Negative and Positive Liberty, political science homework help

The Founding Fathers embraced a view of human nature embodied in the Constitution. They believed men will seek power, and this view was largely forged in their belief that politicians tended to be corrupt. The English constitution did not adequately protect the rights of Englishmen. The liberties colonists fought for were ones they believed were widely understood and were embodied in Higher Law.  These were the Natural Rights of man. (See Power Point: Natural Law)
John Dickinson, delegate from both Pennsylvania and Delaware, and known as the “Penman of the Revolution,” wrote: “These rights are born with us; exist with us; and cannot be taken away from us by any human power.”

There is considerable debate about the distinction between negative and positive liberty. It matters because each defines a different view of what is permissible for the state to do, and in establishing what the state exists to do in the name of governing.

Negative Liberty means “freedom from” (absence of constraints or the interference of government)

• John Locke’s theory of Natural Rights is in the tradition of Negative Liberty.
•  It is defined as limited government – restraint of government obstacles placed on individual liberty and a person’s property.  
• Government exists to protect the people’s liberty by not interfering in the individual’s right to pursue what they value.
• Negative Liberty strongly limits government restraint of the individual.
• This does not mean doing as one likes, but doing what one ought to do.

Positive Liberty means “capacity to” (freedom and ability to pursue one’s goals with government)

• President Franklin Roosevelt added the concept of Positive Liberty in 1941 when he said the U.S. would fight for four freedoms: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear.
• Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Worship are traditional American Negative Liberties that no one can take away from individuals.
• Freedom from Want was a new twist—a Positive Liberty—Roosevelt was trying to pass his New Deal to meet the Great Depression.
• Justifies government action to give people what they lack that would make them free.
• Government provides the necessities of life.

Positive Liberty means that in order to give some people what they want to have, government must take those resources from others. This is a violation of the citizen’s negative liberty.

Who determines what people need to be given—who decides the necessities of life? Traditionally, Americans define social welfare as help for those who through no fault of their own deserve assistance.

How do you view liberty in these examples? 

• The government wants you to stop smoking so they pass multiple laws and impose multiple taxes on cigarettes, banning smokers from public areas, and in some states, banning smoking in private homes to force people not to smoke. 
• The Mayor of New York City imposed a ban on 20 ounce “super-sized” drinks, and New York restaurants are not permitted to keep salt on tables. 
• The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) targeted over 1000 political interest groups applying for tax exempt status, if their name or political materials included words such as “patriot,” Tea Party,” or “liberty.”  These group applications were put on hold while they were told to answer pages and pages of “extra” questions in order for their applications to be processed by the IRS.
• U.S. District Court judge imposed a $500.00 fine on Massachusetts fisherman Robert J. Eldridge for untangling a giant whale from his nets to free it. According to the court, Eldridge was supposed to call state authorities and wait for them.
• Philadelphia requires all bloggers to purchase a $300 business privilege license.  The city fined a woman who earned only $11.00 from her blog over the past two years.
• Texas requires every new computer repair technician to be a licensed private investigator. That means a person must have a degree in criminal justice or complete a three year apprenticeship with a licensed private investigator.  A computer repair technician found violating the law, or a regular citizen that has a computer repaired by someone not in compliance with the law, will be fined $4,000 and/or jailed for a year.
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration estimates the food service industry will spend an additional 14 million hours per year to comply with federal regulations mandating all vending machines and restaurants label all products they sell with a calorie count in a location visible to the consumer.
• In a growing number of school districts, students as young as kindergartners who even use the word “gun” are suspended or even expelled from school.