Democracy and democratic governance in Southern Europe

Southern European countries have faced considerable pressure during the past quarter century – the Great Recession and subsequent austerity, migration flows, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the (effects of) war in Ukraine and elsewhere. This section seeks to further our understanding of how well Southern Europe has withstood the pressures in terms of democratic aspirations, democracy, and democratic governance. The section covers the diverse challenges to democracy and democratic governance, including forms of democratic backsliding and autocratisation, and patterns of democratic disfunction in the region. Yet, it also seeks to explore the forms or patterns of resilience and adaptation that serve to shore up or advance democracy or democratic aspirations, as well as confront major societal and policy challenges in Southern Europe. The theme is meant to be broad and inclusive of many research areas, including political regimes, governments, and other institutional analyses, political parties, policy challenges and adaptation under democratic systems, international affairs, political elites’ and citizens’ attitudes and behaviour, and multilevel governance (including the European Union), among other topics. Geographically, the section covers Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain and Turkey. Panels and papers may examine topics across the region and/or in specific national contexts.