ORDOLIBERALISM AND THE REFORM OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC GOVERNANCE DURING THE EURO CRISIS

The thesis aims at investigating the influence of Ordoliberalism, a German variant of Neoliberalism, in the reforms of the European economic governance undertaken during the crisis. The influence of the ordoliberal ideology has become, in the last years, a contentious topic: part of the literature claims that Ordoliberalism did influence the actions of the German government in the years of the crisis, while another part denies that this ideology played any significant role. This thesis aims to contribute to this debate. The thesis is divided in two parts. The first one is theoretical and reconstructs the ordoliberal ideology relying on Michael Freeden’s morphological approach. The second part is empirical and uses the methodologies of political science to trace the influence of this ideology in the European crisis politics.