SOCIALISM - Social Democracy strand

Question 1

What type of socialism is this?

Answer 1

this is a moderate type of socialism that supports a broad balance between market capitalism and state intervention

it is evolutionary socialism because it believes that capitalism has become the most reliable means of generating wealth but is a morally defective means of distributing wealth because it produces poverty and inequality.

it is revisionist because it revises many of Marx’s key ideas in how to bring about socialism.

Question 2

Eduard Bernstein - explore the ideas of Evolutionary Socialism 1899

Answer 2

Bernstein revises Marx’s key ideas - he believes that there ISN’T going to be a revolution and that capitalism remained because it had been modified and people like it

he rejected historical materialism, because Marx was proved wrong - capitalism had proved to be resilient and flexible.

class conflict had not been intensifying - it had become increasingly complex and accepted.

Question 3

The Webb’s and the inevitability of gradualness

Answer 3

Bea W argued that democracy would hand power to the WC and so they would be able to electorally introduce socialism, which would develop as an evolutionary outgrowth of socialism.

Question 4

Crosland and managerialism

Answer 4

Crosland argued that a new class of managers and experts had supplanted the old capitalist class and had come to dominate all advanced industrial societies - capitalist AND communist.

there was a NEW capitalist class.

Question 5

What’s the difference between democratic socialism and social democracy?

Answer 5

Democratic socialism believes in the replacement of capitalism with socialism and that a socialist state can evolve from current systems w/o revolution. Bea W

Social democracy believes that capitalism and socialism can be compatible - it is a branch of revisionist socialism. Anthony C