'A well argued and clearly written critique of liberal political theory, organized around its leading concepts -very accessible for student use.' Professor David Beetham. In this book Maureen Ramsay provides an accessible and comprehensive critique of the key concepts that underpin liberal political philosophy. Each chapter tackles a different concept and analyses the contribution of representative thinkers in seventeenth- and eighteenth- century liberal thought, and contemporary developments and modifications to classical librealism. The purpose of each chapter is to evaluate the concepts and theories central to the liberal tradition from a variety of critical perspectives, in order to expose the empirical, theoretical, practical and moral deficiencies at the heart of liberal thought. The arguments presented here challenge the validity of liberal political ideas, values, institutions and policies, and demonstrate the bankruptcy of liberalism in theory and preactice. This book will be essential reading for students of politics, government and moral and political philosophy. Maureen Ramsay is Senior Lecturer in Political Theory at the University of Leeds.