Political Blackmail, Institutional Infighting, and Electoral Politics: The Fate of Governing Parties during the Great Recession (2008‐12) in Romania and Bulgaria

Abstract

Center‐right parties in government in Romania and Bulgaria navigated the economic downturns associated with the Great Recession (2008‐12), and introduced austerity policies, yet had different electoral fates. While in Romania, the Democratic Liberal Party experienced a dramatic loss at the December 2012 elections, in Bulgaria, the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria topped the May 2013 vote. In this article, we analyze these divergent outcomes, taking into account institutional configurations, strength of governing parties, and economic conditions. We argue that the electoral effects of harsh economic policies are conditioned by differences in the institutional aspect of governmental “clarity of responsibility” during the peaks of the recession. These differences in institutional clarity become then key factors in understanding the electoral fates of the center‐right parties in these governments. Related Articles Related Media Al JazeeraEnglish. . “Bulgaria Elections Gripped by Deadlock.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY8HvL5Bb5Q DW (English). . “Corruption Big Issue in Romanian Elections | Journal Reporters.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhmYhAP0zak

Anti-austerity voting in an era of economic crisis: Regional evidence from the 2015 referendum in Greece

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“… 3 Recently, there has been rapidly growing interest in this issue (see, e.g. Bouvet and King, 2016; Hernandez and Kriesi, 2016; Kostadinova and Giurcanu, 2015; Nezi, 2012). …”

The role of economic and cultural changes in the rise of far‐right in Greece: A regional analysis

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