Atlas / Comparisons / Classical Liberalism vs Neoliberalism
Classical Liberalism and Neoliberalism
Measured distance across six axes
The same broad family. They agree within three points on EC, CU, ID, CH. No axis separates them by eight points or more.
Axis by axis
| Axis | Manchester School | Mont Pèlerin, Chicago | Gap | Reading | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EC · Economic organisation | +09 | +09 | 0 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
| CU · Social and cultural order | −02 | +01 | 3 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
| AU · Organisation of power | −07 | −02 | 5 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| SC · Scale of decision | −03 | +02 | 5 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| ID · Rule of membership | −03 | −02 | 1 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
| CH · Method and tempo | −04 | −02 | 2 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
Each axis runs from −10 to +10; the distance is the straight-line separation across all six at once, out of a maximum of 49.0. How the scoring works →
The evidence behind the widest gaps
A distance figure is worth nothing unless the scores behind it can be checked. These are the artefacts supporting the axes that separate these two most.
Manchester School · AU −07
Coded −7: constitutional limitation as the school's founding commitment.
- Programme textWealth of Nations and On Liberty both treat concentrated authority as the standing danger.
Mont Pèlerin, Chicago · AU −02
Coded slightly negative: the doctrine constrains majorities through rules and independent bodies, which disperses rather than concentrates authority.
- ScholarshipCentral bank independence, fiscal rules and treaty commitments remove decisions from ordinary majority revision.
- ScholarshipThis is delegation, not concentration; the entry for technocratic centrism is coded positive on the same reasoning and separates the two.
What this comparison does not establish
Proximity means similarity of stated position. It carries no claim about competence, circumstance, scale of operation, or what either organisation actually did to the people under it. Two organisations can sit close together and produce entirely different histories, because those things are not on any axis and could not be.
Classical Liberalism
1776–1900 · Britain, Europe
Individual liberty, free trade, freedom of contract, religious toleration, constitutional and limited government.
Neoliberalism
1947– · International
Market competition as the organising principle of policy, insulated from democratic interference by rules and independent institutions.
Distance is not the whole answer. Two organisations can sit the same distance apart for entirely different reasons, and the reason is the content of any claim about them. Open the comparison in the atlas to weight the axes yourself.
Open in the atlas