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The electoral consequences of the Great Recession are analysed in this article by combining insights from economic voting theories and the literature on party system change. Taking cues from these two theoretical perspectives, the impact of the Great Recession on the stability and change of Western, Central and Eastern European party systems is assessed. The article starts from the premise that, in order to fully assess the impact of the contemporary crisis, classic economic voting hypotheses focused on incumbent parties need to be combined with accounts of long-term party system change provided by realignment and dealignment theories. The empirical analysis draws on an original dataset of election results and economic and political indicators in 30 European democracies. The results indicate that during the Great Recession economic strain was associated with sizable losses for incumbent parties and an increasing destabilisation of Western European party systems, while its impact was significantly weaker in Central and Eastern European countries, where political rather than economic failures appeared to be more relevant. In line with the realignment perspective, the results also reveal that in Western Europe populist radical right, radical left and non-mainstream parties benefited the most from the economic hardship, while support for mainstream parties decreased further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a country comparative case based methodology that combines the methods of Cluster Analysis and Qualitative Comparative Analysis, this article examines whether there is any quantitative evidence that countries which are members of the euro currency have experienced a convergence of the outputs and outcome of the European welfare state for euro member countries. The analysis concludes there is little evidence of a holistic euro based convergence of either welfare outputs or outcome. It is argued that outputs such as full employment, equity of health care provision, poverty reduction and educational attainment might reasonably be expected to converge in the longer term, but only if the euro crisis results in a much more planned and coordinated interventionist policy approach to the macro political economy. An outcome, however, such as subjective well-being, is potentially influenced by other historical and cultural factors and is only partially determined by macro political economic policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the social and political conditions in Europe, contending that the definitions of the political left and right have been called into question by anti-establishment radicalism. An overview of radical political parties in the European Parliament, including the Greek political party Golden Dawn, the Austria political party the Freedom Party of Austria and the Hungarian political party Jobbik, is provided. European economic conditions' impact on politics, including in regard to unemployment and stagnant wages, are discussed.

The article discusses the European political left and social democracy from the 1970s through the mid 2010s, including the impact of the European Sovereign Debt Crisis on the left. An overview of neoliberalism in Europe, including in regard to the blame received by European social democratic parties for the Sovereign Debt Crisis is provided. An overview of the role that economic conditions in Europe play in politics on the continent, including regard to British Labor Party chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown's praise of the British economy, is also provided.

The article provides comments on the controversies involving Germany's Bundesbank and Great Britain's Bank of England. Topics discussed include pressure on European nations to modernize their financial institutions due to the proposed single currency in the region, the need for the Bundesbank to surrender some power to Europe and the Bank of England's need to regain some power over the use to which money it nominally controls is actually put.