Freedom and the state: Redefining the general model of freedom.

摘要

The objective of this dissertation is to redefine a general understanding of freedom—particularly the coherence of political freedom and economic freedom. The necessity of consistency of the two kinds of freedoms in developing countries has long been in a state of controversy even in the liberal circle. This dissertation demonstrates that strong state power is necessary for the continuity and maintenance of freedom. This may contradict most liberals who yet embrace the notion of freedom along the line of the laissez faire tradition. Indeed, liberals have long been suspicious about a growing level of state intervention in all spheres of society. Their fears about state power stand on the logic that an increasing magnitude of state power is directly reflected as a decreasing level of freedom. The dilemma of classical liberals, however, is that laissez faire is already dead. Furthermore, the notion of freedom and human rights is now widely interpreted, which legitimates augmented state intervention in the economic sphere in the name of social welfare.; Four hypotheses are presented to test for the relevancy of the coherence of the two freedoms and state power in reality. The results drawn from statistical analyses on the data for some 70 developing countries evidence that the balance between political freedom and economic freedom—that is, the consistency of the level of democracy and free market economy—is desirable even for developing countries. But, they also demonstrate the positive impact of the interplay of the balance of freedom and strong state power on the level of national development.; The findings would assure classical liberals that state is not a hindrance to freedom. They would also enhance the faith of policy-makers of the developing world, who are often tempted to follow the authoritarian developmental model, that the coherence of economic freedom and political freedom in association with strong state power is an effective way to attain a higher level of national development. This is perhaps the most important promise that the findings in this dissertation can offer to the governments in the developing world that stand on the dawn of the 21st century with extended responsibilities yet loaded on their shoulders.