Tag archive for ‘European’
A Good Society Not Only For Academic Professionals!
Social democrats must reaffirm their commitment to people whose security is threatened by modernisation. European social democracy faces an existential crisis for one reason: the electorate is of the opinion that social-democracy is betraying the good society it once promised and stood for. The project of Andrea Nahles and John Cruddas must be supported. Their [...]
Reinventing the State: New Perspectives for Social Democracy
‘Building the Good Society’ has come at the right moment. Not only Europe but also European social democracy is ‘at a turning point’. This document stands in great contrast to the Blair and Schröder document of 1999, which represented ‘traditional’ social democracy – although it would be better to call it ‘transitory’ social democracy, since [...]
Revitalising Social Democracy
As well as new policies, social democrats need a strong ‘demand-side’ perspective, which focuses on renewing democracy in the party, the local state and the community. The electoral defeat of the German Social Democrats on 27 September was a disaster. The party slumped to its worst performance in the history of the Federal Republic, losing [...]
Broken by Design: Europe’s Core and Periphery
A good society is unlikely to flourish in central-eastern Europe unless the EU partnership shifts away from an agenda that mainly benefits multinational companies. There’s no doubt that ‘Building the Good Society’ could represent a fresh start for pan-European social democracy. The concept of a ‘good society’ has been rendered a cliché in many countries, [...]
Down, but (definitely) not out
Social democrats need to work more closely together in Europe to reassert a policy agenda reflective of their values. Social-democratic parties are not dominating decision-making in Europe. The recent gain in Greece was matched with losses in Germany and Bulgaria, and in Portugal we retained control but lost absolute majority. This decline was reflected in [...]
