Social democracy is a political, social, and economic ideology that supports economic and social interventions to promote social justice within the framework of a liberal democracy and capitalist economy, involving a policy regime involving collective bargaining arrangements, a commitment to representative democracy, measures for income redistribution, regulation of the economy in the general interest, and welfare state provisions.
Social democracy originated as a political ideology that advocated an evolutionary and peaceful transition from capitalism to socialism using established political processes in contrast to the revolutionary approach to transition associated with orthodox Marxism. In modern times however it has sought a compromise between capitalism and socialism, making it distinct from democratic socialism in that it does not seek to replace capitalism, merely reform it.