ABSTRACT
The commitment to equality is the feature of democratic socialism (or social democracy) which distinguishes it from alternative doctrines. This is in contrast to the other values which form the social democratic tripos: community and liberty. Community is a concept capable of many different interpretations so that communitarianism and communitarians can appear across the political spectrum. A positive conception of liberty is shown by both social democrats and the social liberals, with their origins in the late nineteenth century. Equality remains a distinctive socialist commitment. This comment in itself may be questioned since non-socialists may pledge their support for equality. Equality before the law is a value shared by all democrats. Equality of opportunity is similarly a widely held belief. That this is so can be demonstrated by reference to Thatcherism, which even in its most bellicose form still maintained a theoretical commitment to equality of opportunity, defined as freedom from external constraint. However, against this it may be argued that no other doctrine places as much emphasis on equality as democratic socialism. Equality, or more specifically a commitment to a reduction in substantive inequalities, is a core value of democratic socialism. Policies to promote greater equality are central to the social democratic project.2
