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

Abstract

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.

Keywords

• european integration
• gerhard schröder
• german reunification
• idealistic pro-europeanism
• sozialdemokratische partei deutschlands
• avrupa bütünleşmesi
• gerhard schröder
• alman birleşmesi
• idealist avrupa yanlılığı
• alman sosyal demokrat partisi