Western values
Enlightenment-derived principles
Western values is a phrase referring to ideals associated with Europe and its cultural descendants—democracy, individual rights, free speech, rule of law, separation of church and state.
The term appears in political discourse, often to contrast with other traditions: Western values are under threat.
Critics note the phrase can obscure historical contradictions (colonialism, slavery) or imply cultural superiority.
What counts as a Western value shifts depending on who's invoking it.
- liberal democracyRights-based elected governance
- democracyRule by the people
- libertyAbsence of unjust constraint
- civil libertiesRights limiting government power
- human rightsInalienable personal freedoms
individualism · freedom · free speech · equality · secularism · separation of church and state · enlightenment · rights · due process · constitution · Magna Carta · tolerance · capitalism · free market · Christianity · rationalism · progress · humanism
Western valuesConfucian values
Philosophy emphasizing respect, hierarchy
Western valuescollectivism
Group primacy doctrine
communalism · group harmony · filial piety · social conformity · collective responsibility
Western valuesauthoritarianism
Concentrated, unchecked governmental power
totalitarianism · illiberalism · theocracy · communist ideology · one-party rule
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