Freedom Quote by Michael Ignatieff
““Believers in liberal freedom should worry not whether their regime can prevail in competition with authoritarian ones, but whether they can prevail against their own forms of institutional entropy: elite capture, corruption, and inequality.””
About This Quote
Source Book: The Ethics of Liberalism, 2015
Liberal societies must guard against internal decay—corruption, elite capture, inequality—more than external authoritarian threats.
In simple terms: Watch out for internal corruption, not just external foes.
Key Takeaway
Strengthen institutions to resist internal decay.
Themes
politics
ethics
liberalism
corruption
inequality
Mood
reflective
urgent
Type
philosophical
political
When to use this quote
- government oversight
- anti‑corruption reforms
- wealth redistribution
- public accountability
Key Concepts
institutional theory
political philosophy
social justice
Questions to Reflect On
- What internal reforms are most urgent?
- How can citizens hold elites accountable?
A Different Perspective
Focusing solely on external threats can ignore deeper systemic problems.
![“In our country [US] equality means your liberal and freedom means you're conservative. That tension is there and it can't be handled on its own terms. It can't be handled as you go out of that and go back into natural institutions or natural law or divine revelation. Something outside of the…” quote by Francis George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/fed/francis-george-23460_conservative_in-our-country-us-equality-means-your-li_2557310.jpg)
