Would Democratic Socialism Be Better?

Abstract

The case for a modern democratic humane socialism typically has two parts. The first is that capitalism is bad, at or least not very good. In reaching this conclusion, most have either analyzed a theoretical ideal-type of capitalism or used a single country, often the United States, as a stand-in for capitalism. To fully and fairly assess democratic socialism’s desirability, we need to compare it to the best version of capitalism that humans have devised: social democratic capitalism, or what is often called the Nordic model. Each chapter in this book examines one of the things that we should want in a good society, that contemporary democratic socialists typically say they want, and that socialism might, conceivably, improve our ability to achieve: an end to poverty in rich countries, an end to poverty everywhere, more jobs, decent jobs, faster economic growth, inclusive growth, more public goods and services, affordable healthcare for all, helpful finance, truly democratic politics, economic democracy, less economic inequality, gender and racial equality, more community, and a livable planet. The book offers a close look at the evidence about how capitalist economies have performed on these outcomes, with particular attention to the performance of social democratic capitalism. The second part of the case for democratic socialism is the notion that it would be an improvement. For each of these outcomes, the book considers what, if anything, we can conclude about whether democratic socialism would do better than social democratic capitalism.