European Party Competition and New Strategies under Societal Turbulence

Abstract

European party competition of recent decades has seen the rise of non-economic politics, be it in the form of environmentalism characteristic of the greens, or in the form of nationalism and identity politics as presented by the radical right. The current economic crisis, however, again elevates concerns over economic and redistributional issues. Rather than promoting general support for state solutions, the crisis is likely to polarise electorates, as left-leaning voters become more fervent supporters of government intervention, while right-wingers call for more economic liberalisation as a solution to and prevention of the crisis. The current political situation is thus characterised by increased dimensionality and possibly new party strategies or a return to old ones, spanning varying connections between economic and non-economic issues. This panel consequently invites papers which analyse the content and dynamics of political competition, new party strategies and new sources of party support, of a continent in political flux.

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