Major Political Philosophies and their effect on Society

1) CAPITALISM
It is also referred as Laissez-Faire Individualism
-Private property is a natural right of man
-Individual knows best his own interest & how to pursue it
-In pursuing his own interest individual also serves the common interest.
-Govt. should not interfere in economic affairs
-Govt. should intervene to establish free trade in foreign commerce, to promote competition
-Free competition in the pursuit of wealth is the only way of conserving the effects of a natural
selection & survival of the fittest
-Those who benefit from a competitive pursuit of economic gain are more numerous than those
who suffer.
2) COMMUNISM
The mode of production in material life determines the general character of social, political &
spiritual process of life. Since the establishment of private property, the society has been divided
into two hostile economic classes
The primary reasons for this antagonism is that the capitalist class, through its ownership of
means of production, is able to appropriate the surplus value created by labour
A social revolution is inevitable because of concentration of capital in fewer hands &
proliferation of the proletariats, who will at its climax overthrow the capitalist class and a
dictatorship of the proletariat, will follow resulting the highest intensification of State
Ultimately, the state will wither away, In the new society each man will contribute to the social
wealth by his labour as much he can, and will take from it what he needs.
3) SOCIALISM
The Fabian Socialists [Recardian theory: The rent of a given piece of landis in general the
equivalent of its superior advantages- in site, fertility or resources- over the worst available land]
Value is the creation of society rather than of labourers, under the unregulated competitive
system a capitalist retains the superior yield of his capital, which is due not to his superior ability
but to the location of his business Investment alone confers no valid title to income.
The conflict is not between those who work for wages and those who employ wage-workers; it is
between the community and those who grow rich through investment

Thus the object of socialism is to obtain for members of the society the values which society
creates by gradually transferring land and industrial capital to the community, while making the
state fully representative of the community.
Major theoretical positions
Capitalism

Nature of state

ANTI-COLLECTIVISM

Residual State

NON-SOCIALIST WELFARE COLLECTIVISM

Reformism

Socialism
FABIAN SOCIALISM
RADICAL SOCIAL ADMINISTRATION

Reformism
Reformism

Communism
POLITICAL ECONOMY OF WELFARE

Totalitarian State

Explanation in Brief:
1) Anti-collectivism
- Freedom of the individual / Individualism
- Freedom to act in the market economy enables a person to stand on ones own feet and then
state welfare becomes unnecessary for the majority
- Individual freedom is limited through the imposed burden of taxation necessary to fund state
welfare, by planning and rent control etc.
- State welfare services are wasteful and inefficient since they do not face any competition and
are not controlled by any cost effective principles
- State welfare bureaucracies have created self-interested groups of professionals who demand
that the growth of the welfare state be maintained
Way out suggested are: 1) to provide privately based welfare,
2) Contracting out to the private sector of parts of the welfare services and
3) The application of market principles within state welfare provision.

2) Non-socialist Welfare Collectivism

- They see warts on capitalisms face (Disease, Want, Ignorance, Unemployment etc.) and
believe that with judicious state warts can be removed
- State intervention in this way is also seen as promoting stability and maintaining capitalism
more effectively
- Emphasize a mixed economy of welfare and decentralization and participation.
3) Fabian Socialism
- Their argument against capitalism is moral one: it is unethical, unjust and undemocratic, but it
can be transformed. Central to this transformation is the welfare state, so for Fabian socialists,
capitalism is not an ugly face, but a tiger needs to be tamed and transformed
- Fabian socialists argue strongly for the state as the source of welfare provision, as against the
private sector, which they see as catering to the rich rather than the poor.
4) Radical Social Administration
- They Go beyond Fabian gradualism as their analysis implies the need for transformation of
social structure
- They employ a structuralist analysis of social problems. But at the same time lean back to the
idealism of the Fabian socialists to explain change.
5) The Political Economy of Welfare
The political economy approach sees the development of welfare under capitalism as the result
of conflict between the classes: the working class and capitalist class
An explanatory account of different welfare perspectives:
1) Anti-collectivism
a) Social problems explained in terms of
- Individual failure or inadequacy
- Changes effected by Individual action
- Method: Individualist
b) Principle of distribution of state welfare provision
- Extremely selective,
- Otherwise through choice in the private market
c) Relationship between economic policy and social policy
- Freedom of the market dominates

2) Non-socialist welfare collectivism

a) Social problems explained in terms of
- Individual failure plus dysfunctioning of economy
- Changes effected by Pressure group action; fostering collective commitment to national interest
- Method: Idealist
b) Principle of distribution of state welfare provision
- Some universalism, some selectivity
c) Relationship between economic policy and social policy
- Social policy compensates for and supports economic policy
3) Fabian socialism
a) Social problems explained in terms of
- Dysfunctions of capitalism, maladministration of welfare state
- Changes effected by Fostering collectivist and moral values of equality, fraternity, altruism
- Method: Idealist
b) Principle of distribution of state welfare provision
- Universal needs-based
c) Relationship between economic policy and social policy
- Social policy influences economic policy to become more socially responsible
4) Radical social administration
a) Social problems explained in terms of
- Structure, class relations and misdistribution within capitalism
- Changes effected by Transformation of state by fostering social values to press for radical state
action
- Method: Idealist / structuralist
b) Principle of distribution of state welfare provision
- Universal needs-based
c) Relationship between economic policy and social policy
- Unification of social and economic policy through social planning to redress inequality

5) Political economy of welfare

a) Social problems explained in terms of
- Conflicting interests between working class needs and capitalists needs
- Changes effected by Class struggles to change economic production resulting from conflict
between capital and labour
- Method: Materialist / structuralist.
b) Principle of distribution of state welfare provision
- Universal needs-based
c) Relationship between economic policy and social policy
- Irreconcilable conflict under capitalism. Under socialism, economy to serve human needs.
By Ishan Pendam
References:
1) R.N. Titmas, What is Social Policy? in Social Policy: An Introduction, George Allen &
Unwin Ltd., London (1974), pp.22-34.
2) Fiona Williams, Perspective of Welfare: The Existing, but Inadequate Theoretical Basis
of Social Policy in Social Policy: A Critical Introduction, Policy Press, New York
(1989), pp.13-17.