The strategic dilemma of social democracy: Lessons from Slovakia

Abstract

The declining fortunes of European social democracy have been the subject of much attention. A contested explanation for how to remedy the decline concerns whether conservative shifts on sociocultural and transnational issues are helpful or harmful at the ballot box. In contrast, we focus on an underexplored adaptation strategy: the split of social democracy along the sociocultural cleavage. We analyze the Slovak case where a successful, dominant social democratic party, Smer-SD, divided. One part of the divide took radical, conservative stances on sociocultural and geopolitical issues, while the other part adopted moderate positions. Analyzing over 30 public opinion polls, we show that the split and the parties’ subsequent ideological differentiation led to electoral success. Radicalization attracted conservative former radical-right voters; moderation ensured the support of the more liberal middle class. Situating Slovakia in the wider European context, we: (1) suggest that the salience of the sociocultural cleavage has strengthened the appeal of a nationalist left programmatic direction in Central and Eastern Europe; (2) explore why moderate social democracy succeeded in Slovakia but failed elsewhere; and (3) confirm previous findings on the importance of strong leadership and a large membership base for splinter party success, and on voter responsiveness to parties' ideological and programmatic shifts. More generally, the Slovak case illustrates that party splits are both a consequence of and a potentially effective response to the strategic dilemma of social democracy.