Social Democracy

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"For us democracy is a question of human dignity. Human dignity is the right to health, work, education and social welfare. Human dignity is the right and the practical possibility to shape the future with others. These rights, the rights of democracy, are not reserved for a select group within society, they are the rights of all the people."

Social Democracy, often clipped to SocDem, is an economically center-left ideology. It is usually culturally left, albeit not exclusively. It advocates for strong welfare programs, unionization, with the addition of vast regulation to promote social justice. It is often confused with Democratic Socialism, or sometimes socialism in general (which is largely seen as a US phenomenon in the modern day). Despite often being called a "socialist" by right-wing ideologies, Social Democracy is often excluded from leftist circles as well due to their support for merely reforming capitalism as an end-goal rather than abolishing it. Social Democracy finds that a lot of welfare programs and business regulations, when achieved through reform rather than revolution, can lead to higher prosperity for the proletariat, rather than systems of unregulated capitalism or socialism.

Variants

Conservative Social Democracy

Conservative Social Democracy is a form of social democracy that believes in moderation and compromise in order to guide their country. It is different, though similar on the bottom line, to Paternalistic Conservatism as paternalistic conservativism justifies welfare by the concept of Paternalism- in that the state should protect and assist the less fortunate in society; whereas Conservative Social Democracy justifies welfare as a tool for empowering trade unions and the working class.

Left-Social Democracy

Left-Social Democracy is a variant of social democracy which often expresses advocacy for protectionsm or economic nationalism, left-wing populism, a mixed economy (though some support full on market socialist economics), and state guidance of the economy. British left-social democrats (the Labour Party until the 1950s more specifically) espoused imperialism, seeing the Empire as the best way to spread their economic model globally. A lot of the social democrats after World War II would adopt Keynesian economics to their policy prescriptions, seeing demand-side economics as most compatible with their ideals of high unionization and welfarism. Something which divides left-social democrats is the willingness to transition the economy out of capitalism, as many stick true to their anti-capitalist roots. All classical social democrats would fall under this category. Most all Left-Social Democrats support some level of Workplace Democracy whether it is implemented partially under a capitalist organization or completely under a market socialist organization of the economy.

Right-Social Democracy

Right-Social Democracy is the right-wing variant of Social Democracy. The ideology believes that equality and social justice are valid aspirational goals, but favor market-based means to achieve them; expressing concerns with balanced budgets and government overreach. Most right-social democrats follow the Third Way, which is a compromise between neoliberalism and the social market economy; although many Christian Democratic parties can be described as right-socdems. The best examples of right-wing social democracy is the United Kingdom under Tony Blair and Thailand under Thaksin Shinawatra.

Libertarian Social Democracy

Main article: Social Libertarianism

Libertarian Social Democracy is a economically center-left and civically libertarian ideology. It is considered a more moderate form of left-libertarianism. It supports basic social democratic principals and policies but with an added focus on civil liberties and is opposed to rampant statism outside of the economy. They also tend to support Direct Democracy and Non-Interventionist foreign policy. Notable examples of Libertarian Socdems include late former Alaska senator Mike Gravel, left-wing political commentator and youtuber Kyle Kulinski and former Democratic presidential candidate, author and activist Marianne Williamson.

Economic Progressivism

Economic Progressivism, or Fiscal Progressivism, is a form of Social Democracy that is a political and economic philosophy incorporating the socioeconomic principles of social democrats and political progressives. Economic Progressivism is rooted in social justice through improving human conditions through government regulation and social protections. Economic Progressivism differs from social market capitalism to socialism, and critiques capitalism in ways such as: market fundamentalism, wage slavery, "socialism for the rich, capitalism for the poor" as well as rugged individualism.

Social Feminism

Social Feminism is a feminist movement that advocates for social rights and special accommodations for women. It was first used to describe members of the women's suffrage movement in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who were concerned with social problems that affected women and children. They saw obtaining the vote mainly as a means to achieve their reform goals rather than a primary goal in itself. After women gained the right to vote, social feminism continued in the form of labor feminists who advocated for protectionist legislation and special benefits for women. Although the validity of the term "social feminism" is highly disputed between historians and its original usage.

Green Social Democracy

Green social democracy also known as center left environmentalism is an ideology that wants strong regulation, powerful unions and Keynesian economics but believes that the environment comes first always and may break with Keynesian economics i.e., infinite growth on a planet with finite resources and side against unions i.e Green SocDems want to close down all the coal mines, something labour unions obviously do not want. They are usually fiercely protectionist, to lower CO2 emissions from transportation but also to protect workers. Though this is not hard and fast.

Social Nationalism

Social Nationalism is in its most basic definition a Nationalist state with a social economy range from left social democracy to Rhine capitalism and potentially more right-wing systems. The nationalist state by nature would be authoritarian but social nationalism acknowledges the problems with unchecked power and supports a constitution which would control the power the executive holds, its modern form is also a traditionalist ideology that is against gay marriage and believes that the three purposes of life are Nation, God and Love. However, the traditional version of social nationalism was much more progressive in its historical context. This ideology is not to be confused with Nazism. It has seen a rise in support amongst national populist European groups and may present itself as a status quo in conservative countries like Poland and Hungary. Historical examples that are close to socnat include: Kemalist Turkey, Nationalist China under the KMT, and Mexican Institutional Revolutionary Party, and Poland under Józef Piłsudski. It believes:

  • We shouldn’t strive for laissez faire capitalism, because that will lead to a degenerate culture of materialism and consumerism and we should not strive for communism either as it is inefficient and would weaken the nation
  • Economics should be somewhat flexible so that the system that best suits the people is what gets implemented.
  • Most immigration to a country should be from culturally similar nations & people and limited to only the most skilled. Actual refugees should go to the nearest stable country that offers asylum and if no one is willing to house them then they must remain in their homeland.
  • Economic migrants should be highly restricted to the needs of the nation and from nations similar ethnically and culturally to us for easy assimilation. If they have broken the law they should either be deported or imprisoned (Depending on how serious the crime is)
  • Nationalism, Social collectivism and Traditionalism should be taught in every school, aligning with the virtues that would be important to teach to youth, while other values like discipline, high work ethic, honesty and unity would be encouraged
  • Intervention in foreign countries to spread nationalism further and for national gain is necessary, but a diplomatic option should always be tried first.

Social Stratocracy

Social Stratocracy is an economically center-left, statist, strongly patriotic, culturally centrist and militaristic ideology which supports the combination of social democratic economic policies, such as a capitalist market economy heavily regulated in favour of the working class, an abundance of social programs and public ownership of businesses such as education and healthcare, with a belief in a military-led government. Advocates tend to argue that a strong military capability, "predominance of the armed forces in the administration of the state," and glorification of the military is needed in an ideal society and that the nation should be prepared to use military force in order to defend or promote its national interests.

Cosmopolitan Social Democracy

Cosmopolitan Social Democracy is a culturally progressive, globalist, and economically center-left ideology that seeks to establish a global institution of democracy under social democratic principles, and the global justice movement that supports globalization, but opposes economic globalization. He wants to protect civil rights and promote economic justice globally with these principles in mind.

Agrarian Social Democracy

Agrarian Social Democracy (also known as Social Agrarianism) is a center-left political ideology which combines Agrarianism with Social Democracy. He stresses widespread ownership of wealth-generating property, political decentralization, and a preference for small communities in the context of a well-regulated market economy with generous welfare programs. Despite having similar goals to Christian Democracy and Distributism, he tends to support Secularism and other progressive causes. (The ideology itself is culturally variable, however.) He can also be seen as a moderate form of Agrarian Socialism.

Core Tenants

Though not to the extent of Socialism, Agrarian Social Democracy is more radical in his opposition to economic inequality than SocDem. Especially after the latter adopted a pro-growth neoliberal stances in the late 20th century. He believes excess inequality, monopoly, and monopsony is a threat to democratic institutions and human rights; through lobbying and bribery the wealthiest have the loudest voices, breeding avraice and corruption. AgSocDem prefers local-level production and consumption.

This contempt for inequality and preference for localism manifests in the form of suppressing wealth concentration in favor of widespread property ownership. He has various means of achieving this, although not universally accepted by his followers, including:

  • Policies designed to increase competition.
  • The breaking up of large industries and trusts (e.g., Big Pharma, Big Tech, Big Banking, and Big Oil).
  • Limiting business size directly through other anti-trust legislation (e.g., outlawing vertical integration).
  • Decentralizing currency through community banks and credit unions, while also limiting or prohibiting interest or usury.
  • A tax on the unimproved value of land to deprive the landed elites of a tool to suppress unlanded commoners.
  • Wealth caps (like the maximum wage).
  • Subsidies and tax incentives for family-owned small businesses and farms (e.g., self-employment assistance, tax breaks, and loans for aspiring entrepreneurs and start-ups).
  • Removing or reforming unfair business privileges—like limited liability, patents, and ineffective regulations—to level the playing field.
  • Protection of local industries and farmers.

AgSocDem supports locally-owned businesses, worker-owned enterprises (which are usually small-scale), collective farms, and smallholdings. He sees small-scale producers as more innovative, accountable, greener, and a stepping stone towards autonomous local communities. Loans for entry-level farmers, tax incentives for agricultural co-ops, and discouraging land speculation also empowers rural areas.

However, in cases of natural monopoly and necessary economies of scale like electricity and aircraft manufacturing, AgSocDem usually supports state-owned enterprises (SOEs) or sovereign wealth funds (SWFs). Profits generated will go towards safety nets, infrastructure, education, and subsidies for local entrepreneurs. A great example of this is the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO)—a for-profit state-owned enterprise which sells alcohol in shops. LCBO's profits, ranging in the billions, go towards Ontario's provincial programs and functions. As of 2019 they sell hard liquor, wine, and beer.

AgSocDem also supports decentralized welfare programs and regulatory agencies. Canada's Medicaid is a great example of the former—it is mandated and funded primarily by the federal government, but provincially and locally supplied. Most welfare programs in Denmark are coordinated and financed on the municipal level. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in the United States is a regulatory agency; though having a federal office which sets minimum standards, the rest is handled by regional, state, and local offices with autonomy.

AgSocDem is culturally variable. In the West he's usually a civil libertarian; others are progressive, seeing urban inequality as holding back positive scientific, medical, and technological advances. Followers tends to like direct democracy and a constitution protecting human rights. Many AgSocDem followers may see a strong central government as necessary for creating their ideal system. Others may champion achieving their reforms on the local or provincial level instead.

Summary of tenants

  • Agrarian Social Democracy supports widespread ownership of the means of production, seeking to promote small businesses, worker co-ops, collective farms, and smallholdings while suppressing big enterprises and wealth inequality.
  • Favors the municipalization and/or nationalization of key sectors and industries; especially areas prone to natural monopoly, requiring large-scale production, or related to military production.
  • Aspires to achieve economic decentralization through wealth caps, anti-trust legislation, pro-competition policies, and (sometimes) protectionism; doing so lends itself to political decentralization.
  • Favors decentralized or local-level welfare programs and regulatory agencies to (a) ensure a minimum standard of living for all citizens and (b) to protect workers from abusive, exploitative predicaments.
  • Followers typically despise central or fractional reserving banking, preferring community banks, credit unions, and fiscal policy over monetary policy.

Distributist Social Democracy

Distributist Social Democracy, clipped to DistSocDem, is an economically center-left and culturally variable ideology which seeks widespread ownership of the means of production and a strong welfare state—combining Social Democracy with Distributism. Such an economic model is in sharp contrast to Social Democracy's common present-day manifestation, which is more neoliberal in character. It can also be seen as Social Distributism without the influence of Fourth Theory.

Christian social democracy

Christian social democracy, Christian, is a form of Christian democracy and social democracy that is center-left in its economics, culturally variable (depending on theology), and civically variable. It differs from center-right neoliberalism that often practices this ideology with its support for economic distributionism (it depends, not always), a mixed/social market economy, and a welfare state justified under the teachings of theology and sometimes the teachings of notable socialist writers such as Karl Marx.

History

Historically, Social Democracy was used interchangeably with Democratic Socialism, which is still rather common in the United States, especially since Bernie Sanders' rise in popularity. After World War 2, Social Democracy becomes its own identity and promoted a strong welfare state under a capitalist economy. Social Democracies have been established in Europe and other types of the world as follows: India since the establishment of the DPSP, the Republic of France during the 1930's before German Occupation, Australia ever since WWII, Sri Lanka since the early 1940's, the French Republic after the fall of Nazi France, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland.

Germany

W.I.P

Austria

The Social Democratic Party had its roots in Reformist Marxism and was founded 1888 by Victor Adler as Social Democratic Workers Party of Austria. After 1918 Otto Bauer invented Austromarxism and the party followed a more communist direction as Karl Renner supported Rosa Luxemburg and wanted Austria to join the USSR. Between 1918 and 1933 the party only was part of one government but became popular in Vienna were the SPÖ seized power (Red Vienna). In 1923 the SPÖ founded the paramilitary Republican Protection League (Republikanischer Schutzbund) and the party radicalized in the following years. After the civil war 1933 the SPÖ was forbidden and was in resistance against Austrofascism and Nazism (until 1945).

After 1945 Karl Renner reinvented the party as Socialist Party of Austria and created the Sozialpartnerschaft together with the ÖVP to prevent any civil wars in the future. In the 1970s the party gained absolute power in government under Bruno Kreisky. In the 1990s and early 2000s the SPÖ followed the Third Way direction under Franz Vranitzky (who renamed the party into Social Democratic Party of Austria), Victor Klima and Alfred Gusenbauer. Since the late 2000s the party is following a more left direction as Heinz Fischer called Fidel Castro one of the greatest politicians of the 20th and 21st century and Andreas Schieder said that the PKK is not a terrorist group. The only exception is Hans-Peter Doskozil in Burgenland who follows a more nationalistic and welfare chauvenist direction.

The party is very strong in Vienna; from 1918 to 1933 and since 1945 all mayors of Vienna were SPÖ-members.

In 2023 the dispute of the 3 wings of the party, the left-liberal wing under Pamela Rendi-Wagner, the conservative wing under Hans-Peter Doskozil and the marxist wing under Andreas Babler, escalated and all 3 are fighting for the leadership of the party.

The SPÖ section Der Funke (The Spart) is member of the International Marxist Tendency (IMT).

Red Vienna

See Main Article: Austromarxism

After WWI Otto Bauer, Max Adler and Karl Seitz seized power in Vienna and promoted some sortiert of democratic communism which was influenced by Centrist Marxism, Authoritarian Democracy, Nationalism, Anti-Globalism and Anti-Imperialism.

They nationalized many buisnesses in Vienna, invented an inheritance tax, a rich tax and government housing for people with low or none income. This led to the name Red Vienna.

They also supported the unions and for some extend the USSR.

After the civil war 1934 the Fatherland Front put an end to Red Vienna. After WWII the SPÖ was again the strongest party in Vienna but never completely returned to the ideology of Austromarxism.

Liesinger Partie

The Liesinger Partie (Liesinger Party), named after a district of Vienna, is a circle wìthin the SPÖ which promotes Corporatism and to some extend Left-Wing Populism. It is often falsely seen as the right-wing of the party. The Liesinger Partie is economically centrist to center-left, culturally center-left and semi-authoritarian. It promotes a class collaboration instead of a class war.

The Liesinger Partie held the power in the party from 2008 to 2023 and is still in power in Vienna. In 2008 Werner Faymann together with Doris Bures, Christian Deutsch and Josef Ostermayer seized power in the SPÖ and ended the neoliberal influenced course of Victor Klima and Alfred Gusenbauer and also set an end to the partnership with the Liberal Forum. Faymann became chancellor and formed a coalition with the ÖVP. In 2014 they installed Michael Ludwig as the successor of Viennas mayor Michael Häupl. In 2023 the Liesinger Parte lost power after Hans-Peter Doskozil and Andreas Babler won a member vote against Pamela Rendi-Wagner.

Sweden

Main Article: Nordic Model

The Swedish Social Democratic Party had its roots in Reformist Marxism, like most social democratic parties in Europe. They were in and out of governments from 1917 to 1936, when they stayed in governance for just under 40 years, sometimes with a coalition sometimes with a genuine majority. The Swedish Social Democratic Party implemented a robust social safety net and nationalized several important industries, such as establishing a state-owned company for certain types of alcohol! However, the Swedish Social Democrats long term in office would come to an end in 1991 when Carl Bildt was elected PM after severe political controversy emerged over the Rudolf-Meidner plan which saw vast privatisations of state industries and monopiles, a repeal of the Rudolf-Meidner plan and has been a shadow over the SAP ever since.

Norway

Main Article: Nordic Model

WIP

Denmark

Main Article: Nordic Model

Danish Social Democracy (In Danish: Socialdemokratiet) represents the social democratic political party in Denmark. Under the leadership of Mette Frederiksen, the party became increasingly skeptical of mass immigration from Islamic countries, globalization, and other neoliberal policies that have been adopted under the social democratic parties in Europe that have caused their political performance to decline due to the abandoning of social democratic values for the rise of third-way neoliberalism. It has been described as welfare chauvinist.

Hungary

Democratic Coalition (DK) is a progressive, social liberal, social democratic, pro-European party in Hungary in founded October 22, 2011. It was formed by politicians leaving the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) under the leadership of former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány and the intellectual milieu surrounding them. It defines itself as a westernised, bourgeois center-left party. His political goals are summarised in the Manifesto of the Republic and in the political analysis entitled "Let us dare to be patriots".

Party leader and former Prime Minister of Hungary Ferenc Gyurcsány is a supporter of Third Way politics. The party platform has adopted elements of social liberalism and strongly pro-European themes. During the 2019 European Parliament election campaign, the EP list leader of the Democratic Coalition, Klára Dobrev, announced to the press that her party would seek to build a United States of Europe during her mandate, thus becoming a European federalist. During the campaign, DK included a number of center-left proposals in its more social democratic platform, including tackling child poverty, an EU-wide minimum pension, an EU minimum wage, a new EU tax on multinational corporations and EU funds for affordable housing.

In the 2014 European election, DK received 9.75% of the vote, and had two MEPs returned. On 26 May 2014, Csaba Molnar announced that DK had applied to join the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats. In October 2022, the party became an associate member of the Party of European Socialists.

Poland

  • Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) - a Polish center-left political party, founded on April 15 1999 by activists of most of the organizations included in the SLD coalition. This coalition was centered around the Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland party and was established in 1991.

In the years 1993–1997, the SLD coalition formed a majority government with the Polish People's Party, and its prime ministers were Józef Oleksy (1995–1996) and Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz (1996–1997). The SLD party formed the government in the years 2001–2005 (until 2003, majority government, coalition with PSL and Labor Union; from 2003, minority government with some left-wing parties). The prime ministers appointed by the party were Leszek Miller (2001–2004) and Marek Belka (2004–2005). In the years 1995–2005, Aleksander Kwaśniewski, from the SLD coalition, served as the President of the Republic of Poland.

Since 2005, SLD has been in the opposition (in the parliamentary opposition until 2015 and since 2019, and in the extra-parliamentary opposition in 2015–2019). The Democratic Left Alliance was a member of, among others, Party of European Socialists, he also belonged to the Socialist International. In the European Parliament he was a member of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats. The party's ideology came from the social democratic trend.

Due to plans to merge with Wiosna, SLD formally adopted the name Nowa Lewica, registered on January 27, 2020. The party's abbreviation was not changed by the court at that time. On June 11, 2021, as a result of the dissolution of Wiosna and its activists' declaration of joining the New Left, the two groups actually merged. On July 17, 2021, the SLD and Wiosna factions were formally established within the New Left. A congress was held on October 9, 2021, which sealed the process of combining both environments through the parity election of authorities.

Finland

Main Article: Nordic Model
  • Sanna Marin is a Finnish politician, congresswoman, former Minister of Transport and Communications and the Prime Minister of Finland. As a congresswoman, she has served on the grand committee, legal committee, and environment committee, and has had congressional memberships on administration, futures, and finance committees.

As prime minister, she aimed to reform the Nordic Model to adapt to the environment, also opposing nuclear energy and having made alliances with environmentalists. It self-proclaims its values ​​being "freedom, equality and solidarity" and "joint and communal responsibility". A characteristic of her government would be its opposition to Russia and Putin, who even initially opposed NATO membership, later, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in which Finland became favorable to NATO membership, making the alliance sign an accession protocol, in addition to being pro-Zelenskyy and pro-improvement of the relationship with Estonia. Even though it claims to be left (center-left), Finland is still the most economically free country, with Denmark behind according to The Heritage Foundation.

There are controversies surrounding her, such as the actions regarding the pandemic, the low quality of the food benefit (among other things) and a video of a private party she attended, increasing opposition, especially from the conservatives.

Iceland

Main Article: Nordic Model

WIP

Russia

WIP

France

WIP

Portugal

WIP

Spain

PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers Party) was first formed in 1879 and had been in government longer than any Spanish political party. It is the ruling party of Spain and of course, is very popular.

United Kingdom

The UK Labour Party was first formed on the 27th of February 1900 by the Labour Representation Committee (a pressure group that focused on workers' rights) and was initially socialist and the abolition of private property was included in the party's platform but by the 1940s, in accordance with many other "socialist" political parties in Europe, the abolishment of private property was dropped from their party platform and they swiftly won elections after this. Clement Atlee was elected prime minister in 1945, just three years later his party created the NHS and oversaw mass nationalizations and the formation of a comprehensive welfare state.

In the 90s, the concept of the "Third Way" was first thought up by Anthony Gidden. Originally intended to be a rebranded version of Social Democracy, as well as an alternative to traditional forms of Socialism and Capitalism. The Labour Party, after 4 consecutive election losses to the Tory Party, decided to adopt Gidden's idea of the "Third Way" under the leadership of Tony Blair and rebranded itself as "New Labour". Blair moved the party to the right, embracing most of Margaret Thatcher's polices. Blair went on to beat the Tories in a landslide in 1997, being the first Labour leader to be PM in 18 years. After his involvement in the Iraq War in 2003, Blair's premiership became increasingly unpopular with the public.

He resigned in 2007 and was replaced with Gordan Brown, who was nearly identical to Blair in policy but differed interpersonally. Brown lost in a landslide against the Tories under David Cameron in 2010. His replacement, Ed Miliband was slightly to the left of him and Blair, but still compromised on issues like austerity and famously immigration where he took a stance similar to Cameron's Muscular Liberalism.

In 2015, Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader of the Labour Party and his victory was seen as a rejection of the New Labour direction and the party finally moving back to the left. Corbyn rid Labour of most of its Third Way influence but due to Corbyn's silence on Anti Semitism within the Labour Party following a report from the European Court of Human Rights. Corbyn was ousted by Keir Starmer who, although praised Corbyn for making Labour the party of Anti Austerity, condemned Corbyn and removed many Corbynites from the party leading to Starmer being accused by the Left wing of Labour to be third way however he is much further left than Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and was a member of Corbyn's Shadow Cabinet for years. Starmer has taken a more fiscally responsible and business friendly approach than Corbyn did, which does not help his perceived association with New Labour, however with his "securonomics" he supports increasing the role of government to help the unfortunate and as the Shadow Brexit Secretary he called for a second referendum on leaving the European Union however now as Labour leader has distanced himself from Europe.

United States

Congressional Progressive Caucus

The Congressional Progressive Caucus is the most left-leaning faction in the Democratic Party. The founding CPC members were concerned about the economic hardship imposed by the deepening recession and the growing inequality brought about by the timidity of the Democratic Party response in the early 1990s. On January 3, 1995, at a standing room only news conference on Capitol Hill, they were the first group inside Congress to chart a comprehensive legislative alternative to U.S. Speaker Newt Gingrich and the Republican Contract with America. The CPC's ambitious agenda was framed as "The Progressive Promise: Fairness".

Vermontese Progressivism

Vermontese Progressivism is based off of the beliefs of the regional Vermont Progressive Party, a left-wing political party active in the U.S. State of Vermont. On social issues it advocates for social justice, the end of systemic racism, gender equality, LGBT rights, disabled rights, easier immigration, and an open and inclusive society. As for economics, it supports left-wing policies such as progressive taxation, universal healthcare, free education, housing for all, and small, local cooperatives as opposed to multinational corporations. It also supports combatting climate change, including a transition to renewable energy. As for foreign policy, it supports diplomacy and pacifism, and opposes interventionism.


Canada

Despite a social democratic party never being elected federally as the largest party and only once elected to federal official, social democracy has had a large influence on Canadian politics and is the main ideology of the New Democratic Party, and has played a massive role in provincial and local politics.

Mexico

WIP

Guatemala

WIP

Brazil

WIP

Chile

WIP

Venezuela

WIP

Argentina

Main Article: Peronism

WIP

Turkey

Main Article: Center-Left Kemalism

WIP

Israel

Main Article: Labour Zionism

WIP

Iran

WIP

South Korea

WIP

Japan

WIP

Thailand

WIP

Malaysia

Abdul Razak Hussein

Kamarazaman Yaakob

Democratic Action Party

Australia

The Australian Labor Party was historically a social democratic party, and claims to still be. However, since 1983 and the election of Bob Hawke, they have been largely more Third Way. Despite this, they still have some social democratic individuals. There was also a Social Democratic party founded in 1980 that lasted 3 years and didn't get any seats.

New Zealand

WIP

Beliefs and Views

Social Democracy believes in a liberal democratic framework, Liberal democracy is a form of system operating under the civic principles of classical liberalism. But however, Social Democratic economics are incredibly different from classical liberalism.

Social Democracy is a center-left ideology that believes in a mixed economy with a welfare state funded by progressive taxation. They believe in re-distributing wealth via taxes to make capitalism more humane. However many social democrats also consider it within their goal to abolish capitalism entirely. And many others, while not being as ideological as Bernstein's followers, would consider being called a liberal or a capitalist as abhorrent.

While, not being Marxist (well mostly not anyway), social democrats still subscribe to Karl Marx's scientific socialism, which calls for an analysis of historical events as class conflict and material desires being unfulfilled. Scientific socialism also calls for a mass workers' movement, opposition to an intellectual and most definitely an aristocratic movement. This Scientific socialism is the main differentiation between a left-wing liberal and a social democrat. Social Liberalism came from an intellectual elite while social democracy comes from unions, workers, and farmers.

They subscribe to the Liberal interpretation of human rights. That being the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Social Democrats alter the Liberal interpretation of 'human rights' to include equality, justice, and solidarity.

To make it simpler, here are the 4 principles of Social Democracy.

Freedom

Freedom which means, to social democrats, that every individual should be able to decide how they should live, and that the state and society should not interfere arbitrarily such as financial security, education and social opportunities.

Equality

This is mainly connecting to Social Democracy's beliefs and views in Social Justice, Social Equality, taxation, and welfare.

Social Democracies tend to support a universalist welfare. Instead of only subsidizing private services or giving them to the needy, the provisions are available for everyone. The supported policies are universal childcare, care for the elderly, education, healthcare and workers' compensation. This is due to social democrat's belief that 1) so called "means testing" is in fact more expensive than universal welfare. 2) Benefit scroungers are so rare that they do not even matter to be considered on the political scale.

Justice

Justice means, to social democrats, that in the eyes of the law every citizen is equal, regardless of race, gender, gender/sexual identity and wealth. However, justice also means that everyone is given equal opportunity to succeed and make their own fortune and way in life often requiring state intervention to deal with issues of crime, low education, low wages and high prices for basic necessities.

Solidarity

Solidarity means everyone, society, being willing to help one another. Social democrats view solidarity as the glue that holds society together. Solidarity means that sectoral bargaining is implemented in at least the most crucial industries and public services, such as healthcare, transportation and education, in order to prevent strikes in those institutions from disrupting the rest of society. But likewise, society will pay these essential workers high wages to ensure they can make ends meet.

Personality

Social Democracy is generally portrayed as being quite caretaking of other people, even if they may not like it. They are occasionally mistaken for Democratic Socialism, which they usually don't like, but they'll often proudly call themself a democratic socialist in The United States. He will get very mad at Italian Left Communism and Marxism–Leninism whenever they call him a "Social Fascist".

How to Draw

Flag of Social Democracy
  1. Draw a ball
  2. Color the ball red
  3. Draw a white rose on the ball, extending from the bottom to the upper-middle
  4. Add the eyes

You're finished!

Color Name HEX RGB
Red #E10600 225, 6, 0
White #FFFFFF 255, 255, 255


Relationships

Best Friends

Friends

  • Social Libertarianism - I don't know if UBI will work but your heart is in the right place my son.
  • Third Way - My son, you have made a lot of good progress but did you really have to undo some of my work?
  • Bull Moose Progressivism - Honestly pretty based. Though I prefer internationalism more and you need to own up to your imperialism in Cuba, but you are still great.
  • Social Capitalism - A good ally like the above but you often prevent me from doing all I want.
  • Reformist Marxism - I love you dad but private property and markets are cool, also you are just too extreme ever to be elected.
  • Austromarxism - You created me in Austria but are really extreme now, good song though.
  • Socialism - Too revolutionary and your authoritarian variants can fuck right off but you did start this whole thing anyway.
  • Market Socialism - Good friend who likes worker co-ops, but is a bit too socialist, which is pretty meh.
  • Longism - Best Southern governor.

Frenemies

  • Centrist Marxism - Too revolutionary and far left, but you are BFFs with my dad and are anti-authoritarian socialists too so I will give you a pass.
  • Eurocommunism - Most based communist post WW2, still a commie though.
  • Globalism - Look I am all for helping the consumer and developing countries, but you have led to massive inequality and virtual slave labor.
  • Protectionism - And you have the exact opposite problem, I love helping workers keep their jobs and standing up for human rights abroad, but you tend to make products unreasonably expensive for the average consumer.
  • Paternalistic Conservatism - We often fight in elections, but he's still my child. (And a worthy opponent!)
  • Left-Wing Populism - In America I am you and you are me, but in Europe, we constantly fight for each other's votes.
  • Ceremonial Monarchism - Meh, you go against my belief that every man is equal and I would abolish you if I could but I just don't care about you.
  • One-Nation Conservatism - Best (right) opposition party I could ask for. Brexit and Johnson were pretty cringe though.
  • Agrarian Socialism - I love La Follette too but you can often simp for authoritarian regimes, also the industrial revolution was a good thing dammit!
  • Laicism - I agree that separation of church and state is necessary, but you come across as a tad too authoritarian and at times even slightly racist for me.
  • Socialism of the 21st Century - Depends on the mood he's in.
  • Welfare Chauvinism - My racist son, on the rise. WHY! Also, being an unironic "Social Fascist" gives tankies propaganda material.
  • Left-Wing Nationalism - Sometimes works with me, sometimes against me.
  • Distributism and Social Distributism - Maybe?
  • Social Authoritarianism - You have good ideas, but please calm down with your methods.
  • Titoism - Too authoritarian for my liking, but at least you don't call me a "Social Fascist" unlike your brothers.
  • Syndicalism - I'm pro-union and all, but I'm not a fan of this whole socialism thing.
  • Capitalism - Good system, just needs some more regulation.
  • Bismarckism - While I appreciate you a lot for installing the first welfare state, I'm still pretty pissed with how much you tried to suppress my movement.
  • Democratic Confederalism - Some of my parties in the past were somewhat sympathetic to you, but why do you call us a failed attempt to reform capitalism? We both like the HDP at least.
  • Neoconservatism - You're very controversial among my followers. You always try to coup me in the third world but my followers in the West have become more accepting of you in recent years. At least we both hate Russia and China.
  • Ordo-Liberalism - You still like social welfare, but you're a tad too conservative when it comes to regulation for my liking. Far from horrible though.
  • Anti-Fascism - Antifa was semi-based, but what's up with the whole "Social Fascism" bullshit?
  • Civic Nationalism - Best nationalist by far, though that doesn't say much. Some of my followers are more globalist.
  • Maternalism - I mean I guess you are okay.
  • Bleeding-Heart Libertarianism - At least you try...
  • Neoliberalism - I like to say I hate but you've infiltrated most of my parties in the west nowadays.
  • Wilsonianism - I would like to say I hate you but your economic reforms and your 14 points were pretty based.
  • Anti-Centrism - Hates me for being moderate, but he doesn't know I created him.
  • Democratic Socialism - Why do you hate the establishment?? The establishment is great! otherwise we ally sometimes. But we are not the same. Remember that capitalism can be reformed.
  • Zionism - I get that anti-semitism is stupid and ridiculous... and the idea of Jews having their state is actually good, but I think You should calm down sometimes, and stop killing Palestinians.

Enemies

  • Libertarian Marxism - Stop spamming that Marx quote against me! I don't have a "Servile belief in the state".
  • Jacksonian Democracy - Racist demagogue who committed genocide against thousands of native Americans and promoted an economic policy that doomed the USA.
  • Putinism - God awful authoritarian conservative dictator and imperialist. Hands off Ukraine! If only Gorbachev had been given a second chance before he passed away...
  • Accelerationism - Communist psycho who hates me for improving the living standards of workers he claims to care about.
  • Marxism - You may be my grandfather, but you fail to realize how beneficial working within the system is.
  • Libertarianism - Just because I like Bernie Sanders doesn't mean I'm a communist! Also, if we privatize everything as you suggest, we'll just enable China's soft imperialism.
  • Babouvism - Started all of these psychotic revolutionaries.
  • Austrian School - You caused countless depressions and recessions since the birth of capitalism, so I and my friend undid all your work.
  • Hayekism - If right-libertarians understood humanity, they wouldn't be right-libertarians. At least you believed on a minimum of food, shelter and clothing, like you said; I don't think it's best that we just leave that stuff up to local governments though.[Note 2]
  • Classical Conservatism - Goddamn Tories.
  • Autarchy - The community is important too!
  • Spartacism - Cope harder commie. You attempted to overthrow a democratic government and failed miserably, HA! *quietly tightens fiber wire*
  • Marxism–Leninism - The "Social Fascist" is Welfare Chauvinism, not me! Also, you scumbag worked with him to sabotage me![Note 3][18]
  • Maoism - Bastard who killed 80 million of his own people.
  • Marxism-Leninism-Maoism - Combination of the two above.
  • Maoism–Third Worldism - Piss off tankie.
  • Alt-Lite - Annoying contrarian.
  • Neo-Libertarianism - The most American ideology I have seen. And no that is not a compliment.
  • Monarcho-Capitalism - Another benefit of solving climate change, apart from saving the entire world, is that your totalitarian regimes will not exist anymore.
  • Nazism - YOU DESTROYED THE DEMOCRACY I BUILT AND COMMITTED GENOCIDE AGAINST AT LEAST 6 MILLION PEOPLE! GET DESTROYED BY THE ALLIES, YOU DIRTY NAZI!
  • National Bolshevism - Very similar to the above but also a Commie. What an abomination.
  • Italian Left Communism - You claim to love the working class, but all you do is sit on an armchair reading political literature all day, without contributing to society you lazy prick!
  • Anarcho-Capitalism - Healthcare is a human right!
  • Imperialism - Stop trying to coup me every time I try to nationalize my country's natural resources.
  • Fascism - Leave me alone, fascist pig!
  • Paleoconservatism and Right-Wing Populism - I! AM! NOT! A! COMMIE!
  • Alt-Right - Neo-nazi asshole.
  • Juche - Stop using my name for propaganda you totalitarian scumbag!
  • Pinochetism - Allende was too radical for me but he didn't deserve to be overthrown for that, and YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S WAY MORE RADICAL THAN HIM!
  • Pink Capitalism - We could have been friends but you just had to cause economies to collapse.
  • Objectivism - Stop throwing around your pseudo-intellectual garbage to justify hating poor people.
  • Avaritionism - Basically terrorism as an ideology
  • Social Darwinism - And here's violence as an ideology.
  • Anarcho-Nihilism - You support violence and terrorism both! At least you don't like elites also but killing them isn't a good solution.
  • Monarcho-Fascism - ONE OF THE WORST IDEOLOGIES OF ALL TIME!!!! YOU ELITIST, GENOCIDAL, TOTALITARIAN PRICK!!!!
  • Salazarism - I only overthrew you to give people true freedom.
  • Minarchism - A slightly more intelligent ancap, but that's not saying much at all.
  • Autocracy - Selfish and tyrannical asshole.
  • Corporatocracy - That's why I hate Laissez-Faire and I care about small businesses, you also caused the concentration of much of the world's wealth to go to 1% of the population.
  • Monarcho-Socialism - LITERALLY juche!!! On the other hand your moderate variants can be quite based...
  • Authoritarian Conservatism - Regressive scumbag who hates the people.
  • Authoritarian Capitalism - Authoritarianism and unregulated capitalism. What a nightmare.
  • National Capitalism - Please, tell me this is a joke.
  • Kraterocracy - Holy f*cking shit...
  • Paleolibertarianism and Buchananism - They said that are going to break me as a clock, still standing social Darwinist bigots.
  • Absolute Monarchism - Evil ideology than enslaves nations and places one family above all others for no reason.
  • Anarcho-Communism - STOP CALLING ME A SUKKKDEM AND A STATIST! WHY DO YOU SEE ME AS NO BETTER THAN THE TANKIES, FASCISTS AND REACTIONARIES???
  • Anarcho-Collectivism - Aren't you just the guy above but with a weird currency?
  • National Democracy & National Radicalism - I would rather Sanation than you two.
  • Radical Feminism - Welfare only for women, while all men are enslaved for labor and sperm donors? Only in your dreams, misandrist retard!
  • Manosphere - Same as above but male. Also, you simp for authoritarian regimes that oppress women!

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For overlapping political theory see:

Socialism, Social Liberalism, Keynesian School, Liberalism, Liberal Socialism,
Regulationism, Democratic Socialism, Third Way, Reformist Marxism, Progressivism, Welfarism, Reformism

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Notes

  1. Whitlam was pro-free trade and anti-protectionist.
  2. "There are difficult questions about the precise standard which should thus be assured... but there can be no doubt that some minimum of food, shelter, and clothing, sufficient to preserve health and the capacity to work, can be assured to everybody." - Friedrich Hayek.
  3. Ernst Thälmann and the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) as well as their party's paramilitary wing, Anti-Fascist Action (Antifaschistische Aktion) targeted Social Democrats, Social Democratic politicians, & the Iron Front (Eiserne Front) instead of the Nazis because they thought the Nazis coming into power would accelerate the collapse of capitalism, which at the time seemed much more preferable to the slow and reformist nature of the moderate Marxists (like Friedrich Ebert) within the SDP.

Citations

  1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAtnivPqBjY
  2. https://www.vfplus.org.za/latest-news/anc-government-is-gambling-with-south-africas-valuable-natural-resources
  3. https://www.vfplus.org.za/media-releases/anc-kicks-south-african-jewish-community-in-the-teeth-by-embracing-hamas
  4. w:Thabo Mbeki#HIV/AIDS
  5. https://www.samrc.ac.za/press-releases/statement-comments-former-president-thabo-mbeki-hiv-and-aids-delivered-unisa
  6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdpCj7eh-AA
  7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48H5qqj6Lds
  8. "Trump conte salvini elezioni Italia", repubblica.it (in Italian). 5 September 2022.
  9. [1], ilfattoquotidiano.it (in Italian).
  10. A decisive moment for the Social Economy, Social Economy Europe
  11. They have approved weapons shipments to Ukraine over when their state flooded https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/5692. https://balint.house.gov/voterecord/?Page=1 Their house member has also not voted against Israel in the bills that have passed. https://vtdigger.org/2023/10/19/vermont-congressional-delegation-backs-israel-but-calls-for-restraint-against-palestinians/
  12. "I’m 100 percent with them on the critique of capitalism. What they want to replace it with does not seem well thought out."
  13. "2/ The Moon is probably the most tactically valuable military ground for earth. Rocks dropped from there have power of 100s of nuclear bombs"
  14. "As your congresswoman, I'll make progress on #gunsafety that the broken status quo can't. We can fix this, but not with our current congress"
  15. "Women's access to reproductive health care is under assault in America. As your Congresswoman, I promise to NEVER compromise on this."
  16. "You can't have women's liberation without sexual liberation. I'm a sex-positive feminist, and would legislate that way as your Congresswoman"
  17. "I understand that we need to entirely rethink the American economy. As your Congresswoman, I will lead the way on #universalbasicincome."
  18. "How the Left enabled Fascism", The New Statesman. October 2018.

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