The Social Democratic State

The Social Democratic State PDF Author: Bo Rothstein
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Pre
ISBN: 0822975025
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
The Swedish Social Democratic Party, the SAP, is the most successful social democratic party in the world. It has led the government for most of the last six decades, participating either alone or as the dominant force in coalition government. The SAP has also worked closely with trade unions that have organized nearly 85 percent of the labor force, the highest rate among the advanced industrial democracies. Rarely has a political party been so dominant or so closely linked to labor movement. Yet Sweden remains very much a capitolist society with economic and social power firmly in the hands of big capitol.If one wants to know if politics, and most especially if reformist politics, matters - if, that is, political mobilization can change democratic capitolists societies - then Sweden under the Social Democrats is clearly one of the best empirical cases to study.Bo Rothstein uses the Swedish experience to analyze the limits a social democratic government labors under and the possibilities it enjoys in using the state to implement large-scale social change. He examines closely two SAP programs, one a success and the other a failure, that attempted to change social processes deeply embedded in capitolist society. He ties the outcomes of these programs to the structure of the state and hypothesizes that the outcome depends, to a considerable extent, on how administrative apparatuses responsible for implementing each policy are organized. Rothstein concludes that no matter how wisely a reformist policy is designed nor how strong the political party behind it, if the administrative arrangements are faulty, it will fail at the stage of implementation.Rothstein convincingly demonstrates that the democratic capitolist countries of the world have important lessons to learn from the Swedish experience regarding the possibilities for political reform. Political scientists and political reformers alike can learn much from Rothstein's deep knowledge of Swedish government and his innovative model for analyzing political reform in social democratic societies.

The Social Democratic State

The Social Democratic State PDF Author: Bo Rothstein
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Pre
ISBN: 0822975025
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 244

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Swedish Social Democratic Party, the SAP, is the most successful social democratic party in the world. It has led the government for most of the last six decades, participating either alone or as the dominant force in coalition government. The SAP has also worked closely with trade unions that have organized nearly 85 percent of the labor force, the highest rate among the advanced industrial democracies. Rarely has a political party been so dominant or so closely linked to labor movement. Yet Sweden remains very much a capitolist society with economic and social power firmly in the hands of big capitol.If one wants to know if politics, and most especially if reformist politics, matters - if, that is, political mobilization can change democratic capitolists societies - then Sweden under the Social Democrats is clearly one of the best empirical cases to study.Bo Rothstein uses the Swedish experience to analyze the limits a social democratic government labors under and the possibilities it enjoys in using the state to implement large-scale social change. He examines closely two SAP programs, one a success and the other a failure, that attempted to change social processes deeply embedded in capitolist society. He ties the outcomes of these programs to the structure of the state and hypothesizes that the outcome depends, to a considerable extent, on how administrative apparatuses responsible for implementing each policy are organized. Rothstein concludes that no matter how wisely a reformist policy is designed nor how strong the political party behind it, if the administrative arrangements are faulty, it will fail at the stage of implementation.Rothstein convincingly demonstrates that the democratic capitolist countries of the world have important lessons to learn from the Swedish experience regarding the possibilities for political reform. Political scientists and political reformers alike can learn much from Rothstein's deep knowledge of Swedish government and his innovative model for analyzing political reform in social democratic societies.

Social Democracy in the Global Periphery

Social Democracy in the Global Periphery PDF Author: Richard Sandbrook
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139460919
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
Social Democracy in the Global Periphery focuses on social-democratic regimes in the developing world that have, to varying degrees, reconciled the needs of achieving growth through globalized markets with extensions of political, social and economic rights. The authors show that opportunities exist to achieve significant social progress, despite a global economic order that favours core industrial countries. Their findings derive from a comparative analysis of four exemplary cases: Kerala (India), Costa Rica, Mauritius and Chile (since 1990). Though unusual, the social and political conditions from which these developing-world social democracies arose are not unique; indeed, pragmatic and proactive social-democratic movements helped create these favourable conditions. The four exemplars have preserved or even improved their social achievements since neoliberalism emerged hegemonic in the 1980s. This demonstrates that certain social-democratic policies and practices - guided by a democratic developmental state - can enhance a national economy's global competitiveness.

The Third Way

The Third Way PDF Author: Anthony Giddens
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0745666604
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 130

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Book Description
The idea of finding a 'third way' in politics has been widely discussed over recent months - not only in the UK, but in the US, Continental Europe and Latin America. But what is the third way? Supporters of the notion haven't been able to agree, and critics deny the possibility altogether. Anthony Giddens shows that developing a third way is not only a possibility but a necessity in modern politics.

Social Democratic America

Social Democratic America PDF Author: Lane Kenworthy
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019932252X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
America is the one of the wealthiest nations on earth. So why do so many Americans struggle to make ends meet? Why is it so difficult for those who start at the bottom to reach the middle class? And why, if a rising economic tide lifts all boats, have middle-class incomes been growing so slowly? Social Democratic America explains how this has happened and how we can do better. Lane Kenworthy convincingly argues that we can improve economic security, expand opportunity, and ensure rising living standards for all by moving toward social democracy. Drawing on his extensive knowledge of social policy in America and other affluent countries, he proposes a set of public social programs, including universal early education, an expanded Earned Income Tax Credit, wage insurance, the government as employer of last resort, and many others. Kenworthy looks at common objections to social democracy, such as the oft-repeated claim that Americans don't want big government, which he readily debunks. Indeed, we already have in place a host of effective and popular social programs, from Social Security to Medicare to public schooling. Moreover, the available evidence suggests that rich nations can generate the tax revenues needed to pay for generous social programs while maintaining an innovative and growing economy, and without restricting liberty. Can it happen? Kenworthy describes how the US has been progressing slowly but steadily toward a genuine social democracy for nearly a century. Controversial and powerful, Social Democratic America shows that the good society doesn't require a radical break from our past; we just need to continue in the direction we are already heading.

Jean Jaurès

Jean Jaurès PDF Author: Geoffrey Kurtz
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 0271065826
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 213

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Book Description
Jean Jaurès was a towering intellectual and political leader of the democratic Left at the turn of the twentieth century, but he is little remembered today outside of France, and his contributions to political thought are little studied anywhere. In Jean Jaurès: The Inner Life of Social Democracy, Geoffrey Kurtz introduces Jaurès to an American audience. The parliamentary and philosophical leader of French socialism from the 1890s until his assassination in 1914, Jaurès was the only major socialist leader of his generation who was educated as a political philosopher. As he championed the reformist method that would come to be called social democracy, he sought to understand the inner life of a political tradition that accepts its own imperfection. Jaurès's call to sustain the tension between the ideal and the real resonates today. In addition to recovering the questions asked by the first generation of social democrats, Kurtz’s aim in this book is to reconstruct Jaurès’s political thought in light of current theoretical and political debates. To achieve this, he gives readings of several of Jaurès’s major writings and speeches, spanning work from his early adulthood to the final years of his life, paying attention to not just what Jaurès is saying, but how he says it.

The Political Theory of Swedish Social Democracy

The Political Theory of Swedish Social Democracy PDF Author: Timothy Alan Tilton
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN:
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
Sweden's Social Democratic movement is widely regarded as the most successful of its kind in the world. Its success is often attributed to its pragmatism rather than its consistent ideological commitment. This book argues that, on the contrary, Sweden's distinctive economic and social policies cannot be understood apart from the ideological convictions of several generations of political leaders and thinkers. Examining the thinking of major figures in Swedish Social Democracy (including Hjalmar Branting, Gunnar Myrdal, and Olof Palme), this book provides the first up-to-date survey of the party's ideological development from its origins in the 1880s until the present.

The Three Worlds of Social Democracy

The Three Worlds of Social Democracy PDF Author: Ingo Schmidt
Publisher: Pluto Press (UK)
ISBN: 9780745336084
Category : Socialism
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
What is the current state of social democracy, and what are its prospects? This book is one of the first truly global explorations of the methods, meanings and limits of social democracy worldwide, exploring the history and track record of the movement in its many forms. The authors examine the spread of social democracy to post-colonial and post-communist countries in Eastern Europe, Latin America, India and South Africa, as well as its historical 'heartlands' in Europe. Economic stagnation combined with a weakening of popular left-wing movements, and the rise of the populist right, present formidable challenges for the proponents of social democracy today. This book will be an indispensable guide for anyone seeking a global view of these world-historic developments.

The Theory of Social Democracy

The Theory of Social Democracy PDF Author: Thomas Meyer
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0745654614
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 263

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Book Description
The ascendancy of neo-liberalism in different parts of the world has put social democracy on the defensive. Its adherents lack a clear rationale for their policies. Yet a justification for social democracy is implicit in the United Nations Covenants on Human Rights, ratified by most of the worlds countries. The covenants commit all nations to guarantee that their citizens shall enjoy the traditional formal rights; but they likewise pledge governments to make those rights meaningful in the real world by providing social security and cultural recognition to every person. This new book provides a systematic defence of social democracy for our contemporary global age. The authors argue that the claims to legitimation implicit in democratic theory can be honored only by social democracy; libertarian democracies are defective in failing to protect their citizens adequately against social, economic, and environmental risks that only collective action can obviate. Ultimately, social democracy provides both a fairer and more stable social order. But can social democracy survive in a world characterized by pervasive processes of globalization? This book asserts that globalization need not undermine social democracy if it is harnessed by international associations and leavened by principles of cultural respect, toleration, and enlightenment. The structures of social democracy must, in short, be adapted to the exigencies of globalization, as has already occurred in countries with the most successful social-democratic practices.

Social Capitalism

Social Capitalism PDF Author: Kees van Kersbergen
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134818343
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
First published in 2004. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Social Principles and the Democratic State

Social Principles and the Democratic State PDF Author: S. I. Benn
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135027420
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 417

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Book Description
This book, originally published in 1959, makes explicit the social principles which underlie the procedures and political practice of the modern democratic state. The authors take the view that in the modern welfare state there are porblems connected with the nature of law, with concepts like rights, justice, equality, property, punishment, responsibility and liberty and which modern philosophical techniques can illuminate.