Social Democracy

Social Democracy (commonly called Democratic Socialism, also known as Welfare Capitalism, Welfare Statism or Liberal Socialism) is the idea that society should still be organized according to the following principles:

• Representative democracy
• Liberal notions of freedom (ie freedom of speech, assembly, press, movement, work and so on)
• Capitalist economics
• Heavy taxes and limited nationalization of industry to pay for a large welfare state
• Regulations and laws that protect trade unions, individual workers, consumers and the environment

Although Social Democracy's support for the state and capitalism will cause an obvious conflict with libertarian socialists, there is a great deal of division over whether or not to support it. Figures like Noam Chomsky have argued for limited support in order to win temporary gains in class struggle. Whilst others (like Peter Gelderloos and Colin Ward) have argued that it only harms the working class and takes the energy out of class struggle and only sets the stage for further repression of the working class.

History

Origins

Social Democracy began in the early 1860s as a tendency within the International Workingmen's Association led by theorists who rejected Marx and Bakunin's idea of a violent revolution and instead advocating for the formation of political parties and the winning of reforms to improve the standing of the working class.

Dominance in the First World

Following World War II and until the 1970s,

Decline

Beginning in the 1970s, the ruling class became increasingly anxious about a 'crisis of democracy' within much of the first world, as

The major exception to this has been Latin America, where in response to numerous social upheavels and revolutions (the Zapatista Revolution, Bolivian Water War and Argentinazo, just to name a few) led to a string of social democrats and socialists being elected to lead states in an event known as the Pink Tide throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s. These governments successfully reduced poverty in massive waves, had secured greater rights for minorities and By the mid-2010s, most of these states had been hit by major economic crashes or its politicians had become seduced by corruption, leading to a surge in support for right-wing and fascist candidates across Latin America known as the blue or brown tide.

Potential Resurgence

Support for social democracy is growing across most of the population within first world countries.

Criticisms

According to socialists (libertarian and authoritarian), social democracy can be criticised on numerous grounds:

• Social democracy creates a narrative where support for political parties in the most practical method to achieve change in the world, despite social democracy historically depending on the existence of large and strong trade unions willing to carry out strikes.
• Social democracy is simply a new method to strengthen capitalism and neutralize working class resistance, upon sufficient neutralization of the working class, social democracy will be destroyed in order to increase profits for the ruling class
• Attempts to reduce unemployment without providing workers' self-management will result in increased inflation and prices on commodities (which is what happened in the 1970s economic crisis which justified neoliberalism)
• Social democracy cannot resolve the fundamental problems of capitalism, such as environmental destruction, economic crashes, alienation and inefficiency.