On the 24th January, Portuguese citizens will be going to the polls to elect the fifth democratically-elected president since the 1974 Carnation Revolution. These elections will mark not only the end of the second term of right-wing President Cavaco Silva,…
Category: Democracy
How to Fight Terrorism – Christian Holm
It seems as if each generation of western society has suffered a formative conflict. I dread that ours will be the war on terror. If this is so, we need find ways to understand its causes properly, and combat terrorism…
What Trudeau means for the international community – Dunja Stajic
On October 19th, Canada elected its 23rd Prime Minister. Justin Trudeau’s leadership brought the Liberal Party of Canada to a strong victory, forming a majority government after a decade-long Conservative administration. A long time coming, the Liberals won on the…
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Liberalism Down Under – Dan Carr
For me IFLRY’s 2015 General Assembly was a peculiar occasion. A conference of people who care about addressing climate change, expanding free trade and promoting feminism is not something you would stumble upon in Australia. It was a pleasure to be…
Hobbes: Leviathan – The Problem
You can read an introductory post to Krijn’s series on liberal political philosophy here. In what Hobbes calls “the natural condition of mankind” (p. 86), people’s lives are be “solitary, poore, nasty, brutish and short.” (p. 89) Hobbes believes this,…
Here’s what you need to know about the Turkish elections – Ekin Can Genç
It’s been a week since the Turkish general elections. Unlike the previous elections or referenda of the past 12 years, this one was not a clear victory for AKP or the party’s de facto leader Erdogan. Turkish politics has so…
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Africa, America, Asia, Climate Change, Continent, Democracy, Europe, Human Rights, Middle East, Migration / Refugees, Oceania
Climate Refugees: The Crisis that isn’t Recognised – Harriet Ainscough
Last year saw the largest number of refugees worldwide since the Second World War, and this year the numbers don’t look to be reducing. There’s an aspect to this crisis which isn’t accounted for within the UN Convention on the…
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Patronising People: Why is Plain Packaging Plainly Wrong? – Charlie Kingsbury
More and more countries have begun contemplating whether or not to introduce plain packaging for products containing tobacco. Not only does such a policy fail to produce the outcomes governments intend, but it also fails to respect the intellect and…
Continue reading Patronising People: Why is Plain Packaging Plainly Wrong? – Charlie Kingsbury
Of rights and referendums: Ireland votes – Junior Sikabwe
The same-sex referendum that took place in Ireland yesterday is very significant. This is not just because 84.16% of the population identifies as Roman Catholic. It’s not because of the matter either: seventeen countries (eleven of which are European) have…
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The Idea of Liberty
As its name implies, one of the fundamental ideas that underpin liberalism is liberty. However, as with ideas underpinning other political philosophies, people don’t always mean the same thing when they use the term. This is not unimportant. Different ways…