Excerpt

It is a misapprehension that liberalism is a source of state weakness because it is centrally concerned with individual liberty. The core principles of liberalism … provide not only a theory of freedom, equality, and the public good, but also a discipline of power—the means of creating power as well as controlling it … . Liberal constitutions serve to protect the state itself from capricious, impulsive, or overreaching decisions … constitutional liberalism imposes a further discipline by dividing power within the state and society, and requiring public disclosure and discussion of state decisions. —Paul Starr, “War and Liberalism”¹