ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to trace the emergence of the ideas of liberalism, as well as the liberal form of the modern state. The principles of liberalism have varied historically, nonetheless, and even the term itself has been used only since the beginning of the nineteenth century in France and Germany. The origin of the term liberalism is the Latin term, “liber,” meaning free. In order to understand the historical evolution of the liberal state, which integrates both politics and economics, one must see the relationship between them in terms of “political economy.” American Founders were familiar with liberal theorists like Locke and the “rights of free-born Englishmen,” as well as the structure of the British “constitution.” Otto von Bismarck used expansion of the scale of the state to avoid compromise with a liberal parliament to assure taxation. Liberals in Britain, France, and Germany were able to reconcile this domination of foreign territories for the benefit of their own progress.
