The universal definition of democracy is that "people have substantial control over decisions which affect them". This definition is broad and within it are multiple worldviews with differing interpretations of what is meant by "people", "control", and "decisions". Two of the worldviews of democracy included within this universal definition are liberalism and socialism.
The liberalism worldview interprets "people" as "individuals" and focuses on the promotion of individual liberty. Liberalism views democracy as a political system which allows individuals to decide what 's best for themselves, basically it drives the decision-making process down to the lowest level. The liberal ideal is an open society where people are free to pursue
The United Kingdom embodies social democracy with their value of "noblesse oblige" where the privileged have obligations to less fortunate, nobles look at working class as their "children" who need to be taken care of. However, they deviate from socialism with their pride in being the first liberal democracy where power was moved from the King to Parliament. Also, where socialist democracy seeks to have a "classless" society, The UK has a strong history of division among two classes, the "working class" and the "aristocracy". In Brazil, they have historically been focused on economic intervention which exhibits aspects of the socialism ideal, including strategies in protectionism. Brazil also seeks to eradicate the extreme social inequalities. Their era of military rule and strategy of Import substitution industrialization aligns them with socialism to a small degree. However, they deviate from socialism in their formal exclusion of the poor from political processes. There is still a large divide among the "elites", the population in the urban areas exceeds that of the rural areas. The urban areas tend to have more liberal views, for example, they participate in the politics based on their occupational category, not as a collective group. China does not embody the ideals of socialism democracy, their system is communism. They deviate from socialism in that they believe the
My place on the spectrum is definitely left of center and overlapping in liberalism and socialism. My beliefs align with liberalism in that I agree with individual autonomy and the freedom to choose what I want for myself. I also work hard for what I have achieved and believe that others should have that same ethic. I am competitive, likely because I was socialized to be this way due to working at Intel. However, I also know that some in society (from an American point of view) will never be able to achieve what I have (or what the 1% has) because of the way our institutions are set up. I believe our society should help those who are disadvantaged yet at the same time, I would like the freedom to chose HOW and WHO I help benefit. Some in society are disadvantaged and have no control over their situations which means they will never achieve the same level of success or accumulate wealth as those who are privileged. In this regard I feel that the privileged should help the disadvantaged but NOT by giving handouts. I believe that some competition is healthy but NOT when it grossly distorts the equality in society. I believe in removing the barriers which keep certain people disadvantaged vs. simply giving the same benefits to those who contribute to society at a lower level. Basically, if someone has the will to contribute but not the means then I support removing the obstacles by
Political ideas change and adapt their perceptions of the social and political world through the years to cope with all changing aspects of life. Liberalism is no different. It is these changes that allow the idea to maintain its identity. Sometimes it is hard for some political ideas to adapt and change for instance the divine monarchists. Liberalism goes back at least 300years; this means that it has had to change a great deal, the ideas behind the ideology have remained the same though. Liberalism started attacking the monarchy in Britain but soon moved on to social change. This relates back to the heart of liberalism, the concept of the individual. This can be difficult because ‘man is born free, but everywhere in chains’ (- Jean-Jaques Rousseau). Liberalism was a political idea adopted by many countries during the 19th and 20th century and has been the source of many economic and social policies. Liberalism believes that each person should be free to act as they wish, it also believes that each individual deserves respect no matter of race, religion, sexual preference, or social status. Most liberals believe that the government is detrimental to liberalism’s beliefs because it does not allow everyone to be an individual since laws are in place to limit freedom. John Locke advocated this when he attacked the government saying ‘no government allows absolute liberty”. This is true because if no laws were in place then absolute liberty would soon be replaced by anarchy. Liberalism not only influenced equality but it was the basic idea behind the United States of America constitution. This was easy for the American governments to adopt because unlike other countries, it did not have to contend with aristocratic traditions and institutions.
What exactly is liberalism? According to Sidlow (2013), liberalism is the belief that "big government" is necessary for the promotion of the common good (p.16). Without government action, many social and economic outcomes for many people would turn out badly. In other words, without government intervention, many children of poor individuals would never have access to health care in the first few critical years of life and may not get enough food to eat. Liberalism is the belief that social progress can be obtained by putting into action laws and reform rather that upheaval. It is a policy based on the rights of the individual. The accustomed view of liberals was freedom from tradition, and freedom to practice new policies and institutions. Liberals advocate change, Conservatives avoid it.
Both socialism and democratic socialism overlap and interact with a few different ideologies. The most notable are the intersection between democratic socialism and liberalism. Both liberals and social democrats advocate for a relatively large welfare state, in order to take care of the poor and offer a social safety net. Both ideologies also believe in a sort of collective responsibility to society. They believe the purpose of people is greater than just the individual. Socialism and Liberalism also both see flaws in capitalism and have strategies to address them. Whether it’s replacing them or preventing the downsides.
Conservative and liberal have different beliefs on most everything. At the most basic level liberals are considered to be open to change while conservatives hold traditional views and prefer the status quo. These differences in base beliefs have an enormous effect on their ideas of the role of government. Liberals believe that the government should provide for and help people. By providing for the people they believe that it will create a level of equality between all classes. Liberals also believe that it is the government’s job to be involved in the nation’s social problems and guide change. For liberals it all culminates in the belief for a larger, more involved government. Conservatives on the other hand believe in a government that focuses on people’s individual responsibility and freedom. By doing so they believe that people will work to better themselves and provide for themselves. Conservatives also believe in a limed government that only provides basic functions for the people. For conservatives it all culminates in the principle of a smaller, less involved government. The basic large versus small government mentality is evident in many of the differencing views of
democracy was first introduced in ancient Greece in the 5th Century BC to denote the political system then existing in Greek cities-states notably Athens. In the U.S. Democracy was first introduced in the constitution in 1788. Democracy did not originate with the founding of the United States. The term "democracy" comes from the Greek words "demos" meaning the people and "kratia" meaning power of authority. so of course democracy is a form of government that gives power to the people. But how, when and to which people? the answer to those questions changes through history.
Democracy is a form of government in which qualified citizens can vote leaders that hold power over them. A democracy allows the citizens to be involved in the development of new laws and the general expansion. The word "democracy" comes from two Greek words. The first Greek word that makes up democracy is "demos" meaning the people. The second Greek word that makes up democracy is "kratia" meaning power or authority. A democracy can only exist where there is total freedom. Democratic governments are seen in many countries globally.
During the Second Industrial Revolution two philosophies combated each other on a global scale. Laissez-Fair economics had ruled for the last few centuries and had created many prosperous nations but abuses of power by wealthy men had turned public opinion against it. Ever since its creation, Socialism begged to be placed head to head with Capitalism and it had finally gotten its chance. Laissez-Fair economics and Socialism both have their pros and cons when implemented in society. The battle between these two ideological works its way throughout society alternating between the protests and debates in the U.S. today to the great terror of the Cold War.
Socialists suggest that social stability and cohesion is the leading method towards of social equality, and therefore prefer cooperation to competition, and favour collectivism over individualism. As socialism’s core value is equality, it is often referred to as egalitarianism. Due to the distinctive gap between social classes, the goal of socialism is to eliminate class divisions by promoting freedom for the need of material and basis personal
According to Liberalism, people should be granted liberty and equality. This political view is one in which it believes in free and fair elections, a Bill of Rights, and most importantly, civil rights. The foundation of the Liberalist political view can be traced all the way back to the 17th century when philosopher John Locke introduced the philosophy of people having natural rights. Locke’s philosophy included what is known as the Law of Nature in which he states that people use reason to pursue their own self-interest and that they are born with an innate sense of right and wrong. Locke also introduced the idea of State of Nature in which people live within reason without a government. Locke believed that in an absolute State of Nature, people could live together in a rational matter. For example, there would be a rational limitation on property. This means that people would only use as much land as they needed in order to survive. Of all the ideas Locke introduced, his most important one would be that people are born with natural rights. These natural rights Locke is referring to are the right to life, liberty, and property....
Democracy means rule of the people. The two most common forms of democracy are direct and representative democracy. With direct democracy, anyone can take part in making a decision. Examples of this are town meetings or referendums. The other, better known form of democracy is a representative democracy. People elect representatives to make decisions or laws for them with representative democracies. States do this for each level of government, with the exceptions of small localities and towns. All of this being said, the United States tends to lean towards being a republic as well. We elect people who in turn make decisions for us. Constitutionally, the US is not really a straight, true democracy. Beginning with the Constitution's adoption, America has been a Republic.The dominant trend over the past few centuries have morphed it into a democracy as well, a representative democracy, also known as a democratic republic. The creation of the Constitution itself was partly a reaction against democracy, yet we have one now.
Democracy is “...the word that resonates in people’s minds and springs from their lips as they struggle for freedom and a better way of life...” (Schmitter and Karl, 1991:75). However, the word democracy has many different means depending on the country and context it is used in. “Every country has is own culture and comes by its political system through its own history” (Greenberg, 2007:101, cited in Li, 2008:4). Li, (2008) states that because of China’s political structure the usual road to democracy may be difficult for it to achieve. The western idea ...
Socialism belongs to a family of ideologies, and springs from a common impulse. It envisions a society in which everyone contributes their time, labor, and talent to a common pool, and in return receives enough goods to satisfy their needs. It condemns the exploitation of one individual or class by another that occurs, so for example “when one profits from another’s labor.” Socialism also believes that property should be to benefit the public at large, not the wealthy. Socialists tend to favor peaceful and piecemeal reforms as a way of bringing about a socialist society, in which they envision a society whose major means of production are mines, mills, factories, power plants, etc. which are either publically owned or operated to benefit the public (187). Karl Marx’s envision for socialist transformation was, “a society that is changed not through moral suasion, but by understanding the hidden structures and process of material production.” The key to this was the “materialist conception of history” this made the primary determinants of social stability and change, material production and class struggle.
Democracy states that every citizen in a democratic nation has equal power and that the decisions concerning the individuals in it must be voted upon, either directly or through appointed representatives. So many political systems have been tried and failed for the simple reason that they do not have the best interests of the people in mind.
The societies of the modern day are shaped largely around the economic model or infrastructure that has been implement into the lives of citizens. These varying “economic models” alter the ways of domestic culture, and thus serve to be warranted much more attention and examination. Capitalism and Socialism are the two dominant ideologies that seem to invoke the opposite ends of the spectrum in the societal effect aspect. The far right capitalist, evoking a connotation of free business and anti-regulatory economic growth, comprised of a great deal of the Western world and provided a high risk-reward system that created a great number of wealthy elite and even more low-class blue collar workers. Conventional wisdom leads one to obviously find the opposing mindset with Socialism and its many degrees. The left wing socialist was characterized by a controlled economy and a strict government market. This system was heralded as system with no losers and social equality; thus, a gap-less population with a high standard of life. The course of this work will provide and explain the differences between Capitalism and Socialism; therefore, in the conclusion, the two societal roles will be defined. This will lead to a much more conclusive conclusion when examining, promoting, or denying either system.
In the United States, socialism is widely viewed as ‘bad word’, as an insult of sorts. There is no better example of this than in the last presidential election, when the right would routinely use the term to criticize president Obama and his peers. Despite the fact that many Americans still place a taboo on the term, socialist ideals such as universal healthcare, a merit based university system and stopping the greed of the upper class are becoming increasingly popular. Over the past few hundred years, capitalists have destroyed our planet and our people in search of a profit, and the need for change has never been greater than now. Thus, in order to guarantee fair treatment to all individuals and be able to live sustainably on our planet for many more generations, socialism must become the dominant economic system on our planet.