Democratic Socialism

Samantha Choo, Piere Alvaro, Lai Wan Qi, Christabelle Peng

Gosta Esping-Andersen
(p.3 to 20)
Anatomy of Social
Democracy
Party Organization ● Principles of party
membership
● Relationship between
“Party labels alone hardly clarify party and trade union
matters.” (p.4)
3 Issues of Working Class Parties

1. Whether to participate in the political institutions

of capitalist societies
2. Whether to seek support outside the working class
3. Pursue reformist or revolutionary policy
 - Adheres to parliamentary
democracy
- Trust in the parliamentary
The Parliamentary process

Decision
- Effective for socialist parties
to gain representation and
support
 - Importance of class
Interest collaboration
- Ideological purity alone
Representation does not work
- Social democrats’
strategy: “Parliament
dictates program”
 - Reforms can either be
revolutionary or not, no way of
knowing
- Priority: eradicate divisions

Reformism within the working class

- My argument: social
Are socialist looking for
democracy builds class unity
transformation or reform?
and mobilize power via
national legislation
Lenin on Social Democracy
Lenin

The bourgeois state reproduces exploitation.

Lenin

Workers are inherently economistic and lack an

ideological consciousness.
Lenin

Capital accumulation will result in global

imperialism.
Lenin

Social democracy will fail miserably.

Sociological Critiques of
Marxism
Perlman

1. Economism is inherent in the working class

2. Ideological cleavages are unnatural and will fade
Sociological critiques of Marxism

Industrialism theory: nature of classes will

change, leading to decline of socialist radicalism.
Sociological critiques of Marxism

The problem with political democracy.

Sociological critiques of Marxism

“Democratization” theories: full citizenship

rights to citizens diminished social cleavages
In sum, class is eroding.
Social democracy will erode:

1. If socialists remain true to their goals, the new middle class

will reject them
OR
2. If socialists adopt a catchall strategy, they will be like the
bourgeois!
Social Democratic Action
Theory
Kautsky

Capitalist development dictates the inevitability

of socialism, parliamentary participation
accelerates this process.
Kautsky

Parliaments can be trusted when the proletariat

forms a “self-conscious” class, a TOOL for
reform!
Kautsky

Class alliances are important, but the socialist

struggle is for the proletariat alone.
Bernstein

Capitalism will thrive as it develops wealth and

abundance.
Bernstein

Class is indeterminate, majorities must be

created.
Bernstein

Social democracies MUST build an electoral

alliance of the underprivileged classes.
Bernstein

Goals of social democracy: strengthen

parliament & legislate the socialization of
capitalism.
Gosta Esping-Andersen
(p.24 to 37)
Theory of Social Democratic Party Formation and Decomposition

We will explore how

1. Class Structure,
2. Class Formation, and
3. Class Alliance
Influence social democratic performance
Class Structure

Is important because it sets the limits for social

democratic mobilization. It affects the course of social
democracy in the following ways…
Class Structure

1. Composition of the class and the relative power

position of the workers matter for social democratic
mobilization.
Class Structure

2. How capital is organized will influence the behaviour

of the working class.
Class Structure

3. Composition and organization of the traditional

rural and urban petite bourgeoisie.
Class Structure

4. The rise of new middle-strata categories will play a

pivotal role once petite bourgeoisie dies out.
Class Formation

Involves giving a collective identity to the class

structure by establishing the class as a legitimate and
meaningful political agency, and define the
boundaries for inclusion.
Class Formation

1. Decommodification of labor
Class Formation

2. Institutionalization of solidarity
Class Formation

3. Address the incompatibility of the welfare state to

the strategy for mobilization and the need for
control over the business cycle.
Class Alliance

Is important to ensure decisive parliamentary

majorities
Class Alliance

Coalition of the working class and the petite bourgeoisie may be

detrimental to social democratic ascendance.
Once the interest of the working class and petite bourgeoisie diverge,
social democrats must negotiate a new alliance with the rising new
middle-strata.
Bottom Line

For Social Democracy to work, we must:

● Have stable parliamentary powers by continuously forging
class alliances;
● Counter class fragmentation and promote common interest
by eradicating status differentials among wage earners; and
● Collectivize and democratize economic power.
Robin Hahnel
Problems

There is a need to allow workers and

consumers to have their own desires and
needs while ensuring everyone in the
economy benefits.
Problems

Democratic planning must give everyone an

opportunity to voice out what they would like
regarding all economic decisions (autonomy
for all classes, hierarchy and ruling systems).
Participatory planning Until there is no excess demand or supply for the good

1. Announce current estimate of

opp cost and social cost,
Iteration Facilitation Board (IFB)
including environmental
damage

3. Adds up requests and

adjusts the estimates, make
sure no excess demand

Worker
councils
Federations
3. Make production
proposals,
proposing outputs
and inputs Consumer
2. Make consumption proposals
councils
 Participatory planning Until there is no excess demand or supply for the good

1. Announce current estimate of

opp cost and social cost,
Iteration Facilitation Board (IFB)
including environmental
damage

3. Adds up requests and

adjusts the estimates, make
sure no excess demand

Worker
councils
Federations

Est social benefits of outputs ↔

est. social costs of inputs
Consumer
Qty of each g&s x social cost ↔ effort
councils
rating + allowance
Benefits of PP

This gradually minimises proposals that are

too ambitious, as there are limited resources
available, and making sure to minimize costs
and maximise benefits.
Benefits of PP

Reduces inefficiencies and unfair proposals,

as it would be intervened by the IFB.
Moreover, everyone has the information to
calculate work and consumption proposals.
Benefits of PP

Most importantly, it promotes popular

participation and empowers people to make
decision for themselves.
Drawback of democratic planning

If they keep engaging in a continuous cycle of

discussion without a conclusion, may result in
apathy. Ultimately only a few will take charge.
Therefore, important to strike a balance like in pp
where everyone gets to formulate and propose for
societal good.
David Miller
1. The Goals of Socialism
1. The Goals of Socialism

1. Conscious direction of social activities

towards a common purpose
2. Social democracy
3. Material equality
4. Freedom
5. Community
2. The Vision of Market Socialism
2. The Vision of Market Socialism

1. Fair capital access

2. Bankruptcy laws
3. Industrial democracy
4. Role of the state for egalitarian ends
3. Market Socialism Retrenches on the the Goals of Socialism (& why it’s good)

The economic outcomes of cooperative

enterprises are subjected to market forces.
This retrench on the traditional socialist goal
of a conscious direction of activities towards a
common purpose, but is necessary.
3. Market Socialism Retrenches on the the Goals of Socialism (& why it’s good)

The socialist all-embracing monolithic

community is retrenched under a more
complex community structure under Market
Socialism.
3. Market Socialism Supports the Goals of Socialism

Market Socialism supports the socialist goal of

social democracy, as industrial democracy
prevents the concentration of power on the
state and its bureaucratic machinery.
3. Market Socialism Supports the Goals of Socialism

Market socialism supports the socialist goal of

material equality by ensuring:
a. Equal minimum income
b. Equal access to capital
c. Limit to market inequalities
3. Market Socialism Supports the Goals of Socialism

Market Socialism supports the socialist goal of

freedom in work, consumption and corporate
partnership.
4. Questions on Productivity & Innovation

Cooperatives will be as efficient as capitalist

enterprises because of the competition that
comes from the existence of many small firms
under Market Socialism.
4. Questions on Productivity & Innovation

We won’t waste excessive time deciding on our

internal organisation (e.g Yugoslavia) because
it’s in our interest to operate productively.
4. Questions on Productivity & Innovation

We won’t be lenient on unproductive comrades

because our exposure to the market forces us
to weed out unproductive behaviour.
4. Questions on Productivity & Innovation

Entrepreneurship will not stagnate because

workers are not afraid, but incentivised to
innovate in a bold and risky way.
5. Market socialism & the environment
5. Market socialism & the environment

The Argument:
Since market socialism is driven by profit, the
fact that its run by workers won’t change this,
and we will see the replication of environmental
degradation under market socialism, as we have
under capitalism.
5. Market socialism & the environment

My Response:
1) Uncoordinated decision-making, not
political economy
2) Workers are incentivised to switch to
environmentally conscious production
6. Feasibility
6. Feasibility

1) Require prior experience with working

under market constraints
2) Require legislative & financial backing
Why is our economic
system the most ideal?
Esping-Andersen
Concerns about the commodification of labour in capitalist markets

“The capitalist market compels workers to behave as discreet commodities”

(Esping-Andersen, 1985, p.31).

“These labourers, who must sell themselves piecemeal, are a commodity, like
every other article of commerce, and are consequently exposed to all the
vicissitudes of competition, to all the fluctuations of the market.” (Marx & Engels,
1848, p.251)
Esping-Andersen

Esping-Andersen's social democratic model ensures equal

distribution of welfare while maintaining full-employment
growth economy.
Hahnel

It ensures everyone has a voice to participate in economic

decisions, self-sufficiency while maintaining social good and
desirable economic outcomes.
Hahnel

It ensures we can estimate demand and supply and allocate resources

efficiently

Markets are not free and neither are they perfect. They are constructed
institutions. Therefore, with greater information makes it easier to decide on
resources allocation for societal good (Vogel, 2018, p.3-4).
Miller

On Exclusion
Through industrial democracy & the collective nature of assets, nobody has a
“monopoly of access and decision-making” “to the exclusion of others” (Hardt
& Negri, 2017, p.86).

Thus, “labour can no longer be converted into capital, money, or rent, into a
social power capable of being monopolised” (Marx & Engels, 1848, p.258).
Miller

On Exploitation
Through bankruptcy laws & the role of the state under
Market Socialism, “no firm will be in a position to dominate
workers” as workers have access to “meaningful exit options”
(Taylor, 2013, p.596).
Miller

On Competition
Through bankruptcy laws, the role of the state & industrial
democracy under Market Socialism, competition is no longer
a “zero-sum game” (Kuch, 2020, p.98).
Q&A