Progressive ideas as an expression of advancement always need broad societal support. With various partners from Germany, Europe and the USA, we try to achieve a majority appeal for our progressive vision of society. By using different kinds of dialogue formats, opinion inputs and campaigns such as #bewegungjetzt, we contribute to the struggle for a progressive majority and the realization of forward-looking changes in the Federal Republic of Germany.
Current Issues
The super election year has reached its climax with the Bundestag elections. Whether campaign strategies, the further development of our democracy, or the analysis of the election results and their implications: In the past weeks, our experts at Das Progressive Zentrum have commented on issues surrounding the elections in various media outlets. We present a selection.
Sophie Pornschlegel and Robert Schütte explain what the coalition dispute in Germany means on a national and European level in interviews with the BBC and the Spanish newspaper “La Razón.“ Johannes Hillje discusses political ‘framing’ in three major news outlets, pointing out the dangers of expressions like “transit centres” and “asylum tourism.” And Fedor Ruhose explains how established parties should compete against their right-wing populist contestants in this year’s regional elections in an op-ed in “Frankfurter Rundschau.”
Keynote held at the European Media Seminar in Berlin, 28 April 2018
After the establishment of a new grand coalition on 14th of March 2018 in Germany, Fedor Ruhose, Policy Fellow at Das Progressive Zentrum, and DPZ-Director Dominic Schwickert analyse the current state of the centre-left parties, in particular the SPD. They point out upcoming challenges in the national and European context and set out five key challenges which German social democrats must overcome.
Conference Programme
Progressives are convinced that in times such as these, when fundamental questions are being raised about the future of our societies, a narrow-minded approach to politics is out of place. Only through wide-ranging debates, exchanging ideas and opinions, and interacting with scientific and social research can fresh impetus be generated to take us beyond the current impasse of political debate.
Only a few months ago the Myth Martin Schulz seemed to have pulled the Social Democratic Party out of their ongoing plight. A glance at the outcomes of the most recent state elections in North Rhine-Westphalia however, seem to indicate otherwise. Yet, how significant are the outcomes of the state elections for the future of the party on a national level? Or has the proclaimed “Schulz-Effekt” already worn off?
Following up on the first European Thinking Lab Summit, which took place in Lisbon in November of last year, and only one month after the last #EuropeanTownHall meeting in London, the DIALOGUE ON EUROPE Contributors gathered again on 24-26 March in Paris for the Second Thinking Lab Summit, hosted by Das Progressive Zentrum in cooperation with our French partner EuropaNova.
The Länder election in the Saarland is a dampener for the SPD. Nevertheless, Martin Schulz is bringing hope to the center-left all over Europe. The former president of the European Parliament is benefitting from the fact that the EU is seen as an increasingly positive issue in Germany. To remain successful, he must make tough policy choices and answer questions on how the SPD will finance its promises.
Maria Skóra wrote for the progressive polish online news magazine trybuna.eu about the chancellor candidate for the SPD Martin Schulz. She introduces the person and explains why he is a candidate for though times.
Maria Skóra schreibt für das progressive polnische Portal trybuna.eu über den Kanzlerkandidaten der SPD Martin Schulz. Sie stellt die Person Martin Schulz vor und erläutert, warum er ein Kandidat für schwierige Zeiten ist.
You can read the article here in Polish.
The negative implications of inequality are manifold. While devastating for individuals at the bottom of the ladder, evidence also shows that an unequal society causes the economy as a whole to suffer.
Important elections lie ahead in Germany. In the autumn of 2017, the German federal election will take place and prior to that, there is the politically highly significant state election in North Rhine-Westphalia. Against this background, we invited Guillaume Liegey to Das Progressive Zentrum in order to share some of his ideas about modern campaigning strategies.
On 23 and 24 September 2016, the European Reformists Summit entitled „Rebuilding Trust“ took place in Lyon. The event, being composed of an introductory roundtable, three workshops and a closing session, was organised by a European network of think tanks, consisting of Das Progressive Zentrum (Germany), Les Gracques (France), Institut Montaigne (France), Astrid (Italy) as well as Policy Network (UK).
The Brexit opens up a new policy space for the SPD. It can only profit from it, if it takes on a realistic stance with regard to the Article 50 negotiations, solves its inner-party contradiction concerning the future of the EU, wins the debate on stimulating growth – and if it puts policies to the forefront where Europe offers a visible extra benefit for the people.
We are delighted to officially announce that we have started new strategic cooperations with the Italian think tank Volta as well as the French think tank Terra Nova.
Our Policy Fellow Laura-Kristine Krause and Florian Ranft, researcher at the London-based think tank Policy Network, published an analysis of the state of the German social democratic party. They argue that Sigmar Gabriel should brush off questions over his leadership and capitalise on party support for his centre-orientated reform strategy.
Germany’s CDU are in disarray over the refugee crisis, but the SPD cannot presume to become the automatic beneficiaries
On July 6 and 7, Das Progressive Zentrum participated in the conference “Progressive Politics in Fragmented Times” in Oxford, UK, hosted by the Policy Network, the Foundation for European Progressive Studies FEPS and Renner-Institut. Together with participants from all across Europe, we engaged in discussions about new impulses for contemporary centre-left politics. The debate focussed on Labour’s future in Great Britain, an update for oldfashioned left-right narratives and the search for innovative ideas for party democracy, matching our project efforts in reforming German party organisations as well as the research on right-wing populism together with the Institut für Europäische Politik (IEP).
Having experienced a resounding defeat in the recent German election, the SPD have maneuvered into a position whereby they can strongly challenge Angela Merkel from within the Bundestag.
Struggling in the polls, the social democrats still need to learn the lessons of their defeat in 2013. A new focus on those the party failed to persuade last time may help them to do so.