Left Parties and Social Policy in Postcommunist Europe by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Political Science, General
ISBN: 9780813335681
Google: wS_gDwAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 4359117
Publisher: Westview Press
Published: 1999-09-09T00:00:00+00:00

Conclusion

In both Germany and the Czech Republic, social democratic leaders have articulated and defended a conception of social policy that has differed from that of their center-right opponents. During the early transition years, leaders of both parties criticized the governing coalition's approach to social policies and argued that the state should continue to provide for citizens in need and play a larger role in buffering the costs of the transition to a market economy. Hurt by the initial overall rejection of the left and the need to reestablish themselves as political organizations after the communist period, the social democrats fared poorly in elections in the early 1990s. This effect was more pronounced in the Czech Republic than in east Germany. The fortunes of both parties improved in the mid-1990s, and by 1998, both were the victors in parliamentary elections.

The successor organizations of the former ruling communist parties developed differently in the two countries. The Communist Party in the Czech Republic remained unreconstructed and had only limited voter appeal. The PDS took significant steps toward democratic reform, even though it did not sever all personal and ideological ties to the past. It soon succeeded in doubling its vote as it articulated specifically east German concerns in competition with the other parties, whose main organizational and constituency strength lies in West Germany. Now it is a partner in the government of two east German states.

Factors specific to each country's political situation contributed to the victories of the social democrats. However, in both cases, the social democrats were able to use growing popular dissatisfaction with the social policies of the center-right government to increase their support. The electoral programs of the two parties called for important changes in social policy as well as for paying greater attention to the social impact of the transition.

Since forming governments, social democratic leaders in both Germany and the Czech Republic have attempted to translate several aspects of their electoral programs' provisions concerning social policy into practice. As they have done so, they have encountered both political and economic obstacles. In the Czech Republic, the ability of the social democrats to push their agenda aggressively is limited both by the need to adhere to the agreement they signed with their main opposition, Vaclav Klaus's Civic Democratic Party, and by the serious economic problems evident in the recent downturn in the Czech economy. The impact that the social democrats' victories will have on the social policies of Germany and the Czech Republic is an open question. Yet, it is clear that the presence of these parties, and the support they have received from a large portion of the electorates in both countries, has been an important counterweight to efforts to reduce the role of the state in providing for individuals' welfare in these countries.

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