Social democracy as a political ideology orchestrated the transition of society from a capitalist viewpoint to social democracy that focused on economic and equitable distribution of resources, unlike capitalism. Britain, as the pioneer of industrialization, had resulted in contradictions in Western industrialized nations. As such, this resulted in the social disparities, societal dependencies that inevitably led to the shifts in power. Karl Max and Frederic Engels relate the social democracy ideologies with communism. Most particular is the Marxist doctrine, which was referred to as revisionism in the 19 th Century, where revolution used to establish a socialist society. In this regard, the conception of the idea of joint property and collective ownership gave rise to cooperatives, trade unions, and social legislation.
August Bebel significantly contributed to the social democratic movement founding the Social Democratic Worker’s Party in 1869. From that, there was the conception of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) of Germany as a General German Worker’s Union in 1875. Gradually SDP grew in stature and became the largest single party by 1912, garnering over 25 percent of the total seats in the Reichstag. However, Eduard Bernstein contributed significantly to the growth of SDP. He did not support the Marxist theory proposition that capitalism was an essential contributor to inequitable resources and unemployment. Bernstein emphasized that capitalism was not very bad, and the shortcomings that come with it would be managed. Bernstein focused on socialism as a way to eliminate misery of the working class, while also highlighting that social conditions were improving, hence, the working class would be able to establish socialism by electing social representatives. Another significant contributor to the distinction of socialism and capitalism was the Russian Revolution of 1917, where afterward, there was the emergence of social democratic powers of Western Europe nations.
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Consequently, After the Revolution or precisely World War II, socialism can be said to the basis of modern European Social Welfare. Totalitarianism was denounced, and democracy embraced as an essential element of social theorists. Economic growth and equitable distribution of income would emerge because of state regulations in both the business and the industry levels.
