Socialism Flashcards
Who states that the state ‘if harnessed to universal suffrage could be used to effect a gradual change to socialism’?
Beatrice Webb
Who states that the state ‘is a capitalist tool and must be destroyed by revolution’?
Marx and Engels
Who states that the state ‘should be improved by redistribution and decentralisation of political power whilst encouraging greater political participation’?
Anthony Giddens
Who states that the state ‘must be crushed by revolution arising from strike action and not class consciousness’?
Rosa Luxemburg
Who states that the ‘existing state can be used to exert radical, socialist change’
Antony Crosland
What is Marx and Engels’ view on the economy?
Capitalism = corrupt, inefficient, self-destructive
What is Luxemburg’s theory on the economy?
Capitalism’s necessary destruction is through the replacement of the economy based on worker’s control
What is Webb’s view on the economy?
A capitalist society will be replaced by one for the benefit of the workers based on common ownership
What is Anthony Gidden’s view on the economy?
He wants a ‘mixed economy underpinned by limited public ownership and Keynesian ethics’
What is Crosland’s view on the economy?
Neoliberal economy propelled by privatisation and deregulation
What are the different theories of socialism
Revolution v Evolution
Fundamentalism v Revisionism
What caused the revolution/evolutionary split
turn of the 20th century - ‘best road for socialism?’
What did revolutionaries believe
- the working class - many didn’t have the vote
- the state was a tool of the bourgeoisie and would protect their interests
- a working-class uprising was arguably direct democracy from the people
Who were revolutionary socialists
Luxemburg and Marx/ Engels
What did evolutionaries believe
- ‘inevitability of gradualism’
- working-class were beginning to get the vote - therefore parliamentary road became possible
- as workers got the vote - they would be the majority
- as socialists parties (who represent their best interest) came into power - the could implement their systems
- also the state was no longer an ‘irredeemable agent of the bourgeois class
Who were evolutionary socialists
The Webbs
What is the fundamentalist/ revisionism split
concerning the ends rather than the means - fundamentalism rejects capitalism outright whereas revisionism accepts capitalism to an extent
Crosland’s main work
The Future of Socialism (1956) - defended state-managed capitalism
What did Giddens say about socialism
‘socialism is as dead as an economic doctrine’
What is social democracy - how does it differ from classic socialism
mixed economic, social welfare and moderate reform towards greater social justice and equality of opportunity rather than common ownership and equality of outcome
What did Giddens create
The Third Way - fused neo-liberal economic policies with centre-left social policies
What is Fraternity
The bonds of comradeship between human beings.
What is Co-operation
Working collectively to achieve mutual benefits.
`What is Capitalism
An economic system, organised by the market, where goods are produced for profit and wealth is privately owned.
