Enlightenment liberal democracy defines freedom negatively as freedom from interference.

Evidence

In the political philosophical theory of Enlightenment philosophers John Locke (1632–1704) and Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778), the role of the state is primarily to protect individual freedom and to secure opportunities to satisfy personal goals and interests. Liberal democracy’s approach to freedom is negative in the sense that it emphasizes “freedom from” interference, in particular from the state. It is an argument for the primacy of the individual over the state. — Rebecca A. Martusewicz, Jeff Edmundson, and John Lupinacci, EcoJustice Education, 358

Categorization

• DEFINE: Concise teachable definition of ‘negative freedom’ as freedom-from-state-interference — a key contrast term for the textbook’s eco-justice frame.
• XREF: connects to: Elite distrust of ordinary citizens shaped America’s representative form of governance. — Rebecca A. Martusewicz, Jeff Edmundson, and John Lupinacci, EcoJustice Education: Toward Diverse,…, 353; Negative liberty means being free from interference in one’s choices. — Frank Lovett, Republicanism, 7; Even Rousseau justifies democracy only negatively as non-violation — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos: Neoliberalism’s…, 403 (+8 more)

Broader Connections

• Negative liberty means being free from interference in one’s choices. #corroborates (0.98) — Frank Lovett, Republicanism, 7
• Neoliberals restrict freedom to negative freedom to shield market epistemology from scrutiny #exemplifies (0.85) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 169
• Even Rousseau justifies democracy only negatively as non-violation #exemplifies (0.80) — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos, 403
• Freedom of association was defined negatively as the right to exclude, not positively #exemplifies (0.80) — Kevin M. Kruse, White Flight, 373
• Freedom is meaningful only as engaged by free choice of ends #contradicts (0.80)
• Kant conflated negative freedom with its positive side in duty #qualifies (0.75) — Georg Simmel, The Sociology of Georg Simmel, 9374
• Freedom must be conceived negatively as freedom from the economy #expands (0.75) — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 112
• Freedom is an interpretive device, not a philosophical essence, that reads the present negatively #expands (0.72) — Fredric Jameson, Marxism and Form, 177
• Economized liberty recasts political power as the enemy of freedom #expands (0.72) — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos, 71