Political Theory Chapter 2 Freedom

Freedom is absence of constraints. Freedom is said to exist when external constraints on the individual are absent. In terms of this definition an individual could be considered free if he/she is not subject to external controls or coercion and is able to make independent decisions and act in an autonomous way

There is a close relationship between freedom for the individual and freedom for the nation. Some people say that freedom is said to exist when external constrainsts on the individual are absent. Absence of constraints is only one dimension of freedom. Freedom is also about expanding the ability of people to freely express themselves and develop their potential. If a nation is a free every individual of it will be free. Freedom in this sense is the condition in which people can develop their creativity and capabilities. Greatness, power, development of a nation depends on cooperation, creativity and capabilities of individuals of a nation.

Both aspects of freedom—the absence of external constraints (imposed by a nation or a society or state) as well as the existence of conditions in which people can develop their talents – are important. A free society would be one which enables all its members to develop their potential with the minimum of social constraints.

No individual living in society can hope to enjoy total absence of any kind of constraints or restrictions. It becomes necessary them to determine which social constraints are justified and which are not, which are acceptable and which should be removed.

To understand which social constraints are necessary, discussions on freedom need to look at the core relationship between the individual and the nation (e.g. Society or group or community or entire state) within which she/he is placed. This is, we require to examine the relationship between individual and society or nation.

The Role of the state in upholding freedom of its citizens are mentioned below:

(i) The type or form of the government decides the limit or scope of freedom of its citizens. If a state is an authoritarian or will not like to give all types of freedom to its citizens. Similarly in a monarchy the citizens can enjoy freedom according to will of the rulers.

(ii)But in a democratic state the state grants certain types of freedom as a part and parcel of fundamental rights of its citizens. A democratic government has a free and fair judiciary, a written constitution and grants freedom and equality of its citizens.

(iii) Practically state is controlled by the government what government or states do is relevant because it affects freedom of the citizens in many different ways. If the state or government in power allows any conflicts to become violent markets, schools, colleges are closed down people cannot go out from their homes.

(iv)If state is fails to manage army, police and courts of laws, then the security of the people of the country would be in danger. They have to face the problem of law and order. If state considers that freedom is valuable and lovable to all. If it allows its citizens to make choice and to exercise their judgement.

(v)It permits the exercise of all citizens powers of reason and judgement. In fact now–a–days all democratic states are considered to be very important means of protecting the freedom of their citizens.

(vi)A welfare state is always worried to protect the freedom of downtrodden people, of backward castes, economically and educationally weaker sections and senior citizens as well as of the women.

One of the issues that is considered to belong to the minimum area of non–interference is the freedom of expression.

(i)Freedom of expression is a fundamental value and for that society must be willing to bear some inconvenience to protect it from people who want to restrict it. 

(ii)Reasonable restrictions on freedom of expression : Freedom of expression is a fundemental value and for that society must be willing to bear some inconvenience to protect it from the people who want to restrict it.

(iii)At various times there have been demands to ban books, plays, films, or academic articles in research journals.

(iv)Let us think about this demand to ban books in the light of our discussion so far which sees freedom as ‘The making of choices,” Where is a distinction made between negative and positive liberty, where we recognise the need for justifiable constraints but there have to be supported by people procedures and important moral arguments.

Social constraints means restrictions or compulsions imposed by society, these constraints are backed by organised social authoirty. They restrict our freedom in ways that are difficult to fight against.

Necessity of constrainsts for enjoyment of Freedom :

(i)Scholar like Voltaire of France disapproves any kind of constraint for full enjoyment of freedom. He was committted to unrestricted freedom of expression on the other hand there are several sections or groups of different communities which want to ban on films, books, plays and even academic articles in research journals.

(ii)Banning is an easy solution for the short term since it meets the immediate demand but is very harmful for the long–term prospects of freedom in a society because once one begins to bar then one develops a habit of banning. 

(iii)Just for interest in England anyone who is employed to work for the Royal Household is constrained by contract  from writing about the inner affairs of the household, so if such a person were to leave the employment they would be unable to give an interview or write an article or author a book about the politics of the Royal household.

(iv)If we willingly, or for the sake of pursuing our goals or ambitions, accept certain restrictions our freedom is not similarly limited. In any case if we are not coerced into accepting the conditions then we cannot claim that our freedom has been curtailed.

Nelson Mandela is the greatest leader of the coloured in South Africa. He had opposed racial and colour discrimination. Mandela spent twenty-eight years of his life in jail, often in solitary confinement for the cause of the coloured.

The title of Nelson Mandela’s autography is long walk to freedom.

In this book Nelson Mandela has talked about his personal struggle against the apartheid regime in South Africa about the resistance of his people to the segregationist, policies of the minority white regime, about the humiliations, hardships and police brutalities suffered by the black people of South Africa.

Apartheid is a state imposed system of institutionalized racial discrimination and segregation. It was widely practised after Second World War.

The concept of liberty is a necessary condition for free and full development of our personality. According to Gettle “Liberty is the positive power of doing and enjoying those things which are worthy of enjoyment and work.” According to T.H. Green, ‘Freedom is the positive power or capacity of doing and enjoying something worth doing and worth enjoying.” According to Laski, “Liberty means the maintenance of the atmosphere in which men have the opportunity to be their best selves.”

From the above mentioned definitions it can be said that liberty does not mean absence of all restrictions because unrestrained or unrestricted liberty cannot be given to anybody in the society. It means that no unjust restrictions be imposed on the liberty of the individual because they hamper the growth of individual personality. Liberty means power to do anything that does not harm others.

Economics liberty includes those rights which are enjoyed by man concerning his livelihood. Economic liberty implies absence of unemployment, exploitation, unfair wage, substandard living, insecurity etc. Thus, when states ensure employment to all citizens and make them free from the tyranny of the employers, it can be said that the citizens enjoy economic liberty. Significance of economic liberty cannot be under-estimated. Political liberty or civil liberty becomes meaningless in the absence of economic liberty.

Under the liberty of religion every citizen of a state gets the freedom of religion. The citizens have the right to adopt and preach any religion of their choice. The religion of a citizen is considered a personal matter and the states mostly do not interfere in religious affairs of the people until and unless it is necessary in the broader interest of the nation and the individuals. 

Personal liberty implies that the human beings should have complete freedom in their personal and individual matters.

For example, food, clothing, marriage, religion, customs, traditions etc., all are the personal matters of the human beings. The state should not interfere in these matters of the individual.   According to him John Stuart Mill who was a prominent supporter of individual liberty. “A person should get the liberty upto that extent where no other individual has any harm.”

Two arguments for the positive liberty are stated below:

(i) Positive liberty means absence of unjust and oppressive restraints. 

(ii) It means ample and equal opportunities to all for self-development, realisation of one’s own self and the expression of one’s own “intellectual, emotional and sensuous potentialities.”

The limitation are:

(i) If it is related with the security of the state.

(ii)If the relations with the foreign countries is at stake.

The term liberty is derived from the Latin word ‘Liber’. Liber means freedom. Thus liberty means freedom from restraints. It implies complete freedom to do anything as one desires.

‘Negative liberty’ seeks to define and defend an area in which the individual would be inviolable, in which he or she could ‘do, be or become’ whatever he or she wished to ‘do, be or become’.

(i)This is an area in which no external authority can interfere. It is a minimum area that is sacred and in which whatever the individual does, is not to be interfered with.

(ii)The existence of the ‘minimum area of non-interference’ is the recognition that human nature and human dignity need an area where the person can act unobstructed by others.

(iii)Negative liberty tradition argues for an inviolable area of non-interference in which the individual can express himself or herself. If the area is too small then human dignity gets compromised.

We need some constraints or else society would descend into chaos.

(i)Differences may exist between people regarding their ideas and opinions, they may have conflicting ambitions, they may compete to control scarce resources.

(ii)There are numerous reasons why disagreements may develop in a society which may express themselves through open conflict.

(iii)We see people around us ready to fight for all kinds of reasons ranging from the serious to the trivial. Rage while driving on the roads, fighting over parking spaces, quarrels over housing or land, disagreements regarding whether a particular film should be screened, all these, and many other issues, can lead to conflict and violence, perhaps even loss of life.

Therefore every society needs some mechanisms to control violence and settle disputes.

The mechanism required for the maintenance of liberty are mentioned below:

(i) Decentralization of Power: Concentration of the power of the government leads to dictatorship which is the negation of liberty. Distribution of power between the Centre and State and making them independent of each other assures that there is no undue interference in the lives of the people.

(ii)Fundamental Rights : In the modern age, the Constitution is normally written and contains bill of rights. Government cannot violate or take away the rights easily.

(iii) Separation of Powers : According to Moulerquie, the best safeguard of liberty is separation of powers. Each organ of the government will be allotted its work and there will be no undue interference in each other’s sphere, and people will safely enjoy their liberty.

(iv) Independence of Judiciary : Honest, impartial and independent judiciary is the guardian of the rights of the people and the protector of their liberty.

Economic liberty means an opportunity to get all the things or substance without depending on somebody else with. A man who is constantly worried about his living, who is frustrated, ignorant a bonded labourer, a beggar, political liberty has no relevance for him.

Let us take the classic example of India where 26% of the population lives below the poverty line. The liberty to vote freely has no meaning to them ; rather political liberty has led to corruption in the country. For example, election in India are influenced by money power.

In fact, political liberty has no meaning unless it is founded upon the fabric of economic liberty. Similarly, a society which prefers economic liberty without political liberty makes the people unhappy as it deprives them of their political expression.

Authority and liberty:

(i) Modern society is sharply divided on the conception and interpretation of the term liberty and its relation with the sovereign authority of the state. Those who believe that liberty is freedom of doing what one likes whether that has social approval or not are of the opinion that liberty lies in the absence of sovereign authority. They hold the view that authority imposes restrictions which many a time are unwanted and undesirable.

(ii) On the contrary there are persons who believe in the very basic idea that liberty and authority must go hand in hand. The former view that liberty is absence of sovereign authority is very much condemned because it is argued that authority not only guarantees liberty but also provides equal opportunities for all for expressing what is best in an individual. It is, therefore generally felt that basically it is wrong to believe that liberty of individual and authority of state are contradictory to each other but on the other hand, absolutely necessary and essential for one another.

But there is a note of caution as well which is absolutely essential. Both liberty and authority must remain within their boundaries. As soon as one crosses the limitations one is bound to destroy the purpose for which it was being established. Excess of liberty will destroy authority whereas concentration of authority shall positively end liberty.

The features of liberty are mentioned below :

(i)Only in an environment of peace and order, the individual can enjoy liberty. To maintain the peace and order, reasonable restrictions are imposed on the actions of the individuals through laws and it helps in extending liberty to every body.

(ii)Liberty is that atmosphere in which the individual can realise his best self. For full development of personality of an individual freedom is essential.

(iii)Liberty does not mean to give freedom to a particular person but is given to all alike on equal basis. Something which is good and desirable or which is not desirable in the society should be done.

(iv)It has to be enjoyed within the framework of the law. There can be no liberty outside the state.

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boxing.