Government-Opposition in Southern European Countries during the Economic Crisis
Government-Opposition in Southern European Countries during the Economic Crisis

Author: Elisabetta De Giorgi

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-12-22

Total Pages: 144

ISBN-13: 1317407334

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As a result of the financial crisis, opposition parties have had to choose between the need to cooperate with the majority in order to contribute to necessary socio-economic changes, and the opportunity to stress their adversarial position vis-à-vis governments taking radical and unpopular measures. This book examines how opposition parties address this dilemma. It relies on a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the behaviour of the opposition parties in parliament, in light of the socio-economic issues that have arisen in recent years. It focuses in particular on the impact that the economic malaise has had on the government-opposition dynamics in the four southern European democracies most acutely hit by the crisis: Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain, as well as in the European Parliament. Each chapter utilizes a combination of empirical data analysis and qualitative process-tracking to understand the opposition parties’ complicated choice between supporting and dissenting. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Legislative Studies.

The Impact of the Economic Crisis on South European Democracies
The Impact of the Economic Crisis on South European Democracies

Author: Leonardo Morlino

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2017-03-30

Total Pages: 150

ISBN-13: 3319523716

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This book questions whether and to what extent a conjunctural phenomenon such as an economic crisis can bring about lasting political consequences. It focuses on the parties and party systems of four South European countries (Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Greece) between 2008-15. The authors also consider how elections, protests, and interests are affected by the crisis in these four democracies, before assessing how to define the impact of the economic crisis on political participation and competition. In this vein the book analyzes relevant aspects of party systems, the notion of neo-populism as a key to understanding new actors of South European policy, and interest intermediation as a factor of weakness in managing the crisis. Finally, the authors summarize the empirical results emerging from the research: the partial reshaping of cleavages as well as the relevance of the establishment vs. anti-establishment cleavage for the emergence and success of neo-populist parties. The book will be of use to students and scholars interested in South European politics, comparative politics, and democracies.

A Generational Divide? Age-related Aspects of Political Transformation in Post-crisis Southern Europe
A Generational Divide? Age-related Aspects of Political Transformation in Post-crisis Southern Europe

Author: Emmanouil Tsatsanis

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2022-09-29

Total Pages: 182

ISBN-13: 1000726169

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This book examines the political consequences of the economic crisis in Southern Europe from the perspective of a widening intergenerational divide. It focuses on the cases of Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain to fill the gap in the literature by examining various age-related rifts in post-crisis Southern Europe. Public discussion about the economic crisis of the late 2000s to mid-2010s in Southern Europe often refers to its impact on the region’s younger citizens, but not enough attention has been given to the political consequences of the crisis on the young. The comparative studies in the volume cover various thematic areas, such as electoral behaviour, political culture, democratic values, forms of political engagement and political representation. The overarching questions that the book attempts to answer are: a) to what extent and in what areas can one talk about an emergent generational divide in the region, and b) has the experience of the economic crisis been profound enough for young South Europeans to create a new ‘crisis political generation’? Many of the answers offered point to tangible effects of the crisis, but mostly in the sense of accentuating dynamics that already existed. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of South European Society and Politics.

The Politics of the Eurozone Crisis in Southern Europe
The Politics of the Eurozone Crisis in Southern Europe

Author: Leonardo Morlino

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2019-11-18

Total Pages: 221

ISBN-13: 3030244717

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This book provides an in-depth account of the politics of the Eurozone crisis in Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus and Malta, mapping the positions expressed by the governments of Southern EU countries during the Eurozone crisis negotiations, including Greece’s bailout deal, the so-called “Six Pack” and the “Fiscal Compact” and exploring the process of domestic preference formation. The book relies on original data resulting from fieldwork conducted in the context of the EU Commission- funded Horizon 2020 project “The Choice for Europe since Maastricht”.

Crisis Elections, New Contenders and Government Formation
Crisis Elections, New Contenders and Government Formation

Author: Anna Bosco

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-12-07

Total Pages: 234

ISBN-13: 135133235X

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The parliamentary elections of 2015–16 in Greece, Spain and Portugal had extraordinary consequences, bringing repeat elections, unprecedented processes of government formation and uncharted government outcomes. Greece formed a coalition of radical left and radical right and Portugal its first government supported by the communist party while Spain took ten months to get a government. These developments are especially astonishing in three states which in previous decades were a byword for democratic stability. After the transitions following the fall of their dictatorships in the 1970s, Greece, Spain and Portugal established bipolar electoral competition and predictable patterns of government formation. But more recently, all three countries have been in the frontline of the economic crisis and austerity implementation, triggering electoral realignments and turning the radical left into a major player. This volume offers essential understanding of the political destabilisation of Southern Europe. It includes detailed analyses of all five ‘crisis elections’ and of Greece’s bailout referendum. It also provides studies of the five ‘new contender’ parties (SYRIZA, Podemos, Ciudadanos, the Bloco Esquerda and the Portuguese Communist Party) which played a key role in government formation for the first time. The chapters originally published as a special issue in South European Society and Politics.

Government-Opposition in Southern European Countries during the Economic Crisis
Government-Opposition in Southern European Countries during the Economic Crisis

Author: Elisabetta De Giorgi

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-12-22

Total Pages: 195

ISBN-13: 1317407326

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As a result of the financial crisis, opposition parties have had to choose between the need to cooperate with the majority in order to contribute to necessary socio-economic changes, and the opportunity to stress their adversarial position vis-à-vis governments taking radical and unpopular measures. This book examines how opposition parties address this dilemma. It relies on a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the behaviour of the opposition parties in parliament, in light of the socio-economic issues that have arisen in recent years. It focuses in particular on the impact that the economic malaise has had on the government-opposition dynamics in the four southern European democracies most acutely hit by the crisis: Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain, as well as in the European Parliament. Each chapter utilizes a combination of empirical data analysis and qualitative process-tracking to understand the opposition parties’ complicated choice between supporting and dissenting. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Legislative Studies.

Constraining Democratic Governance in Southern Europe
Constraining Democratic Governance in Southern Europe

Author: José M. Magone

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2021-05-28

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 9781788111331

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In this thought-provoking book, José M. Magone investigates the growing political, economic and social divisions between the core countries of the European Union and the southern European periphery. He examines the major hindrances that are preventing the four main southern European countries (Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece) from keeping up with the increasing pace of European integration, and the effects that this is having on democratic governance. Offering a comprehensive comparative overview of southern European politics over the past two decades, the book analyses the impact of the EU's political economy on democracy in the region, in particular the consequences of the Eurocrisis and the economic instability of the 2010s. It argues that these countries have failed to proactively initiate necessary strategic reforms in order to prevent economic and democratic stagnation, and have especially struggled to cope with the changing realities of Europeanization and the demands of Economic and Monetary Union. Students and scholars of European politics will find this book useful and insightful, in particular those interested in southern Europe's political economy and Europeanization. It will also be beneficial for policy makers working in southern European governments and organizations.

The Political Consequences of the Great Recession in Southern Europe
The Political Consequences of the Great Recession in Southern Europe

Author: Guillem Vidal

Publisher:

Published: 2019

Total Pages: 212

ISBN-13:

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The Great Recession constituted a breaking point in several aspects of the cultural, economic and political life of southern European countries (i.e. Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain). This dissertation aims to shed light on the political consequences of the economic crisis in this region - with a specific focus on Spain as a paradigmatic case - by analysing different aspects of the political transformations that took place during the period of crisis. The underlying argument is that, albeit some relevant differences, the four countries experienced a common pattern: the incapacity of national politics to offer differentiated recipes to the deteriorating economic situation triggered a widespread crisis of representation that introduced new issues in the political agenda and drove the political transformations in these countries. The combination of a political and economic crisis at the national and European levels opened new political spaces that new parties capitalised by appealing to the need for democratic renewal and opposition to austerity politics. Furthermore, as illustrated by the Spanish case, and in particular the Catalan experience, the political crisis had far-reaching consequences beyond economic grievances, leading to the activation of different types of conflicts. Overall, the findings suggest that the transformations in the structure of political conflict in southern Europe in the aftermath of the Great Recession are not the by-product of a growing cultural divide - as is the case in several other continental and north-European countries -, but instead respond to the loss of credibility in the political system. Methodologically, the dissertation relies on an original dataset of media content as well as on several sources of survey data to test the empirical validity of the claims.