Downgraded Democracy? Globalization and Mass Politics Marie Curie Actions - Workshop Strand Palace Hotel, London 28th of January 2012 Marie Curie Reintegration Grant February 2008-2012 MIRG-CT_2007-204997

In August 2011, the international credit rating agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P) downgraded the United States’ federal government’s borrowing facility from AAA to AA plus. Castigating the agency for failing to anticipate the collapse in the security of mortgage lending that led to a global financial crisis in 2008, the US liberal periodical The Nation declared: ‘if Standard and Poor’s can set the parameters of the debate in the United States, then it is not just downgrading a credit rating. S&P is downgrading democracy’ (The Nation, August 6 2011, http://www.thenation.com/blog/162605/ downgrading-democracy). Fears of a democratic downgrade are not confined to one country, or as a response to one particular example of how international finance can affect the parameters that help shape domestic public policy. To many observers, a much broader process of ‘globalization’ has reduced the capacity of governments to act independently of external actors. Democratic states are consequently much less able to make decisions that reflect the preferences and interests of their citizens. Instead, those policies are said to more closely reflect the interests of international investors and financiers. Alternatively, others suggest that the policies constitute an adjustment to the reality of the forces inseparable from a competitive and dynamic international economy. An extensive debate has emerged around these claims. To some, the constraining effects of globalization have been exaggerated while, to others, they are plainly evident. Some find the concept itself unhelpful, arguing that the concept of globalization needs to be rethought as part of longer-term developments in global capitalism with effects that are more nuanced and complex than immediately meet the eye. In this workshop, we adopt a different approach. Instead, we address the following questions: Does globalisation but does this affect the perceptions and behaviour of ordinary citizens? Have mass electorates ‘downgraded’ their expectations of their governments? Are perceptions of constraint confined to policy elites and commentators? If ordinary people have lower expectations, how are these generated?

Workshop Programme Friday Dinner at 7:30pm (Cantina Laredo) Saturday 9.15-9.30am – Welcome and Introductions 9.30-10.00am – Opening Review (Jack Vowles, University of Exeter) Coffee Break 10.30-11.30pm Chair: Georgios Xezonakis Electoral Empowerment or Disempowerment: The Effects of Economic Vulnerability and Elite Cues? (Jack Vowles, University of Exeter) The Supply-Side of Electoral Politics: How Globalization Matters for Party Strategies (Tim Hellwig, Indiana University) 11.30-12.30pm Chair: Tim Hellwig Does Globalisation Weaken Accountability and Representation? (Steve Fisher, University of Oxford) The Buck Stops over There? Globalization and Electoral Accountability (Mark Kayser, Hertie School of Governance and Michael Peress, University of Rochester) Lunch Break 2-3.30pm Chair: Mark Kayser Globalisation and the Quality of Elections Sarah Birch, University of Essex From Valence to Positional Issues. Is Globalisation the Cause?(Jack Vowles, University of Exeter and Georgios Xezonakis, University of Gothenburg) Coffee Break 4-5.30pm Chair: Jack Vowles Turnout, Globalization, and Inequality in Old and New Democracies (Jeff Karp, University of Exeter and Caitlin Milazzo, University of Exeter) Globalization and the Politicization of Religion: An Empirical Test with CSES Data (Stratos Patrikios, University of Strathclyde amd Georgios Xezonakis, University of Gothenburg) 5.30-6pm Next Steps- General Discussion Evening: Workshop Dinner Drinks @ 6:30pm – Location TBA Dinner @ 8:00pm – Location TBA