Wednesday, July 8, 2015
S13 (13 rue de l'Université)
The Southern periphery of the European Union has experienced a profound transformation
since 2008. The rapid economic deterioration of Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain was
accompanied by a substantial increase in citizens’ mistrust towards national political
institutions. This paper combines existing models about the relationship between citizens and
government in democracies to provide an explanation for the increasing mistrust in Southern
Europe. On the basis of the responsibility-responsiveness dilemma we argue that the
governments of these countries were unable to reconcile citizens preferences (responsiveness)
with a set of pressures from international actors (responsibility) during the economic crisis.
At the same time, we argue that the constrains brought about by the multi-level governance
structure of the EU have blurred responsibility for policy outputs thus preventing citizens to
reward or punish incumbent governments accordingly. The perception that accountability
mechanisms were rendered ineffective thus resulted in high levels of political mistrust.
since 2008. The rapid economic deterioration of Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain was
accompanied by a substantial increase in citizens’ mistrust towards national political
institutions. This paper combines existing models about the relationship between citizens and
government in democracies to provide an explanation for the increasing mistrust in Southern
Europe. On the basis of the responsibility-responsiveness dilemma we argue that the
governments of these countries were unable to reconcile citizens preferences (responsiveness)
with a set of pressures from international actors (responsibility) during the economic crisis.
At the same time, we argue that the constrains brought about by the multi-level governance
structure of the EU have blurred responsibility for policy outputs thus preventing citizens to
reward or punish incumbent governments accordingly. The perception that accountability
mechanisms were rendered ineffective thus resulted in high levels of political mistrust.
