Politics in the Age of Austerity - Softcover

Insightful and engaging, the essays in this volume cover a remarkably wide range of topics related to the fundamental question of our time: what happens to democracy when governments have so little fiscal room to maneuver?  A great read that will inspire new thinking and research.
Jonus Pontusson, University of Geneva

Politics in the Age of Austerity is a hugely important contribution to the contemporary literature on the political economy of the advanced capitalist countries.  Featuring a series of penetrating essays by some of the field’s foremost theorists, the book offers a powerful – and sobering – picture of the dilemmas and constraints that governments face as they seek to reconcile the increasingly conflicting demands of two constituencies – voters and “the markets”.  Rising above the sometimes narrow terms of contemporary debates, the book is firmly anchored in a broader tradition of social and political theorizing.  As such, it sheds new light on the enduring question of the evolving relationship between democracy and capitalism.
Kathleen Thelen, MIT