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Why the Left Loses: The Decline of the Centre-Left in Comparative Perspective
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Why the Left Loses: The Decline of the Centre-Left in Comparative Perspective

Why the Left Loses: The Decline of the Centre-Left in Comparative Perspective

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781447332664
Publisher: Bristol University Press
Publication date: 02/01/2018
Edition description: First Edition
Pages: 240
Product dimensions: 6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x (d)

About the Author

Dr Rob Manwaring is a senior lecturer at Flinders University, in South Australia. He researches into the areas of labour and social democratic politics, comparative politics, political parties, and democracy. Dr Paul Kennedy is Lecturer in Spanish and European Studies at the University of Bath. He is the author of The Spanish Socialist Party and the modernisation of Spain (Manchester UniversityPress: 2013) and is co-author, with David Cutts, of Podemos and the Art of the Possible (Manchester UniversityPress: forthcoming 2018).

Table of Contents

Foreword ~ Sheri Berman Why the left loses: understanding the comparative decline of the centre-left ~ Rob Manwaring and Paul Kennedy Part 1: The centre-left in the Anglosphere The case of the British Labour Party: back to the wilderness ~ Rob Manwaring and Matt Beech Electoral competition in Canada among centre-left parties: liberals versus social democracts ~ David McGrane The ‘soft target’ of Labour in New Zealand ~ Grant Duncan Australian social democracy: capitalist constraints and the challenges of equality ~ Carol Johnson Exit left: the case of Australian state Labor ~ Rob Manwaring Part 2: The centre-left in Western Europe Germany: little hope in times of crisis ~ Uwe Jun The Swedish Social Democrats and the ‘new Swedish model’: playing a losing game ~ Claes Belfrage and Mikko Kuisma Between a rock and a hard place in Spain: the PSOE ~ Paul Kennedy The French Parti socialiste (2010-16): from office to crisis ~ Sophie Di Francesco-Mayot Part 3: Conclusion: Why the left loses The end of revisionism? ~ Chris Pierson Social democracy and the populist challenge ~ René Cuperus The dilemmas of social democracy ~ Paul Kennedy and Rob Manwaring

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"This lucid and timely collection of essays deserves to be read by all those with a scholarly or political interest in the fate of social democracy." Patrick Diamond, Queen Mary University of London

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Related Subjects

Current Affairs & Politics
Politics & Government - General & Miscellaneous
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General & Miscellaneous - Politics & Government

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