The crisis of European social democracy: causes and consequences in an age of political uncertainty
PSA Italian Politics
Specialist Group Conference, Genoa 14-15 June 2019
Over the
last ten years almost all European social democratic parties have experienced
major setbacks (one may even call them ‘shocks’) in a context of economic,
social and political uncertainty. Whereas the 1980s and 1990s were seen as a
phase of transition, transformation and renewal of European social democracy,
the current decade has been marked by the dramatic – perhaps irreversible –
decline in the fortunes of one of the oldest and most resilient political
families in the European democratic tradition.
The debate on the ‘crisis’ of social democracy is not a recent one and
some scholars already reflected on the ideological and organisational
transformations of centre-left parties after the so-called Trente Glorieuses (1945-1975). However, the challenges that social
democracy had to face in the 1980s and 1990s seem less serious when compared to
the current ones, which may deal a fatal blow to established reformist parties.
The electoral defeats that social democratic parties have recently suffered in
France, Germany, Italy, Spain and almost all other European countries have no
precedent in the history of Europe after WW2. The recovery in the late 1990s,
with the emergence of Tony Blair’s Third Way and the formation of renewed centre-left
governments in most European countries, was rather short-lived and first signs
of reversal were already evident in the first decade of the 21st
century. However, it is after the beginning of the financial, and then
economic, crisis in 2007-8 that the vulnerabilities of the reformist Left
became increasingly evident.
The aim of this conference is to
shed light not only on the circumstances that have contributed to the crisis of
social-democratic parties over the last ten years but also on the impact that such
crisis has on democratic processes and public policy. We welcome contributions
in three key areas. The first area focuses on internal characteristics of
social democratic parties, that is, their organisation/membership, leadership
and their political platforms/ideologies. The second one looks at the social
and political environment in which social democratic parties compete. One may
consider transformations in socio-economic conditions and voters’ attitudes and
preferences (demand-side) or changing patterns of inter-party competition, with
the emerge of new challengers (supply-side). Lastly the third area focuses on
the implications of the social democratic crisis for Western European
democracies and for relevant policy areas. Of course, the three areas
identified here should not necessarily be analysed in isolation and we also
welcome contributions that aim to establish links between them.
Paper proposals
should be emailed to Davide Vampa (d.vampa@aston.ac.uk) by 17th
March 2019
