The SPD after Brandt: Problems of integration in a changing Urban society

Since 1982, the electoral fortunes of the SPD have followed a downward trend, accompanied by a pervasive malaise and uncertainty regarding coalitions with the Greens. The strategic choice before the SPD is mirrored by the analogous dilemma of the CDU/CSU with regard to the FDP. The problems of integrating the ‘two or more SPDs’ in a rapidly changing urban society are aggravated by the sectarian New Left in the big cities. Only a new consensus based on widely popular themes can lead the SPD back into power.