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The democratic road to socialism is a political philosophy within Marxism and democratic socialism which favors transitioning from capitalism to socialism through representative democracy and building an organized mass movement of the working class.[1]
Nicos Poulantzas is often considered the first to formalize the term, democratic road to socialism.[1]:74-8 For Poulantzas, the democratic road to socialism refers to a form of democratic socialism that commits to pluralist representative democracy alongside an extension of participatory democracy. Poulantzas viewed political liberties in liberal democracies as "the result of popular struggles," but also believed that liberal democracy "helps reproduce the capitalist state regime."[1]:23 He therefore advocated for a Marxist and socialist democracy with strong labor unions, territorial popular assemblies, and socialist communitarianism that would enable a radical transformation of the state.[1]:24 Yet, institutions of representative democracy would be "an essential condition of democratic socialism" to regulate decentralized models like workers' councils in order for the working class to collectively wield the political power and technical expertise necessary to direct a complex socialist society.[2]
Some academics, activists, and political commentators also apply the term democratic road to socialism to The Chilean Way to Socialism and the Presidency of Salvador Allende, a Marxist and democratic socialist in Chile. While Allende and the moderate factions of Popular Unity and the Socialist Party of Chile, which he reflected, never adopted the term, the democratic road to socialism has been applied to the 1970 to 1973 Chilean experience due to the Allende administration's commitment to Marxism, representative democracy, a gradual transition to socialism, and broader social movement politics.[3][4][5][6]
The democratic road to socialism is distinguished from evolutionary socialism to its right, as espoused by Eduard Bernstein, which advocates for incremental reform by primarily parliamentary means within liberal democracy, with the goal of ultimately achieving socialism through the state.[2] Yet, it is also distinguished from revolutionary socialism to its left, which views capitalism as only able to be completely overthrown by non-reformist means, and does not see a transformative "capture" of the liberal state as a viable means to reach a socialist democracy.
The democratic road to socialism is espoused by certain socialist politicians, such as Bolivian Vice President Álvaro García Linera,[1]:xii and groups, such as the Bread and Roses caucus of the Democratic Socialists of America.[7] The democratic road to socialism has influenced the development of Eurocommunism[8][9][2] and the ideological trajectory of parties such as Syriza.[10][11][12][13] Additionally, Tristram Hunt and Bruno Jossa argue that Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels grew skeptical of "top-down revolutions" in their later writings, in favor of "a peaceful, democratic road to socialism."[14][15]
- ^ a b c d e Ducange, Jean-Numa; Keucheyan, Razmig, eds. (2019). The end of the democratic state: Nicos Poulantzas, a marxism for the 21st century. Marx, Engels, and Marxisms. Translated by Broder, David (1st edition 2019 ed.). Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-3-319-90889-2.
- ^ a b c Barrow, Clyde W. (January 24, 2023). "Nicos Poulantzas Was a Vital Theorist of Democratic Socialism". Jacobin. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
- ^ Fleet, Michael H. (1973). "Chile's Democratic Road to Socialism". The Western Political Quarterly. 26 (4): 766–786. doi:10.2307/447149. ISSN 0043-4078. JSTOR 447149.
- ^ Oppenheim, Lois Hecht (1989). Bitar, Sergio; Chavkin, Samuel; Davis, Nathaniel; Farrell, Joseph P.; Fleet, Michael; Fermandois, Joaquin; Garreton, Manuel Antonio; Moulian, Tomas; Department, National Education (eds.). "The Chilean Road to Socialism Revisited". Latin American Research Review. 24 (1): 155–183. doi:10.1017/S002387910002272X. ISSN 0023-8791. JSTOR 2503286.
- ^ Allende, Ben B. , Marianela D'Aprile, and Salvador (September 11, 2018). "Allende and Democratic Socialism". The Call. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Duhalde, David (September 11, 2023). "Immediately After the 1973 Chilean Coup, US Socialists Supported Those Fighting for Freedom". Jacobin. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
- ^ "Where We Stand". Bread and Roses DSA. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
- ^ Emadian, Baraneh (January 2, 2019). "The Quandary of Multiple States as an Internal and External Limit to Marxist Thought: From Poulantzas to Karatani". Rethinking Marxism. 31 (1): 72–91. doi:10.1080/08935696.2019.1577618. ISSN 0893-5696.
- ^ Bernstein, Sarah; Lawrence, Stewart (May 1, 1980). "Eurocommunism as Current Events and Contemporary History: A Critical Bibliography". Radical History Review. 1980 (23): 165–191. doi:10.1215/01636545-1980-23-165. ISSN 0163-6545.
- ^ Albo, Greg; Panitch, Leo; Zuege, Alan, eds. (October 2018). Class, Party, Revolution: A Socialist Register Reader. Haymarket Books. pp. 52–3. ISBN 9781608469192.
- ^ Sebastian, Budgen; Stathis, Kouvelakis (January 23, 2015). "Greece: Phase One – Syriza and Left forces". Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
- ^ Kondakciu, Ervin (July 29, 2019). "The left will be international or it won't be at all: lesson from Greece". openDemocracy.
- ^ "Alex Callinicos & Stathis Kouvelakis: Syriza and Socialist Strategy". Marxists Internet Archive. February 25, 2015. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
- ^ Garner, Dwight (August 18, 2009). "Fox Hunter, Party Animal, Leftist Warrior". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
- ^ Jossa, Bruno (2010). "The Democratic Road to Socialism". Rivista Internazionale di Scienze Sociali. 118 (3): 335–354. ISSN 0035-676X. JSTOR 41624957.