Unchallenged democracy? The political legacy of the economic crisis in Europe.

Together with the socio-economic hardship of the economic crisis started in 2008, in several European countries citizens have envisioned a debate about the (in)capacity of European democracies to fulfill the rising citizens’ expectations. Scholars have highlighted how austerity measures impacted on democratic politics and, in several European countries, lead to new forms of mass-participation. The changing dynamics of party politics, the rise of populism and the growing citizens’ distrust towards politics would also make their appearance in what some identified as a crisis of liberal democracy.

With the current apparent economic recovery of Europe, what is left after the crisis? Is there a political legacy of the economic depression and austerity? We welcome empirical, quantitative and qualitative studies tackling the political consequences of the economic crisis such as its effects on public opinion and attitudes towards democracy, the transformations of party systems, the rise of populism and illiberal democrats in Europe, changes in party politics and citizens’ political participation, the impact of austerity and the crisis on electoral behavior, and any other area related to the legacy of the Great Depression.

This workshop aims to bring together scholars with an interest in these topics and encourages both comparative work and case studies from those countries where austerity and the crisis has hit hardest.

The workshop will accommodate about ten papers and will take place on 28-29 June 2018, hosted by the University of York. Any interested researcher is invited to submit their paper proposals to democrisis@york.ac.uk with an abstract before the 6 March 2018. Paper selection will be notified by 15 March 2018. Limited funds are available to cover accommodation and travel expenses for the workshop participants.

If you have any question, please feel free to contact the workshop organizers:

Ignacio Jurado, University of York

ignacio.jurado@york.ac.uk

Rosa M. Navarrete, University of Mannheim

rosa.navarrete@uni-mannheim.de