Liberal conservatism
Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances on economic and ethical issues, or a brand of political conservatism influenced by liberalism. Liberal conservatism incorporates the classical liberal view of minimal government intervention in the economy, according to which individuals should be free to participate in the market and generate wealth without government interference. However, individuals cannot be depended on to act responsibly in other spheres of life, therefore liberal conservatives believe that a strong state is necessary to ensure law and order and social institutions are needed to nurture a sense of duty and responsibility to the nation, they support civil liberties, along with some social conservative positions. In Europe liberal conservatism is the dominant form of contemporary conservatism and centre-right politics; as both "conservatism" and "liberalism" have had different meanings over time and across countries, the term "liberal conservatism" has been used in quite different ways.
It contrasts with "aristocratic conservatism", which deems the principle of equality as something discordant with human nature and emphasizes instead the idea of natural inequality. As conservatives in democratic countries have embraced typical liberal institutions such as the rule of law, private property, the market economy and constitutional representative government, the liberal element of liberal conservatism became consensual among conservatives. In some countries, the term "liberal conservatism" came to be understood as "conservatism" in popular culture, prompting some conservatives who embraced more classical liberal values to call themselves "libertarians" instead. In the United States conservatives combine the economic individualism of classical liberals with a Burkean form of conservatism that emphasizes the natural inequalities between men, the irrationality of human behavior as the basis for the human drive for order and stability and the rejection of natural rights as the basis for government.
However, from a different perspective, American conservatism has exalted three tenets of Burkean conservatism, namely the diffidence toward the power of the state, the preference of liberty over equality, patriotism while rejecting the three remaining tenets, namely loyalty to traditional institutions and hierarchies, scepticism regarding progress and elitism. In the United States the term "liberal conservatism" is not used. American "modern liberalism" happens to be quite different from European liberalism and occupies the centre-left of the political spectrum, in contrast to many European countries where liberalism is more associated with the centre-right and social democracy makes up a substantial part of the centre-left; the opposite is true in Latin America, where economically liberal conservatism is labelled under the rubric of neoliberalism both in popular culture and academic discourse. For their part, in their embracement of liberal and free market principles, European liberal conservatives are distinguishable from those holding national conservative social-conservative and/or outright populist views, let alone a right-wing populist posture.
Being liberal involves stressing free market economics and the belief in individual responsibility together with the defense of civil rights and support for a limited welfare state. Compared to other centre-right political traditions, such as Christian democracy, liberal conservatives are less traditionalist and more economically liberal, favouring low taxes and minimal state intervention in the economy; some regional varieties and peculiarities can be observed: In much of central and northwestern Europe in Germanic and traditionally Protestant countries, as well as the United Kingdom and Belgium, a divide persists between liberal conservatives and liberals. In most Nordic countries, liberal conservatives, Christian democrats and liberals form distinct political families and have each their own party. In most countries where Romance languages are spoken and where Catholicism is or has been dominant, as well as in Greece, liberal conservative movements encompassing Christian democrats and liberals, have more gained traction and the terms "conservative" and "liberal" may be understood as synonymous.
At the European level, Christian democrats and most liberal conservatives are affiliated to the European People's Party, while liberals to the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party. In this context, some traditionally Christian-democratic parties have become undistinguishable from other liberal-conservative parties. On the other hand, newer liberal-conservative parties have not adopted traditional labels, but their ideologies are a mixture of conservatism, Christian democracy and liberalism. In the modern European discourse, "liberal conservatism" encompasses centre-right political outlooks that reject at least to
Liberals (Sweden)
The Liberals is a liberal and social-liberal political party in Sweden. It was a part of the Alliance centre-right coalition government led by Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt from 2006 to 2014; the party is the seventh-largest party in the Swedish Riksdag. Until 22 November 2015 it was known as the Liberal People's Party; the party is a member of the Liberal International and Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe. While the party was positioned in the centre of the Swedish political landscape, willing to cooperate with both the political left and the right, it has since the leaderships of Lars Leijonborg and Jan Björklund in the 2000s positioned itself more towards the right; the party's policies include action toward a free market economy and pushing for Sweden to join NATO and the Eurozone, as well as investing in nuclear power. 1809: The first liberal party is formed after a coup d'état ends 20 years of royal autocracy under the Union and Security Act. 1902: The Free-minded National Association is formed as the first liberal party with a national grassroots organisation.
It is reliant on the "free religious" church movement. 1910: After women become eligible to be elected to municipal councils in Sweden, suffragette Valborg Olander is elected to the Falun city council for the Liberal Party. 1923: The Free-minded National Association splits over alcohol prohibition. The Free-minded would come to lead several governments during the coming years. 1934: The parties reconcile and form the People's Party, i.e. the party in its present form. 1939–45: It takes part in a wartime coalition government comprising all parties except the communists. Sweden remains neutral during the Second World War. 1976: It enters a three-party government ending 44 years of Social Democratic Party rule. 1978: The People's Party forms a short-lived minority government by itself, with chairperson Ola Ullsten as prime minister. Hans Blix to become famous before the Iraq War, is foreign minister. 1979: A new attempt at a three-party coalition is made. 1980–82: It forms a two-party coalition government with the Centre party.
1990: It adds Liberal to its name to become the Liberal People's Party. 1991–94: It forms part of a four-party centre-right coalition government under Moderate Party leader Carl Bildt. 2002: It more than doubles its vote share and comes close to being the second-largest party in Riksdag elections. 2006–14: It forms part of the Alliance four-party centre-right coalition government under Moderate Party leader Fredrik Reinfeldt. 2015: It changes its name from the Liberal People's Party to the Liberals. 2018: It, together with the Centre Party, voted down a proposed Moderate-Christian Democrat government led by Ulf Kristersson after concerns that such a government would be dependent on the Sweden Democrats for support. 2019: It, together with the Centre Party, voted to tolerate a Social Democratic-Green government led by Stefan Lofven after coming up with a 73-point agreement. Jan Bjorklund announced he will step down as party leader and will not stand in the party's autumn leadership contest; the official party ideology has been social liberalism, which translates as a strong ideological commitment to a mixed economy, with support for comprehensive but market-based welfare state programs.
While allied with the Swedish Social Democratic Party in the struggle for democracy and social reform, the People's Party came to be part of the opposition from the thirties and onwards, opposing Social Democrat demands for nationalization of private businesses. It has stayed opposed to the Social Democrats since as the largest or second-largest party of the opposition block, but equally critical towards parties on the right. Over time, this has shifted towards a more clear-cut rightwing role. In the mid-nineties the party seemed to have ruled out the alternative of co-operation with the Social Democrats, focusing instead on bringing them down by strengthening the opposition. Foreign aid and women's equality were important issues for the party in the past, today the party advocates liberal feminism and giving a full percent of the gross national income as foreign aid. Foreign policy is another high-profile issue. Always oriented towards the United States and the United Kingdom, the party was a strong opponent of Communism and Nazism during the 20th century.
While it was part of and supported the Swedish coalition government and its position of neutrality during World War II, the party advocated an active stance against the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The party supported the struggle of the Baltic peoples against the Soviet regime, whereas Social Democrats were wary of irritating the Soviets; as a consequence, it suffered several worded rebukes from the often-ruling Social Democrats for endangering Swedish relations with the Soviet Union. It criticised what it perceived as Social Democrat tolerance of left-wing dictatorships in the third world, supported the United States in the Vietnam War. After the end of the Cold War it became the first Swedish party to call for abandoning the country's traditional neutrality in favor of joining NATO. Among issue
City council
A city council, town council, town board, or board of aldermen is the legislative body that governs a city, municipality, or local government area. Because of the differences in legislation between the states, the exact definition of a City Council varies. However, it is only those local government areas which have been granted city status that are entitled to refer to themselves as cities; the official title is "Corporation of the City of ______" or similar. Some of the urban areas of Australia are governed by a single entity, while others may be controlled by a multitude of much smaller city councils; some significant urban areas can be under the jurisdiction of otherwise rural local governments. Periodic re-alignments of boundaries attempt to rationalize these situations and adjust the deployment of assets and resources; the 2001 Local Government Act restyled the five county boroughs of Dublin, Galway and Limerick as city councils, with the same status in law as county councils. The 2014 Local Government Act Merged Limerick City and Limerick County Council together and Waterford City and Waterford County Council together abolishing Waterford and Limerick City council, While Limerick and Waterford maintain City Status.
The city councils and city halls in Malaysia are as follows. Alor Setar City Council Ipoh City Council Iskandar Puteri City Council Johor Bahru City Council Kota Kinabalu City Hall Kuala Lumpur City Hall Kuala Terengganu City Council Kuching North City Hall Kuching South City Council Melaka City Council Miri City Council Penang Island City Council Petaling Jaya City Council Shah Alam City Council Local councils in New Zealand do vary in structure, but are overseen by the government department Local Government New Zealand. For many decades until the local government reforms of 1989, a borough with more than 20,000 people could be proclaimed a city; the boundaries of councils tended to follow the edge of the built-up area, so little distinction was made between the urban area and the local government area. New Zealand's local government structural arrangements were reformed by the Local Government Commission in 1989 when 700 councils and special purpose bodies were amalgamated to create 87 new local authorities.
As a result, the term "city" began to take on two meanings. The word "city" came to be used in a less formal sense to describe major urban areas independent of local body boundaries; this informal usage is jealously guarded. Gisborne, for example, adamantly described itself as the first city in the world to see the new millennium. Gisborne is administered by a district council, but its status as a city is not disputed. Under the current law the minimum population for a new city is 50,000. In the Republic of China, a city council represents a provincial city. Members of the councils are elected through local elections for provincial cities which are held every 4–5 years. Councils for the provincial cities in Taiwan are Chiayi City Council, Hsinchu City Council, Keelung City Council. In the UK, not all cities have city councils, the status and functions of city councils vary. A city council may be: The council of a metropolitan district, granted city status; the council of a non-metropolitan district, granted city status.
Some of these councils are some share functions with county councils. A parish council, granted city status; these councils have limited functions. The council of a London borough, granted city status, or the City of London Corporation. A city council may be: One of the three councils of principal areas that have been granted city status. One of the three community councils, with limited functions, that have been granted city status. A city council is the council of one of four council areas designated a City by the Local Government etc. Act 1994; the three cities which are not council areas have no city council. Belfast City Council is now the only city council. Since the local government reforms of 2015 the other four cities form parts of wider districts and do not have their own councils. City councils and town boards consist of several elected aldermen or councillors. In the United States, members of city councils are called council member, council man, council woman, councilman, or councilwoman, while in Canada they are called councillor.
In some cities, the mayor is a voting member of the council. In larger cities the council may elect other executive positions as well, such as a council president and speaker; the council functions as a parliamentary or congressional style legislative body, proposing bills, holding votes, passing laws to help govern the city. The role of the mayor in the council varies depending on whether or not the city uses council–manager government or mayor–council government, by the nature of the statutory authority given to it by state law, city charter, or municipal ordinance. There is a mayor pro tem councilmember. In cities where the council elects the mayor for one year at a time, the mayor pro tem is in line to become the mayor in the next year. In cities where the mayor is elected by the city's voters, the mayor pro tem serves as acting mayor in the absence of the mayor; this position is known as vice mayor. In some cities a different name for the municipal legislature is used. In San
Torslanda
Torslanda is an urban district situated in Gothenburg Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 10,129 inhabitants in 2005. Volvo Cars operates one of its largest automobile plants, Torslandaverken in Torslanda, under the motto "Increased capacity – for ever-higher quality." It holds the headquarters for Volvo Car Corporation and AB Volvo. From 1923 to 1977, prior to the opening of the Göteborg Landvetter Airport, the city had been served by the Torslanda Airport, located here; the control tower, located on a hilltop adjacent to the site of the airport, was renovated in 2007, is one of the last remaining artifacts of the airport, much of, demolished in 1997. In recent years, the original land from the Torslanda Airport has been redeveloped into a residential area known as Amhult to become a garden village with 900 new homes, a commercial centre and school. After the closing of the Torslanda Airport as an actual transportation facility, Volvo housed its collection of historic vehicles in the "Blue Hangar" at Torslanda Airport.
The collection comprised about only two of them in working order. Other vehicles were stored across Sweden in various Volvo facilities. Fire destroyed the hangar a few years but most of the vehicles escaped unharmed; the collection was moved into a permanent location with the opening of the Volvo Museum in Arendal on Hisingen on May 30, 1995. Notably, The Blue Hangar was destroyed by a fire, May 31, 1980. Prior to its use as a de facto museum, the Torslanda Airport hangars had served as presentation spaces for prominent vehicle debuts, including the 1957 Volvo P1900/Sport. Elizabeth Stride, née Elisabeth Gustafsdotter — believed to have been the third victim of the notorious unidentified serial killer Jack the Ripper — hailed from Torslanda, had been christened at the Torslanda Church; the following sports clubs are located in Torslanda: Torslanda IK Edelman FC The Official Torslanda Website Amhult Phase II rendering
Liberalism
Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but they support limited government, individual rights, democracy, gender equality, racial equality, freedom of speech, freedom of the press and freedom of religion. Liberalism became a distinct movement in the Age of Enlightenment, when it became popular among Western philosophers and economists. Liberalism sought to replace the norms of hereditary privilege, state religion, absolute monarchy, the divine right of kings and traditional conservatism with representative democracy and the rule of law. Liberals ended mercantilist policies, royal monopolies and other barriers to trade, instead promoting free markets. Philosopher John Locke is credited with founding liberalism as a distinct tradition, arguing that each man has a natural right to life and property, adding that governments must not violate these rights based on the social contract.
While the British liberal tradition has emphasised expanding democracy, French liberalism has emphasised rejecting authoritarianism and is linked to nation-building. Leaders in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the American Revolution of 1776 and the French Revolution of 1789 used liberal philosophy to justify the armed overthrow of royal tyranny. Liberalism started to spread especially after the French Revolution; the 19th century saw liberal governments established in nations across Europe and South America, whereas it was well-established alongside republicanism in the United States. In Victorian Britain, it was used to critique the political establishment, appealing to science and reason on behalf of the people. During 19th and early 20th century, liberalism in the Ottoman Empire and Middle East influenced periods of reform such as the Tanzimat and Al-Nahda as well as the rise of secularism, constitutionalism and nationalism; these changes, along with other factors, helped to create a sense of crisis within Islam, which continues to this day, leading to Islamic revivalism.
Before 1920, the main ideological opponent of classical liberalism was conservatism, but liberalism faced major ideological challenges from new opponents: fascism and communism. However, during the 20th century liberal ideas spread further—especially in Western Europe—as liberal democracies found themselves on the winning side in both world wars. In Europe and North America, the establishment of social liberalism became a key component in the expansion of the welfare state. Today, liberal parties continue to wield influence throughout the world. However, liberalism still has challenges to overcome in Asia; the fundamental elements of contemporary society have liberal roots. The early waves of liberalism popularised economic individualism while expanding constitutional government and parliamentary authority. Liberals sought and established a constitutional order that prized important individual freedoms, such as freedom of speech and freedom of association. Waves of modern liberal thought and struggle were influenced by the need to expand civil rights.
Liberals have advocated gender and racial equality in their drive to promote civil rights and a global civil rights movement in the 20th century achieved several objectives towards both goals. Continental European liberalism is divided between moderates and progressives, with the moderates tending to elitism and the progressives supporting the universalisation of fundamental institutions, such as universal suffrage, universal education and the expansion of property rights. Over time, the moderates displaced the progressives as the main guardians of continental European liberalism. Words such as liberal, liberty and libertine all trace their history to the Latin liber, which means "free". One of the first recorded instances of the word liberal occurs in 1375, when it was used to describe the liberal arts in the context of an education desirable for a free-born man; the word's early connection with the classical education of a medieval university soon gave way to a proliferation of different denotations and connotations.
Liberal could refer to "free in bestowing" as early as 1387, "made without stint" in 1433, "freely permitted" in 1530 and "free from restraint"—often as a pejorative remark—in the 16th and the 17th centuries. In 16th century England, liberal could have positive or negative attributes in referring to someone's generosity or indiscretion. In Much Ado About Nothing, William Shakespeare wrote of "a liberal villaine" who "hath confest his vile encounters". With the rise of the Enlightenment, the word acquired decisively more positive undertones, being defined as "free from narrow prejudice" in 1781 and "free from bigotry" in 1823. In 1815, the first use of the word "liberalism" appeared in English. In Spain, the liberales, the first group to use the liberal label in a political context, fought for decades for the implementation of the 1812 Constitution. From 1820 to 1823 during the Trienio Liberal, King Ferdinand VII was compelled by the liberales to swear to uphold the Constitution. By the middle of the 19th century, liberal was used as a politicised term for parties and movements worldwide.
Over time, the meaning of the word liberalism began to diverge in different parts of the world. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica: "In the United States, liberalism is associated with the welfare-state policies of the New Deal programme of the Democratic administration of Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt, where
Sweden Democrats
Sweden Democrats or Swedish Democrats is a social conservative and right-wing populist political party in Sweden, founded in 1988. The party describes itself as social conservative with a nationalist foundation; the party has been characterized by others as far-right, national-conservative, anti-immigration. Jimmie Åkesson has been party leader since 2005; the party has its roots in Swedish fascism and was a white nationalist movement through the early-1990s, when it first began distancing itself from its past. Today, the Sweden Democrats reject both fascism and Nazism; the Sweden Democrats crossed the 4% threshold necessary for parliamentary representation for the first time in the 2010 general election, polling 5.7% and gaining 20 seats in the Riksdag. This increase in popularity has been compared by international media to other similar anti-immigration movements in Europe; the party received increased support in the 2018 Swedish general election, when it polled 17.5% and secured 62 seats in parliament, becoming the third largest party in Sweden.
The Sweden Democrats remained isolated in the Riksdag for a long time because the other parties staunchly maintained a policy of refusing cooperation with them. However, in March 2019 Christian Democratic leader Ebba Busch Thor announced that her party was ready to start negotiations with the Sweden Democrats in the Riksdag; the Sweden Democrats are a member of European Conservatives and Reformists group in the European Parliament. The party was against the European Union, supported a Swedish exit from the EU until January 2019; the Sweden Democrats party was founded in 1988 as a direct successor to the Sweden Party, which in turn had been formed in 1986 by the merger of Bevara Sverige Svenskt and a faction of the Swedish Progress Party. SD claims 6 February 1988 as the date of its foundation, although observers tend to see the party's foundation as part of a complex decade-long series of events, with some calling into question whether a meeting took place on 6 February; the party has its roots in Swedish fascism and was a white nationalist movement through the early-1990s, when it first began distancing itself from its past.
The SD's logo from the 1990s until 2006 was a version of the torch used by the UK National Front. While opinions on the early SD vary, it is agreed that SD has never been a Nazi party, although various connections have existed through some of its former members; the party sponsored music of the nationalist Viking rock band Ultima Thule, various party officials today acknowledge that being fans of Ultima Thule's music factored prominently in their decision to become politically engaged. Among the founding officials of the party were several people that had expressed strong support for the ideology of Nazi Germany; the party's first auditor, Gustaf Ekström, was a Waffen-SS veteran and had been a member of the national socialist party Svensk Socialistisk Samling in the 1940s. In 1989, Ekström was a member of the Sweden Democrats' national board. SD's first chairman Anders. Early on, the party recommended international connections to its members such as the National Democratic Party of Germany, the American National Association for the Advancement of White People and publications like the Nazi Nation Europa and Nouvelle École, a newspaper that advocates racial biology.
From 1995 onwards the party's new leader, Mikael Jansson, strove to make the party more respectable and, after photographs surfaced of some members posing in Nazi uniforms at party meetings, the wearing of any kind of uniform was formally banned in 1996. During the 1990s, the party became more influenced by the French National Front, as well as the Freedom Party of Austria, the Danish People's Party, German The Republicans and Italian National Alliance. SD received economic support for the 1998 election from the French National Front, was active in Le Pen's Euronat from the same time. SD, however, in 1999 left its membership in Euronat to its youth organisation. In 2001 the most extreme faction was expelled from the party, leading to the formation of the more radical National Democrats. During the 2000s the so-called "Scania gang", or "Gang of Four" – Jimmie Åkesson, Björn Söder, Mattias Karlsson and Richard Jomshof – continued and expanded the moderation policy, which included ousting extremist members.
Before the 2002 election, former Moderate Party MP Sten Christer Andersson defected to SD, citing that the party had gotten rid of its extreme-right elements. In 2003 the party declared the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to be a cornerstone of its policies. In 2006 the party changed its logo from the torch to one featuring an Anemone hepatica, reminiscent of the party's first, but short-lived, logo. In the 2010 general election, SD won representation in the Swedish Riksdag for the first time, with 5.7% of the vote and 20 MPs. Sweden Democrat MP William Petzäll was persuaded to leave the party on 26 September 2011 while still retaining his parliamentary seat; this was done because of Petzäll's substance abuse and the problems this might cause for SD's public image. Petzäll died of an overdose and his seat was turned over to Stellan Bojerud in September 2012. In November 2012, videos from August 2010 were released, in segments, over the course of three days by Swedish newspaper Expressen.
This came to be known as the Iron pipe scandal, although t
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