Is Liberalism Merely Ruling Class Ideology?

In order to answer this question one has to determine what ruling class ideology is. It is possible to interpret ideologies as particular combinations of meanings from an indeterminate range of meanings. Therefore ruling class ideology would be a mutually accepted decontestation of the essentially contestable by a group that can be identified by parameters of power and influence. This group would have, in feudal times, been considered to be the elite: those with an abundance of disproportionate wealth and natural resources at their disposal. In a Capitalist society the ‘ruling class’ as such is polarised: between the corporate powers and the governmental powers. Since capitalism and Liberalism emerged at the same time, hand in hand, one would be forgiven for supposing that Liberalism as an ideology benefited the Capitalist ruling class, however I intend to argue the opposite through my essay.

            In practise Liberalism in the UK has crossed over significantly with Conservatism. The post war consensus entered UK politics into an era whereby Modern socialist, liberal and conservative parties worked under the mutual umbrella of Capitalist Liberalism. The new right movement under Margaret Thatcher returned to a form of ideology closely linked to classical liberalism. The specific Classical Liberal values of free market trade, low taxation and reduced government were combined with neo-right wing views in this movement. The conservatives have been long associated with the preservation of the elite’s wealth and of preserving the social hierarchy, therefore Thatcher’s adoption of certain aspects of Liberalism can be seen as evidence for Liberalism being ruling class ideology. In fact most Liberal theorists would not contest that Liberalism, in this way does benefit the ruling class. They would however, argue that when Classical Liberalism first emerged, social inequality, although taken into account, was not foreseen as being so unjust. In fact social justice was seen to exist within inequality. It was not until mid 19^th century, when an internal conceptual morphology occurred. Liberal concepts of individual liberty and free markets were counterbalanced against Liberal beliefs in progress and general interests. It is at this point that Liberalism separates itself from ruling class ideology.

            In order to determine ruling class ideology as it exists today, one must consider a typical member of that class, and the identifiable social categories they are likely to fall into. Stereotypically middle aged, middle class, white men are considered to be the most powerful social group. Within this group, the most popular religion is Church of England and they are often educated to a university standard. It is presumed that the are inherently conservative in nature, in order to preserve the society and establishment in which they flourish. Within this class, as mentioned above, there is a polarisation and two clear sub-groups: firstly those who have their power base in government in some way, those who are MP’s, High ranking Civil Servants, the Prime Minister, Judges, the Cabinet, representatives in the House of Lords etc…( this group is notorious for being typical white, middle class men, with the relatively few exceptions being exclusively the handful of female and ethic MP’s in recent years). The second sub-group have their power base in Business, this includes a variety of careers such as Bankers, lawyers, Entrepreneurs, high ranking Business Managers etc…( this group are easily more diverse than the latter).

            Perhaps the strongest argument against Liberalism being a ruling class ideology will become apparent when, considering which social groups, based on statistics from the USA, are most likely to be Liberal. It was shown that Blacks identified almost unanimously with Liberal concepts, more so than Whites or Asians. Women overall identified with Liberalism more than men, since the 1960’s. Other typical Liberals tended to be young, urbanised and secular. Thus Liberalism loses out to conservatism when considering the ideological leanings of the ruling class.

            In the UK the ruling class are generally assumed to be based in the South East, specifically Westminster. Yet it is the conservatives alone that stand to preserve this centralisation, whilst other more liberal parties sponsored devolving power to Wales and Scotland as well as regional and local devolvement of power. It is also clear that northern areas, which are predominantly working class, are more liberal in their outlook than they are conservative; however, the main support in poorer areas remains with socialist parties. 

            Equal opportunity is the ethos to be found in most institutions of today, including schools and businesses. It is a fundamental Liberal principle and when it is put into practise, it protects the rights of the more vulnerable members of society, sometimes to the detriment of the business side of the ‘ruling class’. Recently, this concept has had extensive implications in the UK. The disability Act of 2000 gave businesses until 2005 to make sufficient provisions for the disabled to access their facilities. This conceptually liberal legislation legitimises government enforced sanctions on businesses that fall short of providing equal opportunities. Therefore, although Liberalism stresses the importance of a free market, it has, in this instance, undermined this concept in favour of a more social-liberal concept. This is evidence that Liberalism can both work for and against the business side of the ruling class.

Liberalism is inherently suspicious of the government, advocating limits, controls and checks on government power. Evidence for this in the UK can be seen in our constitution. Although uncodified, it does guarantee a certain level of separation of powers, ensuring the state cannot become overbearing. Core concepts of Liberalism theory are designed to safe guard the rights of the individual: in practise these concepts are translated into ‘civil rights’ and are cherished by Liberal thinkers. Mill, who is used as a point of reference to forge a sense of liberal ideological community even through expanding horizons stressed: ‘Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign’. This is evidence that Liberalism actually undermines ruling class power, jurisdiction and authority by undermining parliamentary sovereignty and by challenging the legitimacy of the state to intervene in an individual’s life.

Therefore Liberalism as an ideology is certainly not the same as ruling class ideology unless the ruling class are willing to adhere to an ideology that does not serve their own interests as sufficiently as the alternative mainstream ideology: conservatism. However, ideology has a difficult relationship with political practise, with parties acting upon popular opinion rather than ideological beliefs. Another conundrum with Liberalism is that the people represented to implement it are members of the governmental ruling class, which Liberalism is inherently suspicious of. This allows the government to act with the shield of legitimacy that liberalism provides whilst ignoring selected concepts as and when it threatens their power. As an ideology it severs to progress society fairly and justly but in reality it is weak because it is so easily manipulated and is rarely criticised.