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15 Seton Hall J. Dipl. & Int'l Rel. 35 (2014)
Party on: Political Parties in European Foreign Economic Policies

handle is hein.journals/whith15 and id is 151 raw text is: Party On! Political Parties in European Foreign Economic Policies by Kostas Kourtikakis and Robert Pahre INTRODUCTION The European Union (EU) remains in a period of remarkable economic uncertainty, one associated with considerable political volatility. The protracted global recession and high rates of structural unemployment in the looming fiscal crises have brought down national governments, prolonged policy disagreements across the continent, and threatened the legitimacy of the EU in unprecedented ways. To understand how politicians respond to such economic and social challenges, theorists of international relations and practitioners of foreign policy have long thought in terms of the nation-state as a more or less single unified actor. From this traditional standpoint, domestic politics only matter insofar as it affects the behavior and preferences of the state. To a certain extent, domestic politics are usually seen as an obstacle for the state. Though phrased in terms of the state, such claims are really about the government of the day. To put this in perspective, German politician Angela Merkel's austerity policies in the EU are consistent with the ideology of her Christian Democratic Party and the preferences of her constituents-but she could be replaced at any moment by an internal party revolt or by the departure of her coalition partners in the Social Democratic Party. Were that to occur, we would not expect a Social Democratic government to continue the same policies. When considering this political dynamic, it is clear that parties matter, and internal domestic affairs can and will have a significant impact on regional international politics. Dr. Kostas Kourtikakis is a Lecturer, and Dr. Robert Pahre is a Professor of political science at the University of Illinois. Within the field of international relations they specialize in the European Union. 35 Seton HallJournal of Diploma0 and International Relaions

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