Sort Articles
July 18, 2025

The 'reverse Brussels effect': how criticism of EU regulations has been weaponised against liberal values

For years, the European Union has played the role of global regulator, setting standards and norms that often apply beyond its borders. Scholars have called this phenomenon the 'Brussels effect'. Today, however, argues Mateusz Łabuz, these norm-setting activities risk demonising the EU, and undermining its values
Read more
July 17, 2025

Presidential elections in Poland: has the populism vaccine failed? 

Poland's presidential election resulted in surprise defeat for centrist Civic Coalition candidate Rafał Trzaskowski. Renata Mieńkowska-Norkiene describes how Donald Tusk's governing coalition misjudged the public mood – and how the right-wing Karol Nawrocki convinced the Polish electorate that he is a 'man of the people' 
Read more
July 17, 2025

AI and public spaces: rebuilding trust in a digital age

Artificial intelligence is transforming our cities, but at what cost? As public spaces become increasingly digitised, we risk losing the human connections that bind us. Elif Davutoğlu explores how AI is reshaping public life — and suggests measures we can take to preserve our shared spaces
Read more
July 16, 2025

Civil society mobilisation in EU policy debates 

Does civil society mobilisation reduce socioeconomic bias in EU policy debate? A study by Evelien Willems, Iskander De Bruycker, and Marcel Hanegraaff reveals that active engagement by civil society organisations narrows the representation gap for people of low socioeconomic status. This offers a promising path toward more inclusive EU policy-making 
Read more
July 15, 2025

🦋 Science of Democracy 2.0

To kickstart another round of essays, Jean-Paul Gagnon recaps four years’ worth of discussions in The Loop's Science of Democracy series. He explains where this ever-growing community of scholars has got to so far – and where it aims to go next
Read more
July 15, 2025

🧭 Enlargement reimagined: the shifting logics behind the EU’s expansion

What motivates EU enlargement? Marius Ghincea and Laurențiu Pleșca argue that the Union’s approach has evolved through three overlapping logics — transformation, stabilisation, and demarcation. By unpacking how these priorities have shifted over time, they offer a more nuanced understanding of enlargement in a changing geopolitical context
Read more
July 14, 2025

☢️ Nuclear future – deterrence or disarmament?

The core principles of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) are to prevent a the development and acquisition of nuclear weapons, and to reach complete disarmament. But, argues Cecilia Gustavsson, without improved transparency and independent verification mechanisms, the NPT could, paradoxically, accelerate a new nuclear arms race
Read more
July 11, 2025

When education policy meets the classroom

Whether intercultural education fails or thrives depends not just on policies, but on the teachers implementing them. Drawing on fieldwork in Italy, Irene Landini shows how inclusive practices emerge — or falter — depending on school leadership, discretion, and innovation
Read more
July 11, 2025

Thirty years after Srebrenica, is Bosnia and Herzegovina a viable state?

On the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre in eastern Bosnia, Albrecht Rothacher looks back at the significance of that event, and the confederal State it produced. Three decades on, can the EU realistically consider Bosnia and Herzegovina as a potential member state?
Read more
July 10, 2025

The EU’s quiet shift toward an ‘(un)safe fourth country’ asylum policy

The European Commission has proposed letting member states drop the ‘connection requirement’ from the ‘safe third country’ concept in asylum cases. Gaia Romeo and Frowin Rausis argue this seemingly technical tweak marks a major shift — toward an ‘(un)safe fourth country’ approach that some countries have repeatedly tried, and failed
Read more
More Articles

The Loop

Cutting-edge analysis showcasing the work of the political science discipline at its best.
Read more
THE EUROPEAN CONSORTIUM FOR POLITICAL RESEARCH
Advancing Political Science
© 2025 European Consortium for Political Research. The ECPR is a charitable incorporated organisation (CIO) number 1167403 ECPR, Harbour House, 6-8 Hythe Quay, Colchester, CO2 8JF, United Kingdom.
linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram