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How to use this

Two grids on the same template. The first is empty - print it, fill in each cell with a one-line note while you revise. The second is a worked example to check yourself against.

Each cell asks one question: does this row strengthen the column quality (mark +) or weaken it (mark -)? Then add a one-line note saying why. The plus and minus columns are deliberately not pre-printed - your judgement is the work.

Optimistic human nature = is human nature naturally cooperative? Smash the state = must the state be overthrown, not used? Common ownership = abolish capitalism for common ownership? Absolute equality = is equality absolute, not relative? Revolution over reform = revolution, or the peaceful ballot box? Capitalism beyond saving = is capitalism beyond saving?

Socialism strands - judgement grid +   -

Empty version. Print and fill in.
Strand+   - Optimistic human nature Smash the state Common ownership Absolute equality Revolution over reform Capitalism beyond saving
Revolutionary
Social democracy
Third Way
How to use the grid in an essay. Pick the column the question asks about, read down it across the rows, and judge where they agree and where they differ.

Socialism strands - judgement grid +   -

Filled version. Use this to check your own grid - and tap any cell for the full detail behind the judgement.
Strand+   - Optimistic human nature Smash the state Common ownership Absolute equality Revolution over reform Capitalism beyond saving
Revolutionary +Optimistic, but capitalism alienates and damages it. +Smash the capitalist state by revolution. +Abolish capitalism, common ownership of production. +Equality must be absolute, not relative. +Revolution; reform leaves class rule intact. +Capitalism is corrosive and cannot be made just.
Social democracy +Optimistic and rational; capitalism only limits it. -Use the state, won at the ballot box. ±Mixed economy; some nationalisation, not abolition. ±Relative equality of outcome via redistribution. -Peaceful, evolutionary, the ballot box. -Capitalism can be humanised, not abolished.
Third Way ±Less optimistic; human nature can be problematic. -Keep and modernise the state, do not smash it. -Free market accepted; no abolition. -Equality of opportunity, not outcome. -Democratic, evolutionary route kept. -Capitalism harnessed, not abolished.
What the filled grid shows. Read down each column to see which rows score plus, mixed or minus - the pattern that drives the judgement.
See also