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Nationalization
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== Political support == {{social democracy sidebar|ideas}} Nationalization was one of the major mechanisms advocated by [[reformist]] socialists and [[social democrats]] for gradually transitioning to socialism. In this context, the goals of nationalization were to dispossess large capitalists, redirect the profits of industry to the public purse, and establish some form of [[workers' self-management]] as a precursor to the establishment of a socialist economic system.<ref name="The Economics of Feasible Socialism Revisted, 1991. P.176">''The Economics of Feasible Socialism Revisited'', by Nove, Alexander. 1991. (P.176): "Nationalisation arouses no enthusiasm, in the minds of most socialists and anti-socialists. It would probably be agreed that hopes which reposed on nationalisation have been disappointed. Conservatives hold that this is due to defects inherent in nationalisation, that private enterprise based on private ownership is inherently superior. (Mrs Thatcher's government tried to ensure that this was so by preventing essential investments and ordering the nationalized industries to sell off their more successful undertakings.)...The original notion was that nationalization would achieve three objectives. One was to dispossess the big capitalists. The second was to divert the profits from private appropriation to the public purse. Thirdly, the nationalized sector would serve the public good rather than try to make private profits...To these objectives some (but not all) would add some sort of workers' control, the accountability of management to employees."</ref> Although sometimes undertaken as part of a strategy to build socialism, more commonly nationalization was also undertaken and used to protect and develop industries perceived as being vital to a nation's competitiveness (such as aerospace and shipbuilding), or to protect jobs in certain industries. Nationalization has had varying levels of support throughout history. After the [[Second World War]], nationalization was supported by social democratic and democratic socialist parties throughout Western Europe, such as the British [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]]. In the United States, potentially [[Publicly funded health care|nationalizing healthcare]] is often a topic of political disagreement and makes frequent appearances in debates between political candidates. A 2020 poll shows that a majority (63%) of Americans support a nationalized healthcare system.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Bradley |date=2020-09-29 |title=Increasing share of Americans favor a single government program to provide health care coverage |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/09/29/increasing-share-of-americans-favor-a-single-government-program-to-provide-health-care-coverage/ |access-date=2024-09-15 |website=Pew Research Center |language=en-US}}</ref> A re-nationalization occurs when state-owned assets are privatized and later nationalized again, often when a different [[political party]] or [[Political factions|faction]] is in power. A re-nationalization process may also be called "reverse privatization". Nationalization has been used to refer to either direct state-ownership and management of an enterprise or to a government acquiring a large controlling share of a [[public company|publicly listed corporation]].{{citation needed|date=November 2010}} According to research by Paasha Mahdavi, leaders who consider nationalization face a dilemma: "nationalize and reap immediate gains while risking future prosperity, or maintain private operations, thereby passing on revenue windfalls but securing long-term fiscal streams."<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/power-grab/1069CD3CA50620BB1AF204156D13B2C8|title=Power grab: political survival through extractive resource nationalization|last=Mahdavi|first=Paasha|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2021|doi=10.1017/9781108781350|isbn=9781108781350|s2cid=243736481|language=en|access-date=2020-03-12}}</ref> He argues that leaders "nationalize extractive resources to extend the duration of their power" by using "this increased capital to secure political support."<ref name=":0" />
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