ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the origins of the terms ‘liberal’, and highlights two central ideas of legal and political liberalism: the social contract and the ‘harm principle’. It discusses the strong links between the principle that gave the freedom of expression and privacy rights and the reality of European 19th century imperialism. Liberal economics dislikes high corporate taxes and is suspicious of strong labour unions. The chapter highlights two elements of liberal political-legal theory. One is the view, first propounded by Thomas Hobbes but given its most influential form by John Locke in the late 1600s that political sovereignty lies originally and fundamentally in the individual. Along with social contract assumptions, the second key building block of political-legal liberalism is the notion that even when living in organized societies with governments, individuals are entitled to certain autonomy, a sphere of ‘privacy’ – the ‘inalienable’ rights invoked in the United States Declaration of Independence.
