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 English context of the 18th century for the first, and in the American context of the 20th century for the second. For the purposes of this article, the liberalism of 18th-century England will be referred to as “classical liberalism,” and the neoliberalism of the 20th-century United States will be referred to simply as “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. In other words, although they often result in similar decisions being made, there is no inherent commonality between classical liberalism and neoliberalism; they are distinct and do not depend on each other. By examining what Foucault thought classical liberalism was, what neoliberalism was, and distinguishing 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 about how one should govern. It is a question of whether government governs too much or too little, with a preference for less intrusive government leading to a tendency to challenge the "too much" side more. Indeed, classical liberalism is an exploration of space devoid of authoritarian government, but practical in that it recognizes the need for some...... middle of paper ...... to produce a environment in which the economy could prosper: the role of government was to regulate the market in such a way as to encourage maximum dynamism and competition. Moreover, it was seen as a way of being, part of the very essence of what it meant to be American. Foucault recognizes these two ideas and believes that they are indeed distinct entities from each other.Works citedFlew, Terry. “The birth of biopolitics and the debates on contemporary neoliberalism by Michel Foucault.” 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. Protevi, John. “What does Foucault think is new about neoliberalism?” Fold: Warwick Journal of Philosophy 21 (06 2009).