Socialism : Social Democracy
- Created by: Bigboi_Butterz
- Created on: 20-04-18 18:21
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- Social Democracy
- Neo-Revisionism and the 'Third Way'
- Third way - The notion of an alternative form of economics to both state socialism and free market capitalism, sought at different times by conservatives socialists and fascists
- Knowledge economy - An economy in which knowledge is supposedly the key source of competitiveness and productivity, especially in the form of information and communication technology
- Social inclusion - The acquisition of rights skills and opportunities that enable citizens to participate fully in society
- Competition state - A state whose principal role is to pursue strategies for national prosperity in conditions of intensifying global competition
- Revisionist Socialism
- Revisionism - The revision or reworking of a political theory that departs from earlier interpretations in an attempt to present a ‘corrected’ view
- Bernstein used a theoretical approach was largely empirical ; he rejected Marxist method of analysis, as the predictions he made proved to be incorrect, capitalism had shown itself to be flexible.
- Bernstein believed capitalism had shown itself to be increasingly complex, stable and flexible. Rather than dividing society into two great classes - capitalism became differentiated. In particular ownership of wealth had widened as a result of an introduction of stock companies, shareholders etc.
- The ranks of the middle class has also been swollen by the professional workers, who were neither capitalist nor proletariat. Capitalism was no longer a naked class of oppression, capitalism could instead be reformed by the nationalisation of major industries and the legal protection and working benefits to the lower classes, a process that is believed to be achieved peacefully and democratically.
- Western socialist parties have been revisionist in practice if not always in theory, intent on ‘taming’ capitalism rather than abolishing it, the labour party changing its 1918 belief in ‘the common ownership of means of production, distribution and exchange’.
- Social democrats dropped the capitalist market.
- The abandonment of planning comprehensive nationalization left democracy with three modest objectives;
- Mixed economy - A blend of public and private ownership that stands between free market capitalism and state collectivism, keeping the major utilities nationalized but everything else privatized.
- Economic management, seeing the need for capitalism to be regulated in order to deliver sustainable growth. (After 1945 this turned to Keynesianism)
- Welfare state as principal means of reforming or humanising capitalism. Redistribution would help promote social equality and eradicate poverty. Capitalism would no longer need to be abolished, only modified through welfare capitalism
- The Crisis of Social Democracy
- Social democrats accepted that there were viable socialist alternatives to the market, meaning that the socialist project was reborn as an attempt to reform, not replace capitalism.
- On the other hand the socialist ethic of social justice survived. This in turn was linked to a weak notion of equality, distributive equality the idea poverty should be reduced and inequality narrowed through the redistribution of wealth from rich to poor.
- Social Democracy
- Social democracy is an ideological stance that supports a broad bland between market capitalism, on the one hand and state intervention on the other hand. Being based on a compromise between the market and the state, social democracy lacks a systematic underlying theory and is, arguably inherently vague.
- (1, capitalism is the only reliable means of generating wealth but is morally defective in its means of distributing its wealth because of its tendency towards poverty and inequality. 2, The defects of the capitalist rectified through economic and social intervention the state being the custodian of the public interest. 3, Social change can and should be brought about peacefully and constitutionally)
- The advantages of capitalism is that it's the only form of generating wealth, the disadvantage is that it breeds inequality.
- Through economic and social intervention and regulation e.g subsidise, recycling and taxing corporate business to redistribute the wealth more. (Taxation money = Welfare)
- To make these improvements it should be done by reforming or ‘taming’ the system. Social change should be brought about peacefully and constitutionally
- Social democrats aim to ‘humanize’ socialism, this created a social democratic census in many western states
- This was most fully developed in 1945 after world war two, during which social democratic ideas peaked, since the 1970’s and 80’s social democracy struggled to retain its relevance in the advance of neoliberalism and economic and social circumstances. In the last decades there has been a retreat of reformist parties across the globe.
- Ethical Socialism
- Humanism - A philosophy that gives moral priority to the satisfaction of human needs and aspirations
- Social Justice - A morally justifiable distribution of wealth, usually implying a commitment to greater equality
- The basis for social democracy is more moral and religious than scientific. Social democrats have advanced a moral criticism of capitalism. This has been based on religious and humanistic principles
- In France, the United Kingdom, and other commonwealth countries socialism has been influenced by the humanist ideas of Fourier, Owen and Morris. (Moral and humanist idea of socialism compared to Marx)
- Ethical socialism is also heavily drawn from christianity. The christian ethic which has influenced the United Kingdom is that of respect and universal brotherhood. The idea of loving thy neighbour is conflicted with the idea of unregulated capitalism
- The overriding principle of social democracy is social justice. Social justice is the idea of a morally justifiable distribution of wealth, usually implying a commitment to greater equality.
- Based on religious principles and humanism, moral judgements rather than economics, charity, love thy neighbour, helping the poor.
- Catholics and Islam, based on community and helping the poor, against profit making, this is attractive to nations previously under colonial rule.
- Neo-Revisionism and the 'Third Way'
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