Dr Rob Manwaring is a senior lecturer at Flinders University, in South Australia. He researches into the areas of labour and social democratic politics, comparative politics, political parties, and democracy.Dr Paul Kennedy is Lecturer in Spanish and European Studies at the University of Bath. He is the author of The Spanish Socialist Party and the modernisation of Spain (Manchester University Press: 2013) and is co-author, with David Cutts, of Podemos and the Art of the Possible (Manchester University Press: forthcoming 2018).

• Foreword ~ Sheri BermanWhy the left loses: understanding the comparative decline of the centre-left ~ Rob Manwaring and Paul KennedyPart 1: The centre-left in the AnglosphereThe case of the British Labour Party: back to the wilderness ~ Rob Manwaring and Matt BeechElectoral competition in Canada among centre-left parties: liberals versus social democracts ~ David McGraneThe ‘soft target’ of Labour in New Zealand ~ Grant DuncanAustralian social democracy: capitalist constraints and the challenges of equality ~ Carol JohnsonExit left: the case of Australian state Labor ~ Rob ManwaringPart 2: The centre-left in Western EuropeGermany: little hope in times of crisis ~ Uwe JunThe Swedish Social Democrats and the ‘new Swedish model’: playing a losing game ~ Claes Belfrage and Mikko KuismaBetween a rock and a hard place in Spain: the PSOE ~ Paul KennedyThe French Parti socialiste (2010-16): from office to crisis ~ Sophie Di Francesco-MayotPart 3: Conclusion: Why the left losesThe end of revisionism? ~ Chris PiersonSocial democracy and the populist challenge ~ René CuperusThe dilemmas of social democracy ~ Paul Kennedy and Rob Manwaring

“This case-study methodology edifyingly delves into the specific political and policy histories in each country.” Law and Culture (Alternative Law Journal)