To what extent is liberalism compatible with democracy

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To what extent is liberalism compatible with democracy?

Liberalism is associated with the modern development of democracy and democratic institutions it has not had a very strong relationship with democracy. Democracy is the means by which people could be liberated and free to express their self-interested individualism, excessive amounts of this could lead to the oppression of individuals and minorities. But the liberal belief is mainly related to self-government which is not what democracy is as everyone is coming together. As well as that there is no major sense of equality in democracy.

Classical liberals worried about tyranny of the majority which would result in individual liberty and minority rights being crushed in the name of the people. A way in which this problem could be solved is to retain the property qualification for voting so that the irresponsible majority would be denied political rights. Overall classical liberals saw democracy as becoming a threat to individual liberty. But some argued that majority would create a network of checks and balances that would make government responsive to competing minorities.

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By the 20th Century most liberals had come to see democracy as a virtue even though it was based on several doctrines and arguments. The earliest justified form was the idea that citizens must have ways in which they could protect themselves from the interference of the government. Protective democracy aims to give citizens an opportunity to live their lives as they wish with a minimum of government intervention. Another version of democracy would be the political participation, by participating in political life citizens will have a higher level of personal achievement. However modern liberal theories on democracy tend focus ...

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