ABSTRACT
The second half of the 1970s was a decisive period in the debate on democracy in Western Europe. The 1973 Oil Crisis had interrupted almost thirty years of uninterrupted economic growth, and Europe saw the end of an era characterized by full employment and expanding social security arrangements. The Keynesian paradigm that a variety of ideological forces had embraced now collapsed. The downturn in the economy led to mass strikes, especially in France and Italy. As the decade wore on, politics turned increasingly violent in West Germany and Italy in particular as both states battled with domestic terrorism.1 This explains why, by the time of the oil crisis, the 1970s was already being perceived as a decade of democratic crisis.2 Western democracies had no answer to the social movements’ demands for participation, especially not at a time of such economic hardship. The collapse of the postwar settlement is why the 1970s is seen as a watershed in the history of postwar democracy.3 The democratic model appeared unable to meet the challenges it faced, while the material certainties underpinning it eroded under the pressures of economic decline. The crisis of democracy particularly affected the Western European Left, which faced the demise of the ideological hegemony of Keynesianism.4 It was most deeply felt in France and Italy. Of the four major left-wing parties of France and Italy, only the Parti Socialiste survived into the early 1990s.5
