Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Liberal

2008-04-01T23:11:29Z

Slt10T:

== American Liberalism ==

"Liberals believe that government, at its best, is the way we come to together to tackle problems we can't solve on our own. I'm a liberal, and as turns out, most Americans are liberals too." Source: [[Al Franken]]. 2005. ''The Truth (with jokes)''. Dutton. ISBN 0525949062. p. 305.

== History of Liberalism ==

<b>Liberalism in the Ancient World</b>

Liberalism as commonly understood is a modern philosophy, which developed in the wake of the [[Renaissance]] and in conjunction with the [[Enlightenment]]. It is concerned with the individual and human freedom. However, liberalism is also associated with [[equality]], [[progress]], and [[empiricism]], all of which were elements found in ancient Greek culture.

[[Eric Alfred Havelock]] argues in ''[[The Liberal Temper in Greek Politics]]'' [http://www.worldcatlibraries.org/wcpa/ow/ff7e22dbd8f96526.html (find a library copy near you)] that there was a recognizably "liberal" tradition in Greek culture, which involved an interaction of these three elements, despite the fact that individualism as we know it--including the framework of individual rights--did not yet exist.

In contrast to the conservative myth of a past [[Golden Age]], laid out most fully in [[Hesiod]]'s ''[[Works and Days]]'', early Greek natural philosophers developed a progressive, evolutionary view of the world, including human civilization. This became the fountainhead of a broader liberal tradition, which included among its fruits the Athenian democracy.

This tradition left only fragmentary evidence of its existence, as it was strongly opposed by the conservative anti-democratic figures who came to dominate Western philosophy--[[Aristotle]] and [[Plato]].

'''Modern Liberalism'''

Pending an update of information on this page, an excellent overview is available from the ''Dictionary of the History of Ideas'', at its entry for [http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/cgi-local/DHI/ot2www-dhi?specfile=/texts/english/dhi/dhi.o2w&act=text&offset=10374338&query=Liberalism&tag=LIBERALISM liberalism], and there's a shorter [http://www.mydd.com/story/2004/11/20/112714/77 introduction] (with copious excerpts) to this essay at MyDD.com.

The essay cites three contributing sources for the modern liberal idea of freedom: (1) Greek philosophy; (2) Roman conceptions of law, and (3) the Judeo-Christian religious tradition affirming the closeness of man's relations with God, but focuses almost exclusively on what has happened in modern times as liberalism has evolveed.

* [[Social Contract]]

== Economic Liberalism ==
Adam Smith...

Also see [[neoliberal]].

== Philosophical Works ==

"...there is a sphere of action in which society, as distinguished from the individual, has, if any, only an indirect interest; comprehending all that portion of a person's life and conduct which affects only himself, or if it also affects others, only with their free, voluntary, and undeceived consent and participation."

From John Stuart Mill's [http://www.bartleby.com/130/ On Liberty] "Introductory"

== In International Relations Theory ==
Liberal international relations (IR) theory developed in response to some of the fundamental fallacies of [[neorealist]] IR theory:
* actors <I>do</I> have memory
* IR need not be a zero-sum game, it can be win-win
* order can be imposed on the anarchic interstate system with [[multilateral agreement|multilateral agreements]]
In IR, liberals belive that multilateral institutions can improve the rules of the interstate system. They believe that the resulting peace, stability, and order is preferable and potentially persistent.

=See Also=
*[[Thank a liberal]]

== External links==
* [http://www.liberalsvsconservatives.com Liberals Vs Conservatives] Liberal forum for debate.

Bush v. Gore

2008-04-01T23:10:06Z

Slt10T:

'''Bush v. Gore''' was the case brought before the [[Supreme Court]] to decide [[United States presidential election, 2000|the year 2000 Presidential election]] which had been held up with neither candidate [[George W. Bush]] nor [[Al Gore]] conceding defeat. A number of lower court cases in the [[Florida]] courts had already been fought, and the U.S. Supreme Court had unanimously rejected one recount order. The case was heard on December 11th, 2000 over one month after the election had taken place. The Florida Supreme Court had just ruled in a controversial split decision that court personnel would do a partial manual recount in four counties, according to procedures that were never revealed, based upon the specific request of Al Gore's camp as to which counties he wished to see the recounts done. They were the counties that had majority Democratic populations. The recount standard was done differently from county to county and sometimes from counting team to counting team.<ref>http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/search/display.html?terms=Bush%20v.%20Gore&url=/supct/html/00-949.ZPC.html</ref> The Supreme court overturned that plan 7 to 2, and then in a 5 to 4 decision ruled that the time to find additional recounts method had passed. In effect, this solidified the results as they had been recorded, allowing George W. Bush to claim victory and enter the [[President of the United States of America|Presidency]].

Independent news agencies later did their own recounts, trying to simulate how the Florida court might have done it. They found that under most scenarios, the recounts would have favored Gore.

Many people were unhappy with the courts intervening in the election. [[Republicans]] complained that the Florida supreme court tried to alter the certified count with procedures that had never been used before. [[Democrats]] were unhappy that the US Supreme Court stopped the Florida supreme court's decision to force a recount.

==Further reading==
*[http://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=65000590 ''A Blatant Conflict of Interest], [[Theresa LePore]] should recuse herself from the Palm Beach vote-count process'', John Fund, OpinionJournal, November 12, 2000.

==References==
<references/>

[[category:United States Supreme Court Cases]]
[[Category:United States History]]

Liberal

2008-04-01T23:04:30Z

Slt10T: