Social Democracy or Social Liberalism? Ideological Sources of Liberal Democrat Policy

Liberal Democrat policy has been labelled as social democratic, yet the party has been reluctant to so describe itself. Taking Crosland's The Future of Socialism as a reference point, there appears to be much shared ground between social democracy and Liberal Democrat policy. Meanwhile, the par...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Political quarterly (London. 1930) 2007-01, Vol.78 (1), p.32-39
Main Author: GRAYSON, RICHARD S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ideology
Liberal democratic parties
Liberal Democrats
Liberalism
manifesto
Policy
Policy analysis
Political analysis
Political Ideologies
Political parties
Political philosophy
Political theory
Public policy
Social Democracy
State
United Kingdom
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Summary:Liberal Democrat policy has been labelled as social democratic, yet the party has been reluctant to so describe itself. Taking Crosland's The Future of Socialism as a reference point, there appears to be much shared ground between social democracy and Liberal Democrat policy. Meanwhile, the party's tax policy adopted in 2006 takes the Croslandite approach of taxing wealth rather than income. Despite this, the article argues that the party is a social liberal rather than a social democratic one. These two political philosophies have so much in common that it is understandable that some commentators see the influence of social democracy where they might instead perceive social liberalism. Yet the two differ in their attitudes to the state. Both see a positive role for the state in furthering social goods. However, social liberalism shares classical liberal concerns about the dangers of an over‐mighty state. This approach underpins Liberal Democrat policy.
ISSN:0032-3179
1467-923X
DOI:10.1111/j.1467-923X.2007.00828.x