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Latest Articles

Mind the gap: how a lack of regular oversight is fuelling the crisis in Welsh local democracy

February 26, 2025

How internet speed shapes electoral preferences in Ukraine

February 25, 2025

🧭 Could the spillover effects of war strengthen EU enlargement?

February 24, 2025

🌈 German parties’ visions for gender economic equity: 2025 federal elections

February 20, 2025

Christian Democracy’s pact with the far right

February 19, 2025

February 26, 2025

Mind the gap: how a lack of regular oversight is fuelling the crisis in Welsh local democracy

Recent experience of Welsh local democracy reveals a troubling lack of oversight of Community Councils, the 'closest tier of government to the people'. Echoing calls for radical reform of the sector, Rachel Gibson identifies the fundamental paradox of power at the heart of the problem

February 25, 2025

How internet speed shapes electoral preferences in Ukraine

In Ukraine, politics is deeply polarised, and elections have long reflected regional divides. Around the world, the internet has transformed political engagement, and digital access may be playing an increasingly important role in Ukrainian politics. Victoria Portnaya speculates on the effects of internet speed on voters’ electoral preferences

February 24, 2025

🧭 Could the spillover effects of war strengthen EU enlargement?

Maryna Rabinovych argues that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine reshaped EU enlargement dynamics, creating both pressure and opportunity. To sustain momentum, the EU needs a strategic vision and transparent policies. By harnessing wartime spillover effects, the EU can transform reactive measures into structured accession pathways for Ukraine and Moldova

February 20, 2025

🌈 German parties’ visions for gender economic equity: 2025 federal elections

Germany heads to the polls on 23 February, amid an economic recession. Renée Krug, Stefan Wallaschek and Pauline Ahlhaus analyse the parties' main election programmes, and show how, in contrast with left-wing parties, those on the right rarely address gendered economic inequalities and LGBTQI rights. With polls indicating a CDU-led government, gender-related issues are at risk of being sidelined — or even reversed

February 19, 2025

Christian Democracy’s pact with the far right

Across Europe, mainstream conservative parties are edging closer to ultranationalists and far-right populists. Many see this as a sudden turn. But Martino Comelli argues its roots are part of Christian Democratic strategy DNA. Historically, this strategy has balanced market liberalism with the desire to constrain mass politics

February 18, 2025

A diva among us: the Melania meme phenomenon

In the internet age, few figures have been subject to as much meme-driven mythmaking as First Lady Melania Trump. Mimi Mihăilescu argues that Melania memes reveal how humour and speculation can obscure the complexities of real-life individuals. They also reinforce harmful stereotypes and detach serious political discourse from reality

February 17, 2025

President Trump’s inaugural speech and the political psychology of sea power

Donald Trump’s pledges to rename the Gulf of Mexico, to rechristen Mount Denali as Mount McKinley, and to ‘take back’ the Panama Canal, are all intended to evoke America’s imperial past. Bruno Sowden-Carvalho analyses how the emotional appeal of sea power and ontological security sheds light on the political psychology behind Trump’s motivations

February 13, 2025

🧭 Reasserting the meaning of integration: a new history of the present

Ferenc Laczó reconsiders European integration as a history of the present, focusing on the roles East Europeans have played. He argues that the foremost representatives of East European states now remind their fellow Europeans of the existential stakes of the European project

February 12, 2025

Does good evidence make good policies?

Evidence-informed policy-making promises to deliver better policies. Yet, people working at the science-policy interface in Europe face multiple challenges in making the most of it – from political constraints to a lack of administrative capacity and limited opportunity for productive exchange. Giuseppe Cannata discusses these challenges and their normative implications for European science-for-policy ecosystems

February 11, 2025

China's strategy to consolidate itself as a global superpower

Under Xi Jinping, nationalist right-wing rhetoric drives China’s leftist and socialist state ideology. Konrad Szatters describes how elements of this rhetoric echo the far-right populist narratives in numerous European countries

Latest Articles

Mind the gap: how a lack of regular oversight is fuelling the crisis in Welsh local democracy

How internet speed shapes electoral preferences in Ukraine

🧭 Could the spillover effects of war strengthen EU enlargement?

🌈 German parties’ visions for gender economic equity: 2025 federal elections

Christian Democracy’s pact with the far right

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