security is essential. They are of the view that if the man is not made sure of the fulfilment of the needs of his future, he won't be able to enjoy his freedom. So, the provisions should be made for the fulfilment of the basic needs of foods, clothes and shelter. Important saying is that everything is futile for empty stomach meaning by that liberty has no importance for hungry man because neither he can eat liberty nor he can drink liberty. To enjoy liberty, therefore, the economic needs of an individual should be secured.

11. Honest and Free Press –

Mass media which include newspapers, press, magazines, etc. are the guardians of liberty. They prevent the government from becoming irresponsible. But this is possible only when the press is honest and free. According to Prof. Laski, “The people without reliable news are sooner or later a people without the basis of freedom.”

12. Well-Organised Political Parties –

Modern democratic governments are the government of political parties. Political parties contest elections and form the government. Opposition parties criticize the government and make the government responsible. All this helps in the protection of human rights and liberty. But this can be possible only when the political parties are well organised.

13. Political Education –

Political awareness is necessary for the protection of civil liberty. Enlightened citizens always remain vigilant of their liberties.

According to Thomas Jefferson, “Which country can preserve its liberties., if its rulers are not warned from time to time that the people reserve the spirit of resistance.”

14. Written Constitution –

Written Constitution minimises the possibility of the misuse of power. Generally, the constitution Is accepted as the supreme law of the country and if any organ of the government violates any provision of the constitution, that act is declared unconstitutional by the courts.

15. Love for Liberty –

For the protection of liberty, the people should have unlimited love for liberty. If it is so, then the people would never like to lose their liberty and will be prepared to make every sacrifice for the protection of it. During the freedom struggle, lakhs of Indians had made sacrifices of their life as they went to gallows and jails for the attainment of freedom for their motherland.

Proper environment is essential for the enjoyment of liberty and the eternal vigilance among the people, democratic government, provision of fundamental rights in the constitution, separation of powers among different organs of the government, independent and impartial judiciary, rule of law, absence of special privileges, decentralization of powers, economic security, spread of education, honest and impartial press etc. are the provisions which help in creating proper environment. Besides this, whenever the government attacks the liberty of the people, the opposition parties organize the people and stop the government from doing so.

Negative and Positive concept of Liberty: