Von 'Skeptikern' zu 'Musterschulern'? Die Europaisierung der Sozialdemokratie

In: Osterreichische Zeitschrift fur Politikwissenschaft, Volume 32, Issue 3, p. 255-269

Abstract

The article discusses the "Europeanization" of skeptical political actors with regard to social democratic parties in Europe. It starts by arguing that there is a functional misfit between the traditional approach of social democratic policies & the focus of European integration on market building. However, the empirical evidence shows that only some social democratic parties have held skeptical views on European integration, & all of them turned to a strongly supportive attitude toward the EU. This programmatic change is documented & analyzed as a learning process. The second part of the article analyzes the institutionalization of a European party level (Party of European Socialists) that is regarded as the major institutional innovation in the "Europeanization" of social democracy. The article argues that cooperation within the PES may itself be seen as having a socializing effect on the participating actors, resulting in a process of 'Europeanization' of political parties. However, major strategic differences -- as visible in the struggle over the 'Third Way' -- proved to be a significant barrier to effective cooperation of European social democratic parties. 1 Table, 44 References. Adapted from the source document.