Democratic regeneration in European peripheral regions: new politics for the territory? Articles uri icon

authors

  • SCANTAMBURLO, MATTHIAS
  • Alonso, Sonia
  • Gómez, Braulio

publication date

  • May 2018

start page

  • 615

end page

  • 639

issue

  • 3

volume

  • 41

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 0140-2382

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1743-9655

abstract

  • Scholarly research on the emergence of a new politics agenda of democratic regeneration, driven by the electoral growth of challenger parties, has focused the analysis primarily at the national and supranational levels, leaving the subnational level underexplored. This article contributes to filling this gap through a comparative analysis of party competition in peripheral regions of Italy, Spain and Great Britain during the European Great Recession. Using Regional Manifestos Project data, it shows that the regionalisation of the state and the presence of a centre¿periphery cleavage represent no obstacle when it comes to responding to a change of preferences among the electorate. The transformation of political spaces in the aftermath of the Great Recession is happening as much at the regional as at the national level. At the same time, the political relevance of challenger parties and the diversity of regional responses contradict the alleged secondary nature of regional dynamics.

subjects

  • Sociology

keywords

  • regionalist parties; regional elections; new politics; party competition; democratic regeneration; centre‒periphery conflict