Österreichische Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaften 1/2018

The second half of the 20th century has been called „the social democratic era“. The expansion of the welfare state, the tremendous increase in income that went with it, and the social security of an expanding economy were seen as evidence for this notion.　 The dwindling impact of the left on public opinion and consequently policy-making leads to the question whether we are now facing „the end of social democracy“. This volume brings together studies on the trajectories of social democratic parties in several European countries, challenging and contradicting the thesis of the social democratic era and its fall. Focusing on different periods of post-war history, the authors show similarities and differences between the various national flavours of the moderate left.