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The Rise and Fall of Social Democracy, 1918–2017

Author

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  • BENEDETTO, GIACOMO
  • HIX, SIMON
  • MASTROROCCO, NICOLA

Abstract

We describe the electoral history of one of Europe’s most successful party families over the past 100 years in 31 countries. With a unique and newly collected dataset of national election results and a large number of economic and social variables measured for each country-election observation, we find that two main factors drive the electoral performance of social democratic parties: public-sector spending and the size of the manufacturing sector. Our findings suggest that most of the fall in support for social democratic parties in recent years is correlated with a decline in the number of industrial workers as well as a reduction in the propensity of social democratic parties’ core supporters (industrial workers and public-sector employees) to vote for them.

Suggested Citation

  • Benedetto, Giacomo & Hix, Simon & Mastrorocco, Nicola, 2020. "The Rise and Fall of Social Democracy, 1918–2017," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 114(3), pages 928-939, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:apsrev:v:114:y:2020:i:3:p:928-939_21
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    Cited by:

    1. Savage, Mike, 2025. "Social class, wealth and multidimensional inequalities: the Great British Class Survey after ten years," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 128616, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Joël Hellier, 2021. "Globalization, Income Tax and the Redistribution–Progressivity Tradeoff," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 63(3), pages 384-410, September.
    3. Chen, Chinchih & Frey, Carl Benedikt & Presidente, Giorgio, 2023. "Disease and democracy: Political regimes and countries responsiveness to COVID-19," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 290-299.
    4. Gabriele Gratton & Barton E Lee, 2024. "Liberty, Security, and Accountability: The Rise and Fall of Illiberal Democracies," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 91(1), pages 340-371.
    5. Orit Kedar & Odelia Oshri & Lotem Halevy, 2024. "Party positions and the changing gender gap(s) in voting," European Union Politics, , vol. 25(3), pages 504-526, September.
    6. Sarah Hakeem & Saghir Pervaiz Ghauri & Rizwan Raheem Ahmed & Dalia Streimikiene & Justas Streimikis, 2023. "Development of Social Welfare Policies in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Countries: Globalization and Democracy," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 167(1), pages 91-134, June.
    7. David J Bailey, 2024. "Worker-Led Dissent in the Age of Austerity: Comparing the Conditions of Success," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 38(4), pages 1041-1061, August.
    8. Salvatore Barbaro & Anna-Sophie Kurella & Maike Roth, 2024. "Electoral outcomes versus voters’ preferences: On the different tales the data can tell," Working Papers 2412, Gutenberg School of Management and Economics, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz.
    9. Baptiste Antoniazza & André Mach & Michael Andrea Strebel, 2023. "THE URBAN LEFT IN POWER: Comparing the Profiles of ‘Municipal Socialists’ and the ‘New Urban Left’ in Swiss Cities," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(5), pages 745-772, September.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
    • H72 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Budget and Expenditures

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