parochial boy
parochial_boy
Junior Chimp
Posts: 5,107
Political Matrix
E: -8.38, S: -6.78
|
 |
« on: April 26, 2020, 02:55:27 PM » |
|
Doing a bit of a rambling answer, but like PSOL said, it really depends on which country you are looking at. Overall, you could say there is a structural decline in the electoral viability of Social Democratic parties - and at some universal level that links to a change in the social structure and economics of most industrialised countries. Whereas people used to work the same job, with the same people for most of their lives; the building blocks of the socialisation that underpinned traditional Social Democracy - nowadays people tend to change jobs more often. Working class people especially tend to increasingly flit between several part time or short term contracts, often working alone, which kind of inherently means never building the sense of solidarity and familiarity that used to exist. Of course, that is a very, very big generalisation that by no means applies to everyone everywhere and the specific circumstances of the "decline" of Soc Dem parties reflects far more than just that.
Whether or not that factors into a wholesale decline of the left really depends on the circumstances within a country, there is no overarching trend. In some countries, they seems to be on life support - but recently won majorities in Spain and Portugal, are at a historic high in Wallonia, have regained power in most of the Nordics and left parties have been fairly steadily progressing in Switzerland since the beginning of the 90s (the 83 seats currently held across both chambers of parliament is the highest ever). Of course, that the left is fractured might make it harder to actually hold power, even in those cases, but doesn't reflect an actual wholesale rejection of left wing politics.
I'm minded to disagree that there is some great progression (or necessarily untapped support) for radical left wing politics - in some countries with specific economic or social contexts, maybe - but not generalisable.
Like, being a bit parochial - young people in Switzerland do vote for, and identify with, the left far more than older people. But that is principally because they feel very strongly about climate change and green politics. Added to that, there is a very strong rejection of nationalist and right wing politics among younger people here that tends to drive them towards the socially progressive parties on the left. So it is a left wing movement that can look quite different to the US version. Some things are similar; a more urban, highly educated and diverse younger generation; but other things aren't - student debt doesn't exist here, the housing and jobs markets are different - those kinds of issues don't really make sense here in the same way. Whereas climate change is very visible in an alpine country that has suddenyl discovered it now has a mediterranean climate. And young people, nearly half of whom have an immigrant background, who have grown up in the shadow of SVP nationalism often have that as a formative experience. So all that, added to the fact that the two mainstream left parties are already quite radical on economic issues, means there isn't really any space opening up for a radical left outfit (same with Germany and Austria in many ways).
In contrast, young people tend to vote strongly for the left in France and the UK, but driven by factors like the precarious jobs or housing markets (and student debt in the UK), which more closely resemble the US - but even then they aren't identical, nationalist posturing isn't as off putting for younger people in France (cf Mélenchon).
I think it's the same with the question of electoral success. I think there is a large degree of the new far right parties just filling an electoral demand that was kind of always there ("the Italians are racist" isn't exactly a new stereotype); whereas parties on the left often struggle to find an offer that actually responds to what society in the 21st century looks like. But even there it depends on where you are, the Swiss electorate is clearly more left wing than it was 20-30 years ago, but the Israeli or Italian ones would seem to have clearly moved in a different direction - different countries have had different experiences, and different demographic changes, over the last few decades. Switzerland is a country that is far more at ease with itself than it was in the 90s - which has created a bigger space for progressive or environmentalist movements to grow; while Italy... isn't.
|
