The Politics of Economic Liberalization

Description

This book analyses the discourses of economic liberalization reform in six Western European countries – Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Austria. It provides systematic empirical evidence that policy-related discourses are much more than noise; rather, they are detailed expressions of institutional complementarities and political struggles. The author posits that the more open a discourse, the broader the range of perceived interests, which, in turn, increases the intensity of conflicts. Similarly, the more public discourse centres on coordination, the more intense actors need to engage with opposite interests, which most probably intensifies political disputes as well. Moreover, Wueest argues that the formation of a consensus within the political mainstream has left a vacuum for outsider parties such as Syriza in Greece and Podemos in Spain to feed on the contentiousness of economic liberalization policies. Front Matter ....Pages i-xiv Introduction: Mapping Economic Liberalization Discourse in Western Europe (Bruno Wueest)....Pages 1-26 Institutional and Structural Foundations of Discourse (Bruno Wueest)....Pages 27-61 Designing the Discourse Analysis (Bruno Wueest)....Pages 63-80 Unity on the Substance of Discourse (Bruno Wueest)....Pages 81-107 Diversity in the Structure of Discourse (Bruno Wueest)....Pages 109-129 Conclusion: United in Diversity (Bruno Wueest)....Pages 131-140 Back Matter ....Pages 141-169