Blame and punishment? The electoral politics of extreme austerity in Greece

Can governments that introduce extreme austerity measures survive elections? Contrary to economic voting expectations, the PASOK government in Greece initially appeared to cope quite well, claiming victory in regional elections in 2010 despite widespread anti-austerity protest. In this paper, we interpret this result with the help of a post-election survey, which also covered future voting intention. The explanatory power of models based on theories of economic voting and blame attribution as well as the electoral impact of the government’s representation of the crisis as an existential threat are assessed. Our analysis challenges the interpretation of the 2010 election as an indication of support for PASOK’s austerity policies and reveals weaknesses in its support base, which help contextualise its downfall in the 2012 Parliamentary elections. The paper also underlines the importance of studying the impact of crises discourses on voting choice, particularly since blame attribution receives little support in this case

Green parties and elections to the European Parliament, 1979-2019

The chapter reviews the development of green parties and their performance in European Elections from 1979 to 2014, and discusses their prospects for the 2019 elections

Nuclear energy in the public sphere: Anti-nuclear movements vs. industrial lobbies in Spain (1962-1979)

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11024-014-9263-0This article examines the role of the Spanish Atomic Forum as the representative of the nuclear sector in the public arena during the golden years of the nuclear power industry from the 1960s to 1970s. It focuses on the public image concerns of the Spanish nuclear lobby and the subsequent information campaigns launched during the late 1970s to counteract demonstrations by the growing and heterogeneous anti-nuclear movement. The role of advocacy of nuclear energy by the Atomic Forum was similar to that in other countries, but the situation in Spain had some distinguishing features. Anti-nuclear protest in Spain peaked in 1978 paralleling the debates of a new National Energy Plan in Congress, whose first draft had envisaged a massive nuclearization of the country. We show how the approval of the Plan in July 1979, with a significant reduction in the nuclear energy component, was influenced by the anti-nuclear protest movements in Spain. Despite the efforts of the Spanish Atomic Forum to counter its message, the anti-nuclear movement was strengthened by reactions to the Three Mile Island accident in March 1979

The Greens in the 2014 European elections

Green parties entered the European election campaign of 2014 facing some major challenges. Austerity politics and the Euro crisis ensured that social and economic issues dominated the agenda and, with environmental topics marginalised, populist right-wing and Eurosceptic parties were expected to make big gains in many countries. The Greens had been boosted in 2009 by record results for French and German Greens, but neither was expected to do as well. Given the broadly unfavourable conditions, Green parties performed reasonably well (see Table 1). The European Green Party (EGP) won 38 seats in the European Parliament, compared with 46 in 2009. The Green Party-European Free Alliance (EFA) parliamentary group registered 50 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), including seven from various regional parties and five independents in 2014, compared with 55 in 2009

Green parties and the european union

This chapter focuses on environmental parties in European politics

Zwischen Ökotopia und Desillusionierung : Regierungsbeteiligungen grüner Parteien in Europa 1990-2004

The chapter provides an analysis of the involvement of green parties in government between 1990 and 200

Les verts prennent racine en politique

Encyclopédique et pédagogique, étayé de graphiques, schémas cartes et tableaux statistiques, constitue un ensemble très cohérent d'articles et de données qui permettent non seulement de faire le point, mais aussi d'ouvrir de multiples pistes de réflexion. C'est ainsi qu'une grande place a été accordée à l'étude comparée des mondes de vie : convergences et divergences de comportements vis-à-vis de la consommation, de l'argent, du travail, des loisirs, de la criminalité, etc. Y sont aussi détaillés les cadres de vie, les structures familiales ou les pratiques sexuelles... Ce souci de concret est également présent dans les autres chapitres de l'ouvrage qui traitent de L'Europe d'aujourd'hui : « Espaces et populations », « Écologie et environnement », « Santé et protection sociale », « Économie et travail », « États et sociétés civiles »... La deuxième partie du livre présente L'Europe de demain, la construction communautaire et son avenir. Les rappels historiques et l'analyse des politiques communes sont complétés par différents chapitres permettant de comprendre les conséquences à attendre du Marché et du traité de Maastricht. Les changements induits par le marché unique font l'objet d'une revue de détails pratique. Du permis de construire aux normes d'émissions gazeuses en passant par la question des appellations d'origine, le droit d'asile, ou la formation professionnelle, un chapitre recense les quelques 300 directives et règlements nouveaux que doivent appliquer les États membres. Enfin, une troisième partie présente une synthèse d'informations utiles sur chacun des douze États membres : histoire, géographie, organisation administrative, indicateurs économiques, systèmes politiques, mutations politiques récentes... L'état de l'Europe emprunte sa formule éditoriale à la collection « L'état du monde » : il comporte 250 articles rédigés par quelques 140 spécialistes de nombreuses nationalités, pour la plupart chercheurs ou journalistes. Larigueur de l'information ne nuit pas ici à la lisibilit

Weniger Regierung, aber mehr Staat? : Die "Entstaatlichungspolitik" und ihre Folgen

A chapter on the denationalization of policy and the implication