My New Liberalism.Org Article on “Liberalism’s Uneasy Relationship with Democracy”

Liberalism—defined as the political philosophy that prioritizes individual freedom and human happiness—has always had an equivocal relationship with democracy. Democratic governments generally feature much greater liberty and happiness than other types of regimes. Liberals should resist the temptation to embrace authoritarianism.

But there are also multiple ways in which democracy can often threaten liberty and human welfare. These dangers include the tyranny of the majority and widespread voter ignorance. Democracy can also be a threat to its own perpetuation, by bringing to power authoritarian political movements. These are all longstanding problems. But recent events demonstrate their continuing—and in some cases growing—significance. Liberals need to acknowledge their gravity and more aggressively pursue various potential solutions. These include limiting and decentralizing government and possibly measures to make it more difficult for illiberal anti-democratic movements to take power.

The rest of the article outlines these dangers and potential measures to mitigate them in greater detail. I build in part on my previous writings, such as my book Democracy and Political Ignorance: Why Smaller Government is Smarter, my more recent article “Top-Down and Bottom-Up Solutions to the Problem of Political Ignorance,” and writings on the need to constrain emergency powers.

My previous Liberalism.Org essay addressed the issue of how “Immigration Restrictions Restrict Americans’ Liberties.” I will continue to be a regular contributor to the site.

Liberalism.Org is a new initiative of the Institute for Humane Studies, led by Jason Kuznicki, formerly of the Cato Institute. Its purpose is to explore, promote, and revitalize liberal political thought in an era where illiberal and anti-liberal movements of various types are on the rise. Jason provides an overview of the project and its purposes here. 

The other regular contributors are prominent libertarian or libertarian-leaning thinkers (though some may prefer terms like “classical liberal”). They include Radley Balko (leading expert on criminal law and law enforcement issues), Janet Bufton (prominent Canadian classical liberal thinker and political commentator), Prof. Michael Munger (Duke University), Sarah Skwire (Liberty Fund), and Prof. Matt Zwolinski (U of San Diego, coauthor of The Individualists: Radical, Reactionaries, and the Struggle for the Soul of Libertarianism). I look forward to continuing to work with this impressive group!