Radical left-wing Euroscepticism in the 2014 elections: a cross-European comparison

This article examines the varied performance of radical left-wing Eurosceptic parties during the 2014 EP elections. While the performance of the radical right during this 'earthquake' election has been widely discussed, little attention has been paid to the radical left. The article examines the result comparatively, and identifies that: (1) across Europe, radical left-wing euroscepticism is limited to few countries, including Greece, Cyprus, France and Portugal; (2) the countries that have experienced the worst of the economic crisis did not experience a significant rise in far right-wing party support but did experience the rise of left-wing euroscepticism; (3) from this sample only Greece experienced the rise of both the radical right and radical left.

Mérode Altarpiece, left wing, Donors

Robert Campin, workshop of; 2 ft. 1 25/64 in.x 10 3/4 in.; oil on oak

Mérode Altarpiece, left wing, Donors: detail

Robert Campin, workshop of; oil on oak

Saint John on Patmos, The Virgin and Child Enthroned, and the Death of the Virgin, left wing of a diptych

Pacino di Bonaguida; 2 ft. 3/8 in. x 1 ft. 3 63/64 in.; tempera and gold leaf on panel

Triptych with the Lamentation, Donor with St. Peter (left wing), Donor’s Wife with St. Paul (right wing)

Jan Mostaert; 2 ft. 4 15/16 in.x 1 ft. 10 29/32 in. (center); 2 ft. 4 15/16 in.x 1 ft. 10 29/32 in. (each wing); oil on panel

Inner Left Wing of an Altarpiece with the Wedding Feast of St Elizabeth and Louis of Thuringia in the Wartburg

Master of the Saint. Elizabeth Panels; 4 ft. 2 9/32 in.x 3 ft. 7 7/64 in.; oil on panel

Outer Left Wing of an Altarpiece with the St Elizabeth’s Day Flood

Master of the Saint. Elizabeth Panels; 4 ft. 2 1/8 in.x 3 ft. 7 7/64 in.; oil on panel

Tabernacle of Cherves, open position, left wing

Metalwork, French, 13C; 2 ft. 3 1/8 in.x 9 3/8 in.; copper, engraved, repoussé, gilt; champlevé enamel on modern wood mount

The Virgin and Child,center, left wing, Visitation, the Annunciation and the Adoration of the Magi, right wing, Nativity, and the Presentation in the Temple

8 13/16 in.x 6 3/8 in.x 53/64 in.; elephang ivory

The Garden of Earthly Delights Triptych, exterior, left wing, Creation of the World

Hieronymus Bosch; grisaille, oil on wood

The influence of nationalism in Mercosur and in South America: can the regional integration project survive?

The article discusses if nationalism is getting in the way of regional integration through a Brazilian prism due to Brazil’s pivotal role in regional integration in Mercosur and South America.

Do political incentives matter for tax policies? Ideology, opportunism and the tax structure

This paper investigates the importance of political ideology and opportunism in the choice of the tax structure. In particular, we examine the effects of cabinet ideology and elections on the distribution of the tax burden across factors of production and consumption for 21 OECD countries over the period 1970-2000 by employing four alternative cabinet ideology measures and by using the methodology of effective tax rates. There is evidence of both opportunistic and partisan effects on tax policies. More precisely, we find that left-wing governments rely more on capital relative to labor income taxation and that they tend to increase consumption taxes. Moreover, we find that income tax rates (but not consumption taxes) tend to be reduced in preelectoral periods and that capital effective tax rates (defined broadly to include taxes on selfemployed income) are reduced by more than effective labor tax rates.

Desafíos de las privatizaciones para los gobiernos de izquierda en América Latina (Coyuntura)

El artículo analiza como el cambio en el manejo de las relaciones económicas internacionales, impulsado por los gobiernos de izquierda en la región andina tendrá efecto en el mediano y largo plazo y definirá aspectos claves de su manejo económico.

Choosing the path of austerity: how parties and policy coalitions influence welfare state retrenchment in periods of fiscal consolidation

What are the conditions under which some austerity programmes rely on substantial cuts to social spending? More specifically, do the partisan complexion and the type of government condition the extent to which austerity policies imply welfare state retrenchment? This article demonstrates that large budget consolidations tend to be associated with welfare state retrenchment. The findings support a partisan and a politico-institutionalist argument: (i) in periods of fiscal consolidation, welfare state retrenchment tends to be more pronounced under left-wing governments; (ii) since welfare state retrenchment is electorally and politically risky, it also tends to be more pronounced when pursued by a broad pro-reform coalition government. Therefore, the article shows that during budget consolidations implemented by left-wing broad coalition governments, welfare state retrenchment is greatest. Using long-run multipliers from autoregressive distributed lag models on 17 OECD countries during the 1982–2009 period, substantial support is found for these expectations.

Social Democracy, Globalization and Governance: Why is there no European Left Program in the EU? CES Germany & Europe Working Papers, No. 00.6, April 2000

This paper addresses globalization and governance in the EU by attempting to generate some plausible hypotheses that might explain the policy choices of the 12 out of 15 European democratic left governments. With all of the discussion in recent years of a democratic deficit, and then need to maintain a "social Europe," why have these governments not produced more explicit left-wing policies? It suggests three possible hypotheses to account for this apparently mysterious outcome. Hypothesis #1: They want to but they can't. Hypothesis #2: They don't want to because they aren't really left anymore. Hypothesis #3: They could, but they all are suffering from a fundamental failure of imagination. The paper explores each of these hypotheses in two ways. First it examines the initial years of the Schröder government in Germany apparently, pursuing each of these three hypotheses and different times during this period. Then it looks more systematically and comparatively and each of the three hypotheses by including analysis both of Germany and several other EU member states. The larger goal of this work is to provoke discussion and research on what role left political movements can actually play. Is it even reasonable to expect such a group of nation states to develop innovative forms of cross-national governance? Or are new and/or revised forms of representation and governance beyond traditional nation-state models.