Liberalism: From the “free men” to the “free market”

In the Western world, liberalism holds a privileged place. After all, we often depict today’s democracies as liberal democracies – meaning that democratic decision making is supposed to conform to liberal principles. As the oldest Western ideology, liberalism has faced many criticisms from all sides of the ideological spectrum, but it has survived in a recognizable form for at least 200 years and has adapted in the face of criticism and major historical and social developments. To better understand the ideology, we will first look at its core values, some of which are common to all of its varieties, and some of which are debated and resonate more with specific variants of liberalism. Then, we will discuss the various types or variants of the ideology, before briefly exploring the challenges confronting liberalism as it faces the future.