Age and Descriptive Representation in Southern Europe: The Impact of the Great Recession on National Parliaments

ABSTRACT

This article looks at how well different age groups are represented in the parliaments of Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece. We focus on three periods – before, during and after the ‘Great Recession’ – assuming the economic turmoil has generated new demands channelled by new parties that have recently entered parliament or have had a surge during the crisis. Data comes from mass surveys carried out in each country and from MP biographies. The findings reveal relevant changes in Spain and Italy, with more young people in the parties that appeared or had a surge during the crisis, whereas in Greece and Portugal no relevant changes are observed.

KEYWORDS:

• Political representation
• crisis
• elites
• democratic renewal
• anti-political establishment parties
• Italy
• Greece
• Portugal
• Spain

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. A number of recent studies focus on gaps in parliamentary representation regarding age (and gender), paying primary attention to the impact of electoral systems and quota regulations. See for example Joshi (2015), Stockemer and Sundström (2020), and Belschner (2021).

2. However, empirical studies have shown that the effect of unemployment on turnout can also have a mobilising effect, which counteracts the withdrawal effect (Burden & Whichowsky 2014).

3. As for Spain and Italy, for simplicity we use only data on members of the lower chamber and do not consider senators.

4. The age of MPs refers to the MPs originally elected at the time of the elections.

5. For the rise of Vox see Rama et al. (2021). For Podemos see Urquizu (2016) and Cordero and Christmann (2018).

6. CiU was a Catalan nationalist coalition of parties that disappeared after some corruption scandals. Former members and leaders then created the pro-Catalan independence PDeCAT (Partit Demòcrata Europeu Català – Catalan European Democratic Party), which later turned into JxC (Junts Per Catalunya – Together for Catalonia).

7. A full-time occupation in parties and trade unions or a professional career as a lawyer, journalist, teacher or doctor represent a typical background for Italian legislators (Verzichelli 2010).

8. The exceptional instability of the Italian political system has to be considered when comparing the sociodemographic profile of Italian voters and MPs before and after the Great Recession.

9. L’Ulivo was the name given to a succession of centre-left political and electoral alliances between 1995 and 2007. L’Ulivo can be considered as the forerunner of the present-day PD (Partito Democratico – Democratic Party).

10. A perfect correspondence in terms of age between voters and MPs would be impossible to achieve in any case, as candidates for the Italian Chamber are required to be at least 25 years old.

11. In 2013, no MP from the M5S was over the age of 40, because the M5S party rules for primary elections only allowed people over the age of 40 to run for Senate.

12. Let us add that M5S’ parliamentary candidates were probably recruited outside the ‘pool’ from which Italian mainstream parties usually select their candidates.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

André Freire

André Freire is Professor in Political Science (PS) at ISCTE-University Institute of Lisbon where he is also Director of the PhD in PS (2015-present) and former Director of the Bachelor in PS (2009-2015), Director of the Observatory for Democracy and Political Representation, and of the Research Line IV, Politics and Citizenship. He has directed several research projects on ideology, electoral behaviour, institutions, political reforms, as well as political representation and has published about 30 books and 100 articles.

Andrea Pedrazzani

Andrea Pedrazzani is an Associate Professor of Political Sociology at the University of Milan. His research interests deal with democratic representation and political institutions. He is author of Fare le leggi nella Seconda Repubblica. Come cambia il Parlamento (Egea, 2017). His work has appeared in journals such as European Journal of Political Research, Party Politics, Government and Opposition, Political Studies, South European Society and Politics, Legislative Studies Quarterly, Parliamentary Affairs, and The Journal of Legislative Studies.

Emmanouil Tsatsanis

Emmanouil Tsatsanis is a Researcher at the Greek National Centre for Social Research (EKKE) and at the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP). His research focuses on electoral behaviour, political identities, political representation, and party systems. His work has appeared in edited volumes and peer-reviewed international journals. He is co-editor of the volumes Political Representation in Southern Europe and Latin America (Routledge) and Political Representation and Citizenship in Portugal: From Crisis to Renewal (Lexington Books).

Xavier Coller

Xavier Coller Department of Political Science and Administration, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED), has taught in universities in Europe and the US and has been visiting fellow at Warwick, Berkeley, Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Georgetown, Montpellier 1, and LUISS. He has authored works on theories and methods, political elites, identities, and complex organisations.

Paolo Segatti

Paolo Segatti was formerly Professor of Political Sociology at the University of Milan, where he is currently a research fellow of the SPS TREND Laboratory of the Department of Social and Political Sciences. He was a founder and a president of the Italian Election National Study (ITANES). Recent publications include Apocalisse della democrazia Italiana (with H.M. Schadee and C. Vezzoni, eds., Il Mulino, 2019), Come cambiano gli italiani (with G. Rovati and F. Biolcati, eds., Il Mulino, 2020) and Consequences of Context. How the Social, Political, and Economic Environment Affects Voting (with H. Schmitt and C. van der Eijk, eds., ECPR Press, 2021).