A Left Turn Among German Socialists

There is no “iron law of organization.” No “iron law” of logic forces a labor party to choose either sectarian ineffectiveness or the shallow opportunism and the bureaucratic machine rule of a mass party.

Observers of the German Social Democrats (SPD) who never graduated beyond Robert Michels and the early Lukacs may have been surprised by the spirit that ruled its April 1973 Convention in Hanover. There was a party that has been part of various government coali...