Neoliberalism vs Social Democracy: Key Differences Explained
How Neoliberalism and Social Democracy differ, using sourced definitions and each model’s estimated position on the Atlas’s nine political dimensions.
Definitions
Neoliberalism
Liberalism is a political doctrine that treats protecting and enhancing individual freedom as the central problem of politics. Liberals typically see government as necessary to protect people from harm by others, while recognizing that government itself can threaten liberty.
Source: Britannica: Liberalism
Social Democracy
Socialism is a political and economic system in which the major means of production, such as land, natural resources and factories, are owned or controlled collectively rather than mainly by private individuals or companies. Its aim is for members of society to share economic resources and wealth more fairly.
Source: Britannica: Socialism
Side by side on the Atlas maps
| Dimension | Neoliberalism | Social Democracy | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Economic Collective / planned ↔ Market | 71 | 14 | 57 (Neoliberalism more market) |
| Social Progressive ↔ Traditional | 30 | 32 | 3 |
| Authority Libertarian ↔ Authoritarian | 23 | 41 | 18 (Social Democracy more authoritarian) |
| National identity Cosmopolitan ↔ Nationalist | 37 | 40 | 3 |
| Foreign policy Non-intervention ↔ Intervention | 44 | 32 | 12 (Neoliberalism more intervention) |
Neoliberalism is shown as the average of the 13 socialist-family ideologies on the Atlas (including communism itself), because the Atlas has no single “socialism” model.
Map scores are estimates on the Atlas’s scale and can be debated. Read the full pages for Neoliberalism and Social Democracy.