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This paper focuses on analysis of public opinion towards European integration in Greece, Portugal and Spain, countries known for their positive attitudes toward integration. In particular, the article analyses how public attitudes towards Europe have been formed in these countries. Secondly, it examines the determining factors of citizens' positive attitudes toward integration and shows the types of variables that are essential to understanding the differences between Greeks, Spaniards and the Portuguese. It also examines traditional euro-optimism in these southern countries. The findings show the relevance of identity and the various impacts of party platforms and ideology in attitudes of support for European integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the role of economics in voting behaviour in Greece, Portugal and Spain. First, it describes the objective economic conditions in these countries and investigates the degree to which they reflect the electorates’ economic perceptions. Second, a multilevel model of voting behaviour for Greece, Portugal and Spain is tested to determine if, as expected, economics is more important than social and political cleavages. This approach allows one to assess the effects of both individual voters’ economic perceptions and objective economic conditions to determine which are more important, and to compare their effects with social and political cleavages. With the exception of Greece, the economic voting model will also be tested under different political conditions (i.e., type of government in each country). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the comparison of the economic and political transformation of the Eastern and Southern Europe and the Latin America. These three regions have several distinctions in their agenda, including the implementation of the new constitutions, establishing political parties, and the liberal political order. However, despite of their similarities, the political and economic transition of Eastern Europe seems more complex compared to Southern Europe and the Latin America. These differences are in political by nature and it focuses more on liberal political order.

The significance of factionalism for democratization is established by starting with the general importance of political parties in that process. It follows that any positive or negative influence by factionalism on their performance at this formative stage is likely to affect the prospects for democratization. The problem is approached three-dimensionally: the historical dimension; cultural and organizational continuity; and adaptation to the new democratic politics. The four southern European cases of Italy, Spain, Greece and Portugal are examined comparatively. Variables like the length of previous authoritarian system, early party system fragmentation, party mergers, cleavage divisions and pressures from working the new democratic procedures are all important in determining the scope for factionalism as an influence during democratic transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]