I mean, so far as I know, liberal is only a pejorative in the USA. Not heard it used that way in other political systems, likely because of the reasons you mentioned.
so far as I know, liberal is only a pejorative in the USA
The term is also used that way in Canada — though, arguably, this could be due to bleed over from the USA. To add to the confusion, Canada has a political party called the Liberal Party of Canada (its members are commonly referred to as “Liberals”), and, arguably, they are not actual liberals (by the political science definition, that is). I could be misremembering, but my memory seems to have me believe that I’ve heard it used that way in the UK as well.
Generally not what happens, I can only think of one modern style democracy that does that.
Would you mind providing examples to clarify your point? I don’t want to assume meaning/intent.
Of course, happy to expand on my point!
I mean, so far as I know, liberal is only a pejorative in the USA. Not heard it used that way in other political systems, likely because of the reasons you mentioned.
The term is also used that way in Canada — though, arguably, this could be due to bleed over from the USA. To add to the confusion, Canada has a political party called the Liberal Party of Canada (its members are commonly referred to as “Liberals”), and, arguably, they are not actual liberals (by the political science definition, that is). I could be misremembering, but my memory seems to have me believe that I’ve heard it used that way in the UK as well.