Economic Voting in Southern Europe
Economic Voting in Southern Europe
The national economies of Southern Europe are moving swiftly toward full integration within the EU. This integration has brought economic gains to the region, which has traditionally lagged behind the northern leaders of the European community. But, it has also induced economic strains, from globalization, inequality, and economic insecurity generally. Have their national governments responded to citizen concerns over these issues? Or, do such economic grievances fall on the deaf ears of leadership, leaving them unaccountable to the electorates who brought them to power? Our conference seeks answers to such questions, focusing of the extent to which voters in Italy, Portugal and Spain can effectively punish (or reward) the government for its economic policies.
This is an extremely important topic, for it gets at the heart of a fundamental principle of democracy -- government is responsible to the electorate. While studied fairly extensively for the democracies of North America and Northern Europe, the issue of "economic voting," as it is sometimes called, has been relatively little studied in the democracies of Southern Europe. This is doubly unfortunate, it that it could be argued that in these nations economic questions are of even greater import.
The national economies of Southern Europe are moving swiftly toward full integration within the EU. This integration has brought economic gains to the region, which has traditionally lagged behind the northern leaders of the European community. But, it has also induced economic strains, from globalization, inequality, and economic insecurity generally. Have their national governments responded to citizen concerns over these issues? Or, do such economic grievances fall on the deaf ears of leadership, leaving them unaccountable to the electorates who brought them to power? Our conference seeks answers to such questions, focusing of the extent to which voters in Italy, Portugal and Spain can effectively punish (or reward) the government for its economic policies.
This is an extremely important topic, for it gets at the heart of a fundamental principle of democracy -- government is responsible to the electorate. While studied fairly extensively for the democracies of North America and Northern Europe, the issue of "economic voting," as it is sometimes called, has been relatively little studied in the democracies of Southern Europe. This is doubly unfortunate, it that it could be argued that in these nations economic questions are of even greater import.
