Social corporatism

Social corporatism (also called Social democratic corporatism) is a form of economic tripartite corporatism based upon a social partnership between the interests of capital and labour, involving collective bargaining between representatives of employers and of labour mediated by the government at the national level. Social corporatism is a major component of the Nordic model of capitalism, and to a lesser degree, the West European social market economies.

Corporatism is considered a compromise to regulate the conflict between capital and labour by mandating them to engage in mutual consultations that are mediated by the government, and is generally supported by nationalist and social democratic political parties.

Social corporatism developed in the post-World War II period, influenced by social democrats and Christian democrats in European countries such as Austria, Norway, the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden.

Social corporatism has been adopted in different configurations and to varying degrees in various European countries. The Nordic countries have the most comprehensive form of collective bargaining, where trade unions are represented at the national level by official organizations alongside employers unions. Together with the welfare state policies of these countries, this forms what is termed the "Nordic model". Less extensive models exist in Germany and Austria, which are components of Rhine capitalism.

Some controversy has existed in the political left over social corporatism, where it has been criticized for abandoning the concept of class struggle, legitimizing privately owned enterprise, and for lending credence to a form of regulated capitalism.

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