Socialists in France: An Early Balance

A specter is haunting Europe. It is not a “classic” revolution, with a Communist party storming the Winter Palace. This specter is a peaceful, incremental socialist transformation carried out by ballots, not bullets: a “tranquil revolution,” in the words of Francois Mitterrand, France’s Socialist president. While orthodox Communist parties in Western Europe have been eclipsed, democratic socialism has gained increasing credibility. Since 1981, democratic socialis...