Elites’ and Voters’ Attitudes towards the Economic Crisis in Europe

Abstract

The International financial crisis that began in the US (2007) soon had very severe consequences also in (Western and Eastern) Europe, with the so-called debt crisis and the EURO crisis. Although more attention has been given to the countries belonging to the EURO area, the truth is that the debt crisis has been affecting several European countries with IMF or IMF/ECB/EC having financial adjustment programmes in place in several European countries for some time now: Iceland, Latvia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Ireland, Portugal, Greece, Spain, etc. However, the economic crisis has rather diverse consequences, especially between countries with financial adjustment programmes in terms of mass protest (more or less disruptive, etc.) and elite reactions (more or less polarised situations, etc.). The objective of the panel is to bring together research that depicts the attitudes and reactions of the political elites (MPs, MEPs, Candidates, Minsters, etc.) to the economic crisis in Europe, especially in the countries most affected by it but not exclusively. Additionally, voters’ reactions to the economic crisis in Europe are also welcomed but only if they are related with elite reactions to them. Paper givers should also try to explain differences between both individuals (by using ideology, party attachments, etc.) and countries (by using political system characteristics, short-term political and social factors, mass reactions to the crisis, etc.) in terms of their attitudes and reactions vis-à-vis the economic crisis. The use of both quantitative (elite and mass surveys), and qualitative data (elite and mass interviews, media accounts, etc.) is welcomed. Moreover, although comparative studies are most welcomed, case studies are also thought to be valuable contributions to this panel.

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