Liberalism supports individual freedom and limiting the power of political bodies. It proposes fragmenting power through mechanisms like separation of powers, federalism/devolution, bicameral legislatures, codified constitutions, and regular elections. This ensures no single group can dominate and individuals are protected from tyranny. Specifically, liberals argue power should be divided between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches to provide checks and balances, as well as devolving some powers to subnational governments.

1. Liberalism
Fragmentation of power.
Chloe Tidmarsh 

2. Define Liberalism
O Latin – ‘Liber’ (referring to a class of free men).
O Widely recognized in Europe by 1840s.
O First liberal government under Gladstone in 1868.
O Committed to the individual and a society where
people can achieve fulfilment.
O People are entitled to equal and political rights,
and should be rewarded in line with their talents
and intent to work.
O Classical and modern liberalism are very different
– classical wants a minimal state for maintenance
of domestic order and personal security whereas
modern accepts that the state should be used to
help people help themselves.

3. What is fragmentation of
power?
O The fragmentation of power is ensuring
that any political or social body of power,
influencing society, has limits to what it
can do or encourage in society.
O To avoid too much influence on society,
liberals have acknowledged different
checks and balances on bodies of power.
O Bi-cameralism, codified constitution,
regular elections/referendums, and
devolution and federalism in both the UK
and USA.

4. Why do liberals propose
fragmentation of power?
O Liberals are, above all, for the individual’s
freedom and ability to fulfil their moral
potential.
O Montesquieu (enlightenment) – “Power
should be a check to power”. He proposed
the doctrine of separation of powers.
O These are essential aspects of politics to
Liberals because they ensure the safety,
rights, and freedoms of the individual.

5. Bicameralism
O Bicameralism is a form of separation of
powers and is essentially having two
cabinets in the UK government who act to
check each other when coming to a
decision on a matter affecting the country
(Laws).
O This is distinguished from unicameralism
whereby there is only one body which is
not checked by any other power body in
parliament.

6. Codified constitution
O This is a single authoritative document which
defines the duties, powers, and functions of
government institutions and hence constitutes
“higher” law.
O The difference between a codified and uncodified
constitution is that codified is one single document
that cannot easily be altered whereas an
uncodified constitution is more flexible and
unwritten; instead coming from a variety of sources
such as prerogatives, conventions, common and
statute law.
O Liberals tend to prefer a codified constitution as it
is “set in stone” and confirms individual rights and
freedom.

7. Devolution/federalism
O The US Presidential System is based on the
separation of powers between the Congress,
the presidency, and the Supreme Court. The
judiciary must maintain political independence
and neutrality in order to protect the individual
from the state.
O In the UK, the cabinet checks the power of the
PM, the parliamentary government checks the
power of the executive, and bicameralism
checks the power of each legislative chamber.

8. Regular election/ referendums
O These are vital in Liberalism as they allow
the individual to have a say in the politics
surrounding their lives, and ensure that
power has not been fully consumed by
parliament or other political bodies.
O They also keep the public involved in
politics and ensure they are up-to-date
and thus accessing their full potential.

9. Conclusion
O The separation of powers ensures that political
tyrannies and dictators cannot put down individual
freedoms and rights. The democratic solution must
be an application of majority rule (the Liberals call
this the “tyranny of the masses”). However, this
tyranny can lead to a government unwanted by
minorities in society which the government can
manipulate into things that individuals do not want.
Liberals believe the best way to solve this problem is
with checks and balances to make a government
consider the minority groups too. Having the
separation of power will ensure that individual rights
and freedoms of everyone (including minorities) will
be considered as well as avoiding both a tyranny of
the masses and a tyranny by dictatorship.