i will query ChatGPT, but, in the most basic definition, what does "Liberal Democracy" mean? Now that I'm listening/reading more and more from "(right leaning, free, whatever the terms) thinker" men on substack -- such as what you're doing Brian (thank you), the term "Liberal Democracy" comes up a lot. For those not yet fully in the know, it feels almost like it's just a "container word" for a lot of things/meanings, so as to be useless/confusing shorthand (at least in the mind of a novice)...
Was the original notion of the term "Liberal Democracy", in essence, strictly defined to just be a fancy term for "a (new) system whereby 'the commoner and the (former) nobleman are (now) both equal under the law'"? Whereas prior to this new system in a court of law, a nobleman's testimony was weighted higher than a commoners?
Is the term "Liberal Democracy" -- the original meaning of it, just a fancy term for the "all are now equal under the law" firmware/machine-language that was being put in place (though the exchange of "Federalist Paper" letters),... then, "OK, now that we have the firmware built, now we can put pen to paper and write the US Constitution"?
But, fast forwarding to today, in contemporary discourse -- in a podcast (or essay) such as this one for example, what is/are being referred to with the term "Liberal Democracy"?
It's a big wrapper of a term, but I associate it with pluralism, free speech, separation of church/state, free markets, and rule of law. Plus voting for political parties that successfully compete for votes and trade power peacefully.
Is there a problem with the sound file? I can't listen to it either with the app or via the web. Thanks
i will query ChatGPT, but, in the most basic definition, what does "Liberal Democracy" mean? Now that I'm listening/reading more and more from "(right leaning, free, whatever the terms) thinker" men on substack -- such as what you're doing Brian (thank you), the term "Liberal Democracy" comes up a lot. For those not yet fully in the know, it feels almost like it's just a "container word" for a lot of things/meanings, so as to be useless/confusing shorthand (at least in the mind of a novice)...
Was the original notion of the term "Liberal Democracy", in essence, strictly defined to just be a fancy term for "a (new) system whereby 'the commoner and the (former) nobleman are (now) both equal under the law'"? Whereas prior to this new system in a court of law, a nobleman's testimony was weighted higher than a commoners?
Is the term "Liberal Democracy" -- the original meaning of it, just a fancy term for the "all are now equal under the law" firmware/machine-language that was being put in place (though the exchange of "Federalist Paper" letters),... then, "OK, now that we have the firmware built, now we can put pen to paper and write the US Constitution"?
But, fast forwarding to today, in contemporary discourse -- in a podcast (or essay) such as this one for example, what is/are being referred to with the term "Liberal Democracy"?
It's a big wrapper of a term, but I associate it with pluralism, free speech, separation of church/state, free markets, and rule of law. Plus voting for political parties that successfully compete for votes and trade power peacefully.
another term i need to brush up on: "classical liberalism"