Southern Europe

Straddling Two Continents: Social Policy and Welfare Politics in Turkey

by Dimitris Tsarouhas

Co-authored with A.I.Aybars, published in "Social Policy & Administration", 2010.

There has been an increasing academic interest in understanding the dynamics of social policy in the Middle East and... more There has been an increasing academic interest in understanding the dynamics of social policy in the Middle East and developing a conceptual ‘model’ to account for the particular characteristics of welfare arrangements in the countries of the region. While part of this framework, Turkey represents an exceptional case due to the Europeanization processes the country is undergoing in various policy areas, including social policy. The influence of the European Union on the shape of Turkish social policy, as illustrated by the government's recent reforms in the labour market and social security domains, is hereby used to outline the position of Turkey vis-à-vis both the Southern European welfare regime and the Middle Eastern pattern. This article seeks to assess the dynamics of Turkish social policy in light of the country's political, and socio-economic dynamics, as well as the external influence exerted by the EU and international financial institutions. The aim is to examine Turkish welfare arrangements in a comparative manner and consider its suitability with reference to either of the two models. Looking at major trends in social security and the labour market, the article argues for a Turkish ‘hybrid’ model embodying the characteristics of both. Subject to EU explicit pressures for reform absent elsewhere in the Middle East, the data nevertheless show that Turkey has yet to make the qualitative leap forward that could place it firmly within the Southern European welfare group.

La epistemología de la investigación sobre migraciones cualificadas en la Europa del sur

by Luis Garzon

This paper (written in Spanish) presents the results of a research on the lived experiences of Skilled Latin American... more This paper (written in Spanish) presents the results of a research on the lived experiences of Skilled Latin American countries in Southern Europe, reflecting on the epistemological assumptions that are often taken for granted regarding migration and how these affects the careers of Latin American migrants.

Gated communities nel meridione europeoeuropeo? Alcune evidenze tra Lisbona e Palermo

by Simone Tulumello

Published on Infolio, Journal of the PhD in City and Regional Planning, Università di palermo, n. 27, pp. 33-36.

Is Gender Equality Soluble into Self-Governance? Europeanizing and Regionalizing Gender Policies in Spain

by Maxime Forest

Co-authored with Alba Alonso. Prelim. version of a chapter published in: Lombardo E., Forest M. (eds.) The Europeanization of Gender Equality Policies. A Discursive-Sociological Approach, Basingtoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011, pp. 192-213

An empirical study of the Europeanization of Gender Equality Policies at the sub-national level in Spain. An empirical study of the Europeanization of Gender Equality Policies at the sub-national level in Spain.

Corruption and social justice (Draft only)

by Alba Lanau

Comments more than welcome

Embodying public opinion: from petitions to mass meetings in nineteenth-century Portugal

by Diego Palacios Cerezales

The establishment of representative government in Portugal implied the free participation of the citizenry in the... more The establishment of representative government in Portugal implied the free participation of the citizenry in the formation of public opinion. The right to petition was initially understood as an individual form of participation, but soon it would be practiced through public gatherings, marches and other displays of the collective will of a multitude. Initially, most of those forms of popular participation were identified with riots and insurrections, but during the second half of the nineteenth century, the public meeting became institutionalized. This paper explores the process whereby political campaigns based on drafting petitions,
collecting signatures, and holding public meetings became a legitimate political form.

Resisting submission? The obstinacy of 'Balkanist' characteristics in Greece as dissidence against 'the West'

by Sappho Xenakis

in L.K. Cheliotis (ed.) The Banality of Good: Roots, Rites and Sites of Resistance, pp. 178-196. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Political Leadership and the Emergence of Radical Mass Movements In Democracy

by Takis Pappas

Comparative Political Studies 41:8 (2008), 1117-1140

Our perception of democracy as a solidly institutionalized system in which actors compete moderately with a legitimate... more Our perception of democracy as a solidly institutionalized system in which actors compete moderately with a legitimate authority is so fixed that we are often taken by surprise when mass radicalism emerges. Why, when, and how do radical mass movements (RMMs) emerge in pluralist (or semi-pluralist) political systems? The article, by linking radical action at the mass level with strategic choices made at the elite level, argues in favor of an explanation based on symbolic framing processes. The argument is empirically clarified by the examination of three cases in which mass radicalism occurred in recent decades (Greece, Yugoslavia, Venezuela), and then counterfactually tested in six cases of non-occurrence (Spain and Portugal; Bulgaria and Romania; Colombia and Ecuador). Besides providing an explanation for the emergence of mass radicalism in contemporary democracy, the present analysis also points to a novel theorization of political charisma and charismatic leadership.

Winning by Default: The Greek Elections of 2009

by Takis Pappas

South European Societies and Politics 15:2 (2010), 273-287

Despite its landslide in the 2009 national elections, the victory of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) was... more Despite its landslide in the 2009 national elections, the victory of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) was not so much the outcome of its own electoral ascendancy as a result of the precipitous fall of New Democracy (ND). That election, moreover, signified the stagnation of the Greek party system, which has become manifest particularly in three areas: the lack of enthusiasm for PASOK's new government; the great difficulty of ND in modernizing its party structure and ideology; and the persistence of two-partyism.

Macroeconomic Policy, Strategic Leadership, and Voter Behaviour: The Disparate Tales of Socialist Reformism in Greece and Spain during the 1980s

by Takis Pappas

West European Politics 33:6 (2010), 1241-1260

This article is a comparative study of the socialist governments in Greece and Spain during the 1980s and is motivated... more This article is a comparative study of the socialist governments in Greece and Spain during the 1980s and is motivated by two interrelated puzzles: First, the sharp policy divergence in these countries despite their previously common political trajectories, comparable socioeconomic conditions, and the similar ideological profiles of their respective parties in office; and, second, the fact that both governments won reelection in the mid-1980s although only the Spanish, but not the Greek socialists, had applied a successful reformist agenda. Using a methodology based on the strategic role of political leaderships, this article challenges the general validity of both the partisan theory of macroeconomic policy and the theory of economic voting (the VP-function). Instead, it is shown that strong and undisputed leaders may choose to promote political polarization and social mobilization thus creating the conditions for ideological, rather than economic, voting. To be sure, each strategy is expected to produce different long-term outcomes for both the governments and the countries involved.