The 'Alpine Region' and Political Change:Lessons from Bavaria and South Tyrol (1946-2018)

Abstract

Bavaria and South Tyrol belong to the so-called ‘Alpine (Macro-)Region’, a transnational area located in the heart of Europe, where geopolitical, cultural and socio-economic peculiarities have resulted in distinctive democratic dynamics. The key question that this article aims to answer is whether these two regions can still be regarded as exceptional cases of political stability. It is shown that, since 2008, their political systems have experienced significant change. While transformations have also occurred at the national level in Germany and Italy, they seem even more dramatic in Bavaria and South Tyrol, particularly after decades of political continuity. It is argued that this unprecedented shift is due to the combined effect of regional and state-wide challengers and is linked to the multi-level character of party competition at the regional level. Generally, these two cases add a territorial dimension to the study of political stability and change in Western Europe.

Publication DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13597566.2020.1722946
Divisions: College of Business and Social Sciences > School of Social Sciences & Humanities > Politics, History and International Relations
College of Business and Social Sciences > School of Social Sciences & Humanities > Aston Centre for Europe
College of Business and Social Sciences > School of Social Sciences & Humanities
Additional Information: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis Group in Regional & Federal Studies on 12 Feb 2020, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/13597566.2020.1722946
Uncontrolled Keywords: Alpine Region,Bavaria,CSU,SVP,South Tyrol,Geography, Planning and Development,Political Science and International Relations
Publication ISSN: 1743-9434
Last Modified: 25 Mar 2024 08:58
Date Deposited: 28 Jan 2020 13:11
Full Text Link:
Related URLs: http://www.scop ... tnerID=8YFLogxK (Scopus URL)
https://www.tan ... 66.2020.1722946 (Publisher URL)
PURE Output Type: Article
Published Date: 2021
Published Online Date: 2020-02-12
Accepted Date: 2020-01-23
Authors: Vampa, Davide (ORCID Profile 0000-0001-5983-5422)
Scantamburlo, Matthias (ORCID Profile 0000-0002-9658-616X)

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