For decades, social democrats were committed to promoting progressive change aimed at improving workers’ lives. They were at the forefront of progress as they aimed at creating a better world through education, discipline, solidarity and the struggle for workers’ rights.
Former German chancellor Willy Brandt, former Austrian chancellor Bruno Kreisky and former Swedish prime minister Olaf Palme were some of the social democratic leaders that brought about social and economic change in their countries in the second half of the 20th century. They did not just believe they could effectively guide society and the economy with their policies, but put their beliefs into practice.
The battle horses of social democratic parties in Europe had been the welfare state; the notion that the strong bear some responsibility for weaker members of society; and the idea that everyone should have the same opportunity to participate in society. These principles hardwired in social democratic thinking are now taken for granted among large middle-class segments of society.
In the late 1980s, with Margaret Thatcher’s and Ronald Regan’s advent, neoliberal political thinking took over. The role of the state in the economy was challenged and the liberalisation of various industries spread over Europe. The financial crisis of 2008 exposed the limitations of financial capitalism and neoliberal politics.
Many were expecting the resurgence of social democracy with strong state governance. In the last two decades, the gap between the rich and the poor widened almost everywhere in Europe. Yet the need for “social justice” has failed to halt the decline in support for social democratic parties.
Some political scientists argue that social democratic leaders like Tony Blair in the UK and Gerhard Schroder abandoned the working classes’ support principles and embraced neoliberal principles to make their parties electable.
Blair promoted the ‘Third Way’ that steered away from hard-core social democratic principles. Schroder reformed the German economy by making deep cuts to the country’s welfare system in the 2000s.
Many European centre-left parties had their own version of Blair – a leader that some argue betrayed what social democracy once represented. People who have been left behind by globalisation have turned to splinter hard-right and hard-left populist parties.
Social democratic parties in many European countries like France, the Netherlands, Italy and Poland are a shadow of their former selves. But despite the fall in electoral support, some centre-left parties are still in governing coalitions in Germany, Spain, Portugal, Denmark and Sweden. The splintering of the electorate is probably irreversible.
In the late 1980s, with Margaret Thatcher’s and Ronald Regan’s advent, neoliberal political thinking took over
Tarik Abou-Chadi is an associate professor in European Union and comparative European politics at the Department of Politics and International Relations at Nuffield College. He argues that European party systems in western Europe have fragmented intensely. He adds: “Much of the crisis is not necessarily a crisis of the left but a crisis of social democratic parties that have lost voters while other parties, such as the Greens, have gained larger vote shares.”
The socio-economic support base of social democratic parties has changed substantially. There is less working-class support and more support from the educated middle class. In most European countries with many political groupings, the era of right-wing and left-wing traditional mega parties alternately holding power is over. Perhaps the future belongs to different coalitions of movements for and against an open society.
Mette Frederiksen is a Danish politician who has been prime minister of Denmark since June 2019 and leader of the Social Democrats since June 2015. She makes an incisive remark on the future of social democracy in Europe. Frederiksen argues: “If social democrats are unable to appeal to those most strongly affected by the challenges of the future and the changes in society, we are not a true social democratic party.”
Many socially conscious Europeans have doubts about what some of today’s social democratic leaders stand for. They see no difference between the politics of the centre-left and the centre-right.
Matteo Renzi in Italy and Emanuel Macron were once considered the ideal centrist leaders to resurrect the social democratic values in Europe. They, however, failed to deliver on their promises to make social democratic politics relevant to people’s lives. Today, many working-class Europeans vote for right-wing or left-wing populists.
A credible narrative of what European social democracy stands for has still to be written. Social democrats will continue to argue that their mission is to pursue a better society. The tricky part will be explaining what this means to an electorate becoming increasingly sceptical about traditional politicians.