Why the Left Loses: The Decline of the Centre-Left in Comparative PerspectivePaul Kennedy, Rob Manwaring Social Democracy is on the back-foot, and increasingly centre-left political parties are struggling to win office. Bringing together a range of leading academics and experts on social democratic politics and policy, Why the left loses 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. Using case studies from the UK, Germany, Spain, France, Australia and New Zealand contributors argue that despite different local and specific contexts, the mainstream centre-left is beset by a range of common challenges. Analysis focuses on institutional and structural factors, the role of key individuals, especially party leaders, and the atrophy of progressive ideas in explaining why the centre-left is currently in retreat. Why the Left Loses is aimed at stimulating wider debate about the fortunes of the centre-left. |
Contents
Tables | 7 |
back to the wilderness | 25 |
1 | 40 |
four The soft target of Labour in New Zealand | 53 |
capitalist constraints and the | 69 |
the case of Australian state Labor | 85 |
1 | 86 |
little hope in times of crisis | 103 |
eight The Swedish Social Democrats and the new Swedish | 123 |
the PSOE | 137 |
from office to crisis | 151 |
eleven The end of revisionism? | 169 |
twelve Social democracy and the populist challenge | 185 |
thirteen The dilemmas of social democracy | 203 |
1 | 207 |
| 219 | |