ABSTRACT
There is no clear answer to this question. That fact reveals twin dangers for those who wish to think of themselves as defenders of liberal political theory. On that theoretical level, there has been no clear and unifi ed understanding of what a liberal political philosophy is committed to. Hence, liberalism as a political philosophy has been vulnerable to a charge of internal incoherence. And these theoretical problems have made the practical debate about liberal policies almost impossible to conduct in a clear and systematic way. Ought a liberal state to accommodate illiberal minority practices? Should providing freedom of choice be the main aim of such a state, or should its emphasis be upon supporting an extensive system of welfare? The term ‘liberal’ is applied at different times-both by proponents and opponents-to all these different policies, and in the resulting cacophony, the chance of identifying a clear and coherent liberal voice is lost.
