Socialists & Communists in European Politics

An important discussion has begun among European Socialists. Should they enter the kinds of electoral alliances with Communists that the French and Italian Socialist parties have entered but other Socialists deplore? Have the Communists changed sufficiently so as to be regarded as appropriate allies in electoral blocs that might lead to social change through democratic means?

The European Socialist parties appear to be split along geographical lines, with the “northern” par...