How the Euro divides the union: the effect of economic adjustment on support for democracy in Europe

Armingeon, Klaus; Guthmann, Kai; Weisstanner, David (2015). How the Euro divides the union: the effect of economic adjustment on support for democracy in Europe. Socio-Economic Review, 14(1), pp. 1-26. Oxford University Press 10.1093/ser/mwv028

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As often pointed out in the literature on the European debt crisis, the policy programme of austerity and internal devaluation imposed on countries in the Eurozone's periphery exhibits a lack of democratic legitimacy. This article analyses the consequences these developments have for democratic support at both the European and national levels. We show that through the policies of economic adjustment, a majority of citizens in crisis countries has become ‘detached’ from their democratic political system. By cutting loose the Eurozone's periphery from the rest of Europe in terms of democratic legitimacy, the Euro has divided the union, instead of uniting it as foreseen by its architects. Our results are based on aggregated Eurobarometer surveys conducted in 28 European Union (EU) member states between 2002 and 2014. We employ quantitative time-series cross-sectional regression analyses. Moreover, we estimate the causal effect of economic adjustment in a comparative case study of four cases using the synthetic control method.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

03 Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Institute of Political Science
03 Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences > Social Sciences

UniBE Contributor:

Armingeon, Klaus, Guthmann, Kai, Weisstanner, David

Subjects:

300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology > 320 Political science
300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology

ISSN:

1475-1461

Publisher:

Oxford University Press

Language:

English

Submitter:

Beatrice Romann

Date Deposited:

01 Mar 2016 14:51

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 14:51

Publisher DOI:

10.1093/ser/mwv028

Uncontrolled Keywords:

Eurozone, Great Recession, democratic legitimacy, democratic support

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/76094

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