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Social democracy is officially a reformist democratic socialist political ideology.^[1] Social democracy supports legal entitlements in social rights for citizens. These are made up of universal access to public services such as: education, health care, workers' compensation, and other services such as child care and care for the elderly.^[2] Social democracy is connected with the trade union labour movement and supports collective bargaining rights for workers.^[3] Contemporary social democracy advocates freedom from discrimination based on differences of: ability/disability, age, class, ethnicity, gender, language, race, religion, and sexual orientation.^[4] Most social democratic parties are affiliated with the Socialist International.^[5]

Social democracy in its current form was originally developed by revisionist Marxist Eduard Bernstein who criticized orthodox Marxism's emphasis on revolution and class conflict, claiming that socialism could be achieved through evolutionary means through representative democracy and through cooperation between people regardless of class. Bernstein claimed that a mixed economy of public, cooperative and private enterprise would be necessary for a long period of time before private enterprises would evolve of their own accord into cooperative enterprise.^[6][7] Bernstein supported state ownership only for certain parts of the economy that could be best managed by the state, he rejected a mass scale of state ownership as being too burdensome to be manageable.^[6]

Contemporary social democracy since the 1930s has diminished its differences with non-socialist parties.^[8] By the post-World War II period, most social democrats in Europe had abandoned all remaining ideological connection to Marxism.^[9] The development of liberal socialism that began in the 1920s by figures such as G. D. H. Cole, R. H. Tawney, and Carlo Rosselli that fused liberal and socialist ideals while rejecting both Marxism and state socialism, has influenced social democracy including social democrats in favour of the Third Way.^[10]

Critics of contemporary social democracy such as Jonas Hinnfors claim that when social democracy abandoned Marxism it also abandoned socialism and has become in effect a liberal movement and claim that "socialism" only remains a rhetorical term used by contemporary social democrats and that they do not genuinely intend to replace capitalism with a socialist economic system.^[11] Those that believe that social democracy abandoned socialism note the beginning of its support for Keynesian economics in the 1930s and claim that since then it has supported welfare capitalism.^[12][13]

History[link]

19th Century usage[link]

In the 19th Century, the term "Social Democrat" was used as a broad catch-all for international socialists owing their basic ideological allegiance to Karl Marx or Ferdinand Lassalle, in contrast to those advocating various forms of utopian socialism. In one of the first scholarly works on European socialism written for an American audience, Richard T. Ely's 1883 book, French and German Socialism in Modern Times, Social Democrats were characterized as "the extreme wing of the socialists" who were "inclined to lay so much stress on equality of enjoyment, regardless of the value of one's labor, that they might, perhaps, more properly be called communists."^[14] Ely continued:

"They have two distinguishing characteristics. The vast majority of them are laborers, and, as a rule, they expect the violent overthrow of existing institutions by revolution to precede the introduction of the socialistic state. I would not, by any means, say that they are all revolutionists, but the most of them undoubtedly are. * * *

"The most general demands of the social democrats are the following: The state should exist exclusively for the laborers; land and capital must become collective property, and production be carried on unitedly. Private competition, in the ordinary sense of the term, is to cease."^[15]

Many parties in this era described themselves as "social democratic," including the General German Workers' Association and the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Germany (which merged to form the Social Democratic Party of Germany), the British Social Democratic Federation, and the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. The term "social democracy" continued to be used in this context up to the time of the Bolshevik Revolution of November 1917, at which time the term "communist" came into vogue for individuals and organizations espousing a revolutionary road to socialism.

Early 20th Century[link]

Eduard Bernstein, 1895.

The modern social democratic movement came into being through a break within the socialist movement^{[dubious – discuss]} in the early years of the 20th century. Speaking broadly, this break can be described as a parting of ways between those who insisted upon political revolution as a precondition for the achievement of socialist goals and those who maintained that a gradual or evolutionary path to socialism was both possible and desirable.^[16] Many related movements, including pacifism, anarchism, and syndicalism, arose at the same time; these ideologies were often promulgated by individuals who split from the preexisting socialist movement, and held a variety of quite different objections to Marxism.

One of the key founders of contemporary social democracy was Eduard Bernstein, a proponent of reformist socialism and a revisionist of Marxism. Bernstein had originally been a Marxist and had held close association to Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, but he saw flaws in Marxian thinking and began such criticism when he investigated and challenged the Marxian materialist theory of history.^[17] Bernstein criticized Marxism's concept of "irreconciliable class conflicts" and Marxism's hostility to liberalism.^[18] Bernstein challenged Marx's position on liberalism by claiming that liberal democrats and social democrats held common grounds that he claimed could be utilized to create a "socialist republic".^[18]

On the issue of class conflict, Bernstein believed that economic class disparities between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat would gradually be eliminated through legal reforms and economic redistribution programs.^[18] Bernstein rejected the Marxian principle of dictatorship of the proletariat, claiming that gradualist democratic reforms will improve the rights of the working class.^[19] According to Bernstein, unlike orthodox Marxism, social democracy did not seek to create a socialism separate from bourgeois society but instead sought to create a common development based on Western humanism.^[20] The development of socialism under social democracy does not seek to rupture existing society and its cultural traditions but to act as an enterprise of extension and growth.^[21] Furthermore, he believed that class cooperation was a preferable course to achieve socialism, rather than class conflict.^[22] On the issue of class conflict and responding to the Marxian principle of dictatorship of the proletariat, Bernstein said:

"No one thinks of destroying civil society as a community ordered in a civilized war. Quite to the contrary, Social Democracy does not want to break up civil society and make all its members proletarians together; rather, it ceaselessly labors to raise the worker from the social position of a proletarian to that of a citizen and thus make citizenship universal. It does not want to replace civil society with a proletarian society but a capitalist order of society with a socialist one." Eduard Bernstein^[23]

Bernstein urged social democrats to be committed to a long-term agenda of transforming the capitalist economy to a socialist economy rather than a sudden upheaval of capitalism, saying:

"Social democracy should neither expect nor desire the imminent collapse of the existing economic system … What social democracy should be doing, and doing for a long time to come, is organize the working class politically, train it for democracy, and fight for any and all reforms in the state which are designed to raise the working class and make the state more democratic." Eduard Bernstein^[24]

Bernstein accepted a mixed economy for an unspecified amount of time:^[25]

"It [socialism] would be completely mad to burden itself with the additional tasks of so complex a nature as the setting up and controlling of comprehensive state production centers on a mass scale – quite apart from the fact that only certain specific branches of production can be run on a national basis…Competition would have to be reckoned with, at least in the transitional period." Eduard Bernstein.^[25]

"[...] in addition to public enterprises and cooperative enterprises, there are enterprises run by private individuals for their own gain. In time, they will of their own accord acquire a cooperative character." Eduard Bernstein.^[26]

The social democrats, who had created the largest socialist organizations of that era, did not reject Marxism (and in fact claimed to uphold it), but a number of key individuals wanted to reform Marx's arguments in order to promulgate a less hostile criticism of capitalism. They argued that socialism should be achieved through evolution of society rather than revolution. Such views were strongly opposed by the revolutionary socialists, who argued that any attempt to reform capitalism was doomed to fail, for the reformers would be gradually corrupted and eventually turn into capitalists themselves.

Despite their differences, the reformist and revolutionary branches of socialism remained united through the Second International until the outbreak of World War I. A differing view on the legitimacy of the war proved to be the final straw for this tenuous union. The reformist socialists supported their respective national governments in the war, a fact that was seen by the revolutionary socialists as outright treason against the working class; in other words, the revolutionary socialists believed that this stance betrayed the principle that the workers of all nations should unite in overthrowing capitalism, and decried the fact that usually the lowest classes are the ones sent into the war to fight and die.

Bitter arguments ensued within socialist parties, as for example between Eduard Bernstein, the leading reformist socialist, and Rosa Luxemburg, one of the leading revolutionary socialists within the SPD in Germany. Eventually, after the Russian Revolution of 1917, most of the world's socialist parties fractured. The reformist socialists kept the name social democrats, while many revolutionary socialists began calling themselves communists, and they soon formed the modern Communist movement. These communist parties soon formed an exclusive Third Internationale known globally as the Comintern.

In 1920, the Social Democratic Party of Sweden was elected to a minority government. It created a Socialization Committee that declared support for a mixed economy that combined the best of private initiative with social ownership or control, it supported substantial socialization "of all necessary natural resources, industrial enterprises, credit institutions, transportation and communication routes" that would be gradually transferred to the state.^[27] It permitted private ownership outside of these areas.^[27] However in the 1930s several Swedish social democratic leadership figures, including Nils Karleby and Rickard Sandler - the secretary and chairman of the Socialization Committee, considered these policies to be too extreme.^[27] Karlby and Sanders developed a new conception of social democratic socialism: the social market economy that called for gradual socialization and redistribution of purchasing power, provision of educational opportunity, support of property rights, permitting private enterprise on the condition that it adheres to the principle that the resources of which it disposes are in reality public means, and the creation of a broad category of social welfare rights.^[28]

By the 1920s, the doctrinal differences between social democrats and communists of all factions (be they Orthodox Marxists, Bolsheviks, or Mensheviks) had solidified.

Post–World War II[link]

A red rose is often used as a symbol of social democracy, mostly adopted in the period after WW2.^[29]

Social democracy, as practiced in Europe in 1951, was a socialist movement supporting gradualism; the belief that gradual democratic reforms to capitalist economies will eventually succeed in creating a socialist economy,^[30] rejecting forcible imposition of socialism through revolutionary means.^[30] This gradualism has resulted in various far left groups, including communists, of accusing social democracy of accepting the values of capitalist society and therefore not being a genuine form of socialism.^[30] Social democracy rejects the Marxian principle of dictatorship of the proletariat, claiming that gradualist democratic reforms will improve the rights of the working class.^[19]

After World War II, a new international organization to represent social democracy and democratic socialism, the Socialist International in 1951. In the founding Frankfurt Declaration, the Socialist International denounced both capitalism and Bolshevik communism. As for Bolshevik communism, the Declaration denounced it in articles 7, 8, and 9, saying:

• 7. Meanwhile, as Socialism advances throughout the world, new forces have arisen to threaten the movement towards freedom and social justice. Since the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, Communism has split the International Labour Movement and has set back the realisation of Socialism in many countries for decades.^[31]

• 8. Communism falsely claims a share in the Socialist tradition. In fact it has distorted that tradition beyond recognition. It has built up a rigid theology which is incompatible with the critical spirit of Marxism.^[31]

• 9. Where Socialists aim to achieve freedom and justice by removing the exploitation which divides men under capitalism, Communists seek to sharpen those class divisions only in order to establish the dictatorship of a single party.^[31]

• 10. International Communism is the instrument of a new imperialism. Wherever it has achieved power it has destroyed freedom or the chance of gaining freedom. It is based on a militarist bureaucracy and a terrorist police. By producing glaring contrasts of wealth and privilege it has created a new class society. Forced labour plays an important part in its economic organisation."^[31]

Following the split between social democrats and communists, another split developed within social democracy, between those who still believed it was necessary to abolish capitalism (without revolution) and replace it with a socialist system through democratic parliamentary means, and those who believed that the capitalist system could be retained but needed dramatic reform, such as the nationalization of large businesses, the implementation of social programs (public education, universal health care, and the like) and the partial redistribution of wealth through the permanent establishment of a welfare state based on progressive taxation.

Eventually, most social democratic parties have come to be dominated by the latter position and, in the post–World War II era, have abandoned any commitment to abolish capitalism.^{[citation needed][dubious – discuss]} For instance, in 1959, the Social Democratic Party of Germany adopted the Godesberg Program, which rejected class struggle and Marxism. While "social democrat" and "democratic socialist" continued to be used interchangeably, by the 1990s in the English-speaking world at least, the two terms had generally come to signify respectively the latter and former positions.

In Italy, the Italian Democratic Socialist Party was founded in 1947, and from 1948 on supported the idea of a centrist alliance.^{[citation needed]} Since the late 1980s, many other social democratic parties have adopted the "Third Way", either formally or in practice.^{[citation needed]} Modern social democrats are generally in favor of a mixed economy, which is in many ways capitalistic, but explicitly defend governmental provision of certain social services.^{[citation needed]}

In 1982, the social democratic government of Sweden adopted the Meidner Plan of Rudolf Meidner to pursue a gradualist socialist agenda to achieve in order: first, pursue the enhancement of political democracy and citizenship; second, pursue entrenching social rights; third, and lastly it would be then be able to implement economic democracy and social ownership.^[32] The Plan focused on a 20 percent annual taxation of private enterprise to be used to create investment funds that were to be owned collectively by employees.^[33] Rudolf Meidner stated that his plan was a gradualist "creeping socialism" that through its annual 20 percent taxation on private enterprise and transferring of the money gained to socially-owned investment funds would result in wage-earners gaining a controlling share in their enterprises within twenty-five to fifty years.^[33] The Meidner Plan was cancelled in 1990 after the Swedish Social Democrats were defeated in Sweden's election to a new conservative government that scrapped the plan.

Many social democratic parties have shifted emphasis from their traditional goals of social justice to human rights and environmental issues. In this, they are facing an increasing challenge from Greens, who view ecology as fundamental to peace, require reform of money supply, and promote safe trade measures to ensure ecological integrity. In Germany in particular, Greens and Social Democrats have cooperated in so-called red–green alliances. The present government in Norway is known as the Red-Green Coalition, whilst the opposition bloc in Sweden is the similarly titled Red-Greens, with social democratic parties forming the largest components of both alliances.

Present[link]

In the 2000s (decade) and 2010s, several major European social democratic parties lost support, such as the defeat of the Social Democratic Party of Germany in the 2005 German election, and the defeat of the British Labour Party in the 2010 British election, and the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party in the 2011 Spanish election. However there have been major increases in support for social democratic parties elsewhere. In North America there was a massive surge in support for Canada's New Democratic Party in the 2011 Canadian election allowing the party for its first time in Canadian history became the second largest political party in the Canadian Parliament. The New Democratic Party is the second strongest social democratic party of a sovereign state in North America. The Institutional Revolutionary Party is one of two parties in Mexico affiliated with the Socialist International (the Party of the Democratic Revolution is the other), and has formed a government at the federal level in Mexico, unlike the New Democratic Party, which has only formed a government in Canada at the provincial level.

Social democracy advocates the creation of legal reforms and economic redistribution programs to eliminate economic class disparities between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.^[18] It advocates the development of an economic democracy and the development of cooperative business organizations as an alternative to private enterprise.^[34][35] One example of a modern social democratic economic plan was the Meidner Plan in Sweden which was enacted in 1982 and promoted a gradualist market socialist achievement of social ownership through taxation on private enterprise and transferring of the money gained to socially-owned investment funds that gradually will result in wage-earners gaining a controlling share in their enterprises;^[33] although by the early 1990s the Social Democrats had lost their enthusiasm for it.^[36] Practical modern social democratic policies include the promotion of a welfare state, and the creation of economic democracy as a means to secure workers' rights.^[37] The Frankfurt Declaration of the Socialist International in 1951, attended by many social democratic parties from across the world, committed adherents to oppose Bolshevik communism—especially Stalinism, and to promote a gradual transformation of capitalism into socialism.^[31]

Many of the policies espoused by social democrats in the first half of the 20th century have since been put into practice by social democratic governments throughout the industrialized world. Industries have been nationalized, public spending has seen a large long-term rise, and the role of the state in providing free-to-user or subsidized health care and education has increased greatly. Many of the reforms made by social democrats in Europe, such as the establishment of national health care services, have been embraced by liberals and conservatives, and there is no support outside of a radical fringe for a return to 19th-century levels of public spending and economic regulation. Even in the United States, where no major social democratic party exists, there are regulatory programmes (such as public health and environmental protection) and welfare programmes (such as Medicare^[38] and Medicaid^[39]) which enjoy bipartisan support.

In recent years, several^{[citation needed]} social democratic parties (in particular, the British Labour Party) have embraced more centrist, Third Way policy positions, and thus supported both the privatization of certain state-controlled industries and services and the reduction of certain forms of regulation of the market. Since the 1980s, there has been a perception that social democracy has been on the retreat in the Western world, particularly in English-speaking countries, where social democratic values are arguably not as firmly rooted in local law and culture as elsewhere. Traditional social democrats argue that Third Way ideology has caused the movement to become too centrist, and even that the movement may be becoming centre-right. In general, apparent reversals in policy have encountered significant opposition among party members and core voters; many of the latter have claimed that their leaders have betrayed the principles of social democracy.^[40] The development of Third Way social democracy has resulted in the rise of democratic socialism as a distinct break away ideology from social democracy. In many countries, social democrats continue to exist alongside democratic socialists, who stand to the left of them on the political spectrum. The two movements sometimes operate within the same political party, such as the Brazilian Workers' Party^[41] and the Socialist Party of France.

Supporters of Third Way ideals argue that they merely represent a necessary or pragmatic adaptation of social democracy to the realities of the modern world: traditional social democracy thrived during the prevailing international climate of the post-war Bretton Woods consensus, which collapsed in the 1970s. In Britain, where the electorate rejected the Labour Party four times consecutively between 1979 and 1997, Third Way politician Tony Blair and his colleagues in the New Labour movement took the strategic decision to disassociate themselves publicly from the previous, explicitly democratic socialist incarnations of their party. The Labour Government that came to power in 1997 continued the tradition that Margaret Thatcher started in the 1980s of selling out nationalized industries, and the income gap between the rich and the poor grew. This challenge to traditional social democractic ideals alienated many backbenchers, including some who advocated a less militant ideology of social democracy.^[42]

The development of new social democratic policies in this environment is the subject of wide-ranging debate within the left and centre-left. A number of political think-tanks, such as Policy Network and Wiardi Beckman Stichting, have been active in facilitating and promoting this debate.

Since the rise in popularity of the New Right and neoliberalism, a number of prominent modern social democratic parties have abandoned the goal of the gradual evolution of capitalism to socialism and instead support welfare state capitalism.^[43]

Political parties[link]

Social democratic political parties, which sometimes also include a democratic socialist element, operate in many developed and developing countries, including France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, Australia, Israel and Brazil. Most European social democratic parties are members of the Party of European Socialists,^[44] which is one of the main political parties at the European level,^[45] and its parliamentary group the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats. Globally, most social democratic parties worldwide are members of the Socialist International.^[46]

In many cases, social democratic parties are the dominant (India, Portugal, Australia) or second-placed (Canada, Italy, Sweden, Germany, United Kingdom)^[47] players within their respective political systems, though in some cases they are minor parties in federal politics (Ireland, Russia). The United States is the only industrial nation that does not currently have an official major social democratic party, although many consider large portions of the Green Party and some liberal factions of the Democratic Party to be social democratic. Some conservatives in the U.S. have accused President Barack Obama of being either a "Democratic Socialist" or "Social Democrat", but Obama and the mainstream of the Democratic Party reject these accusations. Obama identifies with contemporary American Progressivism. Critics of Obama on the left identify him as generally holding centrist views.^[48][49][50]

Since the 1960s, many social democrats have broadened their objectives beyond the field of economic policy to include aspects of environmentalism, feminism, racial equality and multiculturalism. Another notable development is the tendency since the 1980s for social democratic parties to distance themselves from distinctively left-wing economic policies such as public ownership and dirigisme, adopting instead policies that support a relatively lightly regulated economy and emphasize equality of opportunity.

This trend, known as the Third Way, is controversial among some of the left, many of whom argue that Third Way politicians (such as Tony Blair and Bill Clinton)^[40] have moved too far to the centre, or even the centre-right. Others, such as the leadership of the UK Labour Party, reject this critique.^[51]

Criticisms[link]

Socialist critics of contemporary social democracy include Democratic socialists, Marxian socialists, revolutionary socialists, Syndicalists and anarchists. The most common criticism leveled against social democracy by socialists is that social democratic programs maintain the capitalist system (and therefore retains its fundamental issues, such as cyclical fluctuations and social contradictions) and as a result, the social democratic reformist policies are used to legitimize capitalism and economic exploitation by making it appear more equitable, thereby becoming an impediment to fundamental restructuring of the social and economic systems.^[52]

Marxists further argue that social democratic and welfare state policies limit the incentive system of the market by providing things such as minimum wages, unemployment insurance, taxing profits and reducing the reserve army of labor, resulting in reduced incentives for capitalists to invest in more production. In essence, social welfare policies cripple the capitalism and its incentive system and are thus unsustainable in the long-run.^[52] Marxists argue that the establishment of a socialist mode of production is the only way to overcome these deficiencies.

Democratic socialists and libertarian socialists contend that social democracy has degenerated into pragmatic opportunism; rather than changing the world, social democracy merely changed itself to accommodate its tactics.^[53] These groups regard social democracy as an elitist and unrealistic movement for relying on electoral changes to reform capitalism, relying solely on liberal parliamentary (representation from above) rather than popular representation and spontaneous organization from the grassroots-level.^[53]

Notable social democrats[link]

This is an abbreviated list of well-known social democrats. For a comprehensive list, see List of social democrats

See also[link]

	Socialism portal
	Social movements portal

• History of socialism
• List of social democratic parties
• List of social democrats
• Democratic socialism

Political theory[link]

• Dirigisme
• Constitutional economics
• Political economy
• Rule according to higher law
• Left-wing politics
• Progressivism
• Liberalism
• Reformism
• Mixed Economy
• The Third Way

Social democracy as viewed by critics[link]

• Managerial state
• Social fascism
• State capitalism

Social democracy in practice[link]

• Flexicurity
• Scandinavian welfare model
• Social corporatism
• Social welfare in Sweden
• Social market economy
• Rhine Capitalism
• Welfare state

References[link]

External links[link]

Look up social democracy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Social Democratic Parties, a comprehensive list of social democratic parties until 2005. The listing needs an update.

International organizations[link]

• The Party of European Socialists
• The Socialist International
• Policy Network, a social democratic think-tank

Social democratic literature[link]

• Political + Social + Economic democracies <=> socialism
• Papers on the Future of Social Democracy in Canada
• Beyond Ideology, The Social Welfare State by Jeffrey D. Sachs
• Social Democracy in the unfinished global revolution by Martin Shaw
• Global Social Democracy

Criticism of social democracy[link]

• The Crisis of Social Democracy by Rosa Luxemburg
• "What remains of Socialism" by Emile Perreau-Saussine

Links to related articles v t e Social Democracy Precursors Humanism · Age of Enlightenment · French Revolution · Utopian socialism · Trade unionism · Revolutions of 1848 · Orthodox Marxism Development Revisionism · Reformism · Gradualism · Frankfurt Declaration Policies Representative democracy · Civil liberties · Labor rights · Mixed economy · Nationalization · Welfare state · Fair trade · Environmental protection · Secularism Organizations Social democratic parties · Socialist International · Party of European Socialists · International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) Leaders Clement Attlee  · Obafemi Awolowo  · Eduard Bernstein  · Zulfikar Ali Bhutto  · Hjalmar Branting · Ignacy Daszyński  · Tommy Douglas  · Willem Drees  · Friedrich Ebert  · Bülent Ecevit  · Jean Jaurès  · Zhang Junmai  · Tetsu Katayama  · Ferdinand Lassalle  · René Lévesque  · Ramsay MacDonald  · Nelson Mandela  · Jawaharlal Nehru  · José Batlle y Ordóñez  · Bob Hawke Anthem The Internationale Politics portal · Socialism portal v t e Political ideologies Anarchism Capitalism Christian democracy Communism Communitarianism Conservatism Fascism Feminism Green politics Islamism Liberalism Libertarianism Militarism Nationalism Progressivism Social democracy Socialism Toryism Utilitarianism Whiggism List of political ideologies Politics portal

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (May 2011)

James Laxer (born December 22, 1941) is a Canadian political economist, professor^[1] and author.^[2]

In 1969, Laxer, along with his father Robert Laxer and Mel Watkins, founded the Waffle,^[3] a radical left wing group influenced by the New Left, the anti-Vietnam War movement and Canadian economic nationalism, that tried to win control of the New Democratic Party (NDP).

In 1971, Laxer ran for the leadership of the federal NDP, and shocked the convention by winning one-third of the vote against party stalwert David Lewis. The Waffle was ultimately forced out of the NDP and briefly became an independent political party under the name "Movement for an Independent Socialist Canada". Laxer and other Wafflers unsuccessfully ran for Parliament in 1974. This electoral failure led to the Waffle's dissolution, and Laxer concentrated on his work as an academic at York University and in broadcasting.

In 1981, he was hired as director of research for the federal NDP, but left in controversy in 1983 when he published a report critiquing the party's economic policies as being "out of date".

Laxer remains prominent as an author, columnist and commentator.

Laxer has four children: Michael, Kate, Emily and Jonathan.

Publications[link]

• James Laxer (1993). False god: how the globalization myth has impoverished Canada. Lester Pub.. ISBN 978-1-895555-09-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=BjqwAAAAIAAJ. 
• James Laxer (1996). In search of a new left: Canadian politics after the neoconservative assault. Viking. ISBN 978-0-670-85901-6. http://books.google.com/books?id=g9YLAAAAYAAJ. 
• James Laxer (1998). The undeclared war: class conflict in the age of cyber capitalism. Viking. http://books.google.com/books?id=IJgbAQAAMAAJ. 
• James Laxer (2000). Stalking the elephant: my discovery of America. Viking. http://books.google.com/books?id=YmwaAQAAIAAJ. 
• James Laxer (2003). The border: Canada, the U.S. and dispatches from the 49th parallel. Doubleday Canada. http://books.google.com/books?id=eaURAQAAIAAJ. 
• James Laxer (2005). Red Diaper Baby: A Boyhood in the Age of McCarthyism. Douglas & McIntyre. ISBN 978-1-55365-150-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=I_QfDpJ-ymsC. 
• James Laxer (2007). The Acadians: In Search of a Homeland. Doubleday Canada. ISBN 978-0-385-66109-6. http://books.google.com/books?id=ij_-LlhmRfAC. 
• James Laxer (2008). Mission of Folly: Canada and Afghanistan. Between the Lines Books. ISBN 978-1-897071-37-3. http://books.google.com/books?id=6vwVAQAAMAAJ. 

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website

Nigel Farage MEP
Leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 5 November 2010
Preceded by	Jeffrey Titford
In office 27 September 2006 – 27 November 2009
Preceded by	Roger Knapman
Succeeded by	Lord Pearson of Rannoch
Member of the European Parliament for South East England
Incumbent
Assumed office 15 July 1999
Personal details
Born	(1964-04-03) 3 April 1964 (age 48) Kent, England, United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Political party	UK Independence Party
Spouse(s)	Gráinne Hayes (1988-1997, divorced) Kirsten Mehr (1999-present)
Children	4
Alma mater	Dulwich College
Religion	Church of England
Website	Nigel Farage MEP

Nigel Paul Farage ( /ˈfærɑːʒ/, FARR-ahzh;^[1] born 3 April 1964, Farnborough, Kent), is a British politician and is the Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP),^[2] a position he also held from September 2006 to November 2009. He is a Member of the European Parliament for South East England and co-chairs the Eurosceptic Europe of Freedom and Democracy group.

Farage is a founding member of the UKIP, having left the Conservative Party in 1992 after they signed the Maastricht Treaty. Having unsuccessfully campaigned in European and Westminster parliamentary elections for UKIP since 1994, he gained a seat as an MEP for South East England in the 1999 European Parliament Election — the first year the regional list system was used — and was re-elected in 2004 and 2009. Farage describes himself as a libertarian and rejects the notion that he is a conservative.

In September 2006, Farage became the UKIP Leader and led the party through the 2009 European Parliament Election in which it received the second highest share of the popular vote, defeating Labour and the Liberal Democrats with over two million votes. However he stepped down in November 2009 to concentrate on contesting the Speaker John Bercow's seat of Buckingham in the 2010 general election.

At the 2010 General Election, Farage failed to unseat John Bercow and received only the third highest share of the vote in the constituency. Shortly after the polls opened on 6 May 2010, Nigel Farage was injured in an aircraft crash in Northamptonshire. The two-seated PZL-104 Wilga 35A had been towing a pro-UKIP banner when it flipped over and crashed shortly after takeoff. Both Farage and the pilot were hospitalised with non-life-threatening injuries.^[3]

In November 2010, Farage successfully stood in the 2010 UKIP leadership contest,^[4] following the resignation of its leader, Lord Pearson of Rannoch. Farage was also ranked 41st (out of 100) in The Daily Telegraph's Top 100 most influential right-wingers poll in October 2009, citing his media savvy and his success with UKIP in the European Elections.^[5] Farage was ranked 58th in the 2010 list compiled by Iain Dale and Brian Brivati for the Daily Telegraph.

Background[link]

Farage was educated at Dulwich College before joining a commodity brokerage firm in London. He ran his own brokerage business from the early 1990s until 2002. In his early 20s Farage was diagnosed with testicular cancer but made a full recovery.^[6]

Farage has been married twice. He married Gráinne Hayes in 1988, with whom he had two children: Samuel (1989) and Thomas (1991). In 1999 he married Kirsten Mehr, a German national, by whom he has two more children, Victoria (born 2000) and Isabelle (born 2005).^[7]

Farage has also penned his own memoirs, entitled "Fighting Bull." It outlines the founding of UKIP and his personal and political life so far.

Political career[link]

Conservative Party[link]

Active in the Conservative Party from his school days, Farage left the party in 1992 when John Major's government signed the Treaty on European Union at Maastricht.

UKIP and the European Parliament[link]

Farage became a founding member of UKIP in 1993.

He was elected to the European Parliament in 1999 and re-elected in 2004 and 2009. Farage is presently the leader of the thirteen-member UKIP contingent in the European Parliament, and co-leader of the multinational eurosceptic group, Europe of Freedom and Democracy.

UKIP party leadership[link]

On 12 September 2006, Farage was elected leader of UKIP with 45% of the vote, 20% ahead of his nearest rival.^[8] He pledged to bring discipline to the party and to maximise UKIP's representation in local, parliamentary and other elections.^{[citation needed]} In a PM programme interview on BBC Radio 4 that day he pledged to end the public perception of UKIP as a single-issue party and to work with allied politicians in the Better Off Out campaign, committing himself not to stand against the MPs who have signed up to that campaign (ten in all at this moment).

At his maiden speech to the UKIP conference on 8 October 2006, he told delegates that the party was "at the centre-ground of British public opinion" and the "real voice of opposition". Farage said: "We've got three social democratic parties in Britain — Labour, Lib Dem and Conservative are virtually indistinguishable from each other on nearly all the main issues" and "you can't put a cigarette paper between them and that is why there are nine million people who don't vote now in general elections that did back in 1992."^[9]

At 10pm on 19 October 2006, Farage took part in a three-hour live interview and phone-in with James Whale on national radio station talkSPORT. Four days later, Whale announced on his show his intention to stand as UKIP's candidate in the 2008 London Mayoral Election. Farage said that Whale "not only has guts, but an understanding of what real people think". However Whale later decided not to stand and UKIP was represented by Gerard Batten.^[10] He stood again for UKIP leadership in 2010 after his successor Lord Pearson stood down.^[4] On the 5th November 2010 it was announced Farage had won the leadership contest.^[11]

Westminster elections[link]

Farage had unsuccessfully contested UK parliamentary elections for UKIP five times, both before and after his election as an MEP in 1999. Under the 2002 European Union decision to forbid MEPs from holding a dual mandate, if he was ever elected to the House of Commons, he would have to resign his seat as an MEP.

When he contested the Bromley & Chislehurst constituency in a May 2006 by-election, organised after the sitting MP representing it, eurosceptic Conservative Eric Forth, died, Farage came third, winning 8% of the vote, beating the Labour Party candidate. This was the second-best by-election result recorded by UKIP out of 25 results, and the first time since the Liverpool Walton by-election in 1991 that a party in government had been pushed into fourth place in a parliamentary by-election on mainland Britain.

2010 UK General election[link]

On 4 September 2009 Farage resigned as leader of UKIP to concentrate on his campaign to become Member of Parliament for Buckingham at Westminster in the 2010 general election.^[12] He later told Times journalist Camilla Long that UKIP internal fights took up too much time.^[13]

He stood against Buckingham MP John Bercow, the newly elected Speaker of the House of Commons, despite a convention that the speaker, as a political neutral, is not normally challenged in his or her bid for re-election by any of the major parties.^[14]

On 6 May, on the morning the polls opened in the election, just before eight o'clock Farage was involved in a light aircraft crash, suffering injuries described as non-life-threatening. A spokesperson told the BBC that "it was unlikely Mr Farage would be discharged from hospital today [6 May]^[15] Although his injuries were originally described as minor, his sternum and ribs were broken, and his lung punctured.^[16] The Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) report said that the aeroplane was towing a banner, which caught in the tailplane, forcing the nose down.^[17]

Farage came third with 8,401 votes. Bercow was re-elected, and in second place with 10,331 votes was John Stevens, a former Conservative MEP who campaigned as an independent accompanied by "Flipper the Dolphin" (a reference to MPs flipping second homes).^[18]

On 1 December 2010, the pilot of the aircraft involved in the accident was charged with threatening to kill Farage. He was also charged with threatening to kill an AAIB official involved in the investigation into the accident.^[19] In April 2011, Justin Adams was found guilty of making death threats. The judge said the defendant was "clearly extremely disturbed" at the time the offences happened adding "He is a man who does need help. If I can find a way of giving him help I will."^[20]

Alternative Vote referendum, May 2011[link]

Farage declared himself personally in favour of the Alternative Vote system of May 2011, saying first-past-the-post is a "nightmare" for UKIP. However, the party's stance has to be decided by its central policy making committee.^[21]

May 2012 London Mayor & Local elections[link]

In a "bizarre cock-up," UKIP forgot to put their party name on their candidate's ballot paper for the London mayoral election, 2012^[22], Laurence Webb appearing as "A fresh choice for London." Farage admitted the mistake describing it as an internal error.^[22]
Interviewed by the following Sunday by Andrew Neil and asked about "the game plan", Farage welcomed the "average 13% vote" across the country, and stated that the party was preparing for County council in 2013, European elections in 2014 and a general election in 2015.^[23] The party was no longer just a protest vote, it would have a full manifesto with policies including selective schools, help to small businesses by "getting rid of excessive labour practices" and an energy policy not based on wind turbines.^[23] UKIP was here to stay ..frankly the Tory Eurosceptics were in the wrong party and would be better off joining UKIP. Asked what would happen to UKIP if the Tories made a Manifesto commitment to a European referendum, Farage said they had already failed to honour a "cast iron" commitment for a referendum on the Lisbon treaty.^[23]

Challenging Farange's viewpoint, Neil said UKIP aspired to come top of the European elections but whilst UKIP wanted to join the big time, they were still seen as "unprofessional, amateur and even unacceptable" after their press officer called Baroness Warsi "a bitch".^[23] Farage regretted "the wrong choice of words" but further described Warsi as "the lowest grade chairman the Tory party has ever had."^[23] Neil then mocked the so called internal error which had made Farage "a joke".^[23] "The blunt truth is" UKIP "didn't win any more seats, the performance in London was terrible and they were still a one man band."^[23] Farage conceded London was a failure but they had won council seats elsewhere. He invited Tories who couldn't stand Cameron to help him.^[23]

Controversies and whistleblowing[link]

Copyright infringement[link]

In 1999 the BBC spent four months filming a documentary about his European elections campaign but didn't show it. Farage, then head of UKIP's South East office, asked for a video and got friends to make illegal copies which were sold for £5 through the UKIP magazine. Surrey Trading Standards investigated and Farage has admitted the offence.^[24]

Expenses disclosure[link]

In May 2009, The Guardian reported that Farage had said in a speech to the Foreign Press Association that over ten years as a member of the European Parliament he received £2 million of taxpayers' money in staff, travel, and other expenses on top of his £64,000 a year salary.^[25]

The former Europe Minister, Denis MacShane, said that this showed that Farage was "happy to line his pockets with gold". Farage called this a "misrepresentation",^[26] pointing out that the money had been used to promote UKIP's message and staff salaries, not his own salary, but he welcomed the focus on the issue of MEP expenses, claiming that "[o]ver a five year term each and every one of Britain's 78 MEPs gets about £1 million. It is used to employ administrative staff, run their offices and to travel back and forth between their home, Brussels and Strasbourg."^[27]

Jacques Barrot[link]

On 18 November 2004, Farage announced in the European Parliament that Jacques Barrot, the French Commissioner designate, had been barred from elected office in France for 2 years, after being convicted in 2000 of embezzling £2 million from government funds and diverting it into the coffers of his party. He claimed that French President Jacques Chirac had granted Barrot amnesty. Although initial BBC reports claimed that, under French law, it was illegal even to mention the conviction,^[28] the prohibition in question only applies to French officials in the course of their duties.^[29] The president of the Parliament, Josep Borrell, enjoined him to retract his comments under threat of "legal consequences".^[30] However, the following day it was confirmed that Barrot had received an 8 month suspended jail sentence in the case, and that this had been quickly expunged by the amnesty decided by Chirac and his parliamentary majority. The Commission's president, Jose Manuel Barroso admitted that he had not known of Barrot's criminal record when appointing him as a Commission vice-president.^{[citation needed]} The Socialist and Liberal groups in the European Parliament then joined UKIP in demanding the resignation of Barrot for failing to disclose the conviction during his confirmation hearings.

José Manuel Barroso[link]

During the spring of 2005, Farage requested that the European Commission disclose where the individual Commissioners had spent their holidays. The Commission did not provide the information requested, on the basis that the Commissioners had a right of privacy. The German newspaper Die Welt reported that the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso had spent a week on the yacht of the Greek shipping billionaire Spiro Latsis. It emerged soon afterwards that this had occurred a month before the Commission under Barroso's predecessor Romano Prodi approved 10.3 million euro of Greek state aid for Latsis' shipping company.^[31] It also became known that Peter Mandelson, then a member of the Commission, had accepted a trip to Jamaica from an unrevealed source.

Farage persuaded around 75 MEPs from across the political divide to back a motion of no confidence in Barroso, which would be sufficient to compel Barroso to appear before the European Parliament to be questioned on the issue.^[32] The motion was successfully tabled on 12 May 2005, and Barroso appeared before Parliament^[33] at a debate on 26 May 2005. The motion was heavily defeated. A Conservative MEP, Roger Helmer, was expelled from his group, the European People's Party - European Democrats (EPP-ED) in the middle of the debate by that group's leader Hans-Gert Poettering as a result of his support for Farage's motion.

Joseph Daul[link]

In January 2007, the French farmers' leader Joseph Daul was elected the new leader of the European People's Party–European Democrats (EPP-ED), the European Parliamentary grouping which then included the British Conservatives. The UK Independence Party almost immediately revealed that Daul had been under judicial investigation in France since 2004 as part of an inquiry into the alleged misuse of public funds worth €16 million (£10.6 million) by French farming unions."^[34] It was not suggested that Daul had personally benefited, but was accused of "complicity and concealment of the abuse of public funds." Daul accused Farage of publicising the investigation for political reasons and threatened to sue Farage, but did not do so though the court dropped all charges against him.

Prince Charles[link]

Prince Charles gave a speech to the European Parliament on 14 February 2008, in which he called for EU leadership in the war against climate change. During the standing ovation that followed, Farage was the only MEP to remain seated and went on to describe the Prince's advisers as "naïve and foolish at best."^[35] Farage continued: "How can somebody like Prince Charles be allowed to come to the European Parliament at this time to announce he thinks it should have more powers? It would have been better for the country he wants to rule one day if he had stayed home and tried to persuade Gordon Brown to give the people the promised referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon." The leader of the UK Labour Party's MEPs, Gary Titley, accused Farage of anti-Royalism. Titley said: "I was embarrassed and disgusted when the Leader of the UK Independence Party, Nigel Farage, remained firmly seated during the lengthy standing ovation Prince Charles received. I had not realised Mr Farage's blind adherence to right wing politics involved disloyalty and discourtesy to the Royal Family. He should be thoroughly ashamed of himself and should apologise to the British people he represents."^[35]

Herman Van Rompuy[link]

After the speech of Herman Van Rompuy on 24 February 2010 in the European parliament, Farage—to protests from other MEPs—addressed the first long-term President of the European Council saying that he has the "charisma of a damp rag and the appearance of low grade bank clerk".^[36] Farage questioned the legitimacy of Van Rompuy's appointment asking "Who are you? I'd never heard of you, nobody in Europe had ever heard of you", he also asserted that Van Rompuy's "intention is to be the quiet assassin of European democracy and of European nation states."^[36] In the same speech he also referred to Belgium, the home of Van Rompuy, as "pretty much a non-country".^[37] Van Rompuy commented afterwards, "There was one contribution that I can only hold in contempt, but I'm not going to comment further."^[36] After refusing to apologise for behaviour that was, in the words of the President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, "inappropriate, unparliamentary and insulting to the dignity of the House", Farage was reprimanded and had his right to ten days' allowance (expenses) rescinded.^{[38] [39]}

The President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, said after his meeting with Farage:

I defend absolutely Mr Farage's right to disagree about the policy or institutions of the Union, but not to personally insult our guests in the European Parliament or the country from which they may come. [. . .] I myself fought for free speech as the absolute cornerstone of a democratic society. But with freedom comes responsibility - in this case, to respect the dignity of others and of our institutions. I am disappointed by Mr Farage's behaviour, which sits ill with the great parliamentary tradition of his own country. I cannot accept this sort of behaviour in the European Parliament. I invited him to apologise, but he declined to do so. I have therefore - as an expression of the seriousness of the matter - rescinded his right to ten days' daily allowance as a Member.^[39]

Questioned by Camilla Long, Farage declared of his speech "it wasn't abusive, it was right."^[13]

European economic governance[link]

He spoke of the EU being "German-dominated" in a speech at the European-Parliament on 18 November 2011.^[40]

Views on the euro[link]

From taking office as a UKIP MEP in 1999, Farage has often voiced opposition to the "euro project". His argument is that "a one size fits all interest rate" cannot work for countries with structurally different economies, often using the example of Greece and Germany to emphasise contrast. He predicted the need for 'bailouts' before European Commission and European Central Bank officials admitted that these steps would be necessary. Specifically, Farage predicted that Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain would all require such assistance. To date, Spain is the only predicted country that has not asked for a 'bailout'. Although Spain and Italy have both had indirect assistance from the ECB, whereby secondary government bonds are bought by the central bank, they are prohibited from purchasing new bonds. Farage warns: "You can ignore the markets if you want to, but in time the markets will not ignore you". Farage also reinforces Germany's argument that Italy "should never have joined the euro".

Farage predicts that if the situation continues it will lead to violence due to the people's inability to "determine their own futures through the ballot box" as it will become the only "logical" tool to enable them to escape from their "economic prison" i.e. the Eurozone. He proclaims "I can only hope and pray that the euro project is destroyed by the markets before that really happens."

Farage strongly opposes the use of 'bailouts' and claims that "buying your own debt with tax payers money" will not solve the problem and that, "if we do, the next debt crisis won't be a country", "it will be the European Central Bank itself".^[41][42]

Electoral performance[link]

Nigel Farage has contested several elections under the United Kingdom Independence Party banner:

• Itchen, Test and Avon, European Parliament Election 1994 - 12,423 votes, representing 5.2% of total votes cast
• Eastleigh by-election, 1994 - 952, 1.4%
• Salisbury, 1997 general election - 3,332, 5.7%
• European Parliament election, 1999 - elected member for South East England from party list
• Bexhill and Battle, 2001 general election - 3,474, 7.8%
• European Parliament election, 2004 - elected member for South East England from party list
• South Thanet, 2005 general election - 2,079, 5.0%
• Bromley and Chislehurst by-election, 2006 - 2,307, 8.0%
• European Parliament election, 2009 - elected member for South East England from party list.
• Buckingham, 2010 general election - 8,410, 17.4%

Footnotes[link]