a.Relationship between individual and society
Society is perceived as immanent to the extent that individual and group actors can affect change. This is based on the assumption that society is a collection of individuals "fashioned out of voluntary and contractual agreements made by self-interested human beings" (Heywood 1994, 77) to quote one political theorist. As such, society is changeable, in that people can work through forms of political action to effect change.
b.Nature of society
Society is made up of collections of individuals, reflected in groups, associations, etc. It is the sum of its parts and nothing more, meaning that society has no preordained or natural order.
c.Concept of social change
Change is therefore possible, though reluctantly made, within the existing system and fundamental institutions. In a liberal society change primarily refers to improving the system through the political mechanisms and power relations that a competitive society creates. In other words, change occurs because competition is about a state of flux between diverse groups, classes, and factions that constantly form new power relationships and hence new political and social equilibrium. Change is therefore quantitative, as it occurs within the system as a by-product of the political and social infrastructure of a liberal society so that what is perceived as change is the normal internal restructuring that develops when new arrangements and accommodations are made between competing groups.
2.Nature
and role of the state
a.Nature of the state
Traditional liberal democratic theory was based on some assumptions about social contract theory and the notion of power.Power is shared between private individuals, pressure groups, and the state, so that no one group is sufficiently powerful enough to dominate.However, it is perhaps fair to say that the nature of the state is undergoing some change in liberal welfare theory. For example, state autonomy is being passed on to "supranational" authorities. Examples are the European Union, North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) or the World Trade Organization (WTO).Liberalism now confines itself to promoting an activist state in the sense of pushing for guaranteeing a social minimum through various means of delivering social services but limiting its role in economic policy. Put bluntly, liberals believe the state ought to provide some limited relief from the inequalities of capitalism, but it should do it in such a way that causes as little interference in economic policy as possible.
b.The role of the state in social welfare
The liberal model of the state involvement in social welfare has been a promoted to the extent that liberalism has been the chief proponent of the institutional model of social welfare. In the institutional model, welfare is seen to be a major institution of society. It is thought that a measure of a society's "social development" is reflected in the extent to which social welfare provision is available to the average person. Through these means, the state takes an active interest in reducing inequality and promoting equality of opportunity but in a way which does not challenge the market's predominance in the distribution of wealth.
3.Concept
of human nature: tabula rasa and homo duplex
The first sees people as blank slates, represented by the Latin term tabula rasa. This is a view that is particularly important for social work in that it suggests that we are by and large the products of our socialisation, our experience living as social beings. However, this also suggests that in many ways human beings have the capacity to change. If the right social circumstances are provided, then people will be able to change, perhaps even want to change. The second liberal view of human nature is one represented by the term homo duplex that suggests that people have two sides to their nature, a positive, altruistic one, and another one characterized by a more self-centred side, which may or may not be seen as positive. Recently, liberal social welfare theory has begun to accept the dominance of economic thinking in views of human nature.
4.Fundamental
economic institutions
"Liberals
see the economy as a vital part of civil society and have a strong preference
for a market or capitalist economic order based on property, competition
and material incentives" (Heywood 1998, 115).
The liberal ideology accepts the primacy of the market economy as the best means of distributing wealth created in society. However, there is always in liberal ideology some reservation about this, reservations expressed in occasional forms of intervention.
5.Fundamental
operative values
a.Pragmatism
Keynesian in nature, the pragmatist within this model lacks faith in an unregulated market but enthusiastically supports private enterprise. Thus the pragmatist only reluctantly accepts the need for government intervention. This resulted in a theory that in the short run emphasized pragmatic considerations on government intervention but that, in the long run, retained an idealistic faith in the benefits of capitalism.
b.Individualism/collectivism
Great stress is laid on individualism through the concepts of private enterprise and self-help, which form the basis upon which capitalism flourishes. The advantages are to be found in the following:it is the best safeguard for personal liberty, that is, as long as individualism can be purged of its defects.It guarantees and safeguards that a diversity of life actions will emerge from these choices (Keynes). According to Keynes, individualism and self-help are the wellsprings of innovation and initiative for new ideas and forms.
c.Equality/inequality
Inequality is recognized as part of the economic and social conditions of capitalism. Thus, although redistribution of wealth is advocated, this is both limited and undermined by the continued emphasis placed on rewarding individuals differently.In the end, inequality is accepted because it is believed that incentives in the way of money and wealth are required to achieve the full fruition of certain valued human activities.As a result, the liberal view of inequality is frequently described as ěless inequality.î
d.Freedom/liberty
For the liberal, individual freedoms and liberties are seen as essential to society, (i.e., freedom of worship, speech, assembly, association, choice of occupation, and the management of personal income). Liberty means not only freedom from the arbitrary power of governments but also freedom from economic servitude, want, squalor, idleness, ignorance, and disease, all of which contribute to economic inefficiency and depression. From an economic standpoint, freedom increases when poverty is reduced.
6.Theory
of social need
Need is defined as relative need, relative to the national level of production or what is considered customary for existing society.Given that the average income or wealth in a society will change over a period of time, individual needs will change over the individual's life cycle. To that degree, therefore, needs must be considered both societal and individual.
a.Concept of poverty
For liberals, poverty is a problem but not necessarily an economic one. In fact, it is often referred to as inequality, although the focus is on reducing the degree of inequality not on eliminating it. In this case, poverty is defined as relative to the national average and is still regarded as a necessary and important means to stimulate workers. The tendency is, therefore, to focus on poverty as a condition that results from a combination of maladaptation and personal and family problems. Liberals essentially blame the poor while at the same time recognize the need to reform social programs in order to offset severe cases of need.
7.Principle
of social justice
Social justice is defined as a balance between economic necessity and a system of monetary rewards. Hence it is a mixed ethic: distributive and commutative. It is distributive because most individuals are, in varying degrees within an institutional model and at minimum, provided with or guaranteed access to an extensive range of services and benefits by the state or through regulation. It is commutative because the emphasis is still on rewarding the gifted or the opportunistic.
8.Implied
ameliorative action(s) IAA
The status quo is modified or reformed but not beyond the limits of the existing institutional framework (i.e., the preservation of democratic institutions, the free market, and private property). The emphasis is, therefore, on reform and not revolution.