Democratic liberalism aims to reach a synthesis of

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which people, the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation ("direct democracy"), or to choo ...

which is the participation of the people in the power and

liberalism Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...

, a political and/or social philosophy advocating the freedom of the individual. It arose after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

(with most major nations enacting

universal suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political stan ...

) and its main question was how to get the population involved and interested in politics outside of elections. The British Liberal Democrats describe their ideology as giving "power to the people" as they are against the concentration of power in unaccountable bodies. They propose decentralisation of power out of Westminster and electoral and parliamentary reform to create a system of tiered government structures to make decisions at what they see as the right level, including regional assemblies, the European Union and international organisations. The Liberal Democrats want to protect civil liberties and oppose state intervention in personal affairs. In his ''Democratic Liberalism: The Politics of Dignity'', Craig Duncan says:

References

External links

Liberal Democrats (British Political Party)

Craig Ducan's Home Page
Liberalism {{liberal-stub