World Politics

Introduction

Liberty, the word, or the concept of freedom has been in wide usage for a long time. The principle has been resorted to in various places and in different epochs. Liberty has been claimed under diverse situations and conditions occasionally by people of opposite views and interests. Oppressed women, abused children, persecuted minorities, and subjugated peoples have demanded liberty. So have individuals living under a repressive government or dependent on a cumbersome bureaucracy. Yet freedom has also been demanded by workers in developed democratic countries who, for instance, resented the monotony of the assembly line in an industrial plant. It has been demanded by children in affluent conditions who objected to duties imposed by education and discipline imposed by adults. Liberty has been demanded by churches restricted by the control of atheistic regimes, and freedom of worship has been claimed by sects facing a traditional monolithic church. Liberty has been demanded by individuals and by nations, by small groups and by vast populations. Sometimes this claim has been for a specific liberty, such as freedom of speech, or national self-determination; sometimes the demand has been for freedom as such: "Give me liberty, or give me death." Can there be one meaning, one fundamental sense, to the notion of liberty or freedom? Is there one liberty underlying the diverse, partial liberties? Is liberty a basic concept, related to the human condition or to certain conditions in which humanity all too often finds itself and thus addressable in a universal manner? Can there be a unified definition of liberty if it has served so many for so long in such a diverse manner? The answer to this question could be attempted in a variety of ways. One way might be a historical exploration: The major manifestations of liberty, or claims for liberty, throughout human history would have to be explored and eventually a conclusion reached as to whether they could be subsumed under one common denominator. Another approach, rather more limited, might be to explore the functioning of liberty in practice, primarily through the workings of constitutional and legal institutions. The advantage of this method is its ability to address itself to "concrete," legally formulated principles, instead of dealing with abstract and seemingly vague concepts. Liberty, from arbitrary arrest or freedom of the press, may be exactly formulated by law and adjudication and thus explored through clearly pronounced definitions and statements.

We shall not attempt either of these approaches. The historical survey would involve a voluminous work that might result in positive or negative conclusions or remain inconclusive as far as the common denominator of liberty is concerned. The exploration of the institutionalized forms of liberty has already been done in a more or less comprehensive manner, and it, too, has not resulted in a general comprehension of the concept or its justification. Moreover, such an examination would ignore various manifestations of liberty genuine or pretended that are outside the realm of legal formulation and practical adjudication. Indeed, both approaches assume the ...