Tuesday 30 June 2015

Greek referendum useful academic resources

A sudden referendum to decide whether or not Greece is to accept the bailout conditions proposed by the European Union (EU), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Central Bank (ECB) will take place on 5 July 2015. The referendum was announced by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in the early morning of 27 June 2015

for some background try our useful links in the recent posting
is the bailout immoral? 

Voters will be asked whether they approve of the proposal made to Greece by the EU, the IMF and the ECB during the Eurogroup meeting on 25 June. The proposal consists of two documents, titled Reforms for the completion of the Current Program and Beyond and Preliminary Debt sustainability analysis.The question will contain two choices stated as "Those citizens that reject the proposal of the three institutions vote 'Not approved/No'" and "Those citizens that agree with the proposal of the three institutions vote 'Approved/Yes'".

Decision from the Hellenic Parliament in Greek
European Parliament press release relating to the referendum
Speech from Greek Prime minister announcing the referendum. includes English language transcript.

Recent polls in Greek on attitudes towards the Euro.




Commentary
 According to the New Statesman the referendum question makes no sense.
According to the Huffington Post Paul Krugman is urging a no vote.

New York Times
Independent


 Blogs (covering the Greek debt crisis)
 Project Syndicate has commentary from economist Joseph Stiglitz
Greek crisis. Prof. Aristides Hatzis of the University of Athens







 



Monday 15 June 2015

Elections in Denmark - dont get confused with Borgen try our online guide!

Elections in Denmark are due to take place this week on 18th June
confused by the parties.
The local has a guide which  gives you the facts

Other basic guides to the electoral system of Denmark include.
IFES
Interparliamentary Union.
Danish parliament website has explanations and links to the relevant legislation in English. This includes a very useful guide to the electoral system with recent results.


Danish national newspaper coverage.

Berlingske this includes recent polls.

Politiken
Jyllands-Posten
Copenhagen Post

 Past election results 

Statistics Denmark has tables for national, regional and European elections from 2011 onwards.
1990-2015 can be obtained from the European Elections website
The Danish National Election study has data from 1970-2011. this includes political preferences and voting intentions. Some materials can be downloaded from the website.
The Election research group Aalborg University also has information on this work.

Tuesday 9 June 2015

Turkey elections- end of single party rule?

This week Turkey went to the polls. Get some background by using these recommended resources.
The official electoral body has facts and results (currently in Turkish ) only.
OSCE observed the conduct of the elections. Find more out about their mission and read the initial findings on their website.

BBC has a basic guide to the issues on its website and does Time Magazine. Al-Jazeera centre for studies has issued a special report outlining the implications of the elections.
Al-Monitor Turkey pulse has a good collections of articles and analysis covering events.

Blogs


James in Turkey - from journalist Michael Sercan Daventry has coverage. It includes polls and examination of the manifesto pledges

Analysis of Turkish politicsGood sources include:
Rethink Institute Washington DC.
Washington Institute.
Rand analysis of economic and political policy in the region.
Council on Foreign Relations.
Brookings.
Carnegie Endowment.
Turkey Analyst  bi-weekly publication of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Joint Center
Chatham House
Centre for Policy and Research on Turkey (Research Turkey)independent, non-partisan, non-governmental organisation devoted to policy analysis