Excerpt
The talk of social democracy in Europe is misleading, rather one should consider three distinct movements: Northern, Southern and Central (the band between North and South) European. The social democrats of Scandinavia have faired better than those of central Europe, (whose votes have fallen quite drastically in some cases), by maintaining, to a large extent, their position in government. Whereas he Southern European social democrats, after being held up a great examples of the way forward, now find themselves either out of office or staring defeat in the face, with only the Portuguese confident of the future.
The traditional social democratic model can be defined mainly in terms of of its values, typified by a commitment to equality, as well as social justice and social welfare. This would be achieved through active state policies, redistributing funds via a welfare state, and taxation. State intervention would also be employed on the economic side so as to prevent uneven development. Social democratic economics only allowed for the revision if capitalism. Keynesian methods were used to ensure full employment, sustained economic growth and high wages. As a response to economic problems many turned increasingly to corporatism, especially those with strong trade union links.
Social democrats work within the confines of capitalism and liberal democracy, without impinging upon consumer choice or entrepreneurial initiative; they respect personal freedom. But it may be that social democracy is the only form of socialism that capitalism will allow.
This article was a forerunner of The Social Democratic Dilemma: Ideology, Governance and Globalization published by Macmillan.
Contemporary Political Studies, 1996 Volume Three p1460-1468