The Makeover of Southern Europe

Marking fifty years since the democratic transitions in Greece, Portugal, and Spain, this book traces how three countries that broke free from authoritarian rule in the mid-1970s have navigated consolidation, crisis, and the enduring tension between structural constraints and political agency to become, and remain, democracies. Drawing on the latest comparative research, The Makeover of Southern Europe traces the full arc of Southern Europe's democratic experience: from the turbulent transitions of the mid-1970s, through the consolidation of the 1980s and the modernisation that followed EU membership, to the severe stress tests imposed by the 2008 financial crisis and the more recent rise of populism and far-right politics. Covering institutions, political parties, gender equality, national identity, political trust, and public attitudes towards European integration, the book shows that shared historical origins do not produce identical destinies. Structural conditions set the stage, but it is the choices of political leaders, parties, and citizens that ultimately determine whether democracies endure. This book will be an important tool for researchers studying Southern European politics and economics. The chapters were originally published as a special issue of South European Society and Politics.