Summary
Summary PLC3702 - Democracy and other forms of regime Liberal and social democracy
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- University Of South Africa (Unisa)
Essay on Liberal and social democracy
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LIBERAL AND SOCIAL DEMOCRACYIntroduction:
There are basically two schools of thought when it comes to interpreting the ideological
assumptions of democracy. The first school of thought emphasises liberal ideology, its
interpretation of the freedom of the individual, as being the foundation of democracy. The
second emphasises socialism, the importance of equality as the foundation of democracy.
Note that liberal democracy is equated with procedural democracy and social democracy
with substantive democracy.
Giovanni Sartori contends that liberal democracy is democracy within liberalism, while social
democracy is democracy without liberalism
Liberal democracy:
Liberal democracy has its roots in the development of Western liberalism, from there
it was exported via colonial expansion to the rest of the world – it is evident that
liberal democracy cannot be divorced from its Western liberal philosophical roots
Liberal democracy implies representative government that is based on the principles
of liberalism
Giovanni Sartori regards liberal democracy as the product of liberalism plus
democracy
Liberal democracy adopts the view that the people are always right and that the
people should be sovereign
Liberal democracy acknowledges the private sphere of the individual, where the
individual has priority over society
Provides ideological principles that make democracy possible in practice
Fundamentals of liberalism: emphasis on individualism, freedom of individual, equal
opportunities
Liberal disagree about the role of government in the economy and its obligations to
alleviate poverty (duty to help poor) – where some liberal democrats do allow limited
governmental intervention in order to improve the societal circumstances of people
Liberals emphasise the importance of private property and free economic activity
Liberalism therefore emphasises the freedom of the individual as a principle of
democracy
The main purpose of the exercise of power is to protect the rights and interests of the
individual
Social democracy:
Associated with socialism
Developed in reaction to the social problems rooted in the problems created by the
Industrial Revolution, by capitalism and liberalism
Stressed the social context of humans – social equality and acceptance that
conditions the need is a basis for redistribution, which are important principles of
socialism
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