User:Saas05241/Austerity

Criticism
An analysis by Hübscher et al. of 166 elections across Europe since 1980 demonstrates that austerity measures lead to increased electoral abstention and a rise in votes for non-mainstream parties, thereby exacerbating political polarization. Their detailed examination of specific austerity episodes reveals that new, small, and radical parties are the primary beneficiaries of such policies.

A study by Gabriel et al., analyzing elections in 124 European regions from eight countries between 1980 and 2015, found that fiscal consolidations increased the vote share of extreme parties, lowered voter turnout, and heightened political fragmentation. Notably, after the European debt crisis, a 1% reduction in regional public spending resulted in an approximate 3 percentage point rise in the vote share of extreme parties. The findings suggest that austerity measures diminish trust in political institutions and encourage support for more extreme political positions.