Populism Personified or Reinvigorated Reformers? The German Left Party in 2009 and Beyond

2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 76-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Hough ◽  
Michael Koß
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Political Development ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Party System ◽  
Party Politics ◽  
Social Democratic Party ◽  
Political Strategy ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
The Social ◽  
Left Party

Despite its recent electoral successes, the Left Party's position in the German party system is more fragile that it may at first appear. The Left Party gained support in 2005 largely on account of dissatisfaction with other parties and not because masses of voters were flocking to its (nominally socialist) cause. Not even a majority from within its own supporter base thought it possessed "significant problem solving competences." Rather, much of the Left Party's political discourse is based on negative dismissals of much that it sees—in policy terms—before it. We discuss the Left Party's political development through the prism of populist politics. After outlining what we understand populism to mean, we analyze the Left Party's programmatic stances and political strategy within the context of this framework. Although populism is certainly not the sole preserve of the Left Party, it clearly excels in using populist tools to make political headway. We conclude by discussing the ramifications that this has for German party politics in general and for the Social Democratic Party in particular.

Luxemburg on Popular Emancipation

2020 ◽  
pp. 168-183
Author(s):  
Camila Vergara
Keyword(s):  
Working Class ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Party System ◽  
National Council ◽  
Social Democratic Party ◽  
Partial Control ◽  
German Government ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
The Social ◽  
Revolutionary Party

This chapter focuses on Rosa Luxemburg, who proposed to embrace workers' councils as a political infrastructure of emancipation at a moment when the modern party system had begun to consolidate. It explains the Social Democratic Party as a party in support of the interests of the working class, which had gained partial control of the German government. It discusses Luxemburg's realization that the liberty of the working class demanded a different political infrastructure. The chapter cites the betrayal of the revolutionary party that proved to Luxemburg the truth of Karl Marx's argument that the “working class cannot simply lay hold of the ready-made state machinery and wield it for its own purposes.” It highlights Luxemburg's proposal to alter the foundation and base of the social constitution by institutionalizing workers, soldiers, and peasant councils and establishing a national council of workers as part of a revolutionary constitutional political order.

The German Party System and the 1961 Federal Election

1962 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 899-914 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel H. Barnes ◽  
Frank Grace ◽  
James K. Pollock ◽  
Peter W. Sperlich
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Party ◽  
Party System ◽  
West Germany ◽  
Social Democratic Party ◽  
Federal Election ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
Christian Democratic Union ◽  
The Social ◽  
Number Of Parties ◽  
Near Future

Each German federal election since 1949 has resulted in a reduction in the number of parties securing representation in the Bundestag. While this trend continued in 1961, there is evidence that the party system is becoming stabilized, making it unlikely that any of the present parties will disappear in the near future. This article examines the 1961 election and its significance for the German party system.The major outlines of the present German party system became apparent as early as 1946, when party activities were resumed on a zonal basis. The principal parties then in the field were the Communist Party, the Social Democratic Party, the Christian Democratic Union, and the Free Democratic Party. The last two of these were known differently in different sections of West Germany, but today, with very few exceptions, the designation for each group is the same throughout the Federal Republic.

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.

From Socialist Unification to Socialist Scission 1966–69: Socialist Unification and the Italian Party System

1974 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 146-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felice Rizzi
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Party ◽  
Political System ◽  
Party System ◽  
Socialist Party ◽  
Social Democratic Party ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
Strategic Design ◽  
Single Voice

A FEW YEARS AGO, GALL1 AND PRANDI WROTE THAT THE UNIFICATION of the socialists represented a phase of rationalization of the Italian political system. Not only did the re-unification of the PSI (Socialist Party of Italy) and the PSDI (Social Democratic Party of Italy) lead to a simplification of the party subsystem (by reducing its excessive numbers), thus rendering the choice between alternatives easier for the electorate. But at last a single voice seemed to emerge which could undertake the task of opposing the twenty years of Christian Democrat predominance, which had been responsible for so many aspects of political ‘immobilism’. Moreover it was possible to discern a strategic design in the socialist plans — an optimistic design perhaps, but entailing possible innovations. The formation of a strong Socialist Party might have led to the overcoming of one of the principal - if not the greatest - defects of the Italian party system: the absence of a mechanism of rewards and punishments.

Czech Social Democracy and its “cohabitation” with the Communist Party: The story of a neglected affair

2008 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 317-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lubomír Kopeček ◽  
Pavel Pšeja
Keyword(s):  
Communist Party ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Social Democratic Party ◽  
Pragmatic Approach ◽  
Social Democrats ◽  
Unsuccessful Attempt ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Relationship

This article attempts to analyze developments within the Czech Left after 1989. Primarily, the authors focus on two questions: (1) How did the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) achieve its dominance of the Left? (2)What is the relationship between the Social Democrats and the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSČM)? We conclude that the unsuccessful attempt to move the KSČM towards a moderate leftist identity opened up a space in which the Social Democrats could thrive, at the same time gradually assuming a pragmatic approach towards the Communists. Moreover, the ability of Miloš Zeman, the leader of the Social Democrats, to build a clear non-Communist Left alternative to the hegemony of the Right during the 1990s was also very important.

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