Defining Liberalism: A Systematic Review on the Core Concepts of the Liberal Ideology

What is liberalism? The ever-growing literature on the topic reproduces a confusing cacophony of definitions. Surprisingly, no one has ever reviewed this literature systematically. This paper addresses this gap and aims at synthesising a definition of liberalism from the core concepts the literature attaches to it. A systematic review collected literature from University College Dublin libraries, my personal library, JSTOR, and Google Scholar between March and June 2023. To be included in the review, each source had to present a clear definition of liberalism by identifying its core concepts or articulating them in one or more central claims. The definition of liberalism provided by each source had to cover adequately the full range of contemporary liberal thought. Titles, abstracts, and tables of content from an initial pool of 665 sources were screened; 89 of them fulfilled the inclusion criteria, and their full texts were submitted to a second round of screening. 56 sources passed both screening rounds to comprise the research corpus. The analytical process adopted the thematic synthesis approach, which was operationalised with the assistance of NVivo and registered in analytical notes. The analysis singled out nineteen core liberal concepts and grouped them in six conceptual cornerstones, which sum up the key topics of concern of any liberal theory. Ontological cornerstones include (1) rational and responsible individuals and (2) people’s worth; moral cornerstones encompass (3) freedom to choose and respect to people’s decisions and (4) fair and equal treatment; and institutional cornerstones consist of (5) market economy and (6) legitimate government. These cornerstones are objects of intense dispute among liberals. Instead of a consensus regarding the exact content of any basic set of principles, they point to an overall understanding that certain core concepts and issues matter and require liberals to take a position, even though the specific conceptualisation of those concepts and issues may vary widely. From that perspective, I propose that liberalism is an ideology that believes individuals matter as rational agents who share the same moral worth and who, in their private sphere, have the right to be free to make their own choices and to live according to their own conceptions of the good, as well as to negotiate with other people in a free-market economy, while, in the public sphere, deserve fair treatment from the part of a legitimate government. This paper offers at least three contributions. First, it derives a definition of liberalism consistent with political science methods in a way that has never been done before, benefitting from and synthesising the accumulated knowledge in the field. Second, it identifies the core concepts of liberalism and organises them in conceptual cornerstones, which summarise interlinked questions that populate liberal concerns and can serve as guides to analysing and understanding the thought structure behind liberal theories. Finally, the framework comprising the definition of liberalism, its core concepts, and its conceptual cornerstones provides elements which can assist in future investigations, including the efforts to understand contestation to liberal democracies and the current trends in democratic backsliding.