As a result of the efforts of the "progressive modernizers,"
for whom modernization "has too often meant deregulation
and privatization," social democracy is no longer what it used
to be, argues Robert Taylor (2008). "
"The social democracy we see today has now abandoned even that
commitment to a mixed economy characterized by significant
but not dominant public ownership and redistributive social and
economic policies. What distinguishes the new social democracy
is an embrace of its new "modern" role as a manager of neoliberal
restructuring." (Brian Evans)
to read the 340-page pdf Internet book from AU Press 2012, click on
... Ingo Schmidt introduces the collection with a theoretical
examination of the arguments that defined and redefined social
democracy on its way to government power in the 1990s. Two
factors embedded in social democratic debates at that time were
globalization and the electoral dilemma presented by the shrinking
of social democracy's historical political base in the industrial
working class. In addition, Schmidt looks at the social democrats'
experiences in government and explains why electoral success
did not endure. Against mainstream social democratic discourse,
he argues that neither globalization nor demographic change
is key to social democratic success or failure, which is instead
linked to economic growth. And here we find a compelling explanation
of the brief success, and subsequent failure, of Third
Way or "new" social democracy. Schmidt concludes that social
democracy in its Keynesian and Third Way versions always
relied on economic growth but that both versions were unable
and unwilling to pursue their respective programs against the
interests of capital in times of crisis.
e-mail: 
homepage: 
address: http://www.buzzflash.com
... Ingo Schmidt introduces the collection with a theoretical
examination of the arguments that defined and redefined social
democracy on its way to government power in the 1990s. Two
factors embedded in social democratic debates at that time were
globalization and the electoral dilemma presented by the shrinking
of social democracy's historical political base in the industrial
working class. In addition, Schmidt looks at the social democrats'
experiences in government and explains why electoral success
did not endure. Against mainstream social democratic discourse,
he argues that neither globalization nor demographic change
is key to social democratic success or failure, which is instead
linked to economic growth. And here we find a compelling explanation
of the brief success, and subsequent failure, of Third
Way or "new" social democracy. Schmidt concludes that social
democracy in its Keynesian and Third Way versions always
relied on economic growth but that both versions were unable
and unwilling to pursue their respective programs against the
interests of capital in times of crisis.