Financial Crisis Austerity and Electoral Politics

<p>This book examines the domestic electoral consequences of the economic and financial crisis in Europe particularly in those countries where the crisis manifested itself more devastatingly: the Southern European countries of Greece Italy Portugal and Spain as well as Iceland and Ireland. On the surface the electoral consequences of the crisis seem largely similar having resulted in these countries in large electoral losses for incumbents as the most elementary versions of economic voting theory would have us expect. However behind this fundamental similarity important differences emerge. Whilst in some cases on the basis of post-election surveys it is possible to see that the crisis elections followed a previous pattern of performance-oriented voters with no major changes either in known predictors of electoral choices or in basic party system properties other elections brought the emergence of new parties new issues and cleavages altering patterns of political competition. </p><p>By examining these different outcomes by comparing the crisis elections with previous ones this book takes into account their timing relative to different stages of crisis. It also scrutinises party strategies and campaign dynamics particularly as governments attempted (and sometimes succeeded) in framing events and proposals so as to apportion responsibility for economic outcomes. </p><p>This book was originally published as a special issue of the <i>Journal of Elections Public Opinion and Parties.</i></p>