Social democracy

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The pair of terms social democracy describes a community that embodies both a representative democracy with basic civil rights and the guarantee of basic social rights with a social state postulate.

Concept and theory

The term "social democracy" was coined in the middle of the 19th century by Lorenz von Stein , in its former meaning, with Lorenz von Stein, however only a "policy with the goal of social status adjustment" but independent of the "type of state constitution" . The German constitutional lawyer Hermann Heller is very influential on the current meaning of the term . According to the political scientist Thomas Meyer , Heller's definition can be summarized as "an overall social constitution in which the principles of the substantive constitutional state are comprehensively valid, especially in the area of ​​labor and property regulations". Heller argues that in order to actually exercise basic civil rights, the guarantee of basic social rights such as B. securing the subsistence level and a minimum of education is necessary. Thomas Meyer contrasts social democracy with libertarian democracy . Both social democracy and libertarian democracy are, according to Meyer, the main variants of liberal democracy . a. Free elections and basic civil rights such as freedom of expression guaranteed. However, Meyer regards the real effect of basic rights and thus the conditions of democratic legitimation as endangered by classical liberalism and only guaranteed in social and not in libertarian democracy.

Thomas Meyer, who in his work Theory of Social Democracy in 2005 further developed Hermann Heller's model of social democracy and adapted it to the present, writes on the concept and theory of social democracy: “In contemporary language, social democracy is both, a basic concept of democratic theory and a name to identify a policy direction program. Although there are manifold interrelationships between these two common uses, they are two clearly distinguishable facts with different validity claims. The theory of social democracy, neither in its normative foundation nor in its explanatory role, nor in the comparative discussion of the various ways of its realization, is based on certain given political actors, although of course every step of its realization depends on the fact that political actors in general favor use the practical program of action that can be derived from it. Various political actors, in turn, can use the term social democracy as a program name wherever they consider this to be advantageous, largely regardless of whether and to what extent their political aspirations are covered by the theory of social democracy or even seek connection with it. "

Meyer emphasizes that social democracy is not exclusively represented by social democratic parties and that “in many European countries also Christian democratic parties and social organizations have supported large parts of the social democracy project.” The theory of social democracy thus does not offer an exclusive framework for social democratic parties because it is a democracy model which "is not a specific ideology, but a political project" and accordingly arose from the interaction of the different political forces.

Social democracy empiricism

In an empirical study carried out by Thomas Meyer and seven other scientists and published in the book Die Praxis der Sozialen Demokratie 2006, the implementation of social democracy in various OECD countries was analyzed. The research report concludes that the project of social democracy is most widely implemented in the Scandinavian countries. There, the civil liberties are very pronounced and the basic social rights may be. a. guaranteed by an excellent public education system and a modern welfare state, which guarantee largely equal life chances for all citizens. Social democracy is a little less well established in the continental European states, which also include Germany. According to the study, a libertarian form of democracy dominates the Anglo-Saxon states, especially the USA .

Social democracy in the basic program of the SPD

In the SPD's Hamburg program , which was adopted as the party's basic program in autumn 2007, social democracy is anchored as a central goal. It is defined there as follows: “Social democracy guarantees not only civil, political and cultural rights, but also the basic social and economic rights of all people. It ensures the equal social participation of all through social democratization, especially co-determination, through the preventive welfare state based on civil rights and through a coordinated market economy in which the primacy of democracy over markets is guaranteed. "

In the Bremen draft of 2006 for the preparation of the Hamburg basic program, the term democratic socialism initially appeared only marginally and it was discussed whether this traditional term, which due to the diverse use of the term socialism also leads to misunderstandings, was completely replaced by the formulation social democracy should be. In the Hamburg program, the SPD agreed on the formulation: “Our history is shaped by the idea of ​​democratic socialism, a society of free and equals, in which our basic values ​​are realized. It demands an order of economy, state and society in which civil, political, social and economic basic rights are guaranteed for all people, all people can lead a life without exploitation, oppression and violence, that is, in social and human security. ”In particular it continues: “For us, democratic socialism remains the vision of a free, just and solidary society, the realization of which is an ongoing task for us. The principle of our action is social democracy. "

Social democracy in the "Erfurt Declaration"

The Erfurt Declaration of 1997, signed by personalities from culture, science and trade unions, is seen as a plea for a policy that focuses on the goals of social democracy.

Social Democracy in Political Education

The Academy for Social Democracy is an advisory and qualification project run by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. Theory and practice of basic values ​​and basic rights of social democracy are conveyed in seminars, discussion events and reading and audio books. The academic teaching staff of the Academy for Social Democracy include Thomas Meyer , Gesine Schwan and Julian Nida-Rümelin .

Economic policy principles of social democracy

From the perspective of social democracy, the following three principles must be taken into account in economic policy:

  • growth
  • sustainability
  • Social balance.

literature

  • Thomas Meyer, Lew Hinchman (Ed.): Theory of Social Democracy . VS, Wiesbaden 2005, ISBN 3-531-14612-2
  • Thomas Meyer, Jan Turowski: Practice of Social Democracy. VS, Wiesbaden 2006, ISBN 3-531-15179-7 .
  • David Held: Social Democracy in the Global Age . Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 2007, ISBN 3-518-12504-4 .
  • Tobias Gombert: Foundations of Social Democracy . FES, Bonn 2008, ISBN 978-3-89892-951-6 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Petra Dobner : New social question and social policy. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2007, p. 99.
  2. ↑ Thomas Meyer: Theory of Social Democracy. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2005, p. 21 f.
  3. ↑ Thomas Meyer: The theory of social democracy. Friedrich Ebert Foundation, p. 6 f.
  4. ↑ Thomas Meyer: Theory of Social Democracy. 2nd edition, VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2011, p. 16.
  5. ↑ Thomas Meyer: Theory of Social Democracy. , VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2005, p. 29.
  6. ↑ Thomas Meyer: Theory of Social Democracy. , VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2005, p. 43. f
  7. ↑ Thomas Meyer: Theory of Social Democracy. , VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2005, p. 12.
  8. ↑ a b Thomas Meyer and Nicole Breyer: The future of social democracy (PDF; 1.2 MB). Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung , 2005, ISBN 3-89892-315-0 , p. 241 f.
  9. ^ Basic program of the SPD from 2007, p. 18.
  10. ^ Basic program of the SPD from 2007, p. 16.
  11. ^ Basic program of the SPD from 2007, pp. 16/17.
  12. ↑ Simon Vaut: Economy and Social Democracy . In: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (Ed.): Reader of Social Democracy 2 . 3. Edition. Bonn 2009, ISBN 978-3-86872-237-6 , pp. 64 .