The decline of Western European social democracy
Exploring the transformed link between welfare state generosity and the electoral strength of social democratic parties, 1975–2014
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7950424 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Karl Loxbo (0000-0002-0664-5729, Linnaeus University, corresponding author), Jonas Hinnfors (University of Gothenburg), Magnus Hagevi (0000-0003-0404-9496, Linnaeus University), Sofie Blombäck (0000-0002-9469-7691, Mid Sweden University), Marie Demker (University of Gothenburg) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 27 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 430-441 |
| Publication date | 2021-05-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Party Politics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1354-0688 • E-ISSN: 1460-3683 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/1354068819861339 |
| OpenAlex | W2961538727 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 19 |
| References cited | 32 |
Social democratic parties are crumbling at the polls. Surprisingly, however, the causes of this demise remain largely unexplored. This article contributes to filling this gap in the research by studying the long-term impact of welfare state generosity on the vote share of social democratic parties in 16 Western European democracies. If the welfare state indeed was a key factor behind social democratic growth in the past, we ask whether the recent plight of these parties is down to a reversal of their previously dominant success factor? The article makes three principal findings. First, we show that social democratic parties primarily benefited electorally from expansive reforms at lower levels of welfare state generosity. Second, we find that this dynamic of diminishing returns also helps explain the demise of the social democratic party family in the whole of Western Europe. Lastly, our results reveal that programmatic turns to the right predict electoral losses in the least generous welfare states, whereas such shifts either pass unnoticed or predict vote gains in the most generous ones. We conclude by arguing that the structure of welfare state institutions is one important explanation for variations in the demise of the once powerful social democratic party family
Demise · Democracy · Economics · Generosity · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Social Democratic Party · Social Welfare · State (computer science · Welfare · Welfare state · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Populism, Right-Wing Movements · Social Policy and Reform Studies
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Even in Sweden
| Unique citing works | 19 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3,8 |
| Citation span | 2021 - 2025 (5) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 19 |