Socialism

From Wikinfo

Jump to: navigation, search


See Socialism:A conservative viewpoint, Socialism:A Marxist viewpoint and Criticisms of socialism.

Socialism is an ideology of democratic social cooperation which in modern times as advocated by Social Democrats left-Liberals generally refers to an economic system based on corporate capitalism, but where the state is an active market intervenor, responsible for broad economic planning in the long term and for protecting the vulnerable from any exploitative or destructive aspects of the market economy. In this sense it is not as much a successor or challenge to capitalism as a refinement.

Social Democrats regard such a system as desirable and achievable, indeed, many would argue it already exists in some states.

To an extent all capitalist states incorporate elements of these social democratic policies. The term mixed economy is often used to describe this practical reality. In this description all real economies involve both free markets and government control. Among those of major countries, the economy of the United States closet approximates a free market, while other economies such as those of Germany or France are closer to a 50/50 split. The Soviet Union under Gorbachev was attempting to move towards a socialist system with significant free market elements when it collapsed. Even under Stalin or Brezhnev there was a thriving black market in the USSR, so it could be said to be a mixed economy as well even though it leaned heavily towards government control.

It is probably fair to say that most people in the West desire some kind of balance between unrestrained markets and direct government control over large sectors of the economy.

In the era of so-called globalization most mixed economies are shifting towards more capitalistic arrangements.

For socialism as defined by Karl Marx see Socialism:A Marxist viewpoint

Contents

"Socialism" as used by other Left thinkers

Other political and economic theorists have used the term "socialism" to describe their as-yet unrealized social visions. In general their definition of socialism could be "the control of production, consumption, allocation, and distribution of goods and services through democratic means". Exactly how this broad description would translate into practical institutions is a subject of contention.

Some socialists argue that the concept of a centrally planned economyis essentially sound, but that it must be subject to well-structured democratic controls and not allowed to descend into dictatorship. This description fits many dissidents within the Soviet bloc of Marxist-Leninist states, such as Czechoslovakian president Alexander Dubcek, who attempted to implement "Socialism with a Human Face" before his country was invaded and occupied by Warsaw Pact troops. It could also be said to apply to many socialists in capitalist countries up into the 1990s, when most people who had previously held this position decided that the collapse of Soviet central planning proved that command economics in general were doomed to failure.

Others have proposed socialist economies based not on markets or command planning, but on novel types of institutions they believe will serve better. "Participatory Economics", a system first described by Micheal Albert and Robin Hahnel, attempts to co-ordinate local and largely self-governed councils representing workers and consumers through a few basic rules about how economic institutions may relate to each other. Council Communists and Social Ecologists, like some Anarchists before them, have argued that the basic organization of production and consumption ought to happen on the very small scale, with economic activity across communities handled on a case-by-case basis.

Still other socialists have argued that, once the means of production and the political system are in the hands of the working class, the free market is a perfectly good economic system. They believe that if individual workplaces are owned and controlled by the workers, economic exchanges between buyer, seller, and nobody else will efficiently and equitably allocate resources without the need for a government bureaucracy.

Socialism and Democracy

Socialists see some form of political democracy as integral to the existence of socialism itself. This may be a representative democracy in the style of European parliaments and congresses, or another type, usually described as closer to direct democracy.

See also:

Further Reading

References

Retrieved from "http://www.wikinfo.org/index.php/Socialism"
Personal tools
In other languages