Relations Between Politicians and Society in Times of Crisis. Preliminary Results from a Federal Country in the South of Europe

This paper explores how the representative link between citizens and representatives has changed in the midst of the effects of the economic crisis. New political organizations emerge in Italy, Greece, Spain and Portugal urging for a more direct participation of citizens in politics and then leading traditional or conventional parties to move forwards and introduce changes in the way MPs and their institutions relate to organized or individual citizens. The paper explores how MPs are changing their perception about the representative link and the consequences they foresee for this change. The paper will present the preliminary results of a research project based on interviews to a motivated sample of politicians in four regional parliaments. The paper aims at finding a comparative echo at the Territorial Politics and Federalism so that the research can be replicated in other parts of Europe.