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Oct 11, 2026 17 min

What Does Liberalism Mean?

from CrashCourse Hosted by CrashCourse

Liberty and the rights of individuals form the backbone of American politics. But what is “liberty” anyway? In this episode of Crash Course Political Theory, we learn the fundamentals of Classical Liberalism and how 17th-century philosophers impact politics today.Crash Course Political Theory #2Introduction: Is Democracy Broken? 00:00Classical Liberalism 00:37Modern Liberalism 04:03Negative & Positive Liberty 07:02Liberalism & Identity 09:53Review & Credits 11:28Sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1u5zJCbVA0xCurLbQwWzcxXEdlqXAPpAyYVS1quwKIis/edit?usp=sharing***Support us for $5/month on Patreon to keep Crash Course free for everyone forever! https://www.patreon.com/crashcourseOr support us directly: https://complexly.com/supportJoin our Crash Course email list to get the latest news and highlights: https://mailchi.mp/crashcourse/emailGet our special Crash Course Educators newsletter: http://eepurl.com/iBgMhYThanks to the following patrons for their generous monthly contributions that help keep Crash Course free for everyone forever:Reed Spilmann, Brandon Thomas, Emily Beazley, Forrest Langseth, Rie Ohta, oranjeez, juliebear , Jack Hart, UwU, Leah H., David Fanska, Andrew Woods, Ken Davidian, Stephen Akuffo, Toni Miles, Steve Segreto, Kyle & Katherine Callahan, Laurel Stevens, Krystle Young, Perry Joyce, Scott Harrison, Mark & Susan Billian, Alan Bridgeman, Breanna Bosso, Matt Curls, Jennifer Killen, Jon Allen, Sarah & Nathan Catchings, team dorsey, Bernardo Garza, Trevin Beattie, Eric Koslow, Indija-ka Siriwardena, Jason Rostoker, Siobhán, Ken Penttinen, Nathan Taylor, Barrett Nuzum, Les Aker, William McGraw, ClareG, Rizwan Kassim, Constance Urist, Alex Hackman, kelsey warren, Katie Dean, Stephen McCandless, Wai Jack Sin, Ian Dundore, Caleb Weeks__Want to find Crash Course elsewhere on the internet?Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thecrashcourse/Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/YouTubeCrashCourseTwitter - http://www.twitter.com/TheCrashCourseCC Kids: http://www.youtube.com/crashcoursekids

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This episode was published on October 11, 2026.

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