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...

With commodity prices continuing to decrease and with policy constraint that farmers cannot easily increase their incomes by increasing volumes of production, they must find alternative ways to maintain their standard of living. This can be achieved by either niche marketing of agricultural...