Abstract
How to analyse the impact of economic crises on democracies in the South Europe? The theoretical framework of this key question is, first of all, set up by addressing the problem of how to define, specify and measure the impact of the independent variable: the economic crisis. In doing so the specificities of the Great Recession starting in about 2008 are emphasized also vis-à-vis the management of previous twentieth-century economic crises. After a short overview of the most recent literature, the focus goes on to the definition of the dependent variables, that is, of the dimensions or specific qualities contemporary democracies can vary. In particular, the chapter emphasizes the role of the two critical classic qualities, participation and competition with its sub-dimensions. The central explanatory hypothesis suggests that the actual impact depends on the effective existence of background conditions for change, and accordingly, the economic crisis has a catalysing effect on those conditions.
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Notes
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There is much debate on all the problems and flaws of this measure. On the whole, however, for us, it is still helpful as we analyse it in terms of the trend and not by itself. The classic definition of GDP is ‘annual percentages of constant price GDP year-on-year changes; the base year is country-specific.’ Expenditure-based GDP is total final expenditures at purchasers’ prices (including the f.o.b. value of exports of goods and services), less the f.o.b. value of imports of goods and services.
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Morlino, L., Raniolo, F. (2017). How to Analyse the Impact of the Economic Crisis on Democracies. In: The Impact of the Economic Crisis on South European Democracies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52371-2_2
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