Ideology of the Third Road

This article analyses „Third Road” ideology. The discussion about Third Road ideology can be divided into three main streams: Whether it is the Third Road, i.e. something radically new among ideologies, or whether this is only traditional social democracy adjusted to a new environment and answering the challenge of the New Right from the 1980s, or whether this is in fact social liberalism. The analysis of the Third Road ideology is important for theory, practice and teaching at the universities. In addition, it is important for Slovakia's leftwing which is in deep crisis of values. Firstly, the article defines the term ideology and the concept of socialism, based on comparison of four political theorists’ definitions. In this part the author argues that what in fact is the core of socialism is a socially just society. This approach helps as to the definition of what still is and what is no longer socialism. Secondly, the author identifies various historical and contemporary cases of non-social-democratic Third Roads, such as fascism, nazism, the populism of Juan Domingo Peron in Argentina and Andreas Papandreou in Greece, as well as „Third World Theory” of Muammar Al-Kaddafi in Libya. The author argues that the concept of the Third Road, as it is discussed at present, has very little if anything common with historical cases of the Third Road. Thirdly, the author compares the social-democratic Third Road with Old Left and New Right. He argues that contemporary Third Road is the response of the Left to successful challenge of the New Right in the 1980s. Detailed broader causes of the origin of new Third Road as well as theoretical concept of social democratic Third Road are analysed in the next part. This is followed with alternative approaches and views of the analyses and policies of the Third Road. It is clear that there is neither a unified theory of the Third Road, nor universal policies of the Third Road. The common element, implicitly, seems to be the concept of a socially just society and need for change. There are significant differences in understanding as to how to achieve a socially just society. The Third Road ideology is thus a significant change in the over one-hundred-year old ideology of social democracy. The new ideology is different both from the point of view of solutions offered as well as from the point of view of explanations used for proposed policies. The main shift is from ethical arguments to sociological arguments. Nevertheless, the Third Road is not the ideology of the third road senso stricto, i.e. as median between capitalism and socialism, but it is the significantly modernised ideology and policy of some social democratic parties in Western Europe. Therefore, in this sense, labeling it as the Third Road is misleading. Yet, although there are both different ideologies of the modern Third Road, as well as different policies, we can still argue that there is a new ideology present. There are, of course, some old and new problems and challenges. The key to the successful policy of the Third Road is then to find an ideal combination of market, state and society. This ideal policy should be able to correct the failures and mistakes of the market and state. Simultaneously, this policy aims at strengthening civil society. To conclude, the Third Road does exist both in theory and practice. The name „Third Road” is misleading, and different Third Road ideologies and policies exist. What there is still in common, is an attempt to create and preserve socially just society. Therefore, it is a significantly changed and modern but, still in its roots, a primarily socialist ideology.