Representation in Southern Europe: Views and Performance in Times of Economic Crisis

Abstract

Political representation has experience major challenges in the last years, as the economic downturn has eroded the living conditions of many Southern European countries citizens. Outraged citizens, citizen groups, social movements, and new parties are increasingly criticizing traditional representative democracy, institutions and actors. Literature on political representation has also evolved in the last years, as new approaches have been proposed to try to gauge these changes and challenges. From this standpoint, our aim in this panel is to foster the discussion on political representation (regarding both views and performance), focusing in South European countries. In particular, we are interested in papers dealing with: a. Citizens’ or/and parties’ (or individual MPs’) views on representation; b. How government/parties/MPs perform and develop their representative activity; c. The correspondence between them; d. How the new scenario of crisis and economic downturn in Southern Europe may have affected these preferences and performance. Papers to be presented in this panel should have an empirical approach (comparative and case studies), although theoretical papers on alternative ways to operationalize representation would also be welcome.

Title	Details
The condition of Portuguese democracy during the Troika's intervention, 2011-2015: Government-Opposition, Regime Support and Political Trust	View Paper Details
The electoral consequences of political disaffection in Southern Europe	View Paper Details
Visual Representation of Politicians’ and Parties’ Performance in Times of Crisis: A Comparative Analysis with particular reference to Spain, Portugal and Greece	View Paper Details
Political parties and democratic representation in the era of crisis: mapping changes and functions in the composition of the Greek political elites	View Paper Details
Focus and style of representation in Portugal and Spain: Exploring the consequences of the economic crisis	View Paper Details