Dissertation Defenses

Doctoral Dissertation Announcement

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Candidate: Marcella J. Myers

Degree of: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Political Science

Title: Important or Impotent: Radical Right Political Parties and Social Policymaking in Germany and Austria

Committee:
Dr. Guenter Hega, Chair
Dr. J. Kevin Corder
Dr. Emily Hauptmann
Dr. John Clark
Dr. Judith Stone

Date: Friday, July 10, 2009 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
3301 Friedmann Hall

Abstract:
Most of the recent comparative research in public policy has focused on the nature of the welfare state and its development, especially budget constraints and social welfare reform and/or restructuring. Similarly, radical right political parties, what they are, who belongs to them, and who votes for them, have also been widely discussed and debated in the comparative literature on political parties. What has not been widely examined is the issue of how radical right political parties interact with democratic welfare states in which they exist with reference to policy making. This study examines the effect of radical right political parties on public policy using regional parliaments in Germany and Austria as comparative case studies, evaluating education policy, minimum income support policy, and housing policy.