Limitations Of Social Democracy

The society of early 1970s inherited a changing class attitude from the 1950s. British society in 1951 was ‘conformist’, ‘class-driven’ and favouring of establishments. There was breakdown of these principles in the following years but that does not mean that Britain has totally changed from being a ‘class-divided’ nation. Suggest by R.A. Butler that the modern Conservatism of Britain was more of ‘have’ and ‘have more’ than a case of ‘have’ and ‘have not’.

During this period the idea of communism was developed by Karl Marx. This was the positive supersession of private property as human self-estrangement (Karl Marx: Scientific Socialism). Social Democracy signified the entrance of socialists into traditional politics. Socialists formed political parties and ran for

Before the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, liberalism and conservatism were two big ideologies in European society; many citizens were fighting towards liberalism while some were still standing behind conservatism. Meanwhile, many individuals, along with several organizations, were moving closer towards socialist ideals. Socialism’s role in society during the nineteenth and twentieth century changed how various thinkers approached the issues of labor, production, and property.

During the 19th century, Europe underwent political and economic change resulting in a shift from craft production to factory work. This was a time known as the Industrial Revolution, in which class division and wage labor were the most foregrounded aspects of society (Poynton). Karl Marx’s theories during this time gave way to new perspectives and different ways of viewing oneself in class positions. Comparisons between social and political structures in the 19th century and the 21st century expose the similarities that have yet to be modified. Marxist theory proved to offer a framework for society to undergo evolutionary change that would put an end to the capitalist mode of production that developed during the Industrial Revolution in Europe (Connelley). Marxism greatly outlines the struggle between different classes and groups belonging to the political world and how this class struggle affects the means of production. Broadly speaking, capitalism is a structure of political inequality and once overcome will lead to communism, inevitably weakening the boundary between classes. Although beneficial for the workers who want to live as free men, the upper class will be placed on that same wavelength. The greater political structure will form into a realm that will abolish the exploitation and oppression of workers, thus placing power in the hands of those who do not benefit from the unequal distribution of wealth. It involves a combination of political and economic factors

This model is not only remarkable for its different approach but as well for the fact that it reduces the size of the working class to one third of the entire labour force (34 percent) compared to roughly 50 percent in the BMRS model. Evidently, a shrunken size of the social base for the class party, Labour, must have some bearing on its electoral performance. Even if the whole of the working class were voting for their ‘natural’ party, it would be highly unlikely to lead to a parliamentary majority based on these votes. (Labour’s reaction to this development will be looked at more closely later on in this essay.)

Social construction is a portent that is fabricated by members of a particular nation or society that have similar social and economic status. This is evident by the ongoing myth of Australia being a classless society. It has ultimately manifested and become truer to the fact over the years, “the widening gap between rich and poor is the worst thing that has happened to Australia in the last 20 years.” (John Howard, 1995). This demonstrating how we can no longer pride ourselves on being a classless society, as class is assembled of economic wellbeing which Australia has become apparent to. This is expressively described by Marx, through his theory, as he demonstrates that the real problem is the private ownership of the means of production

Between the years of 1945-1970 social class dominantly shaped the voting behaviour of individuals. Whilst there has been a decline in prominence of class voting: Labour remains the most popular working class party and Conservatives perform best among middle-class voters. Social classes are defined by economic and social

Judgments vary as to the effectiveness of the social democratic strategies of the 1945-51 Labour governments. It has been  argued ,for example, that especially given the difficulties involved in post -war reconstruction that the Attlee governments succeeded in significantly changing the balance of economic power between the private capitalist sector and the state via its nationalisation programme  and  succeeded  also in radically improving the situations of disadvantaged individuals via its use of Keynesian economic policies to secure full employment and its greater expenditures on health, housing , education and social security. Among the critics some would claim that despite some set-backs between 1945 and 1951 social democratic strategies could nevertheless bring further advances in the future while others, often writing from a Marxist perspective point to what they see as the inevitable weaknesses of social democratic strategies which inevitably inhibit progress toward socialism

All human societies have been class based in some way, shape or form and, interpreting this in the most basic way, it can be said that in every known human society there has been a fundamental division between two broad social groups, the buorgeoisie that own and control the means of production, and the proletariat who own nothing but their ability to sell their labour power (that is, their ability to work) in return for wages. The anger and dissent over the differences in social classes has never wavered

Opposed to liberalism, nationalism, capitalism, and populism, communism is usually placed on the far-left within the traditional left–right spectrum. Communism includes a variety of schools of thought, which broadly include Marxism, anarchism and the political ideologies grouped around both. All of these share the analysis that the current order of society stems from its economic system, capitalism; that in this system there are two major social classes: the working class—who must work to survive and who make up the majority within society—and the capitalist class—a minority who derives profit from employing the working class, through private ownership of the means of production—and that conflict between these two classes is the root of all problems in society and will ultimately be resolved through a revolution. The revolution will put the working class in power and in turn establish social ownership of the means of production, which according to this analysis is the primary element in the transformation of society towards communism.

Karl Marx, also a philosopher was popularly known for his theories that best explained society, its social structure, as well as the social relationships. Karl Marx placed so much emphasis on the economic structure and how it influenced the rest of the social structure from a materialistic point of view. Human societies progress through a dialectic of class struggle, this means that the three aspects that make up the dialectic come into play, which are the thesis, antithesis and the synthesis (Avineri, 1980: 66-69). As a result of these, Marx suggests that in order for change to come about, a class struggle has to first take place. That is, the struggle between the proletariat and the capitalist class, the class that controls

Marx conceived the base and superstructure approach that defines capitalist society. The base relates to all that is a function of production in society and conversely, the superstructure, which can be said to be derived from the base, relates to the values, culture, ideology and the governing bodies of society. The former creates and supports the latter by a process of legitimisation of the economic activities, and in turn, the superstructure ensures the processes remain in place. Class domination plays a large part in this process of organisation; for example, private education providing better opportunities for advancement and primary socialisation into the higher echelons of society. However, a counter argument claims that the state is just as involved in the stresses and “struggles of civil society’’ as opposed to being a mere extension of it for the pure benefit of a particular class interest (Held 2001, in Hall and Gieben 2001, p 113).

“the Labour Party will put the community first and the sectional interests of private business after.” (line 12-13). They also want to restore many liberties that were damaged by the war. In order to build a new society , the Labour chooses to put the accent on industrial and social reforms, which are the basis of the welfare state, and therefore defines the Labour party as a socialist party.

The terms ‘socialism’ and liberalism’ are used a lot nowadays, and many people often mistake one for the other. In order to differentiate between these two terms, one must keep in mind the clear-cut differences by defining the prevailing ideology of each term. The tenets of socialism assert that the state should wield total economic power by manipulating prices of goods and wages of workers.

During Athens’s golden age, in 461 to 429 BCE, the athenians were axial thinkers and had an open, democratic government. This Golden Age was ended by the Peloponnesian Wars and Athens reverted to a more tyrannical form of government and perennial thought. Sparta took over Athens, set up their own government, and appointed leaders who did not create adequate laws to help Athens grow. Modern Crimea and Syria still struggle with voter suppression and imperfect democracies. Limitations of democracy include inequality in voting, elimination of certain voices, and power imbalances.