In general, liberalization refers to a relaxation of previous government restrictions, usually in areas of social or economic policy. Liberalization of autocratic regimes may precede democratization (or not, as in the case of the Prague Spring). People in a café watch Soviet tanks roll past The Prague Spring (Czech: Pražské jaro, Slovak: Pražská jar, Russian: пражская весна) was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia starting January 5, 1968 when Alexander Dubček came to power, and running until August 20 of that year when the...

In the arena of social policy it may refer to a relaxation of laws restricting for example divorce, abortion, homosexuality or drugs. For the record label, see Divorce Records. ... Homosexuality refers to sexual and romantic attraction between two individuals of the same sex. ... A psychoactive drug or psychotropic substance is a chemical substance that acts primarily upon the central nervous system where it alters brain function, resulting in temporary changes in perception, mood, consciousness and behavior. ...

Most often, the term is used to refer to economic liberalization, especially trade liberalization or capital market liberalization. Economic liberalization ... Free trade is an economic concept referring to the selling of products between countries without tariffs or other trade barriers. ...

Liberalization and privatization

Although economic liberalization is often associated with privatization, the two can be quite separate processes. For example, the European Union has liberalized gas and electricity markets, instituting a system of competition; but some of the leading European energy companies (such as EDF and Vattenfall) remain partially or completely in government ownership. Privatization (alternately denationalization or disinvestment) is the transfer of property or responsibility from the public sector (government) to the private sector (business). ... A gas is one of the four major phases of matter (after solid and liquid, and followed by plasma, that subsequently appear as a solid material is subjected to increasingly higher temperatures. ... Lightning strikes during a night-time thunderstorm. ... Competition is the act of striving against another force for the purpose of achieving dominance or attaining a reward or goal, or out of a biological imperative such as survival. ... Électricité de France (EDF) is the main electricity generation and distribution company in France. ... Vattenfall AB, literally Waterfall, is a Swedish energy company and one of the leading energy producers in Northern Europe. ... Public ownership (also called government ownership or state ownership) is government ownership of any asset, industry, or corporation at any level, national, regional or local (municipal). ...

Liberalized and privatized public services may be dominated by just a few big companies, particularly in sectors with high capital costs, or high sunk cost, such as water, gas and electricity. In some cases they may remain legal monopolies, at least for some part of the market (e.g. small consumers). Public services is a term usually used to mean services provided by government to its citizens, either directly (through the public sector) or by financing private provision of services. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... In economics and in business decision-making, sunk costs are costs that have already been incurred and which cannot be recovered to any significant degree. ... In economics, a monopoly (from the Latin word monopolium - Greek language monos, one + polein, to sell) is defined as a persistent market situation where there is only one provider of a product or service. ...

Liberalization is one of three focal points (the others being privatization and stabilization) of the Washington consensus's trinity strategy for economies in transition. An example of Liberalization is the "Washington Consensus" which was a set of policies created and used by Argentina.

Liberalization vs Democratization

There is a distinct difference between liberalization and democratization, which are often thought to be the same concept. Liberalization can take place without democratization, and deals with a combination of policy and social change specialized to a certain issue such as the liberalization of government-held property for private purchase, whereas democratization is more politically specialized that can arise from a liberalization, but works in a broader level of government.

See also

• Electricity liberalization
• Oligopoly
• Marketization
• The Freedom Library: A collection of Masterpieces of Economics and Philosophy - Free Pdf downloads as well as audios and videos of the great liberal thinkers.