Why is social democracy failing in Europe?

[GoodSarmatian]

a) This.
b) The next Federal Diet election will be in fall 2013, 46 to 48 month after the last one - September 1st at the earliest October 27th at the latest.
Typically a late date is chosen. My guess would be 10/20 or 10/27.
c) The current administration has essentially no chance to recover until then. Well, unless there is suddenly free coke and hookers for everyone.

I was hoping the coalition would break up before that, but it looks likle they'll just carry on. My guess is we'll get another grand coalition next year. I have a feeling Merkel is going to break Kohls record.

The current "conservative" administration...

Raised taxes.
Increased spending on virtually evereything that can in any way be linked to children (you have to speak that in a hysteric voice)
Killed the draft.
Killed nuclear power.
Spend us through the recession.
Got us the omg-biggest-budged-we're-all-going-to-die-deficit-of-all-times not once, not twice but thrice in a row.​

Did they raise any taxes ? Afaik they only raised health insurance fees for people who earn less than 67.200€ per year. That's pretty much what I expect from a conservative government, just like a high budget deficit. The only surprise is that it's not all blown on corporate welfare, tax cuts and unnecessary subsidies.
And weren't most of the expensive anti-recession measures already implemented by the grand coalition ?

Gee, as a liberal i'm really uncomfortable over here. The "conservatives" are really pushing me and i'd appreciate it of you guys would organize some sort of relieve effort on my account. Please. ... Help.

I'm wondering, what can a liberal in Germany vote for these days ? The Greens ? The Pirates ? Some small party like the LD ?

 

[Mise]

Politically, they have failed - in the sense that they have been defeated in elections. But ideologically, it's clear that "Third Way" Social Democratic parties of the 1990s, following Clinton's lead, have changed the shape of political discourse in a meaningful and significant way. Even in the UK, among the most "right wing" of all European nations, there is no longer any talk of scrapping the NHS or privatising education. The changes that the Conservative government has made have generally tried to add market incentives to existing public ownership structures, rather than scrapping public ownership altogether. And perhaps most importantly, the goal of those changes has been to widen the availability and increase the effectiveness of public services, rather than to restrict access to only those with the ability to pay. Tellingly, both sides boast about "investment in public services". That's the legacy of Social Democracy since the 1990s.

 

[Leoreth]

I was hoping the coalition would break up before that, but it looks likle they'll just carry on. My guess is we'll get another grand coalition next year. I have a feeling Merkel is going to break Kohls record.

She'll have to gain a lot of weight then ... oh, you mean that record

But it's clear that continuing the current coalition isn't Merkel's strategy anymore, but rather make sure that forming a coalition against her will be impossible. Given how ideologically flexible she is, I don't even see her having a lot of problems with either of the alternatives. Her party is another matter of course.

Did they raise any taxes ? Afaik they only raised health insurance fees for people who earn less than 67.200€ per year. That's pretty much what I expect from a conservative government, just like a high budget deficit. The only surprise is that it's not all blown on corporate welfare, tax cuts and unnecessary subsidies.
And weren't most of the expensive anti-recession measures already implemented by the grand coalition ?

My impression is that metatron did lump Merkel I under "conservative" government, too, and it's the VAT tax hike he's referring to (I'm still furious at the SPD's double-dealing in that regard). That's kind of unfair, if you ask me. Government spending remarkably decreased during that legislature as well.

I'm wondering, what can a liberal in Germany vote for these days ? The Greens ? The Pirates ? Some small party like the LD ?

My problem in a nutshell. Greens are not an option for me, especially with the Euro crisis still around. Lack of options even had me voting FDP in the last election (apologies), now I think I'll wait what the Pirates are doing for the next two years.

 

[kronic]

Lack of options even had me voting FDP in the last election (apologies),

WTH. Your reputation just took a massive hit.

Yes, I feel Merkel will win another term and the Social Democrats will be happy to become her junior partner once again and set themselves up for another crushing defeat in 2017. They just never learn. But this time, they'll be hard challenged by the Greens who will be desperate to join Merkel's government.

 

[Leoreth]

WTH. Your reputation just took a massive hit.

Haha, didn't know I even had a reputation to begin with But believe me, I'm pretty mad at my own decision now as well.

Yes, I feel Merkel will win another term and the Social Democrats will be happy to become her junior partner once again and set themselves up for another crushing defeat in 2017. They just never learn. But this time, they'll be hard challenged by the Greens who will be desperate to join Merkel's government.

There's now a lot more reluctance to enter a grand coalition, in any case. Of course they'll still do it if the other alternative is black/green. But since the Greens have concentrated so much of the left on themselves, the SPD is screwed anyway as long as they can't overtake the Union.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

But since the Greens have concentrated so much of the left on themselves, the SPD is screwed anyway as long as they can't overtake the Union.

Which is rather ironic since the Greens are pretty right-wing on anything that doesn't concern civil liberties or the environment. They are the closest to what the FDP pretended to be.

 

[Leoreth]

Maybe in their formulation of aims, but not in their intent of implementing it.

Also things like basic income guarantees, increased taxes and increased unemployment support aren't typical right-wing positions either.

To me, the Greens are rather an SPD lite without actual economic concepts, plus environmentalism and a more touchy feely political style. Their overlap with the Union almost only comes from the affluency of their voter bases.

 

[Riffraff]

If the FDP don't manage the 5% which seems quite possible at the moment, the election will basically be decided anyways I think.

Concerning the actual topic, I agree with the sentiment that while the social democratic parties might be failing, their core ideas are next to unchallenged by conservative parties around europe.

 

[kronic]

Concerning the actual topic, I agree with the sentiment that while the social democratic parties might be failing, their core ideas are next to unchallenged by conservative parties around europe.

Really? A lot of stuff that happened in Germany over the past ten years has nothing to do with social democratic values. And I don't think Germany is terribly different when compared to many other European nations. We are witnesses of a considerable roll back of many social democratic achievements in the welfare stare and in the political economy as a whole. And quite suprisingly, the social democratic parties have been at the forefront of doing just that. That's what they're getting the bill for. Think about. In the late 90's, roughly ten years ago, social democratic parties were in charge in almost all European countries, including Germany, France, the UK, and Italy. In most cases they made their country less social democratic and of course did not use their supposed common ideological base to shape the EU towards a more social model. What the SPD in Germany did for example was a like a wet dream coming true for many FDP and CDU people. They didn't need to challenge the Social Dems because it was barely possible to top the SPD's Agenda 2010. The CDU tried nontheless - see their infamous Leipzig programme. When you screw your own voters, you get the bill. That's what happened to the SPD which managed to almost half their share of voters over their 11 years in government - quite an achievement.

 

[Leoreth]

That's a little one-sided, though, because many of the Social Democratic parties of the nineties only came into power by running on a centrist platform, like Blair or Schröder. They had to do that because traditional leftist Social Democracy didn't seem to be able to win majorities anymore, so the actual reasons are further in the past.

Plus, I think the realization that welfare systems have to be reformed to continue to function was necessary for Social Democracy in the long run. Take the SPD for example, that position was far from obvious to them before Schröder came along, which is proven by the large amounts of people who left the party and founded the Left party, which still campaigns under the motto of "turn back time to the nineties".