STATE --> To what extent do socialists disagree about the role of the state?

INTRO/JUDGEMENT

AGREE —> all agree that the state has a role in reducing (class) inequality

DISAGREE —> disagree on permanence of the state

DISAGREE —> role of the state in the economy

PARA 1 - AGREE

All socialist strands believe the state has a role in reducing inequality and promoting social justice to an extent

• all socialists seen as a needed actor in correcting inequality, especially given the failure of laissez-faire capitalism in the 19th and early 20th centuries

• Even though they differ on how much power it should have, all strands accept the state should intervene to improve social conditions (e.g. welfare, regulation), all agreeing the state should be relatively large, rejecting liberal/conservative minimal state ideas

• although revs see the state as temporary and transitional, they argue that a dictatorship of the proletariat is needed in order to abolish capitalism, reducing class inequalities

• social dems strongly support a welfare state that promotes progressive taxation in order to reduce inequality and provide healthcare etc

• third way supports an enabling state that equips citizens with education/training in order to provide equality of opportunity in attempts to reduce injustice

PARA 2 - DISAGREE

Socialists disagree about whether the state should continue to exist permanently

• revs want to remove the state entirely at some point, whilst other socialists want o reform it. this is because they see the state as a tool of the bourgoisie, upholding capitalism and class inequality. After revolution, a temporary dictatorship of the proletariat exists to suppress counter-revolution, before the state eventually “withers away” in a fully communist society.

• social dems argue that the state can be reformed rather than completely removed via revolution, w webb advocating for state reform through parliamentary democracy, and bringing the economy under common ownership. webb wanted to work within the current capitalist state

PARA 3 - DISAGREE

Socialists disagree about whether it should be the state mainly managing of the economy

• revs argue for complete workers control, stating that the existing state under capitalism is fundamentally designed to serve the bourgoisie the state’s institutions/laws are structured to protect the economic power of capitalism, and for this reason shouldn’t play a major role in managing the economy

• instead support a transformed society characterised by collectivism, where the means of production are collectively owned rather than privately or by the state

• third way disagrees, arguing that state-controlled mixed economies are more efficient than ones w complete workers’ control