Liberalism is an ideology of governance. In contrast, Foucault presents neoliberalism as an approach followed in a series of market and government decisions, rather than as an ideology. These ideas, of liberalism and neoliberalism, were both explored in Michel Foucault's manuscript The Birth of Biopolitics (Foucault 1978-1979), in the 18th century English context for the former, and in the 20th century American context for the latter. For the purposes of this article, the liberalism of 18th-century England will be called “classical liberalism,” while the neoliberalism of the 20th-century United States will be called simply “neoliberalism.” In a nuanced way, Foucault shows that it is not necessary to subscribe to the ideals of classical liberalism to follow a neoliberal approach, and vice versa. That is, although they may often lead to the adoption of similar decisions, there is no inherent commonality between classical liberalism and neoliberalism; they are distinct and do not depend on each other. By examining what Foucault believed classical liberalism was, what neoliberalism was, and drawing the distinctions between the two, it will be demonstrated that the two labels do indeed refer to distinct approaches to governance. Classical Liberalism Overall, classical liberalism is thought to be an ideology of how one should govern. It is concerned with whether the government is governing too much or too little, with a preference for less invasive government leading to a tendency to challenge “too much” more. Indeed, classical liberalism is an exploration of space free of authoritarian government, but practical insofar as it recognizes the need for some... paper means... to produce an environment in which the economy can thrive: the government's role was to regulate the market so as to encourage maximum dynamism and competition. Furthermore, it was considered a way of being, part of the very essence of what it meant to be an American. Foucault recognizes these two ideas and believes that they are actually separate entities from each other. Works Cited Flew, Terry. "The birth of biopolitics and the debates on Michel Foucault's contemporary neoliberalism". Queensland: Queensland University of Technology, 11 25, 2010.Foucault, Michel. The birth of biopolitics. Edited by Arnold I. Davidson. Translated by Graham Burchell. Paris: Palgrave Macmillan, 1978-1979. Try it, John. “What does Foucault think is new in neoliberalism?” Pli: Warwick Journal of Philosophy 21 (06 2009).