Bennism

In British politics, Bennism describes the views of Tony Benn (1980s), and the wing of the Labour party that supported him, known as Bennites. Not amounting to a coherent ideology, the term is typically used to describe the 1974–1981 program that Benn and his circle developed to transition the British economy from corporate capitalism into a form of democratic socialism that Benn described as a "home-grown British product". Bennism advocated extensive public ownership, workplace democracy, and comprehensive constitutional reform including the abolition of the monarchy in favour of a democratic republic. The term is also used to describe the "strategic recalcitrance" that Benn and his supporters demonstrated in the 1980s and beyond.

Central to Bennism is the democratisation of political and economic power through Benn's "five essential questions of democracy": "What power have you got? Where did you get it from? In whose interests do you exercise it? To whom are you accountable? And how can we get rid of you?" The ideology draws from Christian socialist traditions and British radical movements including the Levellers and Diggers, whilst advocating withdrawal from supranational institutions such as NATO and the European Union on grounds of democratic accountability. Benn's Commonwealth of Britain Bill, introduced repeatedly to Parliament from 1991 to 2001, outlined his vision for transforming the United Kingdom into a federal republic with a written constitution.