Waking the ‘sleeping giant’ or expressing domestic dissent? Mainstreaming Euroscepticism in crisis-stricken Greece

Verney, Susannah

doi:10.1177/0192512115577146

Cited by 57 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Since PASOKÕs U-turn, Greek political parties and public opinion were largely proEuropean with no party posing a significant threat to the countryÕs European orientation (Verney, 2015). During the 1990s and 2000s Euroscepticism was only articulated by minor challenger parties confined to opposition, such as KKE, the Coalition of Left and Progress (SYN), the Popular Orthodox Rally (LAOS) and the Democratic Social Movement (DIKKI).…”

Section: The Background Of Greek Euroscepticismmentioning

confidence: 99%

The party politics of Euroscepticism in times of crisis: The case of Greece

Vasilopoulou

2018

Politics

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This article traces the trajectory of party Euroscepticism in Greece drawing upon theories of issue competition. It demonstrates that the economic dimension of the multiple crises facing the EU contributed to a Eurosceptic shift in public opinion; the electoral success of Eurosceptic parties; new parties populating the Europhile end of the spectrum; and the formation of a coalition government united not by ideological affinity but by a common Eurosceptic and anti-austerity agenda. Mainstream parties maintained their pro-EU agendas and challenger parties offered both pro-and anti-EU policy options to the electorate. The prospect of power resulted in the progressive softening of Euroscepticism among challenger parties. EU issue salience was relatively high across the party system and remained so during the crisis. Although Greek parties justified their pro-and anti-EU attitudes using a number of frames, economic arguments were prevalent at the height of the crisis, and challenger parties of the left intensified their claims of the EU interfering in national politics. The findings have implications for our understanding of the evolving nature of Euroscepticism and the ways in which it may feature in domestic party politics.

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Section: The Background Of Greek Euroscepticismmentioning

confidence: 99%

The party politics of Euroscepticism in times of crisis: The case of Greece

Vasilopoulou

2018

Politics

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“…Hence, clientelistic networks between parties and civilians were developed during the early stages of the Greek nation state (Gropas & Triandafyllidou, 2009;Kontogiorgis, 2012) and shaped a political system that is characterised as a 'partitocracy' 4 (Kontogiorgis, 2012). The parties that were fighting in the arena of the 'partitocracy' after the 1967-1974 military dictatorship were the conservative New Democracy and the centre-left Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) that established a 'two-party system' and empowered a framework of consolidated mass clientelism and populism that transcended left-right divisions (Vasilopoulou & Halikiopoulou, 2013;Vernardakis, 2011Vernardakis, , 2012Verney, 2015).…”

Section: Reshaping the Greek Political Terrain Through Old Principlesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We assume that the meltdown of the traditional two-party system was linked to the distinction between anti-and pro-Memorandum policies. Syriza's lead in the 2014 European election reflected this new dichotomy and the rise of Euroscepticism in Greece (Verney, 2015). New austerity measures and the fact that the country had been ruled via government decrees without parliamentary approval marked a point of no return for the conservative New Democracy, and it was Syriza's electoral 'revenge'.…”

Section: Reshaping the Greek Political Terrain Through Old Principlesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The politics of fear vs. the politics of hope: analysing the 2015 Greek election and referendum campaigns

Boukala

Dimitrakopoulou

2016

Critical Discourse Studies

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This paper deals with the discursive construction of in-groups and out-groups through a politics of fear and a politics of hope. It draws on the 2015 Greek election and referendum campaigns of the two main political parties -the radical left Syriza and the conservative New Democracy -and emphasises how they legitimised their political decisions via these two forms of politics. The Greek bailout referendum took place on 5 July 2015 in a climate of polarisation and insecurity. We assume that the referendum, at the campaign level, could be considered an extension of the January 2015 election campaign that was shaped on the basis of a synthesis of a politics of fear and a politics of hope. Using the discursive strategies of the Discourse Historical Approach (DHA), and especially argumentation strategies and the concepts of topos and recontextualisation, we illustrate the link between political communication, election campaign strategies and political discourse through the prisms of fear and hope. Drawing on the Spinoza 'affects', we intend to conduct an interdisciplinary study of the contemporary Greek political scene and to illustrate whether and how political rhetoric and communication strategies are conducive to political dichotomies. ARTICLE HISTORY

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“…Other studies show that in countries such as Greece, the Eurozone crisis and a massive change to national elite composition has brought about greater inter-party demarcation on the EU and Euroscepticism has become a more ordinary posture (Verney, 2015). Other works document how claims about the undemocratic nature of the EU have become increasingly common among mainstream media and parties, to a point that can be termed the mainstreaming of Euroscepticism (Brack and Startin, 2015).…”

Section: Background: Elite Attitudes Towards the Eu In The Italian Comentioning

confidence: 99%

The Italian political elites and Europe: Big move, small change?

Conti

2016

International Political Science Review

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This article examines the attitudes of national political elites towards the EU and the recent politicisation of Europe in the Italian party system. Italian political elites have experienced some important transformations in the recent past as a consequence of the emergence of new parties, the re-alignment of other established parties and some structural transformations in their socio-demographic traits. This article shows that positive feelings towards the EU have survived the acute change to the composition of the political elites, and that support for Europe is still widespread. Variations are mainly differences in degree of support. Although opposition to the EU has emerged, this has not occurred in a linear way and remains dispersed, while a Eurosceptic camp able to challenge the mainstream pro-European conduct of the Italian elites is far from being in place.

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Waking the ‘sleeping giant’ or expressing domestic dissent? Mainstreaming Euroscepticism in crisis-stricken Greece

Cited by 57 publications

References 22 publications

The party politics of Euroscepticism in times of crisis: The case of Greece

The party politics of Euroscepticism in times of crisis: The case of Greece

The politics of fear vs. the politics of hope: analysing the 2015 Greek election and referendum campaigns

The Italian political elites and Europe: Big move, small change?

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