Internationale Politikanalyse International Policy Analysis Alfred Pfaller European Social Democracy – In Need of Renewal Nine country cases& Seven policy proposals  Social Democratic parties throughout the more affluent, economically highly developed part of Europe have experienced a dramatic decline in electoral support over the last few years.  This text presents the cases of nine countries in Western, Northern and Southern Europe, all members of the European Union before Eastern En­largement. It looks at the challenges, posed by socio-economic and socio­political evolution, at the political discourse that has defined and structured political issues, and at the responses Social Democrats as well as their com­petitors have offered to these challenges.  It is argued that fundamental changes in the way the world economy works have made it difficult for Social Democracy to deliver on its core promises. If it does not come up with ways to secure social inclusion under today’s conditions of globalisation and the post-industrial knowledge econ­omy, Social Democracy risks becoming obsolete.  European Social Democracy must come up with an encompassing project of renewal, a project that is able to meet today’s challenges and that appeals to a heterogeneous majority of the population. It must forge a new coalition to»tame« capitalism and once again put its productive and creative forces at the service of human fulfilment. This paper makes seven policy proposals for the renewal of Social Democracy in Europe. DECEMBER 2009