Episode 10 - Herbert Kitschelt. The Transformation of European Social Democracy, 25 years later

Transformation of European Politics Podcast

In this episode, I talk to Herbert Kitschelt, who is George V. Allen Distinguished Professor of International Relations at Duke University and without a doubt one of the most influential contemporary scholars of political parties. We discuss his 1994 book “The Transformation of European Social Democracy”. In this book, Herbert explains how a second dimension of political preferences has become politicized since the late 1960s and how this has affected party competition but especially social democratic parties. Social democratic parties struggled to integrate the new demands of activists especially surrounding environmental issues. This led to the formation of many new left-libertarian and green parties. This transformed political environment created a fundamental dilemma for social democratic parties about how to attract new socio-demographic groups while not losing their core constituency. We discuss how many of the core questions raised in the book have remained fundamentally important for understanding the fate of social democratic parties even 25 years later. While the issues at the core of the social democratic ideal have become the status quo in many countries, social democratic parties face a fundamental electoral crisis. Strategic re-positioning will always come with trade-offs and is in itself unlikely to revive these parties. If you want to know more about Herbert and his research you can visit his website https://scholars.duke.edu/person/h3738 I hope you enjoy the conversation Political science recommendation: Boix, Carles (2015): Political Order and Inequality. Cambridge University Press. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/political-order-and-inequality/AEA3B0E229E99180CFAF0C534C19FE09