Politics & Government vocabulary · Parties and Ideologies
Liberal
Meaning in politics & government, with examples
/ˈlɪbərəl/adjectiveCore term
In politics & government, liberal means: Supporting individual rights and freedoms, tolerance of different views and gradual reform; its exact political meaning varies from country to country.
In Turkish: liberal, özgürlükçü
How it is used
Used for people, parties, values and policies. In political theory, liberalism stresses individual liberty, the rule of law and limited government. Liberal democracy refers to a system with free elections and protected rights.
Example sentences
The course traces the development of liberal ideas from the seventeenth century.
Liberal democracy combines free elections with protection for minority rights.
Common collocations
liberal democracy
liberal values
economic liberal
socially liberal
liberal reforms
Related terms
conservativePreferring gradual change and valuing tradition and established institutions, often together with support for free markets and limited government; also used for a person with these views.
left-wingSupporting political ideas usually linked with greater social and economic equality, a larger role for the state in the economy and stronger workers' rights.
ideologyA connected set of ideas and beliefs about how society should be organized and what government should do, which guides a political group or movement.
democracyA system of government in which power belongs to the people, who choose their leaders in free elections and can replace them; also a country governed in this way.
human rightsThe basic rights and freedoms that every person has simply because they are human, such as the right to life, liberty, a fair trial and freedom of thought.
