INTERNATIONAL POLICY ANALYSIS The Future of the SPD as a Catch-all party THOMAS MEYER, WOLFGANG MERKEL, CHRISTINA SCHILDMANN, WOLFGANG JÜTTNER AND JULIAN NIDA-RÜMELIN March 2012 „ „ The SPD remains what it has been and wishes to be ever since the Godesberg Pro­gramme of 1959, a left-of-centre catch-all party. Firmly anchored in its basic values of freedom, justice and solidarity, party politics roots its public debates in those prin­ciples to achieve an understanding of the common good. In a special way, it incor­porates the interests of the productive and innovative middle classes, workers and the socially disadvantaged. „ „ For a fairly long time, all over Europe, the major catch-all parties have been weaken­ing, while smaller, predominantly single-issue parties have become stronger. In order to regain size and influence, the SPD today needs a more distinctive programmatic profile, a greater readiness to fight for political alternatives and party reform, which enables greater participation of the younger generation. Also, there is a need for a credible strategy for attaining political power rooted in its basic values. The SPD must be able to make a plausible case for its claim to govern. For that purpose it needs broader social coalitions. „ „ Even in the altered social circumstances of the present time, social democracy is about credible programmatic alliances between the middle classes committed to solidarity on the one hand and the milieu of the workers and the disadvantaged in society on the other. The ideals of a fair society and of a new progress are suitable to hold together these social milieus and classes programmatically.