Blame and punishment? : The electoral politics of extreme austerity in Greece

Karyotis, Georgios and Rudig, Wolfgang (2015) Blame and punishment? : The electoral politics of extreme austerity in Greece. Political Studies, 63 (1). pp. 2-24. ISSN 0032-3217

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Abstract

Can governments that introduce extreme austerity measures survive elections? Contrary to economic voting expectations, the PASOK government in Greece initially appeared to cope quite well, claiming victory in regional elections in 2010 despite widespread anti-austerity protest. In this paper, we interpret this result with the help of a post-election survey, which also covered future voting intention. The explanatory power of models based on theories of economic voting and blame attribution as well as the electoral impact of the government’s representation of the crisis as an existential threat are assessed. Our analysis challenges the interpretation of the 2010 election as an indication of support for PASOK’s austerity policies and reveals weaknesses in its support base, which help contextualise its downfall in the 2012 Parliamentary elections. The paper also underlines the importance of studying the impact of crises discourses on voting choice, particularly since blame attribution receives little support in this case.

Author(s):Karyotis, Georgios and Rudig, Wolfgang ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2620-2570
Item type:Article
ID code:42923
Keywords:Greece, electoral politics, political activity, recession, austerity, Political Science, Sociology and Political Science
Subjects:Political Science
Department:Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (HaSS) > School of Government and Public Policy > Politics
Depositing user: Pure Administrator
Date deposited:19 Feb 2013 15:23
Last modified:02 Aug 2019 02:26
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URI:https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/42923
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