Direction – Social Democracy

Direction – Social Democracy (Slovak: Smer – sociálna demokracia, Smer–SD), also commonly referred to as Smer, is a left-wing nationalist and left-wing populist political party in Slovakia led by the incumbent prime minister Robert Fico. The party identifies as social-democratic, and was described as a combination of "leftist economics and nationalist appeal".

Founded by Fico in 1999 as a split from the post-communist Party of the Democratic Left, Smer initially defined itself as the Third Way party. It adopted the epithet Social Democracy after merging with several minor centre-left parties in 2005. It has dominated Slovak politics since 2006, leading three coalition governments (2006–2010, 2016–2020, 2023–present) and one single-party government (2012–2016). During its rule in charge it continued the European integration of Slovakia, lifted some economic-liberal reforms of the previous centre-right governments and introduced various social welfare measures. Smer-led populist governments have been associated with numerous political corruption scandals, and have been accused by opponents to have resulted in a deterioration of the rule of law in Slovakia.

After the 2020 parliamentary election (Smer's return to the opposition), Slovak authorities investigated a number of corruption-related crimes involving multiple Smer politicians and individuals reportedly linked to the party, with a total of 42 of them being convicted. At the party congress in July 2020, following a major internal split (which resulted in the founding of a new party named Voice – Social Democracy, also known as Hlas–SD), Fico announced a shift to "the rustic social democracy that perceives the specifics of Slovak reality". Post-2020 Smer holds stances that have been described as nationalist, populist and Russophilic. The party is considered an example of a left-authoritarian party - a left-wing party with socially conservative stances.

In 2023, Smer won the parliamentary election with 23% of the vote and 42 seats in the National Council and subsequently formed the Fourth cabinet of Robert Fico.