Drawing on an analysis of austerity reforms in Greece and Portugal during the sovereign debt crisis from 2009 onwards, we show how the nature of the linkages between parties and citizens shapes party strategies of fiscal retrenchment. We argue that parties which rely to a greater extent on the...

The euro was generally considered a success in its first decade. Nevertheless, the ""unanticipated"" financial crisis in the summer of 2007 has developed gradually into the worst global economic crisis in post-war economic history and a sovereign debt crisis, calling into question the endurance...