From socialism in the 1900s to socialism in the 2000s: the rise of liberal socialism

In the twentieth century, Europe and North America were at the epicentre of the century-long conflict between capitalism and socialism; more specifically, between the rule of law and the rule through law. By the early 1990s, socialism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe decayed from within leaving in its wake economic misery and intellectual emptiness. Yet, socialism is raising its head once again. This new variant of socialism, which I call ‘liberal socialism’, has one critical difference that sets it apart from its predecessors. Unlike all three types of socialism in the last century – Fascism, National Socialism and Communism – liberal socialism is not imposed from the top down; it is emerging from the bottom up. The incentive effects of increasing redistributional governmental programmes map a road to liberal socialism by influencing the median voter and weakening private property rights. However, election results in many European countries, and at state and local levels in the United States, suggest that the median voter has not moved to the left. At the same time, economic analysis and empirical evidence have established the economic efficiency of credible and stable private property rights relative to all other property rights arrangements. Thus, liberal socialism is a real threat to the rule of law but its success is far from certain.