They formed the Social Democratic Centre (SDC) as an internal pressure group to move the PvdA leftwards.
[6] The party was originally called Communist League-Proletarian Left (Dutch: Kommunistenbond- Proletarisch Links, KB-PL).
Attempts to merge with the International Socialists (IS) did not succeed and many member left the organization to join other leftwing parties.
[9] It was decided that the group could no longer consider itself a 'party' and therefore was renamed Socialist Alternative Politics (Dutch: Socialistische Alternatieve Politiek).
Members of the SAP are active in the trade union Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging (FNV) and contribute to the International Institute for Research and Education (IIRE) which is based in Amsterdam.
At the local level it often sought coalitions with other leftwing groups, for instance PSP, SP and The Greens, through which SAP members were elected to city council in among others Deventer and Amsterdam.