Liberalism | AQA A-Level Politics (7152)

Liberalism

82 questions
6 subtopics
Paper 3: the three core ideologies, all compulsory
Paper 3

The individual as the unit of analysis, freedom, limited government and foundational equality — and the split between the classical liberalism of the minimal state and the modern liberalism that would use the state to make freedom real..

It covers the Individual and Individualism, limited Government and Foundational Equality, classical Liberalism and the Night-Watchman State, modern Liberalism and the Continuity Debate, locke and Mill and rawls, Wollstonecraft and Friedan.

Sample questions from Liberalism

Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.

The Individual and Individualism

Why do liberals regard human beings as rational?

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Liberals hold that people can reason about their own interests and settle disputes by discussion and evidence, which is why they can be trusted with liberty.
The Individual and Individualism

Define positive freedom.

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Positive freedom is the ability actually to control one's own life and realise one's potential, which poverty, ignorance or ill health can deny even when no one is coercing you.
Limited Government and Foundational Equality

What is equality of opportunity?

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It is the principle that everyone should start from the same position and be able to rise on the basis of ability and effort.
Limited Government and Foundational Equality

What is atomism?

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Atomism is the view that society is nothing more than the sum of the individuals who compose it, each pursuing self-chosen ends.
Classical Liberalism and the Night-Watchman State

What view of human nature underpins classical liberalism?

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People are rational, self-interested and self-reliant, capable of looking after themselves if left free to do so.
Classical Liberalism and the Night-Watchman State

Define the enabling state.

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It is a state that removes the social obstacles to freedom by providing education, health care, housing and social security, so that individuals can help themselves.
Modern Liberalism and the Continuity Debate

On what fundamentals do classical and modern liberals still agree?

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Both prize the individual, rationality, toleration, constitutional and accountable government, the rule of law, private property and a market-based economy.
Modern Liberalism and the Continuity Debate

Give Green's definition of positive freedom.

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As the actual power to do and enjoy something worth doing, in common with others, rather than the mere absence of legal restraint.

The 6 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
The Individual and Individualism	Recall questions on liberalism's basic unit of analysis, the meaning of individualism, the egoistical and developmental forms, and the claim to rationality.	11
Limited Government and Foundational Equality	Recall questions on limited government, constitutionalism, why liberals fragment power and what foundational equality asserts.	17
Classical Liberalism and the Night-Watchman State	Recall questions on when classical liberalism took shape, the conception of liberty it champions, laissez-faire and the functions of a minimal state.	16
Modern Liberalism and the Continuity Debate	Recall questions on how the modern view of society differs, what new liberalism means, and the arguments that it betrays or continues classical liberalism.	12
Locke and Mill	Recall questions on Locke's natural rights, state of nature and legitimate government, and on Mill's harm principle, individuality, fears about democracy and place between classical and modern liberalism.	11
Rawls, Wollstonecraft and Friedan	Recall questions on Rawls's original position, veil of ignorance and principles of justice, Wollstonecraft's case for women's rights and attack on aristocracy, and Friedan's problem that has no name.	15

Liberalism is 82 of the 2,215 questions in the guide.Get the guide, £8

How the guide is worked

Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.

Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.

Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.