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Theoretical Approaches to Social Democracy

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  • Hans Keman

Abstract

Social democracy has been widely studied in political science. More often than not these studies are flawed or even biased. I contend that this results from the fact that the `object' of analysis has been conceptualized in terms of a `subjective' understanding of social democracy and its presupposed relationship with the development of the welfare state. Hence the theoretical standing of these studies must be questioned. In this article I shall investigate a number of contemporary approaches to assess their theoretical quality. To this end I divide these studies into `project' orientated (focusing on strategic questions concerning the transformation of capitalism) and `model' driven (investigating the relation between political action and societal change). Then I go on to discuss this division in terms of `revisionism' and `reformism'. It appears that much of the literature has little to offer in terms of new insights into social democracy as a political actor and has hardly contributed to the development of a `theory' of social democracy. By way of conclusion I offer some ideas on the development of such a theory.

Suggested Citation

  • Hans Keman, 1993. "Theoretical Approaches to Social Democracy," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 5(3), pages 291-316, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jothpo:v:5:y:1993:i:3:p:291-316
    DOI: 10.1177/0951692893005003001
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Hibbs, Douglas A., 1977. "Political Parties and Macroeconomic Policy," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 71(4), pages 1467-1487, December.
    2. Claus Offe, 1972. "Advanced Capitalism and the Welfare State," Politics & Society, , vol. 2(4), pages 479-488, September.
    3. Merkel, Wolfgang, 1991. "After the golden age: is social democracy doomed to decline?," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, pages 187-222.
    4. Lindblom, Charles E., 1982. "Another State of Mind," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 76(1), pages 9-21, March.
    5. Lipset, Seymour Martin, 1983. "Radicalism or Reformism: The Sources of Working-class Politics," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 77(1), pages 1-18, March.
    6. Lijphart, Arend, 1971. "Comparative Politics and the Comparative Method," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 65(3), pages 682-693, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Carlo V. Fiorio & Simon Mohun & Roberto Veneziani, 2013. "Social Democracy and Distributive Conflict in the UK, 1950-2010," UMASS Amherst Economics Working Papers 2013-06, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Economics.

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