Freedom is often considered the supreme political value in Western liberal societies. Its virtue is that, attached to the idea that human beings are rationally self-willed creatures, it promises the satisfaction of human interests or the realisation of human potential. In short, freedom is the basis for happiness and well-being. However, despite its popularity, different political thinkers and traditions draw quite different conclusions from their belief in freedom. For classical liberals and supporters of the *New Right, who view freedom in strictly negative terms, it implies rolling back the *state and minimising the realm of political *authority. Indeed, for anarchists, who alone regard freedom as an absolute value, it is irreconcilable with any form of political authority. On the other hand, modern liberals and socialists have tended to subscribe to a positive view of freedom that justifies widening the responsibilities of the state, particularly in relation to *welfare and economic management. The state is regarded as the enemy of freedom when it is viewed as an external constraint upon the individual, but as a guarantee of freedom when it lays down the conditions for personal development and self-realisation. Conservatives, for their part, have traditionally endorsed a weak view of freedom as the willing recognition of duties and responsibilities. This position is taken to its extreme by fascists, who portrayed ‘true’ freedom as unquestioning obedience to the leader and the absorption of the individual into the national *community.