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European Social Democracy – in Need of Renewal Nine Country Cases & Seven Policy Proposals

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European Social Democracy – in Need of Renewal Nine Country Cases & Seven Policy Proposals Internationale Politikanalyse International Policy Analysis Alfred Pfaller European Social Democracy – In Need of Renewal Nine country cases & Seven policy proposals Social Democratic parties throughout the more affluent, economically highly developed part of Europe have experienced a dramatic decline in electoral support over the last few years. This text presents the cases of nine countries in Western, Northern and Southern Europe, all members of the European Union before Eastern En- largement. It looks at the challenges, posed by socio-economic and socio- political evolution, at the political discourse that has defined and structured political issues, and at the responses Social Democrats as well as their com- petitors have offered to these challenges. It is argued that fundamental changes in the way the world economy works have made it difficult for Social Democracy to deliver on its core promises. If it does not come up with ways to secure social inclusion under today’s conditions of globalisation and the post-industrial knowledge econ- omy, Social Democracy risks becoming obsolete. European Social Democracy must come up with an encompassing project of renewal, a project that is able to meet today’s challenges and that appeals to a heterogeneous majority of the population. It must forge a new coalition to »tame« capitalism and once again put its productive and creative forces at the service of human fulfilment. This paper makes seven policy proposals for the renewal of Social Democracy in Europe. DECEMBER 2009 Ausgewählte Veröffentlichungen des Referats „InternationaleInternationale Politikanalyse“ Politikanalyse International Policy Analysis Unit Arbeitskreis Europa Thorsten Benner, Stefanie Flechtner (Hrsg.) Chancen für eine nachhaltige Energiepolitik Demokratien und Terrorismus – Erfahrungen mit = mçäáíáâJfåÑçI=^éêáä=OMMT= der Bewältigung und Bekämpfung von Terroran- = schlägen. Fallstudien USA, Spanien, Niederlande AG Europäische Integration und Großbritannien. Plädoyer für ein europäisches Sozialmodell = cêáÉÇÉå=ìåÇ=páÅÜÉêÜÉáí, g~åì~ê=OMMT= = bìêçé®áëÅÜÉ=mçäáíáâI=^éêáä=OMMT= = = Sven Biscop Michael Sommer The International Security Engagement of the Eu- Ein soziales Europa braucht Arbeitnehmer- ropean Union - Courage and Capabilities for a mitbestimmung [also available in English] “More Active” EU. Report from the 1st mçäáíáâJfåÑçI=^éêáä=OMMT= European Strategic Forum, Warsaw 2006. = cêáÉÇÉå=ìåÇ=páÅÜÉêÜÉáíI=g~åì~ê=OMMT Bert Hoffmann Kuba in der Nach-Fidel-Ära Stefanie Flechtner cbpJi®åÇÉê~å~äóëÉI=j®êò=OMMT Demokratie ist die beste Antwort im Kampf = gegen den Terrorismus James K. Galbraith = mçäáíáâJfåÑçI=aÉòÉãÄÉê=OMMS= Maastricht 2042 and the Fate of Europe. Toward Convergence and Full Employment Michael Dauderstädt, Barbara Lippert, = bìêçé®áëÅÜÉ=mçäáíáâI=j®êò=OMMT= Andreas Maurer Die deutsche EU-Ratspräsidentschaft 2007: Daniela Schwarzer Hohe Erwartungen bei engen Spielräumen Spannungen im Club der 13 – Reformbedarf = bìêçé®áëÅÜÉ=mçäáíáâI=kçîÉãÄÉê=OMMS= der Eurozone. bìêçé®áëÅÜÉ=mçäáíáâI=j®êò=OMMT= Jana Zitzler Plädoyer für eine europäische Mindestlohnpolitik Arbeitskreis Europa [also available in English] Gefahr für die nationale Daseinsvorsorge im = mçäáíáâJfåÑçI=kçîÉãÄÉê=OMMS= EU-Binnenmarkt? = mçäáíáâJfåÑçI=j®êò=OMMT= Jo Leinen Die Kosten der Nicht-Verfassung Jonathan Wadsworth = mçäáíáâJfåÑçI=kçîÉãÄÉê=OMMS= Mit flexiblen Arbeitsmärkten aus der Beschäfti- gungskrise? Ein Blick auf britische Erfahrungen = mçäáíáâJfåÑçI=j®êò=OMMT Diese und weitere Texte Svenja Blanke Mexikos junge Demokratie zwischen Stagnation sind online verfügbar: und Krise http://www.fes.de/internationalepolitik = cbpJi®åÇÉê~å~äóëÉI=j®êò=OMMT= Jürgen Kahl Bestellungen bitte an: Die Mongolei im Reformtief – Dauerkrise oder Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung „zweiter Aufbruch“? Internationale Politikanalyse cbpJi®åÇÉê~å~äóëÉI=g~åì~ê=OMMT z.Hd. Ursula Müller D – 53170 Bonn E-Mail: [email protected] Tel.: +49 (228) 883-212 Fax: +49 (228) 883-625 International Policy Analysis 1 Content Introduction . 2 The Decline of Social Democracy in Europe: A Common European Pattern? . 2 British New Labour: the Historic »Third Way« Comes to an End . 2 The German SPD: Antagonising the Workers without Convincing the Middle Class . 3 The French Socialists: Progressive Ambitions, Pragmatic Policies, Internal Conflicts, Shrinking Constituency . 5 The Dutch Labour Party: Competing in a Crowded and Shrinking Centre while Losing the Left . 6 The Austrian SPÖ: Riding the Horse of Success Away from Those Who Feed It . 7 Italy: Reconstituting the Centre-Left within an Unsustainable Social Model . 8 The Spanish Socialist Labour Party: Still the Force of Progress in a Catching-up Society . 10 The Danish Social Democrats: in Danger of Losing Their Profile in a Social Democratic Country . 11 SAP: the Guardian of the Highly Popular »Swedish model« but without a Political Monopoly . 12 The social democratic Malaise and its Causes . 14 The End of Social Democratic Progress . 14 A Socio-cultural Divide . 15 Where Is the Enemy? . 15 Towards a Project of social democratic Renewal . 16 Seven Policy Proposals for a Renewal of Social Democracy . 16 Promoting the Project of Renewal . 20 2 Alfred Pfaller European Social Democracy – In Need of Renewal Introduction Based on this analysis the final chapter presents a project of social democratic renewal and its main In much of Europe, Social Democratic parties have areas of focus. Seven policies are proposed as a start- seen their share of the vote declining in recent years. ing point for such a project. They are neither all- In a number of cases the decline set in a decade ago. embracing nor complete, but they might provide an On the basis of nine country case studies, this paper* impetus for further discussions on how to secure the shows why Social Democracy has been losing elec- future of European Social Democracy and how to toral support in most of Europe and what must be advance the social democratic cause. done to reverse this development. The first part of the paper analyses the situation of Social Democracy in the United Kingdom, Germany, The Decline of Social Democracy in France, the Netherlands, Austria, Italy, Spain, Den- Europe: A Common European Pattern? mark and Sweden. It looks at the challenges posed by socio-economic and socio-political evolution, at the The fact that voters in polities as diverse as Britain, political discourse that has defined and structured the France, Austria, Germany and Denmark have all related political issues and at the responses Social turned away from Social Democracy suggests that Democrats as well as their competitors have offered there are more than country-specific factors at work. to these challenges. We will not pay much attention Hypotheses are readily available, but in trying to ar- to factors without lasting strategic significance, such rive at an explanation it seems advisable to take into as personalities, internal rivalries, coalition tactics, account the diversity of the various countries and not campaigning slogans, scandals etc., which often to be over-hasty in concocting a stylized pan-Euro- dominate the political discourse for some time. pean story of Social Democratic decline. This decline Even though we consider the development of So- is likely to be a complex phenomenon, exhibiting cial Democracy in the post-communist European more than one pattern of cause and effect. At the countries as very important for Social Democracy in same time, for explanatory hypotheses to be valid Europe as a whole, we leave these countries out of they must be applicable across the whole spectrum of our survey. The situation there and the challenges it countries. poses for Social Democracy are different from those in the more affluent countries of the West. The ana- lytical focus here is insufficient to provide valid rec- British New Labour: the Historic »Third Way« ommendations for post-communist Europe. Comes to an End In the second part we generalise some findings from the case studies in order to explain the general New Labour was able in the 1990s to present a pro- causes of Social Democratic malaise in Europe. Of grammatic message that appealed simultaneously to course, our analysis of what has gone wrong consti- the lower income strata and to significant parts of the tutes a simplification, or reduction to essentials of a middle class. The message was very appropriately rather diverse reality. One respect in which the nine dubbed the »Third Way«, because it distinguished countries differ is the extent to which and the way itself clearly from two extremes that constituted the the economic transformations of recent decades politically relevant alternatives at the time and that have affected social inclusion and hence the kind of had both outlived their socio-economic relevance and challenge this poses for Social Democracy. They also appeal. One of these was the radical, socially polaris- differ in the political cleavage structures they have ing neo-liberalism of the Conservative government, inherited from the past. We will take into account which even in the eyes of its erstwhile supporters had these differences and qualify our statements accord- long since accomplished its »historic mission« of ingly where we find it appropriate. revitalising the British economy. The other was old Labour’s focus on the rights of employed labour, on Alfred Pfaller is soci- ologist and economist. income equality and on Keynesian macroeconomics. He was Editor of the * This study was compiled by Alfred Pfaller,
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