Centre-left will struggle to win more votes in Balkans

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Western Balkans ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Almost Everywhere ◽  
Ideological Parties ◽  
Democratic Parties ◽  
Social Democratic Parties ◽  
Parliamentary Politics ◽  
The Eu

Subject The state of social-democratic parties in the Western Balkans. Significance The centre-left space in the Western Balkans is a diverse combination of social-democratic parties -- either in government, serious contenders in upcoming snap elections or weak and fragmented in opposition. Notwithstanding the national specificities of post-communist transition and post-conflict politics, social democracy is as ideologically confused and politically vulnerable in the region as in the EU. Impacts Parliamentary politics faces crises almost everywhere in the Western Balkans, 25 years after the collapse of communism. Parties will compete to control state resources, in conditions of polarised, often corrupt, parliamentary politics and hybrid ideologies. Ethnically dominated politics will not allow much space for ideological parties.

The French Parti socialiste (2010-16): from office to crisis

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Di Francesco-Mayot
Keyword(s):  
Financial Crisis ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Global Financial Crisis ◽  
Socialist Party ◽  
Political Crisis ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
High Unemployment ◽  
Democratic Parties ◽  
Social Democratic Parties ◽  
The Eu

This chapter examines the French Socialist Party (Parti socialiste, PS), which is one of the least successful of the major European social democratic parties. It focuses on the period between the 2008 global financial crisis until the end of François Hollande's presidency in 2017. The crisis of the PS is twofold: first, a political crisis that is revealed by the divisive nature of the Party's internal courants (factions). Whereas the factions initially contributed to the PS's internal democracy, over the past two decades they have significantly affected the PS's cohesiveness and ability to effectively develop and implement necessary policies. And second, an economic crisis that is exemplified by the PS's inability to adapt to its external and internal environments, such as the neoliberal imperatives of the EU, unprecedented high unemployment, and increasing insecurity.

The dual challenge and the reform of the Hungarian socialist party

1992 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 269-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Attila Ágh
Keyword(s):  
Party System ◽  
Third Way ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
The Public ◽  
Education And Health ◽  
The Social ◽  
Radical Reduction ◽  
Democratic Parties ◽  
Social Democratic Parties ◽  
The Eu

This paper deals with the new contradictions facing the social-democratic parties in ECE due to the ‘Dual Challenge’. The EU candidate countries have to perform a structural accommodation at the same time as the globalization and Europeanization when they have entered the period of early consolidation with its enhanced tensions due to the polarizing party system. Overcoming the economic deficit through drastic economic crisis management, they have created in fact a huge social deficit by the radical reduction of the public sector services in education and health care. While the West European social-democratic parties have experimented with various versions of the ‘Third Way’, their ECE counterparts have had to cope with the contradiction between the winners and the losers that has appeared very markedly in the case of HSP.

Basic income will prove difficult to adopt globally

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Developed Countries ◽  
Basic Income ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Young Voters ◽  
Welfare Policies ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Democratic Parties ◽  
Social Democratic Parties ◽  
Leftist Parties

Subject Implementation of an universal basic income. Significance Calls for the adoption of a universal basic income (UBI) as an alternative to welfare programmes have increased in recent years, as a way to reduce bureaucracy and guarantee minimum resources at a time when jobs are scarce. The adoption of this kind of intervention faces significant political and financial obstacles. Impacts Different positions on UBI between social democratic parties and more radical leftist parties could intensify and shape electoral debates. The preferences of young voters, who are struggling to secure good jobs, will prove key to future welfare policies. The expansion of UBI could contribute to the redefinition of work in developed countries in the long run.

An Employment Union for Europe? The Role of the Swedish Government

Politics ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Lightfoot
Keyword(s):  
Monetary Union ◽  
Economic And Monetary Union ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Social Democrats ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
The Future ◽  
Democratic Parties ◽  
Social Democratic Parties ◽  
The Eu

The Swedish Government's proposal for an ‘Employment Union’ to offset the potential increases in unemployment caused by moves towards Economic and Monetary Union, has put the problem of unemployment at the top of the agenda of the current Intergovernmental Conference. Domestic political pressures coupled with a belief that the EU offers the potential for a solution to this problem, were key factors behind the decision to table an amendment Forging links with other European social democratic parties to generate support for the proposal, the Swedish Social Democrats need the proposal to succeed for both domestic political ends and to safeguard the future of the European project.

scholarly journals The Demobilization of Class Politics in Denmark: The Social Democratic Party’s Group-Based Appeals 1961–2004

2018 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mads Thau
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Party ◽  
General Level ◽  
Social Democratic Party ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Class Politics ◽  
Specific Level ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
The Social ◽  
Democratic Parties ◽  
Social Democratic Parties

Abstract In Denmark, as in other Western European countries, the working class does not vote for social democratic parties to the same extent as before. Yet, what role did the social democratic parties themselves play in the demobilization of class politics? Building on core ideas from public opinion literature, this article differs from the focus on party policy positions in previous work and, instead, focuses on the group-based appeals of the Social Democratic Party in Denmark. Based on a quantitative content analysis of party programs between 1961 and 2004, I find that, at the general level, class-related appeals have been replaced by appeals targeting non-economic groups. At the specific level, the class-related appeals that remain have increasingly been targeting businesses at the expense of traditional left-wing groups such as wage earners, tenants and pensioners. These findings support a widespread hypothesis that party strategy was crucial in the decline of class politics, but also suggests that future work on class mobilization should adopt a group-centered perspective.

Limited Influence? The Role of the Party of European Socialists in Shaping Social Democracy in Central and Eastern Europe

2011 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Holmes ◽  
Simon Lightfoot
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Social Democracy ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
Early Stages ◽  
European Norm ◽  
Democratic Parties ◽  
Social Democratic Parties

AbstractThis article looks at the role of the Party of European Socialists (PES) in its attempts to shape social democratic parties in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) towards a West European norm. It discusses how existing views in the academic literature on the role of transnational parties are inadequate. We argue that the PES did not play a key role in encouraging the establishment and development of parties in the CEE states from the 2004 enlargement in the early stages of accession. We contend that the overall influence of party federations has been limited, and that these limitations were as much in evidence before enlargement took place as they were afterwards.

Between ideology and pragmatism: social democracy and the economic transition in Georgia 1918-21

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Stephen Jones
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Economic Transition ◽  
Social Democracy ◽  
State Building ◽  
Internal Conflict ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
External Threat ◽  
Democratic Parties ◽  
Social Democratic Parties

The Democratic Republic of Georgia (1918-21) was a novel experiment in social democracy in the most unexpected time and place. Georgia was rural and mostly illiterate, and its leaders faced the complex tasks of nation and state building in conditions of external threat, internal conflict, and global economic depression. The first democratically elected social democratic government in Europe, it confronted the inevitable tensions between market principles and socialist ideals. The new government’s economic policies reflected the dilemmas and contradictions faced by all social democratic parties in a capitalist environment. The new leaders created a mixed economy, framed by social democratic goals, but driven by pragmatism. Economic pioneers, how successful were they in creating a sustainable economic system and a model for other European socialists to follow?

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