Awakening the Sleeping Giant in Greece and Portugal? Elites' and Voters' Attitudes towards EU Integration in Difficult Economic Times (original) (raw)
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South European Society and Politics, 2014
Greece and Portugal are among the European countries most affected by the International financial crisis that began in the US (2007) but soon had very severe consequences also in Europe, with the so-called debt crisis and euro crisis. Namely, both Greece (2010) and Portugal (2011) were obliged to request loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and/or the European Union to deal with the debt crisis and with financial disequilibrium in public finances. Greece is in a severe recession for around five years now, and Portugal has been in recession since 2011, but especially in 2012. However, the way to deal with these situations politically has been described, namely in the national and international mass media, to be very different in Greece and Portugal. Namely, mass protests have been said to have been much more frequent, violent and widespread in Greece than in Portugal. Moreover, political consensus in Portugal (between the Centreleft, PS: Socialist Party, and the right-wing government, i.e., by the liberal PSD and the conservative CDS-PP) have been said to have been very different vis-à-vis the higher levels of political polarization in Greece (between the Centre-left, PASOK, and the Centre-right, ND, with a notable upsurge in the radical left, Syriza, and the extreme right). Using data concerning both Prospective MPs/Candidate surveys (CCS survey), and Voter surveys (Hellenic National Election Study/ELNES; Portuguese «Elections, Leadership and Accountability» Research Project) which for both Greece and Portugal included a specific battery of questions concerning "the economic crisis, austerity policies and their effects", we will try to see in what extent the situation is different in Greece and Portugal by relating elites' and voters' attitudes towards the bailout agreements, the austerity policies and their effects, as well as blame attribution.
South European Society and Politics, 2014
This work addresses the dimensions and content of ideological space in Portugal and Greece after the onset of the sovereign debt crisis and the imposition of austerity policies in the two countries. By examining both elite interviews and public opinion data, the article principally attempts to determine whether the economic crisis has created a new division in ideological space by cross-cutting or completely replacing older ones. In addition, we attempt to gauge the position of crisis-related issues relative to issue divides on European integration and globalisation which, up to now, have been dormant in Southern European countries.
This article presents new research on the Europeanness of Greek political elites under the economic crisis. It registers the views of a sample of 74 Greek Members of Parliament (MPs) on European integration and the handling of the economic crisis by the European Union (EU). The ENEC survey, which was conducted in 2014, shows that Greek MPs continue to be attached to Europe, but evaluate negatively the role of EU’s institutions during the economic crisis. They mostly view European integration positively, but are skeptical about the representativeness of EU organs. There is a discernible set of “core attitudes” which constitute the Europeanness of Greek MPs, but there is also a set of issues on which MPs are clearly divided. The dominant dimension of conflict within Greek political elites is the issue of economic austerity packages, i.e., the Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs), as since 2010 EU’s management of the crisis has become the epicenter of Greece’s domestic politics. The two party, SYRIZA-ANEL coalition government that was formed after the January 2015 elections was not a surprise given the close proximity of these two parties on their stance towards the MoUs and the EU.
International Political Science Review, 2015
The surge in support for Eurosceptic parties in the 2014 Euroelections is investigated through a case study of Greece, a country which suffered a dramatic dealignment of its party system after the onset of the Eurozone crisis. The extent to which crisis-era developments represent a rupture is assessed by setting the recent rise of party Euroscepticism in its historical context. Eurobarometer data is used to investigate the relationship between party and popular Euroscepticism and an alternative domestically-driven explanation of causality. The conclusion is that the crisis era has been a game-changer in attitudes towards European integration. The rising vote for Eurosceptic parties is not simply a side-effect of domestic protest. Instead the EU has become a significant electoral target.
Representation and Austerity Politics: Attitudes of Greek Voters and Elites Compared
South European Society and Politics [DOI:10.1080/13608746.2014.977478], 2014
Drawing on surveys of voters and MPs in Greece, this article analyses elite-mass interaction on key policy (austerity, European integration, immigration) and ideological issues after the 2012 elections. We find that while for the government parties, New Democracy and PASOK, the level of congruence is quite high, MPs from opposition parties (SYRIZA, Golden Dawn) place themselves in more exposed positions in comparison with their voters. The observed substantial variation in the intensity and direction of congruence, across parties and issue preferences in Greece, reinforces the view that the dimensionality of political contestation is not reducible to a single ideological dimension.
Why has growing Euroscepticism in Greece not resulted in an increased support to leave the Eurozone? To answer this question, this dissertation investigates the puzzling case of Greece, whereby despite growing opposition to the EU/IMF austerity measures since the outset of the Greek sovereign debt crisis in 2009 and the soaring 27.5% of general unemployment, more than 62% of Greek citizens still strongly support the European single currency. The dissertation posits that the rationale behind the startling Greek support for the Euro lies in the shifting trends of voting behavior that has developed in accordance with the poor economic performances of their national elite and the subsequent loss of trust in traditional Greek political parties. In addition, the dissertation maintains that Euroscepticism has become a common tool of nationalist parties and because of the significant surge of ultranationalists, Greek voters strive to maintain the Euro since the alternative that is offered by Eurosceptic nationalists, threatens the liberal prospects of free trade and common currency envisaged by the European Union. Thus, by evaluating decisive events affecting the Greek economy using the ‘Diachronic Perspective’, the Greek voters’ behavior to endorse the Euro can be better understood. The dissertation concludes by supporting the case for a rise of soft as opposed to hard Euroscepticism seen in the Greek public opinion patterns towards the EU, which shows an opposition to the post-Maastricht European integration, but not a voluntary intention to leave the Eurozone. In addition, by utilizing the methodological individualistic assumption embedded in the rational choice theory, the dissertation hypothesizes that the Greek political behavior to welcome the single currency is motivated by the needs, wants and preferences rooted in self-interest as a means to mitigate the consequences of the economic crisis.
JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies , 2023
Following bailouts by the Troika (EC, ECB and IMF) due to the 2008 global financial crisis, between 2010 and 2013, new anti-austerity movements, left-wing parties and trade unions led large mobilisations against austerity policies in Greece and Portugal, with a deep impact in the political landscape of both countries. Besides the relevance of transnational decisions, these mobilisations mostly addressed national political institutions, whereas the governments that emerged from the protest period showed a clear pro-European stance. Against this background, using two case studies with primary data on anti-austerity protests and interactions amongst contentious and institutional actors, this article aims to shed light on a relatively unexplored aspect of Europeanisation in the context of the crisis, focusing on the relation between social movements and institutional politics. Explaining the critical pro-EU positions that have been adopted in Greece and Portugal, it thereby contributes to the related debates on anti-austerity social movements and their impact in times of crisis.