The German Social Democratic Party Between Idealistic Pro-Europeanism And Domestic Ideological Priorities In The Post-Reunification Germany

Yıl 2024, Cilt: 23 Sayı: 1, 163 - 195, 06.06.2024

Uğur Tekiner

https://doi.org/10.32450/aacd.1372477

Öz

The main thrust of this article is to examine the evolution of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands – SPD)’s Europhile position since German reunification from a broader ideological perspective. To this end, this study rests on the field research that entails 16 semi-structured interviews with high-profile SPD political elites and archival research on key official party documents. Based on this analysis, the main argument of this study is that the SPD encountered a growing tension between idealistic and domestic views of European integration since 1990. Under the impact of the post-reunification domestic problems and Chancellor Schröder’s assertive European policy line, the German Social Democrats’ ideology-driven doubts about European integration increased at the expense of their idealistic pro-Europeanism. Over time, this tension led to the greater prominence of ideological pragmatism in the SPD’s official European Union (EU) narrative, rendering Europe a politically and ideologically salient issue for the party.

Anahtar Kelimeler

European integration, Gerhard Schröder, German reunification, idealistic pro-Europeanism, Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands

Etik Beyan

Because this research required interviewing adult human participants, it was reviewed and approved by the University of Cambridge Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS) Ethics Committee on 4th May 2021.

Teşekkür

The first version of this paper was presented at the International Conference of "Democracy, Rule of Law, and Protection of Human Rights in the European Union” held by the Jean Monnet Chair at the Batumi Shota Rustaveli State University, Georgia on 30th September 2023. I am grateful to the chair and participants of the panel for their constructive comments.

Birleşme Sonrası Almanya’da İdealist Avrupa Yanlılığı ile İç İdeolojik Öncelikler Arasında Alman Sosyal Demokrat Partisi

Öz

Bu makalenin temel amacı, Alman Sosyal Demokrat Partisi'nin Avrupa bütünleşmesi yanlısı tutumunun Alman birleşmesinden bu yana gelişimini geniş bir ideolojik perspektiften incelemektir. Dolayısıyla bu çalışma, yüksek profilli SPD siyasi elitleriyle yapılmış 16 yarı yapılandırılmış görüşme ve önemli resmi parti belgeleri üzerine arşiv araştırmasını içeren bir saha araştırmasına dayanmaktadır. Bu analize dayanarak, bu çalışmanın temel savı, SPD'nin 1990'dan bu yana Avrupa bütünleşmesine ilişkin idealist ve iç kaynaklı görüşler arasında giderek artan bir gerilimle karşılaştığıdır. Ulusal birleşme sonrası iç meselelerin ve Şansölye Schröder'in iddialı Avrupa politikasının etkisi altında, Alman Sosyal Demokratları’nın Avrupa bütünleşmesine ilişkin ideoloji kaynaklı şüpheleri, idealist Avrupa yanlılığı pahasına artmıştır. Zamanla bu gerilim, SPD’nin resmi AB söyleminde ideolojik pragmatizmin daha fazla öne çıkmasına yol açarak Avrupa'yı parti için siyasi ve ideolojik açıdan önemli bir konu haline getirmiştir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Avrupa bütünleşmesi, Gerhard Schröder, Alman birleşmesi, idealist Avrupa yanlılığı, Alman Sosyal Demokrat Partisi

Kaynakça

• Almeida, Dimitri. The Impact of European Integration on Political Parties: Beyond the Permissive Consensus. London, New York: Routledge, 2012.
• Bailey, Christian. “Socialist Visions of European Unity in Germany: Ostpolitik since the 1920s?.” Contemporary European History (2017): 243-60.
• Baun, Michael J. “The SPD and EMU: An End to Germany's All-Party Consensus on European Integration?.” German Politics and Society 15, no. 3 (1997): 1-23.
• Berger, Stefan, and Thomas Welskopp. “Social Democracy in Germany.” In The Cambridge History of Socialism, vol. 2, edited by Marcel van der Linden, 47-68. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022.
• Blair, Tony, and Gerhard Schröder. “Europe: The Third Way/Die Neue Mitte”. Working Documents No. 2. Johannesburg: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) South Africa Office, 1998.
• Braun, Virginia, and Victoria Clarke. “Using Thematic Analysis in Psychology.” Qualitative Research in Psychology 3, no. 2 (2006): 77-101.
• Braun, Virginia, and Victoria Clarke. “(Mis)Conceptualising Themes, Thematic Analysis, and Other Problems with Fugard and Potts’ (2015) Sample-Size Tool for Thematic Analysis.” International Journal of Social Research Methodology 19, no. 6 (2016): 739–743.
• Braun, Virginia, and Victoria Clarke. “Reflecting on Reflexive Thematic Analysis.” Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health 11, no. 4 (2019): 589-97.
• Braun, Virginia, and Victoria Clarke. “Can I Use TA? Should I Use TA? Should I Not Use TA? Comparing Reflexive Thematic Analysis and Other Pattern-Based Qualitative Analytic Approaches.” Counselling and Psychotherapy Research 21, no. 1 (2021a): 37-47.
• Braun, Virginia, and Victoria Clarke. “One Size Fits All? What Counts as Quality Practice in (Reflexive) Thematic Analysis?.” Qualitative Research in Psychology 18, no. 3 (2021b): 328-52.
• Braun, Virginia, and Victoria Clarke. “To Saturate or Not to Saturate? Questioning Data Saturation as a Useful Concept for Thematic Analysis and Sample-Size Rationales.” Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health 13, no. 2 (2021c): 201-16.
• Braun, Virginia, Victoria Clarke, and Nicola Rance. “How to Use Thematic Analysis with Interview Data.” In The Counselling & Psychotherapy Research Handbook, edited by Andreas Vossler, and Naomi Moller, 183-97. London: Sage, 2014.
• Broughton, David and Neil Bentley. “The 1996 Länder Elections in Baden‐Württemberg, Rhineland‐Palatinate and Schleswig‐Holstein: The Ebbing of the Tides of March?.” German Politics 5, no. 3 (1996): 503-22.
• Bugaric, Bojan. “Europe Against the Left? On Legal Limits to Progressive Politics.” LSE ‘Europe in Question’ Discussion Paper Series, Europe No. 61/2013. London: LSE, 2013.
• Bulmer, Simon, Andreas Maurer, and William E. Paterson. “The European Policy-Making Machinery in the Berlin Republic: Hindrance or Handmaiden?.” German Politics 10, no. 1 (2001): 177-206.
• Bulmer, Simon, and William E. Paterson. The Federal Republic of Germany and the European Community. London: Allen & Unwin, 1987.
• Bulmer, Simon, and William E. Paterson. “Germany and the European Union: From ‘Tamed Power’ to Normalized Power?.” International Affairs 86, no. 5 (2010): 1051-73.
• Clarke, Victoria, and Virginia Braun. “Thematic Analysis.” The Journal of Positive Psychology 12, no. 3 (2017): 297-8.
• Crespy, Amandine. “Germany.” In The Palgrave Handbook of Social Democracy in the European Union, edited by Jean-Michel de Waele, Fabien Escalona, and Mathieu Vieira, 163-84. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.
• De Vries, Catherine E. “Sleeping Giant: Fact or Fairytale? How European Integration Affects National Elections.” European Union Politics 8, no. 3 (2007): 363-85.
• Dimitrakopoulos, Dionyssis G. Social Democracy and European Integration: The Politics of Preference Formation. London, New York: Routledge, 2011.
• Dyson, Kenneth. “The Europeanization of German Governance.” In Developments in German Politics 3, edited by Stephen Padgett, William E. Paterson, and Gordon Smith, 161-83. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.
• Egle, Christoph. “The SPD’s Preferences on European Integration. Always a Step Behind?.” In Social Democracy and European Integration: The Politics of Preference Formation, edited by Dionyssis G. Dimitrakopoulos, 23-50. New York: Routledge, 2011.
• Fisher, Marc. “Kohl Tries to Ease Allies’ Fears.” The Washington Post, March 13, 1990. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1990/03/13/kohl-tries-to-ease-allies-fears/f65b5f6f-4383-4737-b4bf-e1871e79e5b2/.
• Friedrich, Paul. “The SPD and the Politics of Europe: From Willy Brandt to Helmut Schmidt.” Journal of Common Market Studies 13, no. 4 (1975): 432-9.
• Giovanni, Bernardini, and Gabriele D’Ottavio. “SPD and European Integration: From Scepticism to Pragmatism, from Pragmatism to Leadership, 1949-1979.” In European Parties and the European Integration Process, 1945–1992, edited by Lucia Bonfreschi, Giovanni Orsina, and Antonio Varsori, 29-44. Brussels: Peter Lang, 2015.
• Green, Simon, Dan Hough, and Alister Miskimmon. The Politics of the New Germany. London: Routledge, 2011.
• Handl, Vladmir, and Charlie Jeffery. “Germany and Europe after Kohl: Between Social Democracy and Normalization?.” German Studies Review 24, no. 1 (2001): 55-82.
• Hyde-Price, Adrian, and Charlie Jeffery. “Germany in the European Union: Constructing Normality.” Journal of Common Market Studies 39, no. 4 (2001): 689-717.
• Jeffery, Charlie, and William E. Paterson. “Germany and European Integration: A Shifting of Tectonic Plates.” West European Politics 26, no. 4 (2003): 59-75.
• Ladrech, Robert. “Social Democratic Parties and EC Integration: Transnational Party Responses to Europe 1992.” European Journal of Political Research 24, no. 2 (1993): 195-210.
• Larres, Klaus. “Introduction: Uneasy Allies or Genuine Partners? Britain, Germany, and European Integration.” In Uneasy Allies: British-German Relations and European Integration since 1945, edited by Klaus Larres, and Elizabeth Meehan. 1-24. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
• Lemke, Christiane. “Germany’s EU Policy: The Domestic Discourse.” German Studies Review 33, no. 3 (2010): 503-16. Lemke, Christiane, and Helga A. Welsh. Germany Today: Politics and Policies in a Changing World. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2018.
• Lösche, Peter. “Lose verkoppelte Anarchie: Zur Aktuellen Situation von Volksparteien am Beispiel der SPD.” Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte 43/93, no. 22 (1993): 34-45.
• Moeller, Richard. 1996. “The German Social Democrats.” In Political Parties and the European Union, edited by John Gaffney, 33-52. London: Routledge.
• Paterson, William E. The SPD and European Integration. Farnborough: Saxon House, 1974.
• Paterson, William E. “The German Social Democratic Party and European Integration in Emigration and Occupation.” European History Quarterly 5 (1975a): 429-41.
• Paterson, William E. “Social Democratic Parties of the European Community.” Journal of Common Market Studies 13, no. 4 (1975b): 415-8.
• Paterson, William E. “Political Parties and the Making of Foreign Policy - The Case of the Federal Republic.” Review of International Studies 7, no. 4 (1981): 227-35.
• Paterson, William E. “Britain and the Berlin Republic: Between Ambivalence and Emulation.” German Politics 10, no. 2 (2001): 201-23.
• Paterson, William E. “Does Germany Still Have a European Vocation?.” German Politics 19, no. 1 (2010): 41-52.
• Paterson, William E., and James Sloam. “Is the Left Alright? The SPD and the Renewal of European Social Democracy.” German Politics 15, no. 3 (2006): 233-48.
• Poguntke, Thomas. “Europeanization in a Consensual Environment? German Political Parties and the European Union.” In The Europeanization of National Political Parties: Power and Organizational Adaptation, edited by Thomas Poguntke, Nicholas Aylott, Elisabeth Carter, Robert Ladrech, and Kurt Richard Luther. 100-23. London, New York: Routledge, 2007.
• Potthoff, Heinrich, and Susanne Miller. The Social Democratic Party of Germany, 1848-2005. Bonn: Dietz, 2006. Reinhardt, Nickolas. “A Turning Point in the German EMU Debate: The Baden‐Württemberg Regional Election of March 1996.” German Politics 6, no. 1 (1997): 77-99.
• Rohrschneider, Robert, and Stephen Whitefield. “Party Positions about European Integration in Germany: An Electoral Quandary?.” German Politics 26, no. 1 (2017): 83-103.
• Ross, George. “European Center-Lefts and the Mazes of European Integration.” In What’s Left of the Left: Democrats and Social Democrats in Challenging Times, edited by James Cronin, George Ross, and James Shoch, 319-41. Durham, London: Duke University Press, 2011.
• Sassoon, Donald. “German Social-Democracy Between a National Strategy and a European Dimension.” Il Politico 54, no. 3 (1989): 425-39.
• Sloam, James. “Responsibility for Europe: The EU Policy of the German Social Democrats since Unification.” German Politics 12, no. 1 (2003): 59-78.
• Sloam, James. The European Policy of the German Social Democrats: Interpreting a Changing World. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.
• Sloam James, and Isabelle Hertner. “The Europeanization of Social Democracy: Politics without Policy and Policy without Politics.” In The Future of European Social Democracy: Building the Good Society, edited by Henning Meyer, and Jonathan Rutherford, 27-38. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.
• Wagner, Helmut. “The Federal Republic of Germany's Foreign Policy Objectives.” Millennium - Journal of International Studies 17, no. 1 (1988): 43-59.
• Wimmel, Andreas, and Erica E. Edwards. “The Return of ‘Social Europe’: Ideas and Positions of German Parties towards the Future of European Integration.” German Politics 20, no. 2 (2011): 293- 314.
• Wittlinger, Ruth. German National Identity in the Twenty-First Century: A Different Republic After All?. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.