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Democracy

October 11, 2022

🦋 Democracy must not be a distracted caterpillar

Phil Paine Phil Paine is reminded of the caterpillar who, when asked in which order it moved each of its feet, found itself ‘distracted in a ditch, wondering how it walked’. He suspects that there are misapprehensions about the role of definitions in advancing democracy Read more
October 6, 2022

Military conscription is no antidote to the political apathy of new generations

Marco Giani Studying long-run patterns of public opinion in Europe shows that reintroducing compulsory national service would not counter the worrisome trend of declining trust in institutions among young generations. In fact, warns Marco Giani, the effect could be quite the opposite Read more
October 5, 2022

🦋 Understanding democracy without the ‘D-word’

Yida Zhai Public perceptions of democracy are diverse, and some even see democracy in authoritarian regimes. So directly using ‘democracy’ in surveys is prone to elicit biased responses. Therefore, Yida Zhai argues, it is necessary to conceptualise and operationalise democracy in an alternative manner without using the ‘D-word’ Read more
October 4, 2022

For a fair compromise, don't negotiate, deliberate!

Friderike Spang When we compromise on moral questions, it is important that compromises are fair. But how can we ensure the fairness of a compromise? We often see compromise as a result of negotiation and bargaining. However, to achieve a fair compromise, we need to deliberate, rather than negotiate, argues Friderike Spang Read more
September 30, 2022

🌊 The fascist zeitgeist

Luca Manucci Luca Manucci argues that illiberalism and autocratisation have too readily been labelled as ‘populism’, an all-embracing concept which simply helps to provide cover to the neo-fascist cause. This has led to surprise when a politician like Giorgia Meloni, leading a party with neo-fascist roots, reaches the brink of power Read more
September 30, 2022

Italian general election: the far right sweeps to power under Giorgia Meloni

Giovanni Capoccia The Italian general election produced a clear majority for the right-wing coalition headed by the Brothers of Italy, following a significant shift of votes within the coalition. The parties of the centre-left failed to forge an electoral alliance to stop the right. The political landscape remains volatile, says Giovanni Capoccia Read more
September 28, 2022

🌊 The Swedish elections: takeaways for the study of illiberalism

Gefjon Off The Swedish elections show that even the most liberal democracies are not immune to the rise of illiberal forces. Gefjon Off discusses the role of normalisation of the radical right, young men’s conservatism, and online mobilisation Read more
September 27, 2022

♟️ Autocratic legalism: the ‘silent’ authoritarianism

Akudo McGee All regimes have courts but through so-called ‘autocratic legalism’, autocrats leverage them to consolidate regimes without initially raising red flags. Akudo McGee argues that autocratic legalism easily flies under the radar because early warning signs of autocratisation are subtle. Indicators of autocratisation, therefore, need better taxonomies of authoritarianism to work Read more

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Advancing Political Science
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