Social democracy
From Libertarian Wiki
Social democracy is a political ideology that emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from supporters of Marxism (But no longer following it, making them ex-Marxists). Initially, social democratic parties included revolutionary socialists, such as Rosa Luxemburg and Vladimir Lenin alongside those who advocated a gradualist, evolutionary approach, such as Eduard Bernstein, Karl Kautsky and Jean Jaures. After World War I and the Russian Revolution (Where the social democrat's got dubbed "Mensheviks"), social democracy became exclusively associated with the non-revolutionary approach. Modern social democracy emphasises a program of gradual legislative reform of the capitalist system with the end goal of building a socialist society either de-emphasised or limited in scope.
The term social democracy can also refer to the particular kind of society that social democrats advocate.
In general, contemporary Social Democrats support:
- Regulatory systems over private enterprise in the interests of workers, consumers and small enterprise.
- A Social Market Economy over a Free market, if not, in some cases and to some extent, planned economy.
- Advocacy of trade extensive trade regulation over Free trade.
- An extensive system of social welfare.
- Government-owned or subsidised programs of education, health care, child care, etc. for all citizens.
- High levels of taxation to fund government expenditure.
- A system of industrial regulation (statutory minimum wages, working conditions, protection against dismissals).
- Anti-capitalist environmentalist laws.
- A secular and left-wing social policy, although this varies in degree.
- A foreign policy supporting multilateralism and international institutions such as the United Nations.
Economic conservatives typically point out that social democratic systems are too restrictive on individual rights, particularly economic freedom, and that individual choice is not as great in systems that provide state-run schools, health care, child care and other services. Libertarians, paleoliberals, and classical liberals point out that social democracy interferes with market mechanisms and hurts the economy by encouraging large budget deficits and restricting the ability of entrepreneurs to invest as they see fit.
