In
Marxist practice, a maximum programme consists of a series of demands aiming to achieve
socialism
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...
.
The concept of a maximum programme comes from the 1891
Erfurt Programme
The Erfurt Program was adopted by the Social Democratic Party of Germany during the SPD Congress at Erfurt in 1891. Formulated under the political guidance of Eduard Bernstein, August Bebel, and Karl Kautsky, it superseded the earlier Gotha ...
of the German
SPD
The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany.
Saskia Esken has been the ...
,
later mirrored by much of the
Socialist International
The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism
Democratic socialism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing political philosophy that su ...
of 1889–1916. The maximalist line is contrasted with a
minimum programme
In Marxist practice, a minimum programme consists of a series of demands for immediate reforms and, in far fewer and less orthodox cases, also consists of a series of political demands which, taken as a whole, realise key democratic-republican mea ...
of immediate social demands. In the short term, Marxist parties were to pursue only the minimum programme of achievable demands, which would improve the lives of workers until the inevitable collapse of
capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, private ...
. "Minimalist" groups believed that the achievement of a minimum programme would enable them to become
mass parties and pursue the maximum programme.
The
Communist International
The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by ...
(Comintern) of 1919–1943 initially developed the alternative idea of
transitional slogans, seeing the minimum/maximum division as leaving
social democratic
Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...
parties always campaigning only for their minimum programme and not clearly planning a route to achieve their maximum programme,
though the eventual programme of the 1928
6th World Congress of the Comintern was more in line with a maximum programme than with transitional slogans.
See also
*
Maximalist Italian Socialist Party
The Maximalist Italian Socialist Party () or PSIm, was the residual part of the Italian Socialist Party in exile following the split that occurred during the first phases of the Socialist Convention of Grenoble, held on 16 March 1930, by Pietro Nen ...
*
Union of Socialists-Revolutionaries Maximalists
Union of Socialists-Revolutionaries Maximalists () was a political party in the Russian Empire, a radical wing expelled from the Socialist-Revolutionary Party in 1906.
The Union united agrarian terrorists, the 'Moscow Opposition' and other radica ...
References
{{reflist
External links
The Erfurt Programme Explained In Its Basic Part
Marxist theory