Party competition and political representation in crisis: An introductory note. (January 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Conti, Nicolò; Hutter, Swen; Nanou, Kyriaki
• Other Names: Conti Nicolò guest-editor.; Hutter Swen guest-editor.; Nanou Kyriaki guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Party politics. Volume 24:Number 1(2018:Jan.)
• Page Start: 3
• Page End: 9
• Publication Date: 2018-01
• Subjects: economic crisis -- Europe -- party competition -- political representation -- southern Europe; Political parties -- Periodicals; Political science -- Periodicals; 324.2
• DOI: 10.1177/1354068817740758
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1354-0688

Abstract

The aim of the special issue is to investigate through a comparative lens the impact of the recent economic crisis and consequent austerity measures on party competition and political representation in Europe. All six contributions focus on the substance of political conflict and provide new insights about the impact of the crisis on (a) the policy agendas of political parties, (b) the relationship between government and opposition parties, and (c) how citizens' preferences are represented by political parties. Theoretically, the contributions link the literatures on party competition, responsiveness, agenda-setting, and social movements. Empirically, they provide new empirical material, in particular on the countries in Southern Europe which were hard hit by the crisis. The introduction presents the rationale of the special issue and summarizes the focus and findings of the six contributions.