Liberal

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This text is part of the Liberalism series

Liberalism Liberalism in countries Liberal parties Liberal International Timeline of liberal parties Liberal thinkers Liberal leaders Liberal bibliography Democracy Freedom (political) Individual Liberal democracy Rule of law Utilitarianism Classical liberalism Green liberalism Individualism Neoliberalism New liberalism Political liberalism Small-l liberal Social liberalism

Liberal is also the name of two towns in the United States: Liberal, Kansas and Liberal, Missouri.

The word liberal, like liberty, derives from the Latin liber ("free"). In religion and politics, to be liberal is to be tolerant or open-minded, to favour freedom over control. In other words, a liberal is someone who adheres to the ideology of liberalism. For more information on the various variants of liberal, read Liberalism. Be aware that the meaning of the word liberal or liberalism can be different in various countries and can be related to the political background of the user. Therefore it can have various meanings throughout Wikipedia. A more comprehensive discussion can be found at Liberalism.

In the United States, liberal is sometimes used as an antonym for Conservative or a synonym for left-wing. There, it primarily refers to the New Deal variant of liberalism, emphasizing the positive role of the state. In other countries, liberal may have quite an opposite meaning: for instance, in France a liberal is a right-wing or Classical Liberal proponent of free markets. Some would use liberal in the classical liberal meaning of the word, others would prefer the social liberal meaning of the word.

Worldwide, there are many political parties that go by the name Liberal Party, but their ideological positions vary widely. For example, Australia's Liberal Party is generally characterized as following a conservative ideology, rather than a liberal one; the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan is also considered a right-wing party. Canada's governing Liberal Party is more of a centrist party.

See also

• Types of liberalism: Political liberalism, Classical liberalism, New liberalism, Green liberalism
• Progressivism
• Political spectrum: Liberalism, Progressivism, Libertarianism
• Political parties: Liberal parties, Liberal International, Liberal Party, Liberal Democratic Party, Liberal Unionist Party
• Liberal theology, Liberal Judaism, Liberal Catholic Church
• Liberal arts college
• List of liberal thinkers and leaders
• Limousine liberal

sv:Liberalism

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