7.2 Differing Views and Tensions Flashcards
Revolutionary Socialism
Revolutionary socialism is based on the belief that the state uses its institutions to defend the capitalist interests of the ruling class against the interests of the working classes. These institutions include parliament and the mass media.
Revolutionary socialists believe that socialism can only be achieved through the full transformation of society and the complete replacement of the existing state with new institutions.
Revolutionary socialists believe this may involve violence.
Revolutionary Socialism: Against humanising capitalism
Revolutionary socialists argue that trying to ‘humanise’ capitalism’, as social democracy does, still means that inequality and exploitation of the working class will exist in society.
Revolutionary socialists believe that ‘humanising capitalism’ undermines the main goal of socialism.
Revolutionary Socialism: Advantages
Revolutionary socialism aims to bring about radical change to a society and can lead to the rapid development of a country.
Revolutionary Socialism: Disadvantages
The end of the Cold War and the collapse of socialist regimes in Eastern Europe demonstrated the limits of revolutionary socialism. These regimes came about through revolutionary socialism.
The collapse of communism in the Soviet Union.
The collapse of communism in the satellite states of the Eastern Bloc.
Revolutionary socialism has led to the rule of fundamentalist regimes in different countries.
Revolutionary Socialism: Examples
Revolutionary socialism was taken up by a number of national liberation movements following the Second World War.
These revolutionary socialist movements removed the colonial powers in their countries and entirely uprooted the social and economic systems to rapidly modernise their societies.
The Chinese communists under Chairman Mao believed that the peasantry would lead the revolution and developed the idea of a ‘permanent revolution’.
Social democracy
Social democrats argue for social justice, which means a fairer spread of wealth in society.
Social democrats believe that the capitalist system is reliable at creating wealth but must be reformed because the way it distributes wealth causes inequality.
Social democrats believe that peaceful methods can bring about change, and state intervention through economic and social policies can resolve the inequality caused by capitalism.
Social democracy: Revisionist and evolutionary
Social democracy is a type of revisionist socialism, meaning that it does not oppose capitalism and believes it is compatible with capitalism.
Social democrats believe in evolutionary socialism which argues for achieving socialism gradually through existing legal and political systems.
Social democracy: Anthony Crosland
Anthony Crosland is a key thinker in support of social democracy and wrote ‘The Future of Socialism’ (1956).
‘The Future of Socialism’ argued that capitalism did not oppress the working class, because the new class governing the workforce cared about relationships with their employees and the reputation of their business.
Crosland stated that social justice could be brought about by the welfare state redistributing wealth which would be funded by progressive taxation.
Social democracy: Policies based on social democracy
Political parties have had policy programmes based on social democracy which support a mixed economy of state- and privately-owned businesses, and aim to redistribute wealth through welfare policies to reduce inequality.
Political parties based on social democracy often have ‘Keynesian’ economic policy. ‘Keynesian’ economics means spending more money to increase demand during a recession and using tax and interest rates to manage demand during times of economic growth to prevent a recession.
Social democracy: Advantages of social democracy
Social democracy works during periods of economic growth and high employment because people’s living standards will be higher and there will be greater tax income which can be used by the government to develop welfare programmes.
Social democracy: Disadvantages of social democracy
Social democracy does not work as well during periods of economic decline.
When there is an economic downturn there is greater unemployment and more demand for welfare services, and at the same time less tax revenue to fund welfare support because fewer people are working and businesses are earning less.
Social democracy lost its electoral support because of the shift to a post-industrial economy which was based on providing services. The shift to a post-industrial economy reduced the size of the working class.
Third way: key features I
The third way supports the importance of the market over the state, and so rejects top-down state intervention. The third way is in favour of increases in competitiveness and productivity which result from globalisation.
New Labour: the private sector provided public services through Private Finance Initiative schemes and Public-Private Partnerships.
The third way believes in the importance of community and moral responsibility.
New Labour supported communitarian ideas, such as welfare initiatives in the UK.
Third way: key features II
The third way argues for a social model based on harmony and consensus, which is different from traditional socialism. Traditional socialism focuses on differences in social class, and inequality.
The third way believes in a competition state where the skills and knowledge of the national workforce are developed through social investment, mainly in education.
The aim of social investment is to improve people’s job prospects and increase economic growth.
Tony Blair’s New Labour slogan was ‘Education, education, education’.
Third way: social inclusion
The third way argues for social inclusion, which means people must gain the necessary skills, rights and opportunities to participate fully in society.
The third way argues for the importance of equal opportunities and a social system which rewards individuals based on their performance.
The third way states that welfare should be provided to groups of people who are marginalised and actively seek employment.
Tony Blair referred to the welfare system as providing ‘a hand up, not a handout’.
Third Way: Advantages
The third way approach promotes social justice and can improve the lives of people in society who are most disadvantaged.
The third way promotes a more pragmatic approach to social justice - what matters is what works, rather than sticking to principles even if they don’t create equality.
The third way is more attractive to a larger range of voters - middle class voters don’t feel excluded and gain some benefit from social justice reforms, such as social investment in education.
