Wolfgang Merkel is Professor of Political Science at Humboldt University, and Director of the Research Unit 'Democracy' at the Social Science Research Center Berlin (WZB), Germany. Alexander Petring and Christian Henkes are Research Fellows at the WZB. Christoph Egle is a Lecturer at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany.

• 1. Introduction 2. The Challenges of Social Democracy 3. Opportunity Structures: Actors, Institutions and Legacies 4. United Kingdom 5. Germany 6. France 7. The Netherlands 8. Sweden 9. Denmark 10. Social Democratic Policies in Comparison 11. Prospects for Social Democratic Reforms

Wolfgang Merkel is Professor of Political Science at Humboldt University, and Director of the Research Unit 'Democracy' at the Social Science Research Center Berlin (WZB), Germany. Alexander Petring and Christian Henkes are Research Fellows at the WZB. Christoph Egle is a Lecturer at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany.

• 1. Introduction 2. The Challenges of Social Democracy 3. Opportunity Structures: Actors, Institutions and Legacies 4. United Kingdom 5. Germany 6. France 7. The Netherlands 8. Sweden 9. Denmark 10. Social Democratic Policies in Comparison 11. Prospects for Social Democratic Reforms

Wolfgang Merkel is Professor of Political Science at Humboldt University, and Director of the Research Unit 'Democracy' at the Social Science Research Center Berlin (WZB), Germany. Alexander Petring and Christian Henkes are Research Fellows at the WZB. Christoph Egle is a Lecturer at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany.

• 1. Introduction 2. The Challenges of Social Democracy 3. Opportunity Structures: Actors, Institutions and Legacies 4. United Kingdom 5. Germany 6. France 7. The Netherlands 8. Sweden 9. Denmark 10. Social Democratic Policies in Comparison 11. Prospects for Social Democratic Reforms