Why the Left Loses: The Decline of the Centre-Left in Comparative Perspective
Rob Manwaring and Paul Kennedy
Abstract
Social democracy is on the back-foot, and increasingly centre-left political parties are struggling to win office. Since the global financial crisis, if not before, there has been a general decline in the fortunes of social democratic and labour parties. Against these recent developments, there is a long-standing literature that appraises the electoral performance and impact of the left more broadly. Much of the literature on social democracy tends to be pessimistic, and there is a plethora of research that denotes recent developments as a ‘crisis’. Bringing together a range of leading academi ... More
Social democracy is on the back-foot, and increasingly centre-left political parties are struggling to win office. Since the global financial crisis, if not before, there has been a general decline in the fortunes of social democratic and labour parties. Against these recent developments, there is a long-standing literature that appraises the electoral performance and impact of the left more broadly. Much of the literature on social democracy tends to be pessimistic, and there is a plethora of research that denotes recent developments as a ‘crisis’. Bringing together a range of leading academics and experts on social democratic politics and policy, this book offers an international, comparative view of the changing political landscape, examining the degree to which the centre-left project is exhausted and is able to renew its message in a neo-liberal age.
Keywords:
social democracy,
social democratic politics,
social democratic policy,
centre-left,
neo-liberal age
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2017 |
Print ISBN-13: 9781447332664 |
| Published to Policy Press Scholarship Online: May 2018 |
DOI:10.1332/policypress/9781447332664.001.0001 |
