Even in countries with a strong social democratic history like Germany and Austria, it doesn’t seem to be just a momentary blip but rather an end of the movement as the leading political force in Europe. Social democrats have a hard time competing with new parties and movements fighting migration and corruption. They are lacking a vision for the 21st century.
Sunday’s regional elections in Bavaria can be provided as proof of this fact. In Munich, where the Social Democrats have their mayor and where they won 40 percent of votes five years ago, gained only 13.6 percent of the votes this year. And the German SPD fell behind the winning Greens and CSU in second place.
But that is not the only example. In France, one of the bastions of social democracy, the traditional socialist party ended fourth in the last parliamentary elections, with only 31 of the original 280 mandates. A similar situation is evident in Greece and the Netherlands where the socialist “Armageddon” continues.
The reform of social democracy, however, will be much more complicated than it was for the right-wing parties. It gets into the unfavorable position of someone who changes his basic principles according to how the current mood changes in society, even in terms of migration. However, the social democrats can certainly change, find new challenges, new passwords, and new policies. But the question remains as to whether they will still be Social Democrats after all
