Edmund Burke's Political Theory 1. Burke is quite critical of many of the liberal political theorist that have we have discussed. For Burke terms like liberty, freedom, natural rights, and the General Will should not be used in abstraction. They can only be discussed in context, and more importantly they can only be implemented in the appropriate historical context e.g. England in the seventeenth century, but not France in the eighteenth century. 2. One of the most distinctive points of difference between the liberal and conservative centres over the ideas of consent and contract. For the liberal government i