John Dewey and the Social State: Towards a History of the Development of American Democracy

The article is devoted to analyzing the influence of the American philosopher John Dewey on the process of transformation from classical liberalism to social realism, postulating the interference of the state in the market and in the affairs of individuals. The author describes the reasons behind the need for such a transformation, recounts the origins of the argumentation used by supporters of the new interpretation of liberalism, and analyzes its relationships with the position of the "old liberals." The influence of social liberalism philosophy on political systems is two-fold. European states adopted new forms relatively quickly, implementing principles of the welfare state as one of the mechanisms of post-war reconstruction. The USA implemented elements of this ideology even before World War II, within the framework of the "New Deal," but only in a very limited fashion (despite the fact that Dewey himself tried to popularize these ideas in the USA). Despite this limited implementation, the influence of John Dewey and his ideas on American society is deeper than could be expected. He made a utopian idea of absolute equality discernible to large parts of the population in the USA, and subsequently saved the political system from social upheaval. In moments of crisis, Americans take "Dewey's social liberalism pill," but they never finish the full course of this treatment.