Social liberalism is either a synonym for new liberalism or a label used by progressiveliberal parties in order to differentiate themselves from the more conservative liberal parties, especially when there are two or more liberal parties in a country.
A more comprehensive presentation is included in the articleLiberalism.
Liberalism refers to a broad array of related ideas and theories of government that consider individualliberty to be the most important political goal.
Liberalism and democracy are now usually thought to have common aims, but in the past many liberals considered democracy unhealthy because it encouraged mass participation in politics.
In postmedieval European culture liberalism was perhaps first expressed in humanism, which redirected thinking in the 15th century from the consideration of the divine order of the world and its reflections in the temporal social order to the conditions and potentialities of people on earth.
Often opposed to liberalism is the doctrine of conservatism, which, simply stated, supports the maintenance of the status quo.
Liberal thought was soon stating that the government should be responsible for providing the minimum conditions necessary for decent individual existence.
While such programs are also advocated by socialism, liberalism does not support the socialist goal of complete equality imposed by state control, and because it is still dedicated to the primacy of the individual, liberalism also strongly opposes communism.
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