Daphne Halikiopoulou

Greece in Crisis: Austerity, Populism and the Politics of Blame†

Within the broader debate on the Greek crisis, the theory of ‘populist democracy’ postulates that populism is fundamental to the sustenance of the Greek political system and is at the heart of Greeces endemic domestic weaknesses. This article tests this assumption empirically through the use of a sophisticated framing analysis of speeches delivered by the leaders of the five parties in the Greek parliament in the period 2009–11. The findings confirm that populism: (a) is expressed through the narratives of political actors; (b) is observed across the party system; (c) is expressed in the forms of blame-shifting and exclusivity; and (d) differs depending on position in the party system. The article contributes to the debate by testing and building on the theory of democratic populism, providing a novel way of measuring and operationalizing populism and identifying a new typology that distinguishes between mainstream and fringe populism.

In the shadow of Grexit: the Greek election of 17 June 2012

This article provides an overview and analysis of the Greek elections of June 2012. Placing the elections within the broader framework of the Greek socio-political and economic context, it discusses the electoral campaign and results, juxtaposing them to the 6 May electoral round. The election results confirmed many of the trends of the previous round, including electoral volatility, the fragmentation of the party system and the rise of anti-establishment forces. The main difference was the entrenchment of the pro- versus anti- bailout division and the prominence of the question of Greeces continued eurozone membership.

British National Identity and the Dilemmas of Multiculturalism

Nationalism and multiculturalism are often perceived as polar opposites with the former viewed as the disease and the latter the cure. Contrary to this view, this article argues that a strong national identity, albeit of a particular kind, is prerequisite to a stable and functioning multicultural society. The article seeks to identify both the causes and the implications of the absence of an overarching, civic national identity in Britain, further to the goal of seeking a meaningful solution. It is our contention that the problem lies in the difficulty involved in reconciling current pressures on British identity with a coherent narrative of British history, especially its imperial past.

The Golden Dawn's 'Nationalist Solution'

The emergence of Golden Dawn has been one of the key developments in Greek party politics since the beginning of the financial crisis. Sofia Vasilopoulou and Daphne Halikiopoulou assess the rise of the party, noting that Golden Dawn’s success has been based on its ability to promote a nationalist solution to the economic, political and ideological crises that have occurred in Greece. They argue, however, that simply outlawing the party could prove self-defeating, and that a better strategy would be to focus on educational reform and civic engagement as a way to counter divisive narratives.

Risks, Costs and Labour Markets: Explaining Cross-National Patterns of Far Right Party Success in European Parliament Elections

What is the impact of the economy on cross national variation in far right-wing party support? This paper tests several hypotheses from existing literature on the results of the last three EP elections in all EU member states. We conceptualise the economy affects support because unemployment heightens the risks and costs that the population faces, but this is crucially mediated by labour market institutions. Findings from multiple regression analyses indicate that unemployment, real GDP growth, debt and deficits have no statistically significant effect on far right-wing party support at the national level. By contrast, labour markets influence costs and risks: where unemployment benefits and dismissal regulations are high, unemployment has no effect, but where either one of them is low, unemployment leads to higher far right-wing party support. This explains why unemployment has not led to far right-wing party support in some European countries that experienced the 2008 Eurozone crisis.

Support for the Far Right in the 2014 European Parliament Elections: A Comparative Perspective

The May 2014 European Parliament (EP) elections were characterised by the success of far-right Eurosceptic parties, including the French Front National, UKIP, the Danish People’s Party, the Hungarian Jobbik, the Austrian FPO, the True Finns and the Greek Golden Dawn. However, a closer look at the results across Europe indicates that the success of far-right parties in the EP elections is neither a linear nor a clear-cut phenomenon: (1) the far right actually declined in many European countries compared to the 2009 results; (2) some of the countries that have experienced the worst of the economic crisis, including Spain, Portugal and Ireland, did not experience a significant rise in far-right party support; and (3) ‘far right’ is too broad an umbrella term, covering parties that are too different from each other to be grouped in one single party family.

The Far Right Challenge; Comment on “The Rise of Post-truth Populism in Pluralist Liberal Democracies: Challenges for Health Policy”

Speed and Mannion make a good case that the rise of populism poses significant challenges for health policy. This commentary suggests that the link between populism and health policy should be further nuanced in four ways. First, a deconstruction of the term populism itself and a focus on the far right dimension of populist politics; second, a focus on the supply side and more specifically the question of nationalism and the ‘national preference’; third, the dynamics of party competition during economic crisis; and fourth the question of policy, and more specifically the extent to which certain labour market policies are able to mediate demand for the far right.

The Myth of National Rebirth: The Golden Dawn’s Populist Ultra-nationalism

This chapter focuses on the second component of the Golden Dawn’s nationalist solution, namely, the fascist myth of national rebirth. The chapter places the Golden Dawn’s palingenetic vision within the framework of ethnic election and examines the ways in which the party draws upon available cultural reservoirs. Its main proposition is that the Greek crisis offered fertile ground for the Golden Dawn to present itself as the saviour of the nation and defender of the national mission. We show that this type of nationalism forms the Golden Dawn’s master narrative and argue that the party’s success is partly related to its ability to claim ownership of nationalist issues through employing a narrative of chosenness and ethnic election.

Who Supports the Golden Dawn? An Analysis of the Disillusioned Voter

This chapter evaluates demand-side explanations for the rise of the Golden Dawn through an examination of the socio-demographic profile and political attitudes of its prospective supporters. It places support for the Golden Dawn within the broader European comparative framework, which identifies two main models of far right-wing party support, that is, the socio-economic and political grievance models. The chapter finds that the key to Golden Dawn support is grievance, anxiousness, bewilderment, insecurity and resentfulness, which prompt voters to support a party that propagates return to traditional values.

Voting to leave: economic insecurity and the Brexit vote

This chapter focuses on the political economy of the Brexit vote. It contributes to the debate on British Euroscepticism by examining the impact of economic insecurity. More specifically we explore the determinants of individual support for Brexit by focusing on several factors relating to economic insecurity that have all received significant attention in broader political economy debates including income, occupation, unemployment, poverty and the level and type of education. Our analysis pays particular attention to the labour market position of individuals and the labour market risks they face as we want to examine whether- and if so how- the risk of being unemployed, the risk of being in poverty and housing risk have influenced support for Brexit. We also investigate the impact of income level and source, of being in low skill occupations in areas where immigration has been particularly salient, and of having studied a higher education degree that is ‘protective’ (medicine or law).