In the
United States, the primary use of the term
liberal is at some variance with European and British usage. In the 19th century it was not a common term in American philosophy or politics, partially because the two main parties were a mixture of
populist and
nationalist elements. The
Democratic Party was the party of free trade, low tariffs and laissez-faire entrepreneurialism, while the
Republican Party advocated national citizenship, transparency and government efforts to stabilize the currency. Liberalism in the United States was primarily defined by the self-proclaimed liberal presidents
Woodrow Wilson and
Franklin Roosevelt. While the emphasis on mutual collaboration through liberal institutions as an alternative to the threat and use of force remained consistent with international liberalism, United States liberals also claimed that individuals have a right to expect the government to guarantee
social justice. This was in part a consequence of the influence of the ideas of British economist
John Maynard Keynes on
Franklin D. Roosevelt's
New Deal. The New Deal had the effect of stealing the thunder of social democratic forces and the necessity to prevent social unrest strengthened this development. As
McCarthyism gave the terms
socialism and even
social democracy a meaning synonymous with
treason in the U.S., many to the left of center moderated their views, aligning with the New Deal liberals. Since approximately the
Reagan era, the word
liberal has been so much used as a derogatory term by U.S. conservatives that it led to an ever increasing number of critics of conservatism to identify with
progressivism, rather than turning to liberalism. The
Democratic Party is identified as the liberal party within the broader definition of
liberalism thus putting it in contrast with most other parties listed here. The
Libertarian Party, the third largest political party in the United States, though still only getting 1-2% of the vote in congressional elections, particularly centers itself on free markets and individual liberty. The
Republican Party generally supports strong free-market and
libertarian views on the economy. In general we can say that the Democrats support civil-rights (and therefore
social liberalism), the Republicans support free-market (and therefore
economic liberalism), while the Libertarians support both.
(Main article: Liberalism in the United States)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberalism_worldwide