Capitalist models and social democracy: the case of New Labour

Some of the more critical readings of the adequacy and effectiveness of New Labour in power have been developed by scholars willing to link arguments about the trajectory of Labour politics to wider arguments about the character of the contemporary global economy and the space within it for the construction and development of distinctive capitalist models. Mark Wickham-Jones and Colin Hay in particular have made that linkage in a series of important writings on the contemporary Labour party. Their arguments are here subjected to critical review, and set against a third position on New Labour and global capitalism: one informed by the writings of Ralph Miliband on British Labour and by the arguments of Leo Panitch and Greg Albo on the limits of the 'progressive competitiveness' strategies associated with 'Third Way' social democratic governments.     

Reconstituting European social democracy: Germany's pivotal role

After a long period of dominance by the centre‐right, social democracy is once more in the ascendancy in Europe. At the same time social democracy is cross‐cut by competing ideological paradigms, ranging from an unreformed or ‘traditional’ model through to the neo‐liberal tinged ‘Third Way’ agenda. With social democratic‐led governments in power in France, Germany and Great Britain, this ideological competition has to a certain extent been mapped onto these member states’ statecraft agendas. The article makes three points. First, that there is a high degree of institutional ‘fit’ between of the Federal Republic and the European Union and that this potentially favours the successful transfer of German policy initiatives to the EU level. Second, that the ‘Red‐Green model’ of political co‐operation between the SPD and Greens is grounded within the parameters of sub‐national politics and is not easily adapted to the demands of the national and supranational levels. Third, that as a result of this, any distinctively ‘German’ social democratic agenda for Europe is more likely to have the ideas of the ‘Neue Mitte’ at its core.     

All roads lead to democracy: A critical analysis of the writings of three Chinese reformist intellectuals

Abstract

Deng Xiaoping's reforms led to the emergence of a group of reformist intellectuals in China. As leaders of think tanks and other official or semiofficial institutions, these intellectuals exerted tremendous influence over the country's political agenda in the past decade. The Western media commonly described them as advisers to the top Chinese leaders.     

Social democracy and globalisation: the limits of social democracy in historical perspective

This article argues that social democratic governments throughout the 20^th century faced internal and international constraints arising from the operation of capitalist economies and that the evidence for a qualitative deepening of such constraints since the collapse of the Bretton Woods system is far from unequivocal. Financial markets were already big enough and fast enough to deter such governments from the pursuit of egalitarian policies in the interwar years or to destabilise them if they ignored the warning signs. This article also shows that the efficacy of Keynesian macroeconomic policy in the Golden Age has been exaggerated and that the problem of short–term movements of speculative capital persisted throughout this era in a country such as Britain. Keynesianism never worked in the face of mass unemployment and it is misleading to suggest that its breakdown in the 1970s somehow robbed social democracy of the policy tools that had maintained full employment in the 1950s and 1960s. A host of additional problems have indeed beset social democratic governments since 1973, but the analysis of such problems is hindered rather than helped by much of the literature which invokes economic globalisation. Globalisation theory is in need of further specification before it can be useful and arguments about the economic consequences of globalisation since 1973 need to distinguish its effects from those of the many conjunctural problems of the period as well as the policies that important agencies have pursued in search of solutions to them.     

Electing the Leader: The British Labour Party's Electoral College

This article uses a principal-agent model to explore how leadership selection rules affect the autonomy and security of tenure of the British Labour party's leader. It examines Labour's electoral college, which was intended to enable activists and trade unions to hold the leader to account. However, it had the reverse effect, increasing leaders' autonomy. Nomination rules frustrate activist attempts to instigate leadership contests, while a range of 'transaction costs' rule out anything but the most serious challenges to incumbents. The college was originally dominated by trade unions because block voting enabled union leaders to determine the trajectory of contests. The introduction of 'one member–one vote' curtailed the power of union leaders, shifting power mainly to MPs. The conceptual tools deployed can be used to analyse leadership selection mechanisms in other parties.     

Labour,neo-liberalism and the conflict over economic and monetary union: a comparative analysis of British and German trade unions

Trade unions have generally been neglected in the discussion of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and the related neo-liberal restructuring of European social relations of production. This article helps to fill this gap through a comparison of British and German unions' position on EMU and European co-operation. It is demonstrated that there is a split between British transnational production sector unions, which support EMU and Europe-wide co-operation, and British national sector unions, which criticise the deflationary implications of EMU and focus on the national level in their policy-making efforts. In Germany, by contrast, EMU is generally accepted by unions with the exception of the construction workers' union. A division between internationally oriented and nationally oriented sector unions can only be identified in relation to the issue of Europe-wide co-operation, where the former are in favour and the latter reluctant. Importantly, however, unions in both countries strongly criticise neo-liberal economics, whether they support or oppose EMU. This may become the basis for a counter, neo-liberal strategy within the European Union.     

New Labour in the global economy: partisan politics and the social democratic model

Drawing on a framework developed by Geoffrey Garrett in his recent book Partisan Politics in the Global Economy , I examine the 'policy space' that is available for the social democratic project in the United Kingdom. Garrett is optimistic about the possibilities for reformism: he emphasises the ability of an 'encompassing' labour movement to exchange wage restraint for reformist policies. Given the absence of such an encompassing labour movement in the United Kingdom, his conclusion apparently offers little support to those seeking reformist measures in these circumstances. I discuss three reasons why Garrett's model may still be applicable in the British context. First, social democrats may be able to offer policies desirable to capital. Second, wage moderation may be possible without the existence of an encompassing labour movement. Third, and most ambitious, it may be possible to develop an encompassing labour movement within the United Kingdom. My tentative conclusion is that a variant of the Garrett model is potentially a plausible one for a reformist party in the United Kingdom.     

Discourse rights and the Drumcree marches: a reply to O'Neill

In a recent BJPIR article Shane O'Neill uses Habermas' discourse theory of rights to argue that the conflicts over marches in Drumcree can be resolved rationally in the nationalist residents' favour. I question this conclusion via a critique of Habermas' theory. Habermas' apparently unexceptionable requirement that political outcomes win universal acceptability is bought at the cost of vagueness: it fails to specify how acceptability is secured, or how the requirement itself is derived. So it cannot justify the exceptions to equal civil rights which O'Neill wants, such as exceptions to rights of freedom of expression or movement. Unionists can claim that their position respects Habermas' universal acceptability requirement. This exposes the limitations of attempts to impose abstract principles such as Habermas' on real political conflicts. A possible alternative to this is a form of Schmittian decisionism, in which rules either prove indeterminate, or are confronted with exceptional cases that call for executive intervention outside the framework of rules. Sensitivity to political context requires not derogations from rights, but respect for the autonomy of political processes.     

Subjects to citizens: From non-voting,to protesting,to voting in Estonia during the transition to democracy

Abstract

The political behaviour of ethnic Estonians and Slavs during the Soviet and transition (1989–1991) years reflects differing political orientations towards and grievances with the Soviet regime. Survey data from Estonia show that the reasons for non-voting during the Soviet era vary between ethnic Estonian and Slavic non-voters with ethnic Estonians choosing not to vote for system rejecting reasons. Estonians who did not vote in elections from 1983 to 1988 were more likely to be young, to live in urban areas and to have had a family member repressed. They were also much more likely to engage in petitioning, picketing, and meetings and demonstrations in support of independence between 1986 and 1990, especially if they did not vote for system rejecting reasons between 1983 and 1988. Non-voting among Slavs in the 1980's was not only much rarer than for Estonians with few citing system rejecting reasons for not-voting, but it had no relationship with later protest activities. Estonian non-voters joined independence organizations and increasingly voted during the transition years 1988–1990. But non-voting increased among Slavs in 1989 and 1990 during the transition, and some of this non-voting was clearly a form of protest against increasing Estonian influence over the state.     

Imagining Europe: political identity and British television coverage of the European economy

The article considers European economic news coverage on British television and its relationship with the UK public's perceptions of and identity with Europe. Stress is placed on the symbolic content of news about Europe; stories about the economic entitlements offered to citizens within the European Union; and portrayal of material benefits or losses for Britain. The results suggest that coverage offers mixed signals about Europe. As yet, they offer an unlikely platform for the development in the United Kingdom of European solidarity or identity. The results are assessed in the light of the way journalists approach political issues. The implications for statistical modelling of the media's relationship with attitudes towards Europe are also considered.     

Local democracy in a hybrid state: pluralism and protest in Volzhskiy,Russia

The standard narrative of Russia's “authoritarian backsliding” fails to grapple with the tremendous variation in subnational politics that emerged over the past two decades. This article offers a case study of the industrial city of Volzhskiy, which, although once a stalwart supporter of the Communist Party (KPRF), has evolved into a highly pluralistic system with democratic municipal institutions. Drawing upon analysis of local publications, protest data, and interviews with local politicians, this article traces the interplay of formal institutions and informal political processes in Volzhskiy's local-level transition to democracy. Volzhskiy's pluralism and local democratic outcome can largely be explained by (1) the emergence of a more diverse set of economic and political interests and constituencies, and (2) a KPRF organization that was strong and provided robust competition that created the conditions for cooperation among the competitors to form fair and open local political institutions, which fostered the city's pluralism.     

Seducing the people: Populism and the challenge to democracy in South Africa

Recent ructions in South Africa's ruling African National Congress have been described from time to time in the media as signalling a dangerous shift towards ‘populism’. The article examines this contention. It argues that South Africa is witnessing a significant challenge to the founding precepts of constitutional democracy. This challenge emanates from the (populist) equation of democracy with ‘the will of the people’. The article unpacks some of the implications of reducing democracy to majoritarianism. It provides also an analysis of why populist appeals of various kinds have been so appealing to South African voters 15 years into democracy. The article argues that the challenges that are currently being experienced in relation to democratisation in South Africa have to do with the inherent tension between the animating ideology of democracy, which suggests that power resides with the people, and the practical functioning of democracy, which relies on the devolution of power to the representatives chosen by a section of the people who rely on order and predictability in the polity in order to govern in a workable way. Populist appeals, it is argued, exploit this tension. But what makes it possible for this strategy to succeed is the failure on the part of political elites to engage in the process of building democracy by way of inculcating respect for democratic values.