West European social democracy as a model for transfer

Abstract

West European social democratic parties (SDPs) have to varying degrees provided a model for programmatic change for the communist successor parties (CSPs) of Eastern and Central Europe (ECE). The examples of the British Labour Party, the French Parti Socialiste and the German Social Democrats demonstrate both ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors of policy transfer. ‘Policy transfer’ or ‘policy learning’ has taken place to a limited extent through two main channels. SDP policies, first, provided a model for emulation drawing CSPs to policies on the basis of the perceived success of the individual policy and party. Second, learning occurred through the active engagement of the SDPs with their sister parties to the East (‘transfer networks’). The probability of transfer is determined by the ‘proximity’ (geographical, ideological and cultural) of the ‘exporter’ party to the ‘importer’ party. In practice, the German Social Democratic Party has been the most influential of the three SDPs, as a consequence of its greater proximity to the successor parties of Eastern and Central Europe.