Socialist democracy
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Socialist democracy is a political system that aligns with principles of both
On the other hand,
In the modern world, parties include
Views on compatibility of socialism and democracy
Support
One of the major scholars who have argued that socialism and democracy are compatible is the Austrian-born American economist Joseph Schumpeter, who was hostile to socialism.[10] In his book Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy (1942), Schumpeter emphasised that "political democracy was thoroughly compatible with socialism in its fullest sense",[11][12] although it has been noted that he did not believe that democracy was a good political system and advocated republican values.[13]
In a 1963 address to the All India Congress Committee, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru stated: "Political democracy has no meaning if it does not embrace economic democracy. And economic democracy is nothing but socialism."[14] Political historian Theodore Draper wrote: "I know of no political group which has resisted totalitarianism in all its guises more steadfastly than democratic socialists."[13] Historian and economist Robert Heilbroner argued that "[t]here is, of course, no conflict between such a socialism and freedom as we have described it; indeed, this conception of socialism is the very epitome of these freedoms", referring to open association of individuals in political and social life; the democratization and humanization of work; and the cultivation of personal talents and creativity.[13]
Bayard Rustin, long-time member of the Socialist Party of America and National Chairman of the Social Democrats, USA, wrote: "For me, socialism has meaning only if it is democratic. Of the many claimants to socialism only one has a valid title—that socialism which views democracy as valuable per se, which stands for democracy unequivocally, and which continually modifies socialist ideas and programs in the light of democratic experience. This is the socialism of the labor, social-democratic, and socialist parties of Western Europe."[13]
Economist and political theorist Kenneth Arrow argued: "We cannot be sure that the principles of democracy and socialism are compatible until we can observe a viable society following both principles. But there is no convincing evidence or reasoning which would argue that a democratic-socialist movement is inherently self-contradictory. Nor need we fear that gradual moves in the direction of increasing government intervention will lead to an irreversible move to 'serfdom.'"[13] Journalist William Pfaff wrote: "It might be argued that socialism ineluctably breeds state bureaucracy, which then imposes its own kinds of restrictions upon individual liberties. This is what the Scandinavians complain about. But Italy's champion bureaucracy owes nothing to socialism. American bureaucracy grows as luxuriantly and behaves as officiously as any other."[13]
Marxist theorist
He would later elaborate on the need for Soviet democracy in relation to the industrialisation period when questioned by the Dewey Commission in 1937:
“The successes are very important, and I affirmed it every time. They are due to the abolition of private property and to the possibilities inherent in planned economy. But, they - I cannot say exactly - but I will say two or three times less than they could be under a regime of Soviet democracy”.[17]
Modern
Opposition
Some politicians, economists, and theorists have argued that socialism and democracy are incompatible. According to them, history is full of instances of
See also
- Anti-Stalinist Left
- New Democracy
- People's democracy (Marxism–Leninism)
- List of political parties in the Soviet Union
- Soviet Democracy
- Union Democracy
References
- ISBN 9780851241616.
- ^ Kardelj, Edvard (1954). The Practice of Socialist Democracy in Yugoslavia. Yugoslav Information Center.
- ^ Spasov, Boris P. (1977). Socialist Democracy in the People's Republic of Bulgaria. Sofia-Press.
- ^ Ceterchi, Ioan (1975). Socialist Democracy: Principles and Political Action in Romania. Meridiane Publishing House.
- ISBN 978-1-78960-701-7.
- ISBN 978-0-87348-524-1.
- ISBN 9781317272571.
- ISBN 9781317479840.
- ^ Mardell, Mark (5 June 2020). "The World at One". No. Interview with Chen Wen, Minister at the Chinese Embassy in the UK. BBC Radio Four. Event occurs at 34:40–35:30. Archived from the original on 5 June 2020.
- ISBN 9780195092592.
- OCLC 22556726.
- S2CID 144892143.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy". Commentary Magazine. 1978-04-01. Retrieved 2022-08-12.
- JSTOR 41854084.
- ISBN 978-1-78168-721-5.
- ISBN 978-0-929087-48-1.
- ^ Woods, Alan; Grant, Ted (1976). Lenin and Trotsky – What they really stood for. Wellred Books. pp. 50–151.
- ISBN 978-0906582473. Archivedfrom the original on 17 December 2002.
The Soviet bureaucracy and Western capitalism rested on mutually antagonistic social systems.
- ISBN 978-1-893638-97-6.
- ISBN 978-0-14-020749-1.