Social democracy: Difference between revisions

{{Party politics|platform}}

 

 

Social democracy maintains a commitment to [[Representative democracy|representative]] and [[participatory democracy]]. Common aims include curbing [[Social inequality|inequality]], eliminating the [[oppression]] of [[Social privilege|underprivileged]] groups, eradicating [[poverty]], and upholding universally accessible public services such as [[child care]], [[Universal education|education]], [[elderly care]], [[Universal health care|health care]], and [[workers' compensation]].{{sfnm|1a1=Heywood|1y=2012|1p=97|2a1=Hoefer|2y=2013|2p=29}}{{sfn|Hinchman|Meyer|2007|p=137}} Economically, it supports [[income redistribution]] and [[regulation of the economy|regulating the economy]] in the [[Common good|public interest]].{{sfnm|1a1=Miller|1y=1998|1p=827|2a1=Badie|2a2=Berg-Schlosser|2a3=Morlino|2y=2011|2p=2423|3a1=Heywood|3y=2012|3p=128}}

The [[history of social democracy]] stretches back to the 19th-century [[labour movement]]. Originally a catch-all term for socialists of varying tendencies, after the [[October Revolution|Russian Revolution]], it came to refer to reformist socialists that are opposed to the [[Authoritarian socialism|authoritarian]] and [[Command economy|centralized]] [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] model of socialism.{{sfn|Adams|1993|pp=102–103}} In the [[post-war]] era, social democrats embraced [[Mixed economy|mixed economies]] with a predominance of [[Private ownership|private property]] and promoted the regulation of capitalism over its replacement with a qualitatively different socialist [[economic system]].{{sfnm|1a1=Weisskopf|1y=1992|1p=10|2a1=Miller|2a2=1998|2p=827|3a1=Jones|3y=2001|3p=1410|4a1=Heywood|4y=2012|4pp=125–128}} Since then, social democracy has been associated with [[Keynesianism|Keynesian economics]], the [[Nordic model]], and [[welfare state]]s.{{sfnm|1a1=Gombert|1y=2009|1p=8|2a1=Sejersted|2y=2011}}

 

 

The [[Third Way]] is an off-shoot of social democracy which aims to fuse [[liberal economics|economically liberal]] with social democratic economic policies and [[Centre-left politics|center-left]] social policies. It is a reconceptualization of social democracy developed in the 1990s and embraced by some social democratic parties; some analysts have characterized the Third Way as part of the [[Neoliberalism|neoliberal]] movement.{{sfn|Romano|2006|p=11}}

 

[[File:Arbeiterbew.jpg|thumb|upright|200px|A portrait highlighting the five leaders of early social democracy in Germany{{refn|They include from top to row [[August Bebel]] and [[Wilhelm Liebknecht]] from the [[Social Democratic Workers' Party of Germany]]; [[Karl Marx]] as an ideal pulse in the middle; and [[Carl Wilhelm Tölcke]] and [[Ferdinand Lassalle]] from the [[General German Workers' Association]] in the bottom row.|group=nb}}]]

 

[[August Bebel]], Bernstein, Engels, [[Wilhelm Liebknecht]], Marx, and [[Carl Wilhelm Tölcke]] are all considered founders of social democracy in Germany. However, Bernstein and Lassalle, along with labourists and reformists such as [[Louis Blanc]] in France,{{sfn|Eatwell|Wright|1999|p=82}} led to the widespread association of social democracy with socialist reformism.{{sfnm|1a1=Megill|1y=1970|1p=37|2a1=Lipset|2y=1995|2p=1149|3a1=Brandal|3a2=Bratberg|3a3=Thorsen|3y=2013|3p=24}} While Lassalle was a reformist [[state socialist]],{{sfn|Berlau|1949|p=21}} Bernstein predicted a long-term coexistence of democracy with a [[mixed economy]] during the reforming of capitalism into socialism and argued that socialists needed to accept this.{{sfn|Steger|1997|p=146}} This mixed economy would involve [[State-owned enterprise|public]], [[cooperative]], and [[private enterprise]]s, and it would be necessary for an extended period before private enterprises evolve of their own accord into cooperative enterprises.{{sfn|Pierson|2001|p=25}} Bernstein supported state ownership only for certain parts of the economy that the state could best manage and rejected a mass scale of state ownership as being too burdensome to be manageable.{{sfn|Steger|1997|p=146}} Bernstein was an advocate of Kantian socialism and [[neo-Kantianism]].{{sfnm|1a1=Steger|1y=1997|1pp=96, 115–116|2a1=Eatwell|2a2=Wright|2y=1999|2p=86|3a1=Freeden|3a2=Sargent|3a3=Stears|3y=2013|3p=349}} Although unpopular early on, his views became mainstream after World War I.{{sfn|Mosse|2018}}

From the late 19th century until the mid to late 20th century, there was greater public confidence in the idea of a state-managed economy that was a major pillar of communism, and to a substantial degree by [[conservatives]] and [[left-liberal]]s.{{sfnm|1a1=Rothestein|1y=1998|1pp=18–27|2a1=Esping-Andersen|2y=2013}} Aside from [[anarchists]] and other [[libertarian socialists]], there was confidence amongst socialists in the concept of [[state socialism]] as being the most effective form of socialism. Some early British social democrats in the 19th century and 20th century, such as the [[Fabians]], said that British society was already mostly socialist and that the economy was significantly socialist through government-run enterprises created by conservative and liberal governments which could be run for the interests of the people through their representatives' influence,{{sfn|Eatwell|Wright|1999|pp=87–88}} an argument echoed by some socialists in post-war Britain.{{sfnm|1a1=Crosland|1y=1952|2a1=Kynaston|2y=2009|2p=82}} Advents in economics and observation of the failure of state socialism in the [[Eastern Bloc]] countries{{sfn|Gey|Kosta|Quaisser|1987}} and the Western world with the crisis and stagflation of the 1970s,{{sfnm|1a1=Miller|1y=2008|2a1=Ehns|2y=2016|2pp=4–5}} combined with the neoliberal rebuke of [[state interventionism]], resulted in socialists re-evaluating and redesigning socialism.{{sfn|Eatwell|Wright|1999|pp=93–95}} Some social democrats have sought to keep what they deem are socialism's core values while changing their position on state involvement in the economy and retaining significant social regulations.{{sfn|Eatwell|Wright|1999|pp=96–103}}

 

When [[nationalization]] of large industries was relatively widespread in the 20th century until the 1970s, it was not uncommon for commentators to describe some European social democracies as democratic socialist states seeking to move their countries toward a [[socialist economy]].{{sfnm|1a1=Heilbroner|1y=1991|1pp=96–110|2a1=Kendall|2y=2011|2pp=125–127|3a1=Li|3y=2015|3pp=60–69}} In 1956, leading [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] politician and British author [[Anthony Crosland]] said that capitalism had been abolished in Britain,{{sfnm|1a1=Crosland|1y=1952|2a1=Eatwell|2a2=Wright|2y=1999|2p=93}} although others such as Welshman [[Aneurin Bevan]], Minister of Health in the first [[post-war Labour government]] and the architect of the [[National Health Service]], disputed the claim.{{sfnm|1a1=Socialist Party of Great Britain|1y=1958|2a1=Crosland|2y=2006|2pp=9, 89}} For Crosland and others who supported his views, Britain was a socialist state.{{sfnm|1a1=Crosland|1y=1952|2a1=Kynaston|2y=2009|2p=82}} According to Bevan, Britain had a socialist [[National Health Service]], which opposed the [[hedonism]] of Britain's capitalist society.{{sfn|Bevan|1952|p=106}}

 

* {{cite book|last=Laidler|first=Harry W.|year=2013|title=History of Socialism: An Historical Comparative Study of Socialism, Communism, Utopia|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-1-136-23143-8}}

* {{cite book|last=Lambin|first=Jean-Jacques|year=2014|title=Rethinking the Market Economy: New Challenges, New Ideas, New Opportunities|publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]]|isbn=978-1-137-39291-6}}

* {{cite book|last=Lerner|first=Warren|year=1993|title=A History of Socialism and Communism in Modern Times: Theorists, Activists, and Humanists|publisher=[[Prentice Hall]]|isbn=978-0-13-389552-0}}

* {{cite book|editor1-last=Lemke|editor1-first=Christiane|editor2-last=Marks|editor2-first=Gary|date=1992|title=The Crisis of Socialism in Europe|location= Durham, North Carolina|publisher=[[Duke University Press]]|isbn=978-0-8223-1197-3|url=https://archive.org/details/crisisofsocialis01unse_2}}

* {{cite encyclopedia|last=Lamb|first=Peter|year=2015|title=Social democracy|encyclopedia=Historical Dictionary of Socialism|edition=3rd|series=Historical Dictionaries of Religions, Philosophies, and Movements|publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]]|isbn=978-1-4422-5826-6}}

* {{cite encyclopedia|last=Lipset|first=Seymour Martin|year=1995|title=The Encyclopedia of Democracy|volume=4|publisher=Congressional Quarterly|isbn=978-0-87187-889-2}}

* {{cite encyclopedia|last=O'Hara|first=Phillip|year=2003|title=Social Democracy|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Political Economy|volume=2|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-0-415-24187-8}}

* {{cite encyclopedia|last=Ritzer|first=George|year=2004|title=Marxism|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Social Theory|location=Thousand Oaks, California|publisher=[[SAGE Publications]]|isbn=978-1-4522-6546-9}}

* {{cite news|last=Ackerman|first=Seth|date=19 June 2019|url=https://jacobinmag.com/2019/06/new-deal-socialism-bernie-sanders-democratic-primary|title=Why Bernie Talks About the New Deal|newspaper=[[Jacobin (magazine)|Jacobin]]|access-date=15 November 2019}}

* {{cite news|date=20 July 2018|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/democratic-socialism-hits-heartland-ocasio-cortez-sanders-campaign-deep-red-n893076|title=Democratic socialism hits the heartland: Ocasio-Cortez, Sanders to campaign in deep-red Kansas|work=[[NBC News]]|agency=[[Associated Press]]|access-date=14 May 2019|ref={{harvid|Associated Press|2018}}}}

* {{cite news|last=Astor|first=Maggie|date=12 June 2019|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/12/us/politics/democratic-socialism-facts-history.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190612170048/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/12/us/politics/democratic-socialism-facts-history.html|archive-date=12 June 2019|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|title=What Is Democratic Socialism? Whose Version Are We Talking About?|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=10 February 2020}}

* {{cite news|editor-last=Barrett|editor-first=William|date=1 April 1978|url=https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/capitalism-socialism-and-democracy/|title=Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy: A Symposium|newspaper=Commentary|access-date=12 March 2020}}

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* {{cite book|last=Kenworthy|first=Lane|year=2014|title=Social Democratic America|location=New York|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=978-0-19-932251-0|ref=none}}

* {{cite web|last1=Thorsen|first1=Dag Einar|last2=Brandal|first2=Nik|last3=Bratberg|first3=Øivind|year=2013|url=http://www.fabians.org.uk/utopia-sustained-the-nordic-model-of-social-democracy/|title=Utopia Sustained: The Nordic Model of Social Democracy|location=London|publisher=[[Fabian Society]]|access-date=2 August 2016|ref=none}}

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