La social-démocratie. Principes et évolutions d’un modèle politique et social

In spite of a vast number of political studies on social democracy, little attention has been devoted to its underlying philosophical principles. This doctoral thesis sets out the philosophical distinctions which are crucial to understanding the social-democratic trajectory. It identifies two models through which social democracy can be interpreted, the first centred on the idea of political compromise and the second on liberal egalitarianism. The former echoes the historical development of social democracies. Social democratic parties diverged from Marxist orthodoxy whilst retaining the socialist principle of just appropriation. In this context, social democratic institutions took shape as social democrats compromised with capitalist interests. We suggest, in the second model, that the institutions born through this process are consistent with the Rawlsian perspective of justice as fairness, provided we expand its scope to corporate governance. These rival interpretations of social democracy differ in their conception of social justice and in their stance on the pluralism of conceptions of justice. Moreover, they provide distinct answers to the contemporary crisis of social democracy. The model based on compromise adapts its programme to a new balance of political power resulting from a renewed political sociology – the path followed by the New Labour. The liberal egalitarian model seeks instead to adapt those institutions that can restore support for the Rawlsian principles of justice. Ultimately, the tension between these two interpretations is one of the major questions social democrats need to address to clarify the model they want to put forward in the 21st Century.