Test your knowledge on liberalism

1. Liberalism
Test your knowledge
Rowena Hammal

2. Liberalism: Test your knowledge
How to take the quiz
• Give yourself one mark for each correct answer, unless more than one answer is
required.
• Keep track of your marks as you go, and add up your score at the end.
• Remember, this is not intended to be an exhaustive summary of everything you
need to know, but it is a good way to gauge how well your revision is
progressing.

3. Liberalism: Test your knowledge
Principles (part 1)
1. Where does liberalism sit on the political spectrum?
2. What attitude do liberals take towards different religions, different genders and
different ethnicities?
3. Why is classical liberalism suspicious of governments?
4. What mechanism ensures that the power of a government is limited?
5. Which economic system does liberalism support?

4. Liberalism: Test your knowledge
Principles (part 2)
6. What is the term for a society in which many different groups, ideas, cultures
and beliefs are allowed to co-exist?
7. If a person is free of legal constraints, even if they may be limited by their socio-
economic status, they can be said to possess which type of liberty?
8. Which philosophy advocates ‘the greatest good for the greatest number’ in
society?
9. Which type of liberalism advocated free trade and a small state?
10. Which type of liberalism promoted greater equality of opportunity?

5. Liberalism: Test your knowledge
Important figures
Link the ideology to the figure
(or figures) it is most associated with:
1. Utilitarianism
2. Classical liberalism
3. Social Darwinism
4. New liberalism
5. Social liberalism
6. Neo-liberalism
7. Libertarianism
Thomas Hill Green
John Maynard Keynes
Milton Friedman
Robert Nozick
David Lloyd George
Jeremy Bentham
William Beveridge
John Stuart Mill
Margaret Thatcher
Herbert Spencer

6. Liberalism: Test your knowledge
Problems posed by liberalism (part 1)
1. What five-word phrase explains the problem posed to liberalism by democracy?
2. Why might a referendum be illiberal?

7. Liberalism: Test your knowledge
Problems posed by liberalism (part 2)
3. Why was John Maynard Keynes arguably not a true liberal?
4. Why is there a tension between freedom and equality?

8. Liberalism: Test your knowledge
Problems posed by liberalism (part 3)
5. Fill in the gaps:
John Rawls suggested that, in order to decide how far society should strike a
balance between freedom and equality, people should imagine that they are
behind a ‘_____ ___ ______________’ which prevents them from knowing how
fortunate they will be during their life.
6. Why did the Liberal Party, and later the Liberal Democrats, both struggle to
maintain a unique identity?

9. Liberalism: Test your knowledge
Answers
Principles (part 1)
1. Where does liberalism sit on the political spectrum? In the centre.
2. What attitude do liberals take towards different religions, different genders and
different ethnicities? They are tolerant of difference and supportive of equality.
3. Why is classical liberalism suspicious of governments? Governments place limits
upon the freedom of individuals.
4. What mechanism is designed to ensure that the power of a government is
limited? A liberal constitution.
5. Which economic system does liberalism support? Capitalism.
Total = 5 marks

10. Liberalism: Test your knowledge
Answers
Principles (part 2)
6. What is the term for a society in which many different groups, ideas, cultures
and beliefs are allowed to co-exist? Pluralist.
7. If a person is free of legal constraints, even if they may be limited by their socio-
economic status, they can be said to possess which type of liberty? Negative
liberty.
8. Which philosophy advocates ‘the greatest good for the greatest number’ in
society? Utilitarianism.
9. Which type of liberalism advocated free trade and a small state? Classical
liberalism.
10. Which type of liberalism promoted greater equality of opportunity? New
liberalism, which was followed by welfare or social liberalism.
Total = 5 marks

11. Liberalism: Test your knowledge
Answers
Important figures
Link the ideology to the figure (or figures)
it is most associated with (1 mark for
each correct match. Total = 10 marks):
1. Utilitarianism
2. Classical liberalism
3. Social Darwinism
4. New liberalism
5. Social liberalism
6. Neo-liberalism
7. Libertarianism
Jeremy Bentham
John Stuart Mill
Herbert Spencer
Thomas Hill Green
David Lloyd George
John Maynard Keynes
William Beveridge
Milton Friedman
Margaret Thatcher
Robert Nozick

12. Liberalism: Test your knowledge
Answers
Problems posed by liberalism (part 1)
1. What five-word phrase explains the problem posed to liberalism by democracy?
The tyranny of the majority. (1 mark for correct phrase)
2. Why might a referendum be illiberal? Allowing people to vote on specific issues
would appear to be liberal at first glance, as they are being given freedom of
choice by the government. However, minorities may be outvoted by the majority,
even though the issue in question may affect minorities more. A good example is
gay marriage. Had gay marriage been put to a referendum, it might well have
been rejected by a heterosexual majority who already enjoyed the freedom to
marry.
(1 mark for correct general explanation)

13. Liberalism: Test your knowledge
Answers
Problems posed by liberalism (part 2)
3. Why was John Maynard Keynes arguably not a true liberal? This depends on how
you define a liberal. He was certainly not a follower of classical liberal economics,
which aims to keep state intervention to a minimum and allow market forces to
operate freely. Keynes advocated massive public borrowing by the state in order
to regenerate the British economy after the Second World War. This provided the
economic background for the introduction of welfare liberalism.
(1 mark for correct general explanation)
4. Why is there a tension between freedom and equality? Greater equality can only
be achieved by taking more from those who have more, and giving it to those
who have less. This infringes upon the freedom of the former, although ultimately
it promotes the freedom of the latter, as they will no longer be limited by poverty.
(1 mark for correct general explanation)

14. Liberalism: Test your knowledge
Answers
Problems posed by liberalism (part 3)
5. John Rawls suggested that, in order to decide how far society should strike a
balance between freedom and equality, people should imagine that they are
behind a ‘veil of ignorance’ which prevents them from knowing how fortunate they
will be during their life. (1 mark for correct phrase)
6. Why did the Liberal Party, and later the Liberal Democrats, both struggle to
maintain a unique identity? Both the Conservatives and Labour have adopted
many liberal principles.
(1 mark for correct general answer)

15. Liberalism: Test your knowledge
Results
Add up your marks to discover your total score out of 26.
26–24: You know your stuff. Congratulations.
23–20: Sound understanding though a few kinks to iron out.
19–15: Very good on the basics, but get back to your notes to improve your
understanding.
14–10: Listen, can you hear that? Your textbook is calling you! It’s feeling
neglected.
9–5: You need to get this stuff to stick in your brain. Read through your notes,
wait a week, take this quiz again.
4–0: Have you lost your folder? Were you in class? Don’t wait: start learning this
topic now. You can catch up if you put your mind to it.