Fierce but short-lived: how do economic crises affect political participation?

The recession that hit Europe in 2008 led to the loss of millions of jobs and soaring levels of unemployment, but what effect has it had on political participation? Based on a recent study, Anna Kern, Sofie Marien and Marc Hooghe write that while economic growth is positively associated with forms of political participation that ‘challenge elites’, such as protests or boycotts, crises that raise unemployment, such as that between 2008 and 2010, also generate similar types of participation.