Liberalism In Europe

This website is aimed at providing the readers with an overview on what is liberalism. Most of us have heard of this term but very few know what it actually is and how this politic ideology has spread around the world and in different parts of the world. To start with, liberalism entails a belief in the importance of rights and liberties and it has become the most common political ideology in the democratic countries. This is why this term may seem so well known, and yet there is much more to be known about it. On this page, people can learn more about the European liberalism, how it appeared and what it entails.

Liberalism has been present in Europe ever since the 17th century. A difference is commonly being made between English liberalism and French liberalism. The first entails the expansion of democratic values while the second refers more to the rejection of authoritarian political structures. The French line of liberalism is also referred to as the continental liberalism and it is deeply divided between the moderates and progressives, otherwise an elitist vision and a Universalist vision.

Liberalism has therefore been the recurrent political ideology in Europe and liberal parties have been known to dominate the political arena. However, they had been displaced by the socialists and social democrats by the turn into the 20th century. The European liberalism has been however resurrected to some extent by the fall of the Soviet Union and which has been classified into centre-right or center-left or social liberalism depending on their main ideology. The liberal parties have been the subject of various renewal and transformation attempts, in particular in Western Europe. Here, liberalism had to reinvent itself each time coming back to the political limelight after various historic disappointments. The main characteristic of European liberalism has been its ability to work in close cooperation with socialist parties.