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Vera calls herself a "social democrat," a label used more in European than American politics. Professor Neil MacCormick also considers himself a social democrat and offers the following definition of the phrase:

My understanding of such a philosophy encompasses four main points:

i. That social justice cannot be realized through free market institutions premised on the classical rights of liberal individualism as protected by the classical liberals' minimal state.

ii. That it is therefore necessary for state (and other collective) agencies to take an active role in economic affairs with a view to securing fair shares and fair opportunities for all citizens.

iii. That the civil rights and liberties proclaimed by classical liberalism are, however, of fundamental importance to human beings, as moral persons, and ought to be qualified only so far as necessary to the securing of fair shares and fair opportunities.

iv. Because of the importance of classical rights and liberties, and because these require recognition of private property, no proposal for a completely collectivized or state socialist reorganization of, or revolution in, post-liberal societies is either acceptable or desirable.

Reference: From Neil MacCormick Legal Right and Social Democracy, p. 1.