9/22/2015

PortuguesepartiesdidnotpromisesomuchFT.com

September21,201511:57pm

Portuguesepartiesdidnotpromisesomuch

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Sir,TonyBarbermakessomepertinentcommentsonwhyPortugalfaredbetterthanotherbailedoutcountries,andGreecein
particular(Portuguesepuzzle:thebailedoutcountrythatbucksthetrend,FT.com,September17).Ourresearchidentifieddifferent
degreesofclientelismasthemainreasonPortugaldisplayedahighdegreeofpoliticalstabilitywhileGreecewitnessedadramaticperiod
ofturmoil,thecollapseofmainstreampartiesandtheemergenceofprotestpartiessuchasSyrizaandGoldenDawn.
OurfindingsshowedthatGreecescoredhigherthanPortugalinanumberofindicatorsofclientelism(the
distributionofspoilstosupporters,themassorganisationofparties,andtheconnectionsbetweenpartiesandpublicsectorunions).
ThismadeitdifficultforGreekpartiestoimplementausteritybecausetheirownsurvivaldependedontheirabilitytorewardsupporters
withpoliticalspoils(forexamplepublicsectorjobsandtaxcuts),leadingtotheirdemise.Incontrast,clientelisticelectoralstrategies
weremoredifficulttocarryoutinPortugalbecauseofthelongperiodofstagnationthatfolloweditsadoptionoftheeuro.
Inotherwords,massclientelismledGreekpartiestosystematicallyoverpromise,andvoterstooverexpect,whichledtobrutal
sanctionsandangerwhenthesepromiseshadtobebetrayed.Incontrast,Portuguesepartiesdidnotpromiseasmuch,andvotersdid
notexpectmuchfromthemeither.
AlexandreAfonso
AssistantProfessorinPublicPolicy,
UniversityofLeiden,TheNetherlands
SotiriosZartaloudis
LecturerinPolitics,DeptofPolitical
ScienceandInternationalStudies,
UniversityofBirmingham,UK
YannisPapadopoulos
Professor,InstituteofPolitical,Historical
andInternationalStudies,
UniversityofLausanne,Switzerland

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Cameron'smigration
conundrum

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