Third Way Flashcards
What is it?
It is an alternative approach to socialism and free-market capitalism.
It supports the importance of…
the market over the state, and so rejects top-down state intervention. The third way is in favour of increases in competitiveness and productivity which result from globalisation.
-New Labour: the private sector provided public services through Private Finance Initiative schemes and Public-Private Partnerships.
Believes in the importance of….
community and moral responsibility.
- New Labour supported communitarian ideas, such as welfare initiatives in the UK.
Argues for a social model based on….
harmony and consensus, which is different from traditional socialism. Traditional socialism focuses on differences in social class, and inequality.
Believes in what kind of state?
a competition state where the skills and knowledge of the national workforce are developed through social investment, mainly in education.
The aim of social investment is to…
improve people’s job prospects and increase economic growth.
- Tony Blair’s New Labour slogan was ‘Education, education, education’.
Social inclusion
The third way argues for social inclusion, which means people must gain the necessary skills, rights and opportunities to participate fully in society.
Importance of equal opportunities
The third way argues for the importance of equal opportunities and a social system which rewards individuals based on their performance.
The third way states that welfare should be provided to groups of people who are marginalised and actively seek employment.
Tony Blair referred to the welfare system as providing ‘a hand up, not a handout’.
Advantages
The third way approach promotes social justice and can improve the lives of people in society who are most disadvantaged.
The third way promotes a more pragmatic approach to social justice - what matters is what works, rather than sticking to principles even if they don’t create equality.
The third way is more attractive to a larger range of voters - middle class voters don’t feel excluded and gain some benefit from social justice reforms, such as social investment in education.
New Labour
New Labour introduced policies that promoted a left-wing, third way ideology.
For example, New Labour raised income tax for high earners to fund the minimum wage and Educational Maintenance Allowance.
New Labour used the welfare to work programme to resolve areas of market failure, introduced policies such as Sure Start, tax credits and the adaptation of the Social Chapter into UK law, and increased spending by the government on public services.
Disadvantages
Socialists argue that Third Way thinking lacks real socialist ideas because it does not commit as much to equality and redistributing wealth in society.
Under Tony Blair, Labour committed to privatisation, deregulation and the marketisation of the welfare state, which many people argue goes against socialist principles.
The election of Jeremy Corbyn in 2015, who strongly opposed the third way, shows how the third way grew out of favour with many Labour party members.
