Small-l liberal

The term small-l liberal, or wet, or moderate is used, particularly in reference to Australian and Canadian politics, to distinguish between holders of an ideology of liberalism and adherents to either the Liberal Party of Australia or the Liberal Party of Canada (capital L). The term is also used in other countries which have Liberal parties to distinguish liberal thinkers in general from supporters of the Liberal Party.

In Australia

Typically, one who self-identifies as a small-l liberal in Australia professes admiration for some version of classical liberalism. They are in strong support of individualism, civil liberties and freedom of choice, with an essentially market-oriented approach to economics. Small-l liberals are social progressives to various degrees, with attitudes ranging from lukewarm to strong support for issues such as same-sex marriage, a republic and Aboriginal reconciliation. They support a moderate degree of government intervention in areas such as health and education. They can be distinguished from Labor supporters by their mistrust of trade union influence.

Within the Liberal Party of Australia, social conservatism and monetarist economics are both in a position of dominance, leaving some small-l liberals to support groups such as the Australian Democrats who began their existence as split-offs from the Liberal Party. However, many who describe themselves as "small-l" are happily ensconced within the Liberal Party and co-operate closely with the conservative forces in that party. Peter Costello, for example, was viewed as supporting an Australian republic and an apology for the stolen generations, but had cultivated a decade-long political partnership with the monarchist and arch-traditionalist John Howard.

In Canada

In Canada, small-l liberals are modern liberals, and have generally aligned themselves with the Liberal Party of Canada, but some have also supported the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. Both of these parties express some modern liberal ideals and support capitalism as the foundation of Canada's economy. Due to the composition of its membership and leadership however, the Liberal Party was for about thirty years (1963-93) to the left of the Conservatives in economic policy, until deficit issues forced a move to the right. In practice, both parties have often had somewhat similar economic platforms and can be characterized as centre or "brokerage" parties, rather than parties of the left or right, though the electorally diminished Progressive Conservatives merged with the larger and more socially and economically conservative Canadian Alliance, the union becoming the avowedly right-wing new Conservative Party of Canada in 2003, causing many small-l or only socially liberal members along with so-called "red tories" to join the Liberal Party.

It should be noted that some people who describe their political views as generally liberal may vote for the New Democratic Party, which is not a party based on economic liberalism but rather modern social democracy, which has some features in common with modern liberalism.

In the Canadian province of British Columbia, the British Columbia Liberal Party is on the political right. This is largely due to its absorption of a large number of people from the once dominant right-wing Social Credit Party, which collapsed after the 1991 election due to scandal. Most small l-liberals in British Columbia support on a provincial level the New Democratic Party or the Green Party.

ee also

*small-c conservative
*small-l libertarianism
*Liberalism in Canada