Overview
The Third Way is a political and welfare programme developed by the British sociologist Anthony Giddens, from Beyond Left and Right (1994) to The Third Way: The Renewal of Social Democracy (1998). Giddens argued that globalisation, rising individualism and the shift to a knowledge economy had exposed the limits both of old-style social democracy, in which the state takes responsibility for everything (the first way), and of market-led neoliberalism (the second way), and proposed a new centre-left path beyond both.
Core principles
- No rights without responsibilities: welfare entitlements are no longer treated as unconditional; rights are linked to civic obligations such as seeking work.
- Positive welfare: rather than compensating for want and illness after the fact, welfare is redesigned to foster autonomy, health, education and active participation.
- Social investment state: wherever possible, invest in human capital such as education and training rather than provide direct economic maintenance, so that people can manage risk themselves.
- New mixed economy and civil society: cooperation among state, market and civil society, public-private partnerships, and the renewal of local communities and social capital.
Policy application
Tony Blair's New Labour, in government from 1997, adopted the Third Way as its programme, and Blair published the Fabian pamphlet The Third Way in 1998. Key policies included the New Deal welfare-to-work programmes, targets to reduce child poverty and expanded in-work tax credits. In June 1999 Blair and German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder issued the joint paper "Europe: The Third Way/Die Neue Mitte," which influenced social democratic parties across Europe.
Critiques and assessment
- Neoliberalism in disguise: critics on the left saw the Third Way as a "soft neoliberalism" that accepted market logic and labour flexibility.
- Conditional citizenship: tying welfare to work obligations weakens the social rights described by Marshall into conditional entitlements.
- Vagueness: its breadth and pragmatism led some to call it political rhetoric rather than coherent theory; Giddens answered critics in The Third Way and Its Critics (2000).
- Legacy: the social investment perspective later shaped the EU's Social Investment Package and policies on childcare and activation, becoming a key strand in debates on welfare state restructuring.
Korea
In his Liberation Day address of 15 August 1999, President Kim Dae-jung made "productive welfare" a governing principle, combining a guaranteed basic livelihood with job training and self-support programmes as "welfare through work." It is widely seen as a Korean adaptation of Third Way ideas of social investment and welfare-to-work after the 1997 financial crisis.
References
- Giddens, A. (1994). Beyond Left and Right: The Future of Radical Politics. Cambridge: Polity Press.
- Giddens, A. (1998). The Third Way: The Renewal of Social Democracy. Cambridge: Polity Press.
- Blair, T. (1998). The Third Way: New Politics for the New Century (Fabian Pamphlet 588). London: Fabian Society.
- Giddens, A. (2000). The Third Way and Its Critics. Cambridge: Polity Press.