With the rise of populism on both sides of the political scpectrum, raising new oppositions, is the traditional left/right political divide still relevant to understand contemporary European societies? Four experts from Europe and beyond answer this critical question.
This commentary was first published in QUERIES, Spring 2015, p. 27-31
Saara Inkinen, Research Fellow of the Research Unit Democracy and Democratization
In a recent interview with the Financial Times, the ceding Prime Minister Alexander Stubb was asked to reflect upon his time in office with an eye to the upcoming Finnish parliamentary elections on April 19. His response was as short as it was poignant: his premiership had been a „traumatic experience“.[i] Looking back on the four years that have passed since the last parliamentary elections in 2011, it is not difficult to see what prompted Stubb to make this statement. Finnish politics has traditionally been guided by the principle of consensus, which has allowed political elites across the left-right spectrum to reach pragmatic compromises on core societal issues. Yet the past parliamentary term has been anything but consensual. Not only has the coalition government been torn by internal disagreements almost since the day of its inception; it has also proven incapable of taking much-needed political action to combat a shrinking economy, rising unemployment rates and a state budget deficit that is predicted to swell to 124 billion Euros in the coming years. In short, Stubb’s cabinet is at real risk to go down in history as one of the worst governments the country has ever had.
Dieser Beitrag erschien ursprĂĽnglich auf dem Blog der Hertie School of Governance am 16. Februar 2015
Die Wahl zur Hamburger Bürgerschaft 2015 verzeichnete ein neues Rekordtief der Wahlbeteiligung. Zugleich gelang der AfD erstmals der Einzug in ein westdeutsches Landesparlament. Eine Kurzanalyse der Wahlkreisdaten zeigt: Die Wahlbeteiligung war besonders dort niedrig wo die Arbeitslosigkeit hoch war, in diesen Wahlkreisen fand auch der deutlichste Rückgang der Wahlbeteiligung gegenüber 2011 statt. Die AfD scheint, ähnlich PEGIDA, besonders dort erfolgreich zu sein, wo wenige AusländerInnen leben.
Als wir letztes Jahr mit unserem Blog begonnen haben, gab es – aus aktuellem Anlass – viele Beiträge rund um die Bundestagswahl 2013. Diese Woche ist im Rahmen der German Longitudinal Election Study (GLES) ein Buch mit dem Titel „Zwischen Fragmentierung und Konzentration: Die Bundestagswahl 2013“ erschienen, an dem mehrere Person aus der Abteilung „Demokratie und Demokratisierung“ mitgewirkt haben. Weiterlesen
All eyes are now turned to Brazil, the „country of football“, which happens to host this year’s World Cup. Weeks before the start of the tournament, international newspapers were already filling their pages with articles about Brazil’s purported many problems: inequality, poverty, criminality, corruption, and massive protests all over. Television programs also featured infrastructure deficiencies everywhere, making the audience wonder whether international football stars would get stuck on unfinished roads and airports, besides facing the poor living conditions supposedly faced by Brazilian people every day. The sunny beaches and the beautiful tropical landscape have surely also been broadcasted, contrasted with sad images from the country’s many favelas and slums. In almost all means of communications, journalists spent weeks doing political analysis just as well as they did football predictions. Weiterlesen
A key assumption coming out of the 2012 presidential election in the U.S. was that polarization of the party system was, once again, increasing dramatically. The 2012 campaign was immediately dubbed the most polarized and partisan yet – a familiar declaration given that 2008, 2004, and 2000 had also been dubbed the most polarized elections of their respective times. Uniquely, though, instead of justifying this declaration solely on the basis of presidential candidates‘ positions the platforms themselves were also held up as key evidence. ((See, e.g., NY Times 29.8.2012, 05.09.2012; Washington Times 27.08.2012; Chicago Tribune 27.08.2012, 05.09.2012.)) The question, then, is the extent to which the polarization of the 2012 election reported by media sources reflected actual levels of polarization. Using newly coded party manifesto data ((You can find a brief introduction to the manifesto project here))  from the 2012 national level elections, we show that (contrary to popular opinion) polarization levels for the 2012 elections were relatively stable. The overall trend in polarization for the U.S. remains unchanging and the party system is not suffering from great increases in overall polarization levels. Weiterlesen