Pipers Woerterbuch zur Politik

Authors: Nohlen
Summary: In about 1900 words, the entry places socialism within the context of other political ideologies, identifies three socialist dimensions, discusses central elements of socialist thought, distinguishes historical periods of theoretical debates, analyzes the country- differences of political movements, and reflects on the relationship between socialist and social democratic ideas and praxis. The entry argues that socialist ideas and movements developed in close connection to rival major ideologies such as conservatism and liberalism. Three dimensions are distinguished: socialism as a theoretical concept or idea, socialism as a political movement, and socialism as an actual societal structure. The central element of socialist thought is the reorganization of the economic structure by replacing capitalism with a rationally and publicly planned economy. The entry reflects extensively on the development of ideas and the history of political movements in four periods: early socialism until 1848 in response to the increasingly spreading capitalist mode of production, the establishment of an organized workers movement until World War I in various socialist and social-democratic forms and distinct country varieties, the differentiation of social democratic movements from socialist/Marxist ones in the inter- war period following the revolution in Russia, and the Cold War era after 1945 which deepened the gap between socialism and social democracy on the one hand and capitalism and socialism on the other. The entry ends with a reflection on the impact of socialist ideas and theories on post-war political science debates on related issues such as socio-structural development, work organization, and democratization.