Across Europe the centre-left is in decline. The leader of Denmark’s Social Democratic party, Mette Frederiksen, has recently given her take on how to reverse this trend.
Frederiksen states that the centre-left’s weakness stems from the breakdown of a social contract that combined “an effective market economy … with a strong welfare state”. This social democratic “recipe”, as she calls it, allowed societies to be both rich and fair, and its unravelling has contributed to rising inequality and growing economic insecurity. Given that the historic mission of social democrats is to rein in capitalism’s worst excesses, this situation has resulted in the centre-left losing many of its traditional supporters to populists.
Frederiksen isn’t saying this recipe is defunct, however. She argues that the social contract it sets out remains as relevant as ever, precisely because it seeks to ensure that markets serve citizens and everyone is secure. Where the centre-left has erred is in failing to adapt this recipe to the challenges of globalisation, and in particular to the challenge of raising tax revenues.