Suchergebnisse

When countries face balance-of-payments crises, their policy responses vary widely. This article argues that the choice between the two main options of internal adjustment (i.e., austerity and structural reforms) and external adjustment (i.e., exchange-rate devaluation) depends on how costly each of these strategies is for a country overall. Although the choice of adjustment strategy is thus structurally determined, the level of political conflict associated with crisis management depends on both the national vulnerability profile and partisan interests. Moreover, irrespective of the adjustment strategy, all governments design the specific reforms in ways that shelter their own voters. Empirically, this article uses qualitative case studies and survey data to examine the significant variation in crisis responses, crisis politics, and distributive outcomes of the 2008-2010 global financial crisis in eight Eastern European countries. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of the Eastern European experience for crisis politics in the Eurozone crisis.

Does globalization affect the demand-side of politics, and if so, how? This paper builds on new developments in trade theory to argue that globalization matters, but that its effects on individuals' perceptions of labor market risk and policy preferences are more heterogenous than previous research has acknowledged. Globalization exposure increases risk perceptions and demands for social protection among low-skilled individuals, but decreases them among high-skilled individuals. This conditional effect is observationally distinct from classic trade models as well as arguments that deindustrialization or ideology predominantly drive such perceptions and preferences. Analyzing cross-national survey data from 16 European countries and focusing both on trade and offshoring, the empirical analyses support the prediction that exposure to globalization affects high- and low-skilled individuals differently, leading to variation in labor market risk perceptions and policy preferences.

This article analyses the visibility of European Union (EU) citizens in EU news during the 2009 European Parliament election. It argues that the presence of EU citizens in EU news is vital for responsiveness of European governance. First, the theoretical notion of EU citizens is considered. Next, a new way of defining EU citizens is proposed: EU citizens are divided into national and supranational EU citizens. The visibility of EU citizens in EU news of 27 EU member states is analysed aiming to explain cross-country differences. The paper is based on a large-scale content analysis of TV and newspaper articles gathered during the 2009 European Parliament election. To explain different levels of visibility, a multi-level analysis is carried out. The results suggest that EU citizens are visible in the EU news, yet, their presence strongly varies across countries. The findings indicate that explanations for different levels of visibility can be found at both the media and country level.

"Der abschließende Beitrag zum Studienbuch Politikwissenschaft handelt von der Internationalen Politischen Ökonomie. Die Autorin vertritt insbesondere die amerikanische Spielart dieser Disziplin und legt damit besonderen Wert auf systematische Modellierung und systematischen Hypothesentest. Die Internationale Politische Ökonomie überschreitet sowohl intra- als auch interdisziplinäre Grenzen (zwischen den Fachgebieten Internationale Beziehungen und Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft sowie zwischen Politikwissenschaft und Wirtschaftswissenschaften). Die Autorin legt anhand der Währungs- und der Handelspolitik dar, wie sich internationale Wirtschafts- und Finanzbeziehungen auf die Präferenzen politischer Akteure in Nationalstaaten auswirken können. Im nächsten Schritt wird, gleichsam um 180 Grad gedreht, nach den Auswirkungen der nationalstaatlichen Interessenkonstellationen und Institutionenstrukturen auf ebenjene internationalen Wirtschafts- und Finanzbeziehungen gefragt, wiederum mit Blick auf die Handels- und Währungspolitik. Zudem kommt die Regulierung dieser Beziehungen auf der internationalen Ebene in den Blick. Abschließend diskutiert die Autorin den Bedarf an weiterer Forschung in dieser Brückendisziplin und das Potential, das hierfür bereitsteht." (Textauszug)