Social Democracy: Origins, Principles, and Evolution
Social Democracy
The German Social Democratic Party, founded in 1875, was the principal arena for ideological discussions in which social democracy was forged. It can be considered a synthesis of Marx’s works and some critical revisions.
1. Key Figures and Their Contributions
- Lasalle: Differed by rejecting the view that the State should become a peaceful and progressive agent of socialist transformation. Lasalle’s conceptions permeated the contents of the Gotha program approved in 1875 by the German Social Democratic Party. Marx criticized some of the terms of that program, arguing that the conception of the state was very close to Hegel, to the extent that it converted into a neutral tool that does not subordinate the interests of the bourgeoisie.
- Bernstein: Showed discrepancies with critical elements present in Marx’s work. For Bernstein, some of Marx’s predictions were not met, including one relating to necessary and rapid collapse. He believed capitalism would have benefited all social classes and not only the bourgeoisie. He concluded, contrary to much of Marx’s thesis, that socialism was the result of capitalism, but one possibility among others. The establishment of socialism should be gradual and had to prescind any revolutionary temptation.
- For Lasalle, the state should play a decisive role in a process to a full democracy and a progressive and peaceful ownership of the means of production by workers.
- For Kautsky, the establishment of socialism could only be the result of an evolution of capitalism and some institutions.
2. Core Principles of Social Democracy
Social democracy is based on the claim of a political order that accepts the principles inherent in the rule of law and rejects any political, economic, or social transformation procedure not settled in democratic ways. In the economic sphere, social democracy has resulted in a commitment to the creation and consolidation of welfare states, which are responsible for developing an active policy of social benefits to ensure equal opportunities and promote a reduction of social differences. The beneficiaries of these measures are the proletariat. To achieve social democratic goals, many forms of social agreement have been encouraged.
The social and democratic state of law implies the postulation of a mixed economy left to its free operation, which exhibits many imperfections that must be addressed by state action. The Social Democrats opposed the vision that has come to be called neoliberalism, which decided to reduce the economic functions of the state. The content of the social democratic vision is analyzed from two perspectives. The first would be to manage capitalism and give it a more civilized nature. According to the second, the social market acceptance would depend on a gradual transformation of the one that would lead to the appropriation of the means of production by workers. The first perspective identifies a distance, with respect to the ideas advanced by Marx, much higher than envisioned in the second.