The Theory of Social Democracy

The ascendancy of neo-liberalism in different parts of the worldhas put social democracy on the defensive. Its adherents lack aclear rationale for their policies. Yet a justification for socialdemocracy is implicit in the United Nations Covenants on HumanRights, ratified by most of the worlds countries. The covenantscommit all nations to guarantee that their citizens shall enjoy thetraditional formal rights; but they likewise pledge governments tomake those rights meaningful in the real world by providing socialsecurity and cultural recognition to every person. This new book provides a systematic defence of social democracyfor our contemporary global age. The authors argue that the claimsto legitimation implicit in democratic theory can be honored onlyby social democracy; libertarian democracies are defective infailing to protect their citizens adequately against social, economic, and environmental risks that only collective action canobviate. Ultimately, social democracy provides both a fairer andmore stable social order.
But can social democracy survive in a world characterized bypervasive processes of globalization? This book asserts thatglobalization need not undermine social democracy if it isharnessed by international associations and leavened by principlesof cultural respect, toleration, and enlightenment. The structuresof social democracy must, in short, be adapted to the exigencies ofglobalization, as has already occurred in countries with the mostsuccessful social-democratic practices.