ABSTRACT
As explained in the Introduction, the liberalism we are considering here should be taken to represent a general approach to justice in the modern era, a theoretical view which underlies constitutional democracy and popular sovereignty in general, and not a particular political agenda or set of policies. The reason for this is that we were trying to develop a more abstract view about political power and justice generally that speaks to both ‘liberal’ and ‘conservative’ policies, in the narrow senses of those words. Liberalism in this broad sense certainly is in opposition to various forms of political fundamentalism, fascism, and despotism, but it is not meant to oppose (most of) what goes by the name ‘conservative’ in the policy debates of the current day.
