Notes and Q Ans

Freedom|
The ideals of Freedom
• Nelson Mandela of south Africa spent 28 years in jail to fight for independence movement. and Aung san Suu Kyi of
Myanmar also spent years under house arrest to fight for independence.

What is Freedom?
• ‘What is freedom’ is absence of constraints (restrictions).
• Freedom is said to exist when external constraints on the individual are absent. In terms of this definition an individual
could be considered free if he/she is not subject to external controls or coercion and is able to make independent decisions
and act in an autonomous way.
• Freedom is also about expanding the ability of people to freely express themselves and develop their potential.
• Aspects of freedom
→ The absence of external constraints
→ The existence of conditions in which people can develop their talents.
• A free society would be one which enables all its members to develop their potential with the minimum of social
constraints.
• To be free means to reduce or minimize social constraints that limit our ability to make choices freely.
• There is another aspect of freedom, it allows the full development of the individual’s creativity, sensibilities, and
capabilities: be it in sports, science, art, music, or exploration.
→ A free society is one that enables one to pursue one’s interests with a minimum of constraints.

The Sources of Constraints

• Restrictions on the freedom of individuals may come from domination and external controls.
• Such restrictions may be imposed by force or they may be imposed by a government through laws which embody the
power of the rulers over the people and which may have the backing of force.
• If the government is a democratic one, the members of a state could retain some control over their rulers.
Why do we need Constraints
• We need some constraints or else society would descend into chaos.
• Differences may exist between people regarding their ideas and opinions, they may have conflicting ambitions, they may
compete to control scarce resources.
• People around us ready to f ight for all kinds of reasons ranging from the serious to the trivial.
• Therefore every society needs some mechanisms to control violence and settle disputes.
• Ideally, in a free society we should be able to hold our views, develop our own rules of living, and pursue our choices.
• Creation of such a society requires that we be willing to respect differences of views, opinions and beliefs.
• Sometimes, an individual can think that a strong commitment to our beliefs requires that we must
oppose all those who differ from or reject our views. We see their views or ways of living as unacceptable or even
undesirable.
• Under such circumstances we need some legal and political restraints to ensure that differences may be discussed and
debated without one group forcibly imposing its views on the other.

Harm Principle
• John Stuart Mill in his essay On Liberty called political theory the ‘harm principle .’
• Mill introduces here an important distinction. He distinguishes between ‘self-regarding’ actions, i.e., those actions that have
consequences only for the individual actor and nobody else, and ‘other regarding’ actions, i.e., those actions that also have
consequences for others.
• He argues that with respect to actions or choices that affect only one’s self, self -regarding actions, the state (or any other
external authority) has no business to interfere.
• In contrast, with respect to actions that have consequences for others, actions which may cause harm to them, there is some
case for external interference.

• In this case it is the state which can constrain a person from acting in a way that causes harm to someone else.
• Freedom is at the core of human society, is so crucial for a dignified human life, it should only be constrained in special
circumstances.
• For minor harm, Mill recommends only social disapproval and not the force of law.
• People should be ready to tolerate different ways of life, different points of view, and the different interests, so long as they
do not cause harm to others.
• But such tolerance need not be extended to views and actions which may put people in danger or foment hatred against
them.
• In the constitutional discussions in India, the term used for such justifiable constraints is ‘reasonable restrictions’.
• The restrictions may be there but they must be reasonable, i.e., capable of being defended by reason, not excessive, not out
of proportion to the action being restricted, since then it would impinge on the general condition of freedom in society.

Negative and Positive Liberty

• In political theory, there are two types of liberty:
→ Negative Liberty
→ Positive Liberty

Negative Liberty
• ‘Negative liberty’ seeks to define and defend an area in which the individual would be inviolable, in which he or she could
‘do, be or become’ whatever he or she wished to ‘do, be or become .’
• This is an area in which no external authority can interfere. It is a minimum area that is sacred and in which whatever the
individual does, is not to be interfered with.
• The negative liberty tradition argues for an inviolable area of non -interference in which the
individual can express himself or herself. If the area is too small then human dignity gets compromised.
• It is concerned with explaining the idea of ‘freedom from.’

Positive Liberty
• Positive liberty recognizes that one can be free only in society (not outside it) and hence tries to make that society such that
it enables the development of the individual whereas negative liberty is only concerned with the inviolable area of non -
interference and not with the conditions in society, outside this area, as such.
• Positive Liberty is concerned with looking at the conditions and nature of the relationship between the individual and
society and of improving these conditions such that there are fewer constraints to the development of the individual
personality.
• The arguments of positive liberty are concerned with explaining the idea of ‘freedom to’.
• Generally they both go together and support each other, but it can happen that tyrants justify their rule by invoking
arguments of positive liberty.

Freedom of Expression
• Freedom of expression is a fundamental value and for that society must be willing to bear some inconvenience to protect it
from people who want to restrict it.
• Constraints of different kind thus exist and we are subject to them in different situations.
• While reflecting on such situations we need to realize that when constraints are backed by organized social — religious or
cultural — authority or by the might of the state, they restrict our freedom in ways that are difficult to fight against.
• So, freedom embodies our capacity and our ability to make choices.
• We have also to accept responsibility for our actions and their consequences.
• It is for this reason that most advocates of liberty and freedom maintain that children must be placed in the care of paren ts.

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Class 11 Political Science Chapter 2 NCERT Textbook Questions Solved

What is meant by freedom? Is there a relationship between freedom for the individual and freedom for the nation?
Answer:
Freedom refers to do all those things which do not harm to others and, are essential for a person’s own development. There is
a close relationship between the freedom for individual and for the nation because:

• If a nation is free, every individual of it, will be free to enhance their creativities and capabilities.
• Development of a nation depends on cooperation, creativity, and capabilities of individuals, which can be exercised in
the absence of external constraints.
• A free society enables all its members to develop their potentials with the minimum of social constraints
• Though, no society can be imagined without the absence of constraints but it is necessary to determine whether it is
acceptable or justified.
• Social constraints are necessary to be examined through debates, discussions between individual and the society.
What is the difference between the negative and positive conception of liberty?
Answer:
Negative conception of liberty:

• It implies the absence of restraints and rights to do whatever one likes.

• This conception may make the powerful person more powerful to keep the weaker ones on their mercy.
• This conception of liberty faces the following drawbacks:
(a) Liberty is concerned with the area control, not with its source, hence, this is not necessary to have democracy to enjoy
freedom.
(b) The state should control the liberty of an individual only up to the limit where he interferes in other’s such liberty.

Positive conception of liberty:

• It refers to the society in which adequate facilities are available for each section of society to enjoy desirable rights.
• This believes that any individual or section should not hinder the progress of others.
• People can enjoy all freedoms which are permissible by laws.
• It ensures the growth of poor, weak and downtrodden people also.
• It interprets that liberty lies in the removal of hindrances.

What is meant by social constraints? Are constraints of any kind necessary for enjoying freedom?
Answer:
Social constraints refer to the restrictions imposed by the society whosoever is unauthorized for the same.
Necessity of constraints:

• There are various sections who demand a ban on films, books, articles, journals, etc.
• Though banning is an easy solution for the short term to meet the demand immediately, but it is very harmful for long
term prospects due to development of this habit only.
• If we willingly accept restrictions to pursue our goals or ambitions our freedom is not limited. In any case if we are not
coerced into accepting the conditions, we cannot claim to be curtailed freedom.

What is the role of the state in upholding freedom of its citizens?

Answer:

• Freedom of citizens of the state determines the scope of freedom, i.e. freedom of citizens depend on the will of rulers in
a monarchy, democratic state grants fundamental right to the citizens.
• A state is controlled by the government because, whatever the government does, it affects, the freedom of citizens and
if any conflict becomes violent, it hinders the day-to-day life of state.
• If state is unable to manage army and police, it disrupts the law and order of the country.
• A welfare state always initiates to protect the freedom of backward people along its all citizens.

What is meant by freedom of expression? What in your view would be a reasonable restriction on this freedom? Give
examples.
Answer:

• It is a right of non-interference by the state.

• It is a fundamental value and hence, society must be willing to bear some inconvenience also to protect it from people
whosoever wants to restrict it.
Reasonable restrictions:
• At various times the demands have been raised to ban on books, play, films, and academic articles, etc.
• Freedom has been classified as positive and negative liberty which requires some justifiable constraints only.
• But these constraints are supposed to be supported by the people, and moral arguments.

EXTRA QUESTIONS

Name the autobiography of Nelson Mandela.

Answer:
Long Walk of Freedom.
What is the theme of ‘Long Walk of Freedom’?
Answer:
• Personal struggle of Nelson Mandela against Apartheid.
• Resistance of people to the segregating policies of the White minorities.
What is freedom?
Freedom refers to an individual who is allowed to do all those things which do not harm anyone but, essential for one’s own
development.
What is personal liberty?
Answer:
Personal liberty refers to have freedom in personal and individual matters by human beings as marriages, religion, food,
clothing, etc.
What is economic liberty?
Answer:
Economic liberty refers to ensure employment to the citizens and to make them free from tyranny of employers also along
with the provisions of minimum wages also.
What is political liberty?
Answer:
• It exists only in democracy.
• Citizens participate in government by choosing their representatives.
• Citizens have the right to be elected themselves also.
What is religious liberty?
Answer:
The citizens enjoy the right to adopt and preach any religion without interference of state until it is in the interest of na tion
and individuals.
What is natural liberty?
Answer:
Natural liberty refers to a man to be born free. With the advancement of civilization, men formed the state or society himself
and sacrificed his freedom. In his free state or natural liberty man was very happy and satisfied. But state binds him
everywhere on chain.
What is a legal liberty?
Answer:
Legal liberty or freedom refers to framing of one’s own constitution by any country to run their administrative system as per
their own will.
What is freedom of speech and expression?
Answer:
Freedom of speech and expression gives the right to express one’s own ideas by speaking or writing. But the freedom is
subject to the following limitations:
• Defamation of any citizen
• Security of state
• Contempt of court
• Friendly relations with foreign countries.
What is the value of freedom for human progress?
Answer:
Every individual is free to act to the extent that one’s activities do not curtail the freedom of others. Some restraints are put
on freedom to limit one’s activities to avoid any type of harm to anybody or state or society, whichever is considered
essential.
What are the two aspects of positive liberty?
Answer:
• Adequate measures are supposed to be given for the freedom of citizens.
• No conflict should be arisen between the individual and society.

Short and Long Answer Type Questions

“Liberty and equality may be complementary as well as opposed to each other”. Justify.
Answer:
Complementary:
• An individual cannot develop one’s own personality in the absence of equality even though the freedom is given.
• Civil equality is possible only when everybody is treated equally before law.
Opposed:
• Liberty does not mean the equal work and equal wages for all.
• Liberty and equality are not the terms of implementations.

What does the negative liberty stand for?

Negative liberty refers to limit state interference.

• Open competition is the best means of development.

But it has following drawbacks:

• It is not possible in civilized life.

• Absence of all restraints is neither practical nor desirable.

“Liberty implies proper restraints rather than absence of restraints”. Justify the statement.
Liberty refers to the absence of restraints upon the existence of those social conditions which are mandate guarantee of
individual happiness.

• It is the duty of the state to create the opportunity to be developed best by an individual.

What are the necessary safeguards for the maintenance of liberty?

Answer:
• Distribution of powers between the center and the state to make constituent units independent.
• Constitution guarantees fundamental rights not to be violated by any government.
• Independent judiciary has been set up as a guardian of rights.
• Democratic set up protects the authorities from becoming auto crate because person in authority is to face elections at
regular intervals.
• There should be no privileged classes in the society.

Explain different kinds of liberty.

Answer:
• Natural liberty is natural to man who is born free with it. But it has no existence in civilized society.
• Individual liberty refers to enjoy complete freedom in their personal and individual matters, i.e. food, clothing, religion,
shelter, etc. But an individual should get the liberty up to the extent not to harm any other individual.
• Political freedom refers to the complete freedom to citizens to participate in formation of government and to elect their
representatives as well as to be elected as a representative.
• Economic liberty refers to equal wages and work opportunities to all and absence of exploitation, unemployment,
unfair wage, insecurity, etc.
• Religious liberty refers to the rights to adopt and preach any religion of their choices and no interference from the state
in this matter.
• Civil liberty refers to enjoy all liberties to be permissible under the laws and everybody should be treated as equal
before law.