Liberal democracy

Liberal democracy is a political ideology and a form of government in which representative democracy operates under the principles of liberalism. It is characterised by fair, free, and competitive elections between multiple distinct political parties, a separation of powers into different branches of government, the rule of law in everyday life as part of an open society, and the equal protection of human rights, civil rights, civil liberties, and political freedoms for all people. To define the system in practice, liberal democracies often draw upon a constitution, either formally written or uncodified, to delineate the powers of government and enshrine the social contract. After a period of sustained expansion throughout the 20th century, liberal democracy became the predominant political system in the world.

A liberal democracy may take various constitutional forms: it may be a constitutional republic (France, India, the United States) or a constitutional monarchy (Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom). It may have a presidential system (Indonesia, the United States), a semi-presidential system (France, Taiwan), or a parliamentary system (India, Italy, the United Kingdom).

Liberal Democracy (France)

Liberal Democracy (French: Démocratie Libérale, DL) was a conservative-liberalpolitical party in France existing between 1997 and 2002. Headed by Alain Madelin, the party replaced the Republican Party, which was the classical liberal component of the Union for French Democracy (UDF).

History

After Madelin won the leadership of the Republican Party on 24 June 1997 with 59.9% of the vote, he renamed the organisation 'Liberal Democracy', and moved the party further towards economic liberalism. This followed the formation of the Democratic Force (FD) by the centrist, Christian democratic component of the Union for French Democracy (UDF), leading to internal rivalry.

Liberal Democracy became independent in 1998, after a split from the UDF. The immediate cause of this departure was Liberal Democracy's refusal to condemn the election of four UDF president of Regional Councils with the votes of the National Front. However, the party had already feared that a tighter UDF would be dominated by economic centrists, preventing his free-market policies being heard.