Leiden University Student Repository

Chadou, D. (2014)

The Consequences of the Economic Crisis on the Voting Behavior. The Loss of Political Trust in the Incumbency and Electoral Volatility in Greece

Master thesis | Political Science (MSc)

The aim of this thesis is to examine the consequences of the economic crisis on the voting behavior of Greek citizens. The study seeks to discover the degree of influence of the economic issue on vote choice and provides an answer to the question of whether decreased support for the two traditional incumbent parties and increased support for the opposition parties can be attributed to the deterioration of the national economy. The analysis demonstrates that electoral volatility cannot be explained by the economic factor in the Greek case. The results suggest that partisan loyalties, which have affected political decisions in Greece historically, continue to have a strong impact in recent times. Greek voters seem to be highly influenced by long-term components, even in the context of the current economic recession.

Economic Crisis

Voting Behavior

Incumbent Parties

Opposition Parties

Greek Elections

Author

Chadou, D.

Faculty

Faculty of Social & Behavioural Sciences

Specialisation

Political Science

Supervisors

Meffert, M.F.
Dekker, H.

ECTS Credits

20

Language

en