The Charter of Workers' Rights was a major achievement of the Italian Socialist Party and of the center-left governments. This article explores some of the factors in the international context that allowed for a period of reforms in Italy. Changes in the policies of the US administration; a...

The German social democratic party initiated in 2003 the greatest overhaul of labour market legislation in decades, severely cutting unemployment benefits and slashing employment protection legislation. How can we explain this radical policy shift? This paper will present a counter-intuitive...

In the last few years, the French PS and British Labour have decided to respond to sinking levels of mobilization through the introduction of procedures allowing members and supporters to take part in the selection of their leaders. Whilst these could be interpreted as in direct conflict with...