The Christian Democratic Parties of Western Europe

1980 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 861
Author(s):  
Robert Gellately ◽  
R. E. M. Irving
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Democratic Parties

Fostering peace through dialogue The international social democratic movement and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 166-177
Author(s):  
Pentti Väänänen
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Labour Party ◽  
Active Member ◽  
Vice Presidents ◽  
Democratic Movement ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
Political Force ◽  
Willy Brandt ◽  
Democratic Parties ◽  
Global Affairs

The Socialist International (SI), the worldwide forum of the socialist, social democratic, and labor parties, actively looked for a solution to the Jewish-Palestinian conflict in the 1980s. At that time, the Israeli Labour Party still was the leading political force in Israel, as it had been historically since the foundation of the country. The Labour Party was also an active member of the SI. The Party’s leader, Shimon Peres, was one of its vice-presidents. At the same time, the social democratic parties were the leading political force in Western Europe. Several important European leaders, many of them presidents and prime ministers, were involved in the SI’s work. They included personalities such as Willy Brandt of Germany; former president of the SI, Francois Mitterrand of France; James Callaghan of Great Britain; Bruno Kreisky of Austria; Bettini Craxi of Italy; Felipe Gonzalez of Spain; Mario Soares of Portugal; Joop de Uyl of the Netherlands; Olof Palme of Sweden; Kalevi Sorsa of Finland; Anker Jörgensen of Denmark; and Gro Harlem Brudtland of Norway—all of whom are former vice-presidents of the SI. As a result, in the 1980s, the SI in many ways represented Europe in global affairs, despite the existence of the European Community (which did not yet have well-defined common foreign policy objectives).

scholarly journals Did Youth Destabilize Politics? Western European Social Democracies and Student Movements in «the Long Sixties»

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ismail Ferhat
Keyword(s):  
Social History ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Student Movements ◽  
International Institute ◽  
Social Democrats ◽  
Western European ◽  
Progressive Reforms ◽  
Post War ◽  
Democratic Parties

Student movements during «the Long Sixties» had a profound impact on Western politics and societies. One of the major political families in Western Europe, the social-democratic parties, were particularly affected. A major governmental force in a majority of Western European democracies, their post-war views on education, founded on optimistic and careful prospects (democratization of schools, progressive reforms) were destabilized by student protests and radicalism. How did social democrats react to the strong criticism of the universities, pedagogies and hierarchies in educational institutions that they had helped to build? This article is based on archives, documents and publications from the Socialist International, kept at the International Institute of Social History (Amsterdam), and on documents held by several national archives and libraries. It uses a transnational and interdisciplinary approach, linking political history and educational studies.

The Rise of Challenger Parties

2020 ◽  
pp. 15-39
Author(s):  
Catherine E. De Vries ◽  
Sara B. Hobolt
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Government Experience ◽  
Degree Of Stability ◽  
Radical Right Parties ◽  
Democratic Parties ◽  
The Right ◽  
Social Democratic Parties ◽  
Historical Origins

This chapter discusses the rise of challenger parties. Challenger parties are those parties that have not yet held the reins of power: the parties without government experience. There are three main ways of distinguishing between challengers and mainstream parties in the existing literature. One focuses on the historical origins of the parties, another focuses on the specific issues they mobilize, and the third focuses specifically on populism as a distinguishing feature. The chapter then presents three examples of “waves” of challenger parties over the past century (social democratic parties, green parties, and populist radical right parties) and explores the commonalities in the strategies these parties have pursued, despite their very different ideological outlooks. It also considers the evolution of party competition in postwar Western Europe, demonstrating both the remarkable degree of stability the established party families enjoyed for much of the postwar period and then the increasing fragmentation resulting from the strengthening of challengers on both the right and the left.

scholarly journals Globalization, Party Positions, and the Median Voter

2011 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 509-547 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugh Ward ◽  
Lawrence Ezrow ◽  
Han Dorussen
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Median Voter ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Economic Globalization ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
Party Positions ◽  
Democratic Parties ◽  
The Right ◽  
Social Democratic Parties

The authors argue that the effects of economic globalization on social democratic parties in Western Europe are conditional on the position of the median voter. If the median is far enough to the right, such parties will adopt business-friendly policies because they are required to win office. Only when the median is relatively far to the left will globalization constrain social democratic parties, forcing them to adopt policies further to the right in order to retain credibility. It is on this basis the authors argue that empirical studies are misspecified unless they include an interaction between measures of globalization and the position of the median. In addition to presenting formal theoretical arguments, the article reports empirical findings from fifteen countries in the period from 1973 to 2002 that support the conclusion that the effects of globalization are indeed contingent on the median. The authors find that the effects of globalization are significant for social democratic parties only in circumstances in which the median is relatively far to the left.

scholarly journals NEW LEFT RADICALISM AND POPULISM IN WESTERN EUROPE: WHAT'S NEW?

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 49-53
Author(s):  
S.A. Sergeev ◽  
◽  
S.V. Kuzmina ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
New Left ◽  
Economic Reforms ◽  
Rapid Decline ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Party Members ◽  
The Government ◽  
Democratic Parties ◽  
Moderate Policy ◽  
Social Democratic Parties

The article is devoted to the study of the features of the new left radicalism in Western Europe on the example of three parties: SYRIZA (Greece), "Unconquered France" (France) and "Podemos" (Spain). In 2012 - 2019 these three left-wing radical parties made a rapid political and electoral spurt. The first and main feature of these parties, which largely predetermined their successes, is populism. As an ideological platform, they chose left-wing populism in the form as it was justified by E. Laclau and consisting in the rejection of the class approach and in the persistent opposition of "we" - "they", "people" - "caste", "oligarchs" etc. The discursively constructed "people" are supposed to be honest, pure and poor, the "caste" or "oligarchy" is corrupted and depraved both politically, economically and morally. The second feature is the widespread use of Web 2.0, various digital technologies, platforms and social media, with the help of which thousands of party members could submit their proposals and discuss them. Rising on a wave of dissatisfaction with austerity policies, SYRIZA and Podemos were able to really participate in the formation of the government (and Unconquered France - to claim that its candidate would become one of the two or three main contenders for the presidency). However, radical socio-economic reforms are likely not included in the plans of the current Western European radical left. Judging by the rapid decline in the tone of the election campaigns, their goal was to oust and replace the existing Social Democratic parties (which SYRIZA succeeded in) and to pursue a moderate policy in a neo-Keynesian spirit.

REASONS FOR THE CRISIS OF CHRISTIAN DEMOCRACYIN WESTERN EUROPE

2019 ◽  
pp. 285-292
Author(s):  
G.Т. SARDARYAN
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
European Countries ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Electoral Support ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Democratic Parties ◽  
Democratic Principles ◽  
The One ◽  
Integration Project ◽  
West European

The article discusses the causes and characteristics of the crisis of Christian democracy in West European countries in the second half of the XX century and at the present stage. The author notes that the crisis manifests itself in several directions: on the one hand, it is expressed in a significant decrease of the electoral support of the Christian Democratic parties in most West European countries and, on the other, in the crisis of the European Union as an integration project of a united Europe, the founders of which were the authors of the concept of the pan-European Christian republic. The article analyzes both external and internal reasons of the loss by the Christian Democrats of their ruling status in Europe. The key factor contributing to the development of the crisis is the desire of the demochristians to expand their electoral base bysecularizing their ideology and moving away from the fundamental Christian Democratic principles.

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