A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of Warwick Permanent WRAP URL: http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/131008 Copyright and reuse: This thesis is made available online and is protected by original copyright. Please scroll down to view the document itself. Please refer to the repository record for this item for information to help you to cite it. Our policy information is available from the repository home page. For more information, please contact the WRAP Team at: [email protected] warwick.ac.uk/lib-publications Social Democracy in The Age of Austerity: The Cases of The UK Labour Party and France’s Parti Socialiste, 2010- 17 Sean McDaniel Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Politics and International Studies conducted in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick. Word count: 78,795 February 2019 Table of Contents PART I ................................................................................................................................. 1 Chapter 1: Introduction ..................................................................................................... 2 1.1 European social democracy since 2008 ................................................................... 2 1.2 The failure of social democratic parties post-crisis .................................................. 5 1.3 The ‘post-crisis politics of austerity’ ....................................................................... 6 1.4 Developing alternative programmes ........................................................................ 8 1.5 The existing literature ............................................................................................. 9 1.6 Research questions ................................................................................................ 11 1.7 Methodological approach ...................................................................................... 12 1.7.1 Case selection and comparative approach ....................................................... 12 1.7.2 Data collection and analysis ........................................................................... 13 1.8 Theorising social democracy ................................................................................. 15 1.9 Summary of key findings and contribution to knowledge ...................................... 19 1.10 Thesis structure ..................................................................................................... 20 Chapter 2: Social democracy and democratic capitalism: A review of the literature ......... 23 2.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 23 2.2 The ‘electoral dilemma’ ........................................................................................ 24 2.3 Governing the domestic economy ......................................................................... 27 2.4 European integration and disciplinary neoliberalism ............................................. 31 2.5 Social democracy in the post-crisis environment ................................................... 35 2.6 Constructivist political economy and the social constitution of ‘economic credibility’ ....................................................................................................................... 38 2.7 The crisis of (social) democratic representation ..................................................... 39 2.8 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 44 Chapter 3: The historical and institutional contexts of British and French social democracy 46 3.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 46 3.2 The British and French political economies ........................................................... 47 i 3.2.1 The UK political economy and Thatcherism .................................................. 47 3.2.2 The UK’s system of government, elections and parties ................................... 50 3.2.3 The French political economy and Mitterrand’s U-turn .................................. 52 3.2.4 France’s system of government, elections and parties ..................................... 55 3.3 The Labour Party and the Third Way .................................................................... 57 3.3.1 The Nature of the Labour Party ...................................................................... 57 3.3.2 ‘Credible radicals’? New Labour’s political economy .................................... 59 3.4 The Parti Socialiste and Mitterrand’s U-turn ......................................................... 63 3.4.1 The Nature of the Parti Socialiste ................................................................... 63 3.4.2 The political economy of the post-Mitterrand Parti Socialiste ......................... 68 3.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 71 Chapter 4: Constructing crises: Understanding the politics of economic crises ................ 74 4.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 74 4.2 A social constructivist ontology ............................................................................ 75 4.2.1 Material and social realities ............................................................................ 75 4.2.2 Constructivism as a critical approach ............................................................. 78 4.3 A constructivist approach to institutions ................................................................ 79 4.3.1 Neo-institutionalism ....................................................................................... 79 4.3.2 Constructivism: A fourth variant of neo-institutionalist theory ....................... 80 4.4 Constructing crises, constructing crisis responses .................................................. 84 4.4.1 Constructing crises ......................................................................................... 84 4.4.2 Constructing crisis responses ......................................................................... 86 4.5 Studying social democratic politics through discursive institutionalism ................. 88 4.5.1 A social democratic alternative ...................................................................... 88 4.5.2 The ideational dimension of discourse ............................................................ 89 4.5.3 The interactive dimension of discourse .......................................................... 91 4.5.4 Ideas in their ‘meaning contexts’ .................................................................... 93 4.5.5 The methodological application of DI ............................................................ 94 4.6 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 95 PART II .............................................................................................................................. 97 Chapter 5: The age of austerity: Analysing the viability of alternatives in the UK and France 98 ii 5.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 98 5.2 Austerity in the UK and France post-crisis ............................................................ 99 5.2.1 The UK (2008-10): The Darling Plan and the Coalition government .............. 99 5.2.2 France (2008-12): The Sarkozy administration and the Fiscal Compact ........ 101 5.3 Analysing the economic case for and against austerity ........................................ 102 5.3.1 The Treasury View and Expansionary Fiscal Consolidation ......................... 102 5.3.2 The economic case against austerity ............................................................. 104 5.4 The ‘death of democratic capitalism’ thesis ......................................................... 106 5.4.1 Democratic austerity states? Streeck’s thesis examined in the cases of the UK and France ................................................................................................................. 107 5.4.2 Public debt and markets: what kind of relationship? ..................................... 112 5.5 Austerity in the UK and France assessed ............................................................. 113 5.5.1 Austerity since 2010: a success story? .......................................................... 113 5.5.2 Fiscal space in the UK and France................................................................ 115 5.5.3 European integration and the Fiscal Compact ............................................... 117 5.6 Crisis pathologies, the post-crisis politics of austerity and the construction of ‘economic credibility’ .................................................................................................... 121 5.6.1 Constructing the crisis and imposing austerity .............................................. 121 5.6.2 The post-crisis politics of austerity and the social construction of economic credibility ................................................................................................................... 123 5.7 Conclusion .........................................................................................................