The rise of social democracy

There was a time when politics was simply a struggle for power, especially in the Philippines. Political parties in this country had no ideology at all. This is one of the root causes of corruption and the existence of dynasties.

- ELFREN S. CRUZ

Today, there is the beginning of an ideology in a few political groups. This is social democracy and in this book, we see how this ideology started.

The Primacy of Politics: Social Democracy and the Making of Europe's Twentieth Century Politics by Sheri Berman (Cambridge University Press, 2006) offers a bold, revisionist interpretation of the ideological and institutional evolution of 20th century Europe. Challenging the longstanding Marxist and liberal paradigms, Berman argues that it was not economics but politics and ideology — particularly the rise of social democracy ~ that decisively shaped the modern European state. Early on, she writes, “The belief that economics determines politics, that economic development produces political change more or less automatically, is not merely mistaken - it is dangerous.”

At the heart of Berman’s argument is a direct challenge to historical materialism, especially the Marxist belief that capitalism would inevitably collapse under the weight of its internal contradictions. She critiques Marxists for waiting passively for a revolution that never came, while social democrats, especially in countries like Sweden and Germany, acted decisively to reform capitalism. “Social democracy was born of Marxism, but it did not die with it,” she writes, suggesting that the true heirs of the left were those who adapted, not those who clung to dogma.

She traces how early social democrats like Eduard Bernstein rejected deterministic Marxism in favor of democratic gradualism, arguing that socialism could be achieved through the expansion of political rights and state institutions.