Universal suffrage in capitalist states inevitably produces social-democratic majorities

Evidence

The most serious problem, however, is posed by the laboring and the poor, given their inevitable demand that the social question be addressed with a social state. Notwithstanding their differences, the neoliberals converged in recognizing that representative democracy based on universal suffrage in large capitalist nation-states would inevitably be controlled by the numerically largest class, making social democracy, with its tendentially totalitarian trajectory, inevitable. — Wendy Brown, In the Ruins of Neoliberalism, 102

Categorization

• QUESTION: This is presented as the neoliberals’ own convergence — how strong is the empirical claim that universal suffrage necessarily yields redistributionist majorities? Testable against median-voter literature.
• XREF: connects to: Neoliberalism’s defeat of its own aims produced states yanked by capital and popular zeal — Wendy Brown, In the Ruins of Neoliberalism: The Rise…, 139; Social democracy collapses when no one represents the labouring side — Yanis Varoufakis, Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism, 674; Social-democratic mass politics were a contingent product of specific social conditions. — Anton Jäger, Hyperpolitics: Extreme Politicization…, 253 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Social-democratic mass politics were a contingent product of specific social conditions. #qualifies (0.90) — Anton Jäger, Hyperpolitics, 253
• Social democracy collapses when no one represents the labouring side #qualifies (0.75) — Yanis Varoufakis, Technofeudalism, 674
• Democracy genuinely threatens capitalist economic priorities, so capitalism is antidemocratic. #contradicts (0.75) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 372