European Blame Games? ; The Politicization of the Eurozone Crisis in Germany, Greece and Spain between 2009 and 2016 ; Europäische Schuldzuweisungen? Die Politisierung der Euro-Krise in Deutschland, Griechenland und Spanien zwischen 2009 und 2016
From 2009 to 2016, the Eurozone Crisis fueled contentious debates over European issues and across European borders. With the blame game that followed the crisis outbreak, the politicization of European affairs seemed to have entered a new stage. Using quantitative primary data obtained from a standardized content analysis of newspaper coverage, this dissertation analyses the politicization of the Eurozone Crisis in public debates about responsibility in Germany, Greece and Spain between 2009 and 2016. How does the politicization of the Eurozone Crisis differ across countries? How can these differences be explained? The first argument is that in times of crisis, politicization patterns depend on how collective actors engage in the public attribution of responsibility, especially of blame. Understanding the rules of the blame game at the micro level is crucial for explaining the macro patterns in which politicization unfolds. The second argument is that these strategies are conditioned by political opportunities, which emerge from the institutional characteristics of the political system and the political and economic impact of the Eurozone Crisis. Hence, politicization patterns change with country-specific contexts that influence the rules of the blame game. The focus on responsibility attributions offers a new and comprehensive actor perspective on politicization. Moreover, the dissertation proposes a differentiated conceptualization which distinguishes intensity and shape of politicization, which is specified as the extent to which the politicization pat-tern is Europeanized or domesticized. This conceptualization grasps country differences in politicization patterns and it allows the direction of political conflicts to be analysed. The combination of the micro perspective of responsibility attributions and the macro perspective on political opportunities contributes to discussions about driving forces of politicization and on intermediary factors that condition the way political conflicts over Europe play out ...