Conclusion

Abstract

Abstract Chapter 9 summarizes the main argument and the empirical findings from the previous chapters. It outlines the broader contributions of the book, raises open questions that the book cannot answer, and suggests possible avenues for future research. Finally, the book concludes by re-evaluating the fate of social democracy in Europe in the twenty-first century in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the Great Recession, social democracy experienced a profound electoral crisis across Europe and the conclusion explores whether and how social democratic parties can escape from this crisis. It argues that the policy crisis caused by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine provides both opportunities and risks for the centre-left: it contributed to a favourable shift in economic discourse, but it also massively increased government debt. As the pressures on governments to return to austerity could increase again, social democratic parties need to escape from their electoral and ideational trap identified in the book. They need to rediscover the state as a strong actor that corrects market outcomes and protects the weakest members of society from unwanted excesses of capitalism. To this end, social democratic parties need to develop new bold ideas that respond to some of the biggest economic and political challenges of our time, redefining their raison d’âtre. Only this will allow them to regain their place at the heart of European politics.