About this Research Topic
Recent studies show that societies have become more socially and politically polarized; voters have become disillusioned with democratic procedures; establishment parties have struggled to retain electoral support or new forms of political representation based on technocracy and populism have risen. The financial crisis that hit Western democracies between 2008 and 2015 has been identified as a significant trigger of such form of political change. However, one can argue that these political dynamics are also related to long-term institutional changes made to adapt to economic and political globalization.
In an era of increasing economic interdependence, citizens may perceive that as economic interdependence increases, political parties give voters’ political preferences less weight when informing new policies. Citizens also need to take international actors into account when forming political preferences and adopting political decisions. Additionally, political parties, specially when they are in government, find their policy domain largely overseen by supra-national institutions as the result of increasing economic cooperation.
This Research Topic seeks original and novel contributions to participate in this broad debate between processes of economic integration and political representation. In particular, this Research Topic aims to attract manuscripts addressing issues broadly related to some of the following questions:
- What factors explain shifts in political representation?
- Are there new sources of political discontent?
- How do citizens update their political preferences?
- How do financial crises affect political participation or voting?
- How has globalization altered the political and economic preferences of citizens?
- Can parties be politically responsive and economically responsible at the same time?
- Why establishment parties, especially social democratic parties, are losing electoral support?
- What is the relation between economic crisis, interdependence and populism?
- Can political parties deliver all the policies they promise when they are in government?
Original manuscripts using some of the following methodological approaches are especially welcome:
• Experimental and quasi-experimental methods
• Econometric methods
• Formal modelling
• Historical comparisons
In an era of increasing economic interdependence, citizens may perceive that as economic interdependence increases, political parties give voters’ political preferences less weight when informing new policies. Citizens also need to take international actors into account when forming political preferences and adopting political decisions. Additionally, political parties, specially when they are in government, find their policy domain largely overseen by supra-national institutions as the result of increasing economic cooperation.
This Research Topic seeks original and novel contributions to participate in this broad debate between processes of economic integration and political representation. In particular, this Research Topic aims to attract manuscripts addressing issues broadly related to some of the following questions:
- What factors explain shifts in political representation?
- Are there new sources of political discontent?
- How do citizens update their political preferences?
- How do financial crises affect political participation or voting?
- How has globalization altered the political and economic preferences of citizens?
- Can parties be politically responsive and economically responsible at the same time?
- Why establishment parties, especially social democratic parties, are losing electoral support?
- What is the relation between economic crisis, interdependence and populism?
- Can political parties deliver all the policies they promise when they are in government?
Original manuscripts using some of the following methodological approaches are especially welcome:
• Experimental and quasi-experimental methods
• Econometric methods
• Formal modelling
• Historical comparisons
Keywords: economic integration, political representation, political participation, industrialised democracies, political preference
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
