Social Democracy
Social democracy accepts a capitalist market economy and works to tame it from within. Strong trade unions, collective bargaining, progressive taxation and a universal welfare state are meant to spread the gains of growth widely without abolishing private ownership.
- Capitalism is to be reformed through democratic politics, not overthrown.
- Universal public services and social insurance should cover everyone, financed by progressive taxes.
- Organised labour is a legitimate partner in running the economy, alongside employers and the state.
Social democracy began inside the Marxist movement. In the 1890s Eduard Bernstein argued that socialism could arrive gradually through elections and reform, and parties in Germany, Scandinavia and Britain followed that path. The Swedish Social Democrats built the "people's home" welfare state from the 1930s, and after 1945 social democratic parties shaped the mixed economies of much of Western Europe.
Critics on the right say high taxes and strong unions slow growth and crowd out private initiative. Critics on the left say it gave up on changing who owns the economy and is exposed whenever capital becomes more mobile.
Countries and historical regimes whose 12-axis profile is closer to Social Democracy than to any other ideology in the test.
Countries today
Historical regimes
Social Democracy is also the second-closest ideology for: Canada, South Africa, Mexico, Norway, Uruguay, Germany, United Kingdom, Costa Rica.
Method: each ideology is placed at a typical position on the 12 axes, scored from 0 to 100 toward the first pole. Ranks compare it with the other 45 ideologies; matches are 100 minus the average distance across all axes. The positions are our own calibration, not taken from any third-party source.