Practice question · Multiple choice
A nineteenth-century state has a constitution, entrenched rights, separated powers and a franchise of under five per cent. Why is it a liberal state but not a democratic one?
Hints
- Ask what each of the two words is a claim about.
- One is about limits on power, the other about who holds it.
Show the answer
A. Liberalism constrains power while democracy distributes it, and only the first condition is met
Why
Because the two words answer different questions. Liberalism is about limits on power, rights, courts, separated institutions. Democracy is about who holds it. A state can have every liberal constraint and a franchise of five per cent, and most nineteenth-century European states did exactly that for decades.
Practise The Liberal State and Its Contracts
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More questions on The Liberal State and Its Contracts
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