The difference between a liberty-centered democracy and an equality-centered democracy can be challenging to define largely because there can be so many different manifestations of each. At a basic level, the difference is fairly clear: liberty-centered democracies emphasize the individual over the collective, while equality-centered democracies focus on maintaining some degree of similar footing among the people.

Equality- and liberty-centered democracies may have numerous similarities, including equal treatment before the law, but there are some differences in terms of how the country is led and which laws are passed. The United States (US) and France are two countries that can be used as examples in assessing the concepts of liberty- and equality-centered democracies. It should be noted that both countries have democratic principals but are in fact republics.

France's current republic arises out of the French Revolution which was partly a reaction to the significant mistreatment of the lower classes by the nobility. To the revolutionaries, it seems, the greatest value, or at least the value of greatest focus, was equal treatment. Punishments that were enforced during the French Revolution were a first in terms of applying justice to the nobility and not just the peasant classes. While the slogan of the French Revolution was Liberté, égalité, fraternité, that is, liberty, equality, fraternity, France, in general, seems to put greater value on equality.

Conversely, the US is much more liberty-centered. Individual rights seem to be of greater importance than equal socio-economic status. When that is the case, in the strictest sense, freedom takes greater weight, and differences, sometimes great differences, may result. France’s republic, on the other hand, seems to aim for a more even distribution of socio-economic status which, in turn, likely reduces individual liberty.

Democratic governments are faced, to some degree, with a basic balancing act--balancing freedom and equality. In pursuing freedom from restrictions, which is a main focus of the Libertarian Party in the US, socio-economic inequalities may result; but to have true equality, additional laws may be imposed on the people thereby limiting their freedom.

The differences between a liberty-centered democracy and an equality-centered democracy probably most obviously manifests themselves in the areas of taxation and social welfare. Because of its focus on liberty, the US generally taxes less, for example, than France. Alternatively, because of its focus on equality, France provides socialized medicine, or universal health care, whereas the US does not.

Arguments can be made for the benefits of both types of governments. Shifts in political orientation among public leaders and the populace at large can change a government's focus. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), for example, attempted to use the New Deal to shift the US to a more equality-centered government. Those who wished to keep the US liberty-centered often resisted his efforts.