The year 2014 was a difficult one for the government and citizens in Australian federal politics. Although the Liberal-National coalition had won a landslide election late in 2013, the honeymoon period was short, with public support for both the government and the Prime Minister plummeting during 2014. The government’s policy direction was wellreceived initially, but the economic outlook was grim and the government’s austere budget proposals were thwarted by a hostile Senate and read by voters to be inherently unfair. As a result, by the end of 2014, Prime Minister Abbott was facing low ratings in the polls and increasing discontent among his party colleagues.

The European elections were the only major elections in Austria in 2014, apart from a single regional election in Vorarlberg in the autumn. Important issues in national politics were the Hypo Alpe Adria bank affair and an intra-government dispute over the timing of a promised tax reform. The chairman of the People’s Party, who was also Vice-Chancellor and Finance Minister in the national government, stepped down over the dispute. Close to the year’s end parliament passed a major reform of the procedures for parliamentary committees of inquiry.

The year 2014 was particularly dense, with simultaneous regional, parliamentary and European Parliament elections on 25 May. This was followed by a relatively short government formation process towards an unprecedented ‘Swedish’ federal cabinet. The electoral cycle took place in the context of a still quite difficult socioeconomic situation and ethnolinguistic tensions at the elite level.

The year 2014 was another turbulent one for Bulgaria. Public protests against the Oresharski cabinet continued, leading up to the European Parliament elections on 12 May, which produced a political configuration quite different from the then-existing parliament. Following these results, a banking crisis and an unfavourable report from Brussels in June, the DPS threatened to withdraw political support from the cabinet. Ultimately, the political parties, with the aid of the President, agreed to call early elections in October 2014 and appoint an interim cabinet until then.The elections returned themost fragmented Bulgarian parliament ever, with eight parties surpassing the 4 per cent electoral threshold, and led to the formation of a centre-right coalition in November 2014.

Canada’s parliament rarely attracts international attention, but in October an armed attack generated significant coverage. While parliamentarians barricaded themselves in caucus rooms, a gunman, who had previously killed a Canadian soldier at a nearby war memorial, exchanged gunfire with security forces inside the parliament buildings before being killed himself. Issues of security, homegrown terrorism and Canada’s military interventions were debated in the aftermath of this event and remained contentious as the year ended.

Croatian politics in 2014 was dominated by two elections – those to the European Parliament, in which the governing centre-left coalition suffered a clear-cut defeat, and the presidential elections, in which Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović defeated the incumbent Ivo Josipović, becoming the first woman to assume presidential office. Prime Minister Milanović created serious turmoil within the cabinet and his party by sacking the Minister of Finance, and although he managed to stabilise the situation, his personal standing and the government’s popularity suffered serious damage.

The year 2014 was very mixed for Cyprus. In February, peace negotiations between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot sides re-opened, but no breakthrough could be achieved. The economic and social situation of the Republic of Cyprus was dominated by the impact of the economic and financial crisis.Domestic politics were shaped by disagreements about the reforms imposed by the so-called ‘Troika’ after the bail-out/bail-in of Cypriot banks and the state in March 2013. During 2014 there was a slowing down of the recession and the unemployment rate peaked. In the north, political manoeuvres dominated domestic politics prior to the Turkish-Cypriot presidential elections scheduled for April 2015.

The year 2014 was a relatively quiet one, politically speaking, in the Czech Republic, even though there were three elections: European Parliament (EP), Senate and municipal polls. The political situation was much less turbulent following the two ‘earthquake’ general elections of 2010 and 2013. A new coalition cabinet was formed in January 2014 and began immediately to implement anti-austerity measures. The main political issues during 2014 were civil service reform, tax code changes and measures to reduce the size of the grey (informal, untaxed) economy.

The year 2014 was marked by the Socialist People’s Party leaving the government, elections to the European Parliament, a referendum on the European Patent Court and three party leadership changes.With a general election to be held by September 2015 at the latest, the government was struggling to deliver results that could turn its support.

In Estonian politics, the year 2014 was marked by a change in Prime Minister and governing coalition in March. It was followed by fairly quiet European elections in May, and preparations by political parties for the March 2015 parliamentary elections. In terms of issues, the year was dominated by security concerns raised by the conflict in Ukraine and increasing antagonism with Russia, as well as heated debates around the legalisation of same-sex partnerships.

The year 2014 was one of turbulence, followed by huge reform plans with few, if any, results. Ministers resigned, parties left government, a new cabinet was formed and the Greens marched out of government. The planned municipal amalgamation ran out after a storm of protest, and so did the planned social and health reforms. All these shortcomings were good news for the opposition awaiting the coming election in 2015.

Against the continuing backdrop of the economic crisis, 2013 had been dominated by President François Hollande’s declining popularity (see Startin 2014: 124). The year 2014 would prove to be another challenging year for the French President. It began with damaging allegations surrounding an ‘affair’ with actress Julie Gayet and was followed by heavy defeats for his ruling Socialist Party in the March municipal and May European elections. In the latter contest, the Front National (FN) added salt to the wound by topping the poll – the first time the party had been victorious in a national election. Hollande reacted to the municipal election defeat by replacing PrimeMinister Jean-Marc Ayrault withMinister for the Interior Manuel Valls. The change of government appeared to have no immediate effect on the President’s personal rating. With his principal electoral promise of reducing France’s stubbornly high unemployment showing no sign of fruition, and with the French economy remaining sluggish, his 12 per cent approval rating in the monthly YouGov survey represented an all-time low for a French President in the history of modern-day polling.

A major political event in 2014 was the elections to the European Parliament (EP) on 25 May. In addition, Land elections took place in Saxony, Brandenburg and Thuringia, which led to some minor changes in the composition of the Bundesrat (upper house). The Bundestag (lower house) agreed on a minimum wage and a lowering of the pension age. Furthermore, a new anti-Islamic movement called ‘Pegida’ appeared.

The coalition of New Democracy and the Panhellenic Socialist Party governed with a severely weakened majority in parliament (153 of 300 seats in January 2014). The Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) secured a clear lead in the May European Parliament elections. As a result of this defeat, a significant government reshuffle ensued. The choices made in this reshuffle signaled an attempt to regain the support of right-wing voters, while at the same time putting on hold the reform process. Unemployment remained high, at 26.5 per cent, and the economy remained in recession. Despite a modest improvement in several metrics in the third quarter of the year, the government reached an impasse with the ‘Troika’ during the final evaluation of the programme and Prime Minister Samaras called early presidential elections, which ultimately led to early parliamentary elections on 25 January 2015.

The year 2014 was a heated one for Hungary with three sets of elections. The parliamentary election scheduled for April was followed by the European Parliament elections in May and then by the municipal elections in October. The political tension was further intensified by the use of the country’s new electoral system for the first time, along with the new rules of campaign communication and financing. Thus 2014 put to test not only the political adversaries, but the new institutions as well.

The government coalition of the Progressive Party (PP) and the Independence Party (IP) became increasingly unpopular during 2014. Its support fell to around one-third of respondents in opinion polls. Iceland’s negotiations on EU membership remained on ice during the year. Despite controversial government debt relief measures for households – based on bold promises given by the PP during the 2013 election campaign – the Progressives remained at rock bottom in the opinion polls. There were signs of increasing economic unrest, in the labour market for example. The Minister of the Interior resigned after a scandal, and turnout in the local elections was the lowest for decades.

Irish politics was more turbulent than the economy in 2014. Bad results for the government coalition parties in the local and European elections prompted a leadership change in the junior government partner, the Labour Party, and a major cabinet reshuffle. Despite good news on the economic front, the Irish electorate’s fatigue with austerity finally sparked significant public protest. Several scandals cost the government political capital, with one involving the police force leading to high-level resignations and the establishment of an official inquiry.

Israeli politics in 2014 was marked by two major developments: the disintegration of the governing coalition, and themilitary conflict with Hamas. The events throughout the Middle East and Iranian plans and activities influenced domestic politics as well as Israel’s foreign policy.

The year 2014 brought Italy a new, exceptionally active government; contentious elections to the European Parliament that confirmed the dominance of the Democratic Party; and three regional elections resulting from the corruption-related resignation of regional presidents.