Social Democracy

Question 1

What is it?

Answer 1

• moderate form of socialism that accepts the continuation of capitalism.

Question 2

Key thinker

Answer 2

Anthony Crosland - focusing on Keynesian Economics with the state management of market forces and funding of public services.

Question 3

They argue for…

Answer 3

social justice, which means a fairer spread of wealth in society.

Question 4

Believe that the capitalist system is ….

Answer 4

reliable at creating wealth but must be reformed because the way it distributes wealth causes inequality.

Question 5

Believe that peaceful methods can…

Answer 5

bring about change, and state intervention through economic and social policies can resolve the inequality caused by capita

Question 6

Revisionist

Answer 6

Social democracy is a type of revisionist socialism, meaning that it does not oppose capitalism and believes it is compatible with capitalism.

Question 7

Evolutionary

Answer 7

Social democrats believe in evolutionary socialism which argues for achieving socialism gradually through existing legal and political systems.

Question 8

Anthony Crosland

Answer 8

• 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.

Question 9

Advantages

Answer 9

• 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.

Question 10

Disadvantages

Answer 10

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.