Centre-Left Parties and the European Union: Power, Accountability and Democracy

This book investigates how the British Labour Party, the French Socialist Party (PS), and the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) deal with the European Union (EU). It contributes to our understanding of parties as democratic organisations. In particular, this book analyses who within the parties formulates EU policies and who selects EU specialists. This is a very timely topic, as the process of European integration places particular policy constraints on centre-left parties. They seek to reconcile market capitalism with social responsibility. However, the EU, in recent decades, has arguably done more to promote market capitalism and economic competitiveness than to enhance social responsibility and address increasing levels of social inequality. This is an in-depth study that draws on over sixty-five original interviews with EU specialists from the three parties and the Party of European Socialists and on an e-mail questionnaire sent to the party grassroots. It uses a principal-agent framework to study power delegation within the party. 

The book will be relevant to researchers with an interest in comparative party politics (with a focus on the center-left) in Britain, France, and Germany; party organisations; intra-party democracy; social democracy and the European Union; and the Party of European Socialists. The book is also suitable for students and could be used for modules in the areas of comparative politics, the EU and its member states, and Europeanisation. It is also likely to have broad appeal among party members and officials from the Labour Party, PS, SPD and PES as well as centre-left think tanks.