The Transformation of European Social Democracy

ISBN-13: 9780521457156 / Angielski / Miękka / 1994 / 368 str.

Herbert Kitschelt;Beilharz; Peter Lange

Opis

This book explains the contrasting strategies of social democratic parties and their electoral fortunes in the major European democracies in the 1970s and 1980s. Going beyond approaches that focus on the influence of class structures and political economic institutions, Herbert Kitschelt analyzes a party's competitive situation in the electoral arena, the constraints and opportunities of party organization, and ideological legacies to explain the strategic choices made by social democratic parties and their electoral results. Social democracy is far from being doomed to decline, but its success depends on its ability to transform its political message and construct new electoral coalitions.

Recenzje

'This volume should be regarded as essential reading in any advanced course on comparative politics.' International Affairs

Spis treści

Introduction; 1. Social structure and preference formation: opportunities for left party strategy in the 1970s and 1980s; 2. Class structure and left party performance; 3. Left party fortunes and the political economy; 4. Social democratic strategy and electoral competition; 5. Internal politics in socialist parties: preference formation, aggregation and strategic choice; 6. The socialist discourse: political semantics and party strategy; 7. Social democracy in decline? Analytical and normative extensions of the argument; Bibliography.