A heated debate ensued recently between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders over who the real "progressive" candidate is. Clinton asserted that she's a "progressive who gets things done", but Sanders wasn't convinced and reminded her of her speech where she pleaded guilty that she was a moderate. Clinton didn't take Sanders charge lightly and shot back, leading to a memorable twitter feud which carried over into the Democratic debate stage.
This also reminded me about Chris Matthews questions about the difference between a Democrat and a socialist in his interviews with DNC chair, Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Hillary Clinton. Both failed to provide an answer.
Pundits never fail to amuse me! Is it really that difficult of a question? Is it that difficult to do a quick Google search?
In this article, I will explain some of the political ideologies and common misconceptions associated with them. I will also explain Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama's political ideologies.
Two-Dimensional Spectrum
Most people classify political ideologies across a one-dimensional spectrum ranging from right to left. However a better classification would be to classify them across a two-dimensional spectrum: A "social policy" dimension ranging from conservatism to liberalism, and a "fiscal policy" dimension ranging from conservatism to progressivism to socialism. Moderates (or centrists) fall anywhere in between.
I also want to note that many pundits equate liberalism with progressivism incorrectly. While the vast majority of progressives are liberal, the opposite is not necessarily true. Also, Jesse Venture, former Governor of Minnesota, describes himself as "socially liberal and fiscally conservative". Alternatively, there are religious individuals who are very socially conservative but are fiscally progressive. Pope Francis would fall in that latter category.
What does it mean to be a Democrat?
Unlike most other countries around the world, the United States has essentially a two-party system. In his book "The Price of Civilization", Jeffrey Sachs explains how the First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) electoral system is the main reason behind this phenomenon. But when there are more ideologies than the number of main parties available, the parties will accept a range of ideologies. So to answer this question, Democrats don't hold one specific ideology. Democrats can be anything from moderates to liberals socially, and moderates to progressives fiscally.
But Bernie Sanders is a socialist! Can he be a Democrat?
It's important to understand that Bernie Sanders is not a socialist (Sorry Trump, he's not a communist either). Socialists and communists believe that all means of production should be controlled by the society. Bernie Sanders doesn't support this view as he explained in his democratic socialism speech in Georgetown University.
And no! Bernie Sanders is not a democratic socialist capitalist as Josh Barro suggests. There's no such label in the first place.
This may surprise you, but Bernie Sanders is not even a Democratic Socialist! A Democratic socialist is someone who believes in socialism, but wants to achieve it through democratic means. As I explained earlier, Bernie Sanders doesn't support socialism where the society takes control of all forms of production.
Bernie Sanders is a social democrat, which means that he supports economic and social interventions to promote social justice within the framework of a capitalist economy (Sorry Rand Paul, Bernie Sanders is not Stalin or Pol Pot). He doesn't call for the end of capitalism. He doesn't call for the end of entrepreneurship. He doesn't oppose people from being rich. He is however opposed to people gaining wealth by exploiting the middle class and by pouring millions in campaign contributions to control the political process. Social democracies exist in Europe and countries like Scandinavia where healthcare is a right and college education is free. Sounds familiar?
While Bernie Sanders’ definition of Democratic Socialism may not be academically accurate, he equates democratic socialism with social democracy in his interview with Charlie Rose. He's not alone. Many Europeans parties have been equating the two terms for decades. So when Bernie Sanders speaks about Democratic Socialism, he actually refers to Social Democracy.
What does it mean to be a progressive?
Hillary Clinton in the last Democratic debate stated that a progressive "is someone who makes progress". This is true, but what she doesn't mention is "progress towards what". Republicans would argue that having a smaller government and establishing a flat tax is a form of progress. The Conservatives party in Canada was called the Progressive Conservative Party, and they were not progressive by any measure.
You may be surprised, but progressivism in the United States began as a social movement. 21st century progressives fight for income inequality and social justice. In other words, progressives are social democrats!
Yes, Elizabeth Warren is a social democrat. Dennis Kucinich is a social democrat. Members of the progressive caucus are social democrats. So yes, Bernie Sanders is a Democrat and can fit within the Democratic party.
What does it mean to be liberal?
Liberalism is a political ideology that's rooted in liberty and equality. Social liberals are pro-choice and support women's rights, human rights, civil rights, right to die and LGBT rights. Liberals believe in secularism and in the separation of Church and the State.
Is Hillary Clinton a progressive? How about Barack Obama?
Hillary Clinton is socially liberal and fiscally moderate. She supported all trade deals except for CAFTA, and now opposed the TPP which I argued was a disingenuous change in heart. She is open to raising the retirement age. She attacked Sanders Medicare for All proposal, an act that she decried in 2008. She also doesn't support reinstating Glass-Steagall.
Bernie Sanders stated that President Obama is progressive. I disagree. President Obama is socially liberal and fiscally moderate, but more to the left than other moderates. He was a good president, saving the US from a disaster with the financial industry on the verge of collapse. But in an op-ed by Ezra Klein, he argued that Barack Obama was an early 90's moderate Republican. I think that was a bit of a stretch, but the points raised by Klein were valid. For example, the Affordable Care Act, which led to the insurance of an additional 17 million Americans, is an individual mandate that was initially developed by conservative economists in the early 90's and was supported by moderate Republicans. Also, Obama supported the TPP which gives corporations great power and will likely hurt jobs and reduce wages. President Obama faced great criticism from prominent progressives.
Fun Fact 1: Soviet Union did not establish a communist or a socialist economy!
This might take you by surprise, but the "communist" Soviet Union never achieved communism. No nation in the world was ever able to establish a communist or a socialist economy. What communist nations were able to establish was State Capitalism. State Capitalism is an economic system where the government takes control of all the means of production. In other words, the new bosses are no longer wealthy CEO's, but representatives appointed by the government. Socialism and capitalism calls for the "society" not the "government" to control all means of production.
Fun Fact 2: Only "one letter" separates socialism from communism
Both Socialism and communism are economic systems where the society has control of all means of production. There's a very small difference between the two. Socialism slogan is "From each according to his ability, to each according to his deeds". Communism slogan is "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs".