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Print Price: $30.95

Format:
Paperback
208 pp.
91 b/w figures, 6.125" x 9.25"

ISBN-13:
9780197636817

Publication date:
June 2022

Imprint: OUP US

Would Democratic Socialism Be Better?

Lane Kenworthy

Interest in democratic socialism is on the rise, but this wide-ranging comparison of two systems shows that the Nordic model of capitalism achieves virtually everything that contemporary democratic socialists say we should want.

Socialism is back in the conversation, and recent polls suggest the share of young Americans who have a favorable impression of socialism is about the same as the share that have a favorable view of capitalism. The case for a modern democratic socialism is that capitalism is bad, or at least not very good, and that socialism would be an improvement. To fully and fairly assess democratic socialism's desirability, Lane Kenworthy argues in Would Democratic Socialism Be Better?, we need to compare it to the best version of capitalism that humans have devised: social democratic capitalism. Kenworthy offers a close look at the evidence about how capitalist economies have performed on an array of outcomes. He finds that social democratic capitalism achieves virtually everything that contemporary democratic socialists say we should want.

Readership : Policy makers and advisors, social science professors and students (graduate and undergraduate).

1. Is Capitalism Not Good Enough?
2. An End to Poverty in Rich Countries
3. An End to Poverty Everywhere
4. More Jobs
5. Decent Jobs
6. Faster Economic Growth
7. Inclusive Growth
8. More Public Goods and Services
9. Affordable Healthcare for All
10. Helpful Finance
11. Truly Democratic Politics
12. Economic Democracy
13. Less Economic Inequality
14. Gender and Racial Equality
15. More Community
16. A Livable Planet
17. Would Democratic Socialism Be Better Than Social Democratic Capitalism?
Acknowledgments
Notes
References
Index

There are no Instructor/Student Resources available at this time.

Lane Kenworthy is Professor of Sociology and Yankelovich Chair in Social Thought at the University of California-San Diego. He studies the causes and consequences of living standards, poverty, inequality, mobility, employment, economic growth, social policy, taxes, public opinion, and politics in the United States and other affluent countries. He is also the author of The Good Society, Social Democratic Capitalism (Oxford, 2020), How Big Should Our Government Be? (2016, with Jon Bakija, Peter Lindert, and Jeff Madrick), Social Democratic America (Oxford, 2014), Progress for the Poor (Oxford, 2011), Jobs with Equality (Oxford, 2008), Egalitarian Capitalism (2004), and In Search of National Economic Success (1995). His essays and shorter pieces have appeared at his blog Consider the Evidence, Foreign Affairs, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Boston Review, and elsewhere.

Making Sense in the Social Sciences - Margot Northey, Lorne Tepperman and Patrizia Albanese
Social Democratic America - Lane Kenworthy
Social Democratic Capitalism - Lane Kenworthy
The 99 Percent Economy - Paul S. Adler
Marketcraft - Steven K. Vogel

Special Features

Addresses contemporary proposals for democratic socialism, which is rising in popularity among the young.
Offers the only evidence-based comparison between democratic socialism and the Nordic model of capitalism.
Features a rigorous and wide-ranging analysis of the outcomes and benefits we can expect from two models.