A-Level Politics - Socialism

What is common ownership?

Holding the assets of an organisation, enterprise or community indivisibly rather than in the names of the individual members or groups of members as common property.

Forms of common ownership exist in every economic system.

What is collectivism?

The practise or principle of giving a group priority over each individual in it.

What were the policies / actions of New Labour?

• Huge increase in expenditure of the NHS

• Similarly large investments on education, especially early years education.

• Reductions in corporation tax to encourage enterprise

• An extensive programme of constitutional reform including the Human Rights Act, Devolution, Freedom of Information Act, and Electoral Reforms in devolved administrations.

• Encouraging employment by introducing “welfare to work” system

• Through tax and the welfare system, various policies to reduce poverty were introduced especially child and pensioner poverty.

What is an example of a “left-wing” labour policy?

Free internet connection.

What is New Labour (Third Way)?

A movement to update Britain’s Labour Party by discarding the traditional Labour platform calling for state ownership of the means of production.

The movement was led by Tony Blair, who became Prime Minister in 1997 after guiding the Labour Party to victory.

What are the ideas of the Third Way?

By the 1990’s, social democracy had also been revised and the result is commonly described as The Third Way after the influential book by Anthony Giddens (it is also sometimes described as Neo-revisionism).

What are the origins of democratic socialism?

In the early 20th Century, democratic socialism, as articulated by Beatrice Webb, argued that socialism could be gradually achieved within the pre-existing parliamentary structure. Webb espoused mass nationalisation, where private enterprise would cease and a socialist elite would remodel the state to manage society and the economy for the benefit of all.

What are the ideas of Marxism?

Marxism is named after the most important key thinker in socialism: Karl Marx. Marxism argues the following:

• Humans are social beings whose natural state of fraternity, cooperation and selflessness has been perverted into a “false consciousness” by the greed, ruthlessness and selfishness inherent in capitalism.

Where does socialism originate from?

• Socialism is traditionally defined as being opposed to capitalism. the term “socialism” was first used by Utopian socialist Charles Fourier and Robert Owen in the early 19th Century.

• Socialism can broadly be divided into 2 main branches : revolutionary socialism and evolutionary socialism.

• The two main strands of revolutionary socialism are Marxism and Utopian socialism, which developed in the nineteenth century.

• The three main strands of evolutionary socialism are democratic socialism, social democracy and the Third Way, which emerged in the 20th century.

What aspects of human nature does socialists generally agree on?

• Virtually all socialists have an optimistic view on human nature that believes in individuals possess a common humanity and are essentially rational, social creatures who naturally gravitate towards cooperation and sociability.

• All socialists agree that human nature is not fixed but is easily shaped by an individual’s environment, so human nature and human behaviour are determined by society. Society is capable of remodelling human nature in both positive and negative ways.

• Socialists argue that unenforced capitalism has had a negative effect upon human nature as it indoctrinates selfish, individualistic and greedy behaviour.