Social democracy is an assertion of citizens' rights: the entitlement of all citizens, by reason of citizenship, to share equally in the standards of living which a particular society is technically capable of generating. Existing literature from political economy, political science and class theory can be marshalled in defence of this conception. Reconstruction of a coherent theory of social democracy is necessary in order to specify a contemporary political problem that is only incompletely understood: the propensity of social democratic regimes, parties and politicians to retreat, sometimes spectacularly, from past commitments. The paper identifies five requirements of such a theory. In each case there is evidence and interpretation available which not only affirms the viability of social democratic political and economic ambitions but also elaborates the role of labour in contemporary policy-making.
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