Negative liberty, a concept central to political theory, refers to the absence of external constraints or interference that prevent individuals from acting according to their own will. Unlike positive liberty, which emphasizes the capacity to act upon one’s own rational will and realize self-mastery, negative liberty focuses on freedom from coercion, oppression, or arbitrary control by others, particularly the state or social institutions. The idea is rooted in the classical liberal tradition and has been most prominently articulated by Isaiah Berlin, who distinguished between “negative” and “positive” liberty to clarify the different ways freedom can be understood and evaluated in political contexts. The core principle of negative liberty is non-interference. An individual is considered free in the negative sense when there are no external obstacles, legal restrictions, or societal pressures impeding