Core Ideas and Principles of Socialism

Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.

• Level 1 - basic, undeveloped knowledge of the socialist view of the economy, with little or no accurate reference to Marx or to common ownership, and no analysis of the concept.3 marks
• Level 2 - accurate but generalised knowledge, identifying that socialists see capitalist private ownership of the means of production as the root cause of inequality and exploitation and/or identifying common ownership as the socialist alternative, in which the means of production are owned collectively rather than privately, with little or no accurate use of Marx by name.3 marks
• Level 3 - accurate, developed knowledge, developing the first point with Marx's account of the bourgeoisie profiting from the labour of the proletariat under capitalism, and explaining that common ownership is intended to end class-based exploitation by removing the private profit motive from production.3 marks
• Level 4 - sustained, precise analysis throughout, additionally noting that socialists disagree on how far to apply common ownership, with revolutionary socialists wanting to abolish private ownership entirely and social democrats accepting a mixed economy with some nationalised industries, and reaching a supported conclusion on how far common ownership remains central to socialism today given social democracy's move towards managing rather than abolishing capitalism.3 marks

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Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.

• basic, undeveloped knowledge of the ideology with little or no accurate reference to named thinkers.3 marks
• accurate knowledge of at least one socialist thinker or strand (for example Marx's view of the capitalist state, or Fabian gradualism) with some explanation, but analysis is one-sided or lacks a developed alternative view.3 marks
• a case for and a case against the statement, using accurate, specific content from at least two named thinkers or strands (for example contrasting Marx's revolutionary view of the state with Webb's or Crosland's reformist view), and begins to weigh the arguments.3 marks
• a balanced, well-evidenced analysis throughout, drawing accurately on named thinkers and strands (Marx and Engels, Luxemburg, Webb, Crosland) to show genuine disagreement within socialism, reaching a clear, supported judgement that directly answers the question.3 marks
• all socialist strands see the state, or collective action through it, as the vehicle for correcting the inequality and exploitation produced by unregulated capitalism, rather than leaving distribution to the market.3 marks
• both revolutionary and reformist socialists want economic power to shift towards the working class or the wider community, even if they use different means to get there.3 marks
• Marx and Engels see the state under capitalism as an instrument of bourgeois class rule that must be seized and eventually allowed to 'wither away' once class distinctions disappear under communism.2 marks
• Beatrice Webb's Fabian gradualism and Anthony Crosland's revisionism instead see the existing liberal-democratic state as a legitimate, effective tool that can be used through parliamentary reform, nationalisation and taxation to redistribute wealth without revolution.2 marks
• A strong answer might conclude that socialists agree the state (or collective power more broadly) must correct capitalism's inequalities, but disagree fundamentally on whether the existing state can be used for this purpose or must first be revolutionised.2 marks

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