The Social Democratic Moment

Author : Sheri BERMAN,Sheri Berman
Publisher : Harvard University Press
Page : 321 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 2009-06-30
Category : History
ISBN : 9780674020849

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The Social Democratic Moment by Sheri BERMAN,Sheri Berman Pdf

In addition to revising our view of the interwar period and the building of European democracies, this book cuts against the grain of most current theorizing in political science by explicitly discussing when and how ideas influence political behavior. Even though German and Swedish Social Democrats belonged to the same transnational political movement and faced similar political and social conditions in their respective countries before and after World War I, they responded very differently to the challenges of democratization and the Great Depression--with crucial consequences for the fates of their countries and the world at large. Explaining why these two social democratic parties acted so differently is the primary task of this book. Berman's answer is that they had very different ideas about politics and economics--what she calls their programmatic beliefs. The Swedish Social Democrats placed themselves at the forefront of the drive for democratization; a decade later they responded to the Depression with a bold new economic program and used it to build a long period of political hegemony. The German Social Democrats, on the other hand, had democracy thrust upon them and then dithered when faced with economic crisis; their haplessness cleared the way for a bolder and more skillful political actor--Adolf Hitler. This provocative book will be of interest to anyone concerned with twentieth-century European history, the transition to democracy problem, or the role of ideas in politics.

Author : Sheri Berman
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 219 pages
File Size : 50,6 Mb
Release : 2006-08-07
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781139457590

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The Primacy of Politics by Sheri Berman Pdf

Political history in the industrial world has indeed ended, argues this pioneering study, but the winner has been social democracy - an ideology and political movement that has been as influential as it has been misunderstood. Berman looks at the history of social democracy from its origins in the late nineteenth century to today and shows how it beat out competitors such as classical liberalism, orthodox Marxism, and its cousins, Fascism and National Socialism by solving the central challenge of modern politics - reconciling the competing needs of capitalism and democracy. Bursting on to the scene in the interwar years, the social democratic model spread across Europe after the Second World War and formed the basis of the postwar settlement. This is a study of European social democracy that rewrites the intellectual and political history of the modern era while putting contemporary debates about globalization in their proper intellectual and historical context.

Author : Jean-Numa Ducange
Publisher : BRILL
Page : 382 pages
File Size : 41,9 Mb
Release : 2018-11-26
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9789004384798

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The French Revolution and Social Democracy by Jean-Numa Ducange Pdf

In The French Revolution and Social Democracy Jean-Numa Ducange explores the important legacy of the French Revolution, and its different interpretations, in the culture of German-speaking social democracy.

Author : Ingo Schmidt,Bryan Evans
Publisher : Athabasca University Press
Page : 341 pages
File Size : 54,5 Mb
Release : 2012
Category : History
ISBN : 9781926836874

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Social Democracy After the Cold War by Ingo Schmidt,Bryan Evans Pdf

"Despite the market triumphalism that greeted the end of the Cold War, the collapse of the Soviet empire seemed initially to herald new possibilities for social democracy. In the 1990s, with a new era of peace and economic prosperity apparently imminent, people discontented with the realities of global capitalism swept social democrats into power in many Western countries. The resurgence was, however, brief. Neither the recurring economic crises of the 2000s nor the ongoing War on Terror was conducive to social democracy, which soon gave way to a prolonged decline in countries where social democrats had once held power. Arguing that neither globalization nor demographic change was key to the failure of social democracy, the contributors to this volume analyze the rise and decline of Third Way social democracy and seek to lay the groundwork for the reformulation of progressive class politics. Offering a comparative look at social democratic experience since the Cold War, the volume examines countries where social democracy has long been an influential political force--Sweden, Germany, Britain, and Australia--while also considering the history of Canada's NDP, the social democratic tradition in the United States, and the emergence of New Left parties in Germany and the province of Québec. The case studies point to a social democracy that has confirmed its rupture with the postwar order and its role as the primary political representative of workingclass interests. Once marked by redistributive and egalitarian policy perspectives, social democracy has, the book argues, assumed a new role--that of a modernizing force advancing the neoliberal cause." -- Publisher's website.

Author : Klaus Misgeld,Karl Molin
Publisher : Penn State Press
Page : 549 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 2010-11-01
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780271043449

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Creating Social Democracy by Klaus Misgeld,Karl Molin Pdf

Author : Tobias Schulze-Cleven,Sidney A. Rothstein
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 260 pages
File Size : 53,5 Mb
Release : 2021-03-30
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781000370188

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Imbalance by Tobias Schulze-Cleven,Sidney A. Rothstein Pdf

Germany is a central case for research on comparative political economy, which has inspired theorizing on national differences and historical trajectories. This book assesses Germany’s political economy after the end of the "social democratic" 20th century to rethink its dominant properties and create new opportunities for using the country as a powerful lens into the evolution of democratic capitalism. Documenting large-scale changes and new tensions in the welfare state, company strategies, interest intermediation, and macroeconomic governance, the volume makes the case for analysing contemporary Germany through the politics of imbalance rather than the long-standing paradigm of institutional stability. This conceptual reorientation around inequalities and disparities provides much-needed traction for clarifying the causal dynamics that govern ongoing processes of institutional recomposition. Delving into the politics of imbalance, the volume explicates the systemic properties of capitalism, multivalent policy feedback, and the organizational foundations of creative adjustment as key vantage points for understanding new forms of distributional conflict within and beyond Germany. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of German Politics.

Author : Madhav Khosla
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 241 pages
File Size : 41,6 Mb
Release : 2020
Category : Constitutional history
ISBN : 9780674980877

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India's Founding Moment by Madhav Khosla Pdf

"How did the founders of the most populous democratic nation in the world meet the problem of establishing a democracy after the departure of foreign rule? The justification for British imperial rule had stressed the impossibility of Indian self-government. At the heart of India's founding moment, in which constitution-making and democratization occurred simultaneously, lay the question of how to implement democracy in an environment regarded as unqualified for its existence. India's founders met this challenge in direct terms-the people, they acknowledged, had to be educated to create democratic citizens. But the path to education lay not in being ruled by a superior class of men but rather in the very creation of a self-sustaining politics. Universal suffrage was instituted amidst poverty, illiteracy, social heterogeneity, and centuries of tradition. Under the guidance of B. R. Ambedkar, Indian lawmakers crafted a constitutional system that could respond to the problem of democratization under the most inhospitable of conditions. On January 26, 1950, the Indian constitution-the longest in the world-came into effect. More than half of the world's constitutions have been written in the past three decades. Unlike the constitutional revolutions of the late-eighteenth century, these contemporary revolutions have occurred in countries that are characterized by low levels of economic growth and education; are divided by race, religion, and ethnicity; and have democratized at once, rather than gradually. The Indian founding is a natural reference point for such constitutional moments-when democracy, constitutionalism, and modernity occur simultaneously"--

Author : John Callaghan,Nina Fishman,Ben Jackson,Martin McIvor
Publisher : Manchester University Press
Page : 318 pages
File Size : 40,9 Mb
Release : 2017-05-26
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781526125095

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In search of social democracy by John Callaghan,Nina Fishman,Ben Jackson,Martin McIvor Pdf

This electronic version has been made available under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) open access license. The search for social democracy has not been an easy one over the last three decades. The economic crisis of the 1970s, and the consequent rise of neo-liberalism, confronted social democrats with difficult new circumstances: tax-resistant electorates, the globalisation of capital and Western deindustrialisation. In response, a new bout of ideological revisionism consumed social democratic parties. But did this revisionism simply amount to a neo-liberalisation of the Left or did it propose a recognisably social democratic agenda? Were these ideological adaptations the only feasible ones or were there other forms of modernisation that might have yielded greater strategic dividends for the Left? Why did some social democratic parties feel it necessary to take their revisionism much further than others? In search of social democracy brings together prominent scholars of social democracy to address these questions. Focusing on the social democratic heartland of Western Europe (although Australia and the United States also figure in the analysis), it gives the first detailed assessment of how the new social democratic revisionism has fared in government. The book begins by considering the underlying causes of the end of social democracy’s golden age and the magnitude of the challenges faced by social democratic parties after the 1970s. It then proceeds to examine detailed case studies of how particular social democratic parties responded to this changed political terrain. Finally, it contributes to a broader conversation about the future of social democracy by considering ways in which the political thought of ‘third way’ social democracy might be radicalised for the twenty-first century. The contributors offer a variety of perspectives – some are sceptical of social democracy’s prospects, others more sanguine; some supportive of the performance of social democratic parties in government, others bitingly critical. But they are united by the conviction that the themes addressed in this book are crucial to understanding the current politics of the industrialised world and, in particular, to determining the feasibility of more egalitarian and democratic social outcomes than have been possible so far in the era of neo-liberalism.

Author : Gary Dorrien
Publisher : Yale University Press
Page : 595 pages
File Size : 54,5 Mb
Release : 2019-04-23
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780300244991

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Social Democracy in the Making by Gary Dorrien Pdf

An expansive and ambitious intellectual history of democratic socialism from one of the world’s leading intellectual historians and social ethicists The fallout from twenty years of neoliberal economic globalism has sparked a surge of interest in the old idea of democratic socialism—a democracy in which the people control the economy and government, no group dominates any other, and every citizen is free, equal, and included. With a focus on the intertwined legacies of Christian socialism and Social Democratic politics in Britain and Germany, this book traces the story of democratic socialism from its birth in the nineteenth century through the mid-1960s. Examining the tenets on which the movement was founded and how it adapted to different cultural, religious, and economic contexts from its beginnings through the social and political traumas of the twentieth century, Gary Dorrien reminds us that Christian socialism paved the way for all liberation theologies that make the struggles of oppressed peoples the subject of redemption. He argues for a decentralized economic democracy and anti-imperial internationalism.

Author : Gerassimos Moschonas
Publisher : Verso Books
Page : 386 pages
File Size : 43,6 Mb
Release : 2016-03-01
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781784787974

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In the Name of Social Democracy by Gerassimos Moschonas Pdf

Following the locust years of the neo-liberal revolution, social democracy was the great victor at the fin-de-siècle elections. Today, parties descended from the Second International hold office throughout the European Union, while the Right appears widely disorientated by the dramatic “modernisation” of a political tradition dating back to the nineteenth century. The focal point of Gerassimos Moschonas’s study is the emergent “new social democracy” of the twenty-first century. As Moschonas demonstrates, change has been a constant of social-democratic history: the core dominant reformist tendency of working-class politic notwithstanding, capitalism has transformed social democracy more than it has succeeded in transforming capitalism. Now, in the “great transformation” of recent years, a process of “de-social-democratization” has been set in train, affecting every aspect of the social-democratic phenomenon, from ideology and programs to organization and electorates. Analytically incisive and empirically meticulous, In the Name of Social Democracy will establish itself as the standard reference work on the logic and dynamics of a major mutation in European politics.

Author : Thomas Meyer
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
Page : 263 pages
File Size : 51,6 Mb
Release : 2013-09-30
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780745654614

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The Theory of Social Democracy by Thomas Meyer Pdf

The ascendancy of neo-liberalism in different parts of the world has put social democracy on the defensive. Its adherents lack a clear rationale for their policies. Yet a justification for social democracy is implicit in the United Nations Covenants on Human Rights, ratified by most of the worlds countries. The covenants commit all nations to guarantee that their citizens shall enjoy the traditional formal rights; but they likewise pledge governments to make those rights meaningful in the real world by providing social security and cultural recognition to every person. This new book provides a systematic defence of social democracy for our contemporary global age. The authors argue that the claims to legitimation implicit in democratic theory can be honored only by social democracy; libertarian democracies are defective in failing to protect their citizens adequately against social, economic, and environmental risks that only collective action can obviate. Ultimately, social democracy provides both a fairer and more stable social order. But can social democracy survive in a world characterized by pervasive processes of globalization? This book asserts that globalization need not undermine social democracy if it is harnessed by international associations and leavened by principles of cultural respect, toleration, and enlightenment. The structures of social democracy must, in short, be adapted to the exigencies of globalization, as has already occurred in countries with the most successful social-democratic practices.

Author : Isser Woloch
Publisher : Yale University Press
Page : 554 pages
File Size : 43,8 Mb
Release : 2019-01-22
Category : France
ISBN : 9780300124354

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The Postwar Moment by Isser Woloch Pdf

An incisive, comparative study of the development of Post-World War II progressive politics in Britain, France, and the United States Toward the end of World War II, the three democracies faced a common choice: return to the civic order of prewar normalcy or embark instead on a path of progressive transformation. In this ambitious and original work, Isser Woloch assesses the progressive agendas that crystallized in each of the allied democracies: their roots in the interwar decades, their development during wartime, the struggles to enact them in the early postwar years, and the mixed outcomes in each country. The Postwar Moment examines three progressive postwar manifestos that reveal a common agenda in the three nations. The issues at stake included priorities for reconstruction or reconversion; "full employment" via economic planning; price controls; the roles of trade unions; expansion of social security; national health care; public housing; and educational reform. A highly regarded scholar of European history, Woloch persuasively adds the United States to a discussion that is usually focused solely on Europe.

Author : Stephen Eric Bronner
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Page : 176 pages
File Size : 46,8 Mb
Release : 2014-07-31
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781623564148

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Moments of Decision by Stephen Eric Bronner Pdf

In this expanded second edition, the radical classic Moments of Decision has been updated more than 20 years since it was first published and received the Michael Harrington Book Award. Reexamining observations made after the fall of communism, Stephen Eric Bronner blends political meditation, philosophical critique, and history lessons to illuminate the monumental crises that shaped the 20th and 21st centuries. A cosmopolitan work that touches on the implications of conflicts ranging from World War I to the Arab Spring, Moments of Decision explores the assumptions of socialist historiography and the character of modernity. In clear, accessible prose, Bronner has revived and revised a seminal work that is ideal for students, scholars, and anyone interested in political history, theory, and international relations. PRAISE FOR THE PREVIOUS EDITION: “To guess about the future Bronner has rightly looked into the past, going back to the first world war and the momentous split in the labor movement. His book is a learned, lively and inevitably controversial contribution to the political and historical debates of our age.” - Daniel Singer, THE NATION “Stephen Bronner is a distinctive voice on the American left. He combines a deep understanding of working class political history with a passionate interest in devising a democratic strategy for our time, and is willing to take risks in saying just what that strategy should be. Bronner's analysis is both principled and shrewd, unsparing and hopeful. Even where one disagrees with it, one learns.” - Joel Rogers, University of Wisconsin Law School, Editor, POLITICS AND SOCIETY

Author : Jennifer M. Kapczynski,Caroline Kita
Publisher : University of Michigan Press
Page : 279 pages
File Size : 41,7 Mb
Release : 2022-02-07
Category : History
ISBN : 9780472132911

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The Arts of Democratization by Jennifer M. Kapczynski,Caroline Kita Pdf

How postwar West German democracy was styled through word, image, sound, performance, and gathering

Author : Richard T. Peterson
Publisher : Penn State Press
Page : 360 pages
File Size : 47,9 Mb
Release : 2006-03-02
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 0271025573

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Democratic Philosophy and the Politics of Knowledge by Richard T. Peterson Pdf

Debates over postmodernism, analyses of knowledge and power, and the recurring issue of Heidegger's Nazism have all deepened questions about the relation between philosophy and the social roles of intellectuals. Against such postmodernist rejections of philosophical theory as mounted by Rorty and Lyotard, Richard Peterson argues that precisely reflection on rationality, in appropriate social terms, is needed to confront urgent political issues about intellectuals. After presenting a conception of intellectual mediation set within the modern division of labor, he offers an account of postmodern politics within which postmodern arguments against critical reflection are themselves treated socially and politically. Engaging thinkers as diverse as Kant, Hegel, Marx, Habermas, Foucault, and Bahktin, Peterson argues that a democratic conception and practice of philosophy is inseparable from democracy generally. His arguments about modern philosophy are tied to claims about the relation between liberalism and epistemology, and these in turn inform an account of impasses confronting contemporary politics. Historical arguments about the connections between postmodernist thought and practice are illustrated by discussions of the postmodernist dimensions of recent politics.