Trade Unionists, Party Activists, and Politicians: The Struggle for Power over Party Rules in the British Labour Party and the West German Social Democratic Party

Abstract

In both the British Labour Party and the West German Social Democratic Party (SPD) the policymaking independence of party deputies in parliamentary bodies was challenged by an activist constituency during the 1970s. These activists claimed that party representatives had constantly ignored party policies which did not suit them. To put an end to such oligarchic behavior, the new left demanded that representatives be subject to a direct mandate. A direct mandate means that representatives act as delegates of their party. They are not free to pursue policies that they perceive to be in the best interest of their constituency or that they think their constituents might wish; they merely enact their party's program. The new left advocated changes in the rules governing the relationship between representatives and party organization in favor of the latter by shifting control over policy decision-making to the party. Party representatives resisted such efforts to curb their independence in the parliamentary and local policymaking arenas. They argued that they were entitled to a free mandate since they represented constituencies wider than the party membership and that representation requires the freedom to decide when policies are appropriate and opportune.' A direct mandate, representatives argued, would inhibit coalition-building since it would not allow representatives to compromise policies to suit potential coalition partners. Both the SPD and the Labour Party in the 1970s were in a parliamentary minority, dependent on coalition agreements to form a government. The insistence on a free mandate by most of the deputies was partially conditioned by the situation in the Bundestag and parliament. However, the fight over party rules was in essence a fight over who should hold decision-making poweractivists or representatives. In the Labour Party, the new left eventually won rules changes between 1979 and 1981 which subjected members of parliament (MPs) to greater control by their party organization. The result in the Labour Party was that a number of leading politicians defected to form the Social Democratic Party. They argued that the Labour Party had been taken over by a radical minority with whom they had serious policy differences and with whom it was impossible to cooperate.2 The SPD maintained the organizational independence of its deputies. The result was a gradual defection of numerous activists, many of whom joined the Green Party. These activists claimed that the SPD had failed to address important policy areas by shutting out the left from policymaking. In both parties the losers claimed that because of undemocratic procedures established by the winners, they had no choice but to leave the organization. The