Social-democratic parties are losing momentum. At the root of this trend are the consequences of the economic crisis and the emergence of new political players challenging their traditional role.
It is a difficult time for the center-left in Europe.
In the United Kingdom, plagued by a leadership crisis, the Labour Party is struggling to manage the consequences of the Brexit vote.
In Spain, the governance crisis affecting the country has been accompanied by a crisis, even an open war within the Socialist Party (PSOE), between former leader Pedro Sánchez and his opponents.
In France, François Hollande is helplessly witnessing the continuous erosion of his popularity among voters.
Elsewhere, the situation for the left is no better: in Italy, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi risks seeing his star fade if he does not win the constitutional referendum on December 4th.
European social democracy is decapitated. The reasons, which add to internal difficulties, are attributable to a trend that has manifested in recent years and is related to the political crisis of the parties that have occupied the political center in Europe since World War II.
The economic crisis is significantly to blame, compounded by the crises of the euro, the EU, and the European idea. The emergence of alternative parties, both on the left and right, populist, xenophobic and in all cases, radically opposed to the establishment, has dealt a significant blow to social-democratic parties, which remain firmly anchored in the center-left/center-right dichotomy characteristic of Europe since the end of the war.
The European Union and the decades of peace it has ensured in Europe are the result of the tacit agreement between conservative forces and social democrats. It is therefore with irony that we note that social democracy is “a victim of its success,” once the “pact for welfare” was accepted by most Western European countries.
The urgent need for traditional parties now is to rearrange the political map and regain a prominent role within it.
For conservative parties, it’s simpler because they are more in tune with the times. The retreat into identity and nationhood and implementing continuity policies with the past are reassuring for many voters. For social-democratic parties, the landscape is not so clear.
Faced with parties emerging strongly to their left, particularly in southern Europe (Podemos, Syriza,…), there is a need to rethink the compromise with “soft” capitalism with which they have cohabited (and agreed) since the post-war era, at a time when neoliberalism and financial capitalism are more unashamed than in the past.
But the violence of the crisis has struck among voters, who no longer want this electoral product. Therefore, social democrats must choose and compete: renew the historical compromise or divide the left. Hence the ongoing crisis of recent times.
