Power tends to corrupt and absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely Essay Example

parts of the world -- that led to individual liberty and sustained economic growth.The focus of liberalism if the individual. According to Mill individuals have a right to be secure in their life, liberty, and property These rights are not granted by government or by society; they are inherent in the nature of human beings. During this some freedoms will be given up in order to obtain different rights. For example, the government will try to provide maximum utility as the cost of some of citizen's freedoms. This allows for greater equality of opportunity and meritocracy to be exercised.

Liberalism abstains from the absolute state and hence the essential characteristic of the liberal theory of the state is the doctrine of jurisdiction. That is, the idea that there is such a thing as a limited area of power and authority for the state The implication on the state would mean that an entrenched constitution needs to be in place. A separation of powers would need to be in place in order to ensure this. This can be achieved through an entrenched constitution.

This will not only protect the citizen from arbitrary government but will also provide a framework of checks and balances within the government.One way of doing this ensuring there is a separation of powers. The separation of powers will ensure that all three institutions: Legislature, Judiciary and Executive can check each other's power. All this leads to a government which in every way accountable to the public. Furthermore, separation of powers ensures that the judiciary retains its neutrality and independence from any external political influence. The implication for the state can be shown through

the rule of law.

The rights of individuals are determined by legal rules and not the arbitrary behaviour of authorities.Rather, libertarianism proposes a society of liberty under law, in which individuals are free to pursue their own lives so long as they respect the equal rights of others. The rule of law means that individuals are governed by generally applicable and spontaneously developed legal rules, not by arbitrary commands; and that those rules should protect the freedom of individuals to pursue happiness in their own ways, not aim at any particular result or outcome. The critical feature to the Rule of Law is that individual liberties depend on it. Its success depends on the role of trial by jury and the impartiality of judges.Another implication for the state can be the need for regular elections.

Regular election will allow people to exercise their judgment on the government and hence make the political system more accountable. Elections are another way of making sure that government is fundamentally legitimate. Liberals would advocate voting using the Proportional Representation. This system would allow a fairer system of voting, as more variety is available to the electorate. All this would contribute to a more a pluralistic society.

The possibility of single-party 'elective dictatorship' is greatly diminished.Tolerance is an important element of classical liberalism since society consists of individuals with varying values and principles and as far as possible these differences should be respected; minority groups need the protection of the law in some cases to prevent the 'tyranny of the majority'. To protect rights, individuals form governments. But government is a dangerous institution. Libertarians have a great antipathy to concentrated

power, for as Lord Acton said, "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

" Thus they want to divide and limit power, and that means especially to limit governmentThe implication of this lies with consituional devices such as devolution. It is by minimising the concentration of power in any one centre and by setting up many alternative, counterbalancing centers of power that limited government can be retained. Devolution essentially involves the setting up of an elected regional assembly whose powers are carefully and clearly defined by national government. However devolution would not have full powers to raise tax or control over foreign policy and thus as liberals would agree have less chance of becoming corrupt since they have only limited powers.