The Way of the Whigs

At The Whig, Septimus expands upon "four key Whiggish principles" in distinguishing the Modern Whigs from Democrats and Republicans and the duopolist order of the Democratic-Republican Party:

In Modern Whig positions, we can identify four key Whiggish principles — a Modern Whig Agenda around which our future policies are to be formed. These principles are:

1. favoring the legislature over the executive
2. favoring the interests of small business over concentrated wealth
3. favoring toleration of non-conformists
4. promoting ordered liberty against the arbitrary powers of the State.

In short, the Modern Whig is the champion of the individual and of the underdog.

He concludes:

Too often, people in positions of power in government regard liberties as something to be granted, rather than something the government takes away. America has sometimes been far from perfect in this regard. But other systems in other nations have very often been awful.

Now we can clearly see that the common approach of the Democrats and the Republicans share a philosophy that is the Whig's age-old adversary -- the use of government to benefit a select few at the expense of the people. It aims to ensure and improve the welfare of established stakeholders. It is automatically the friend of big business and regulation, because these make its bargaining processes possible. It uses the power of government to restrict entry of new competition, either in ideas, business, and politics.

In contrast, Modern Whigs, favor an open, responsive legislature, free markets, tolerance and liberty. Modern Whigs are the champion of the individual and of the underdog.