Lisa Janssen
Accepting electoral defeat is essential for democratic stability. Yet, amid the political polarisation that followed the storming of the US Capitol and similar events in Brazil, losers’ consent became harder to obtain. Using case studies from UK elections, Lisa Janssen explains how polarisation influences citizens’ responses to election results Read more
Joana Lilli Hofstetter
Analyses of the opposition against gender equality in Europe mostly address the opponents of women’s rights as inherently anti-democratic, and feminist actors as democratic by definition. But Joana Lilli Hofstetter and Lucrecia Rubio Grundell use sex work as an example of how anti-democratic backlashes against women’s rights can also be promoted by feminist actors Read more
David Arter
Looking back should be the future direction of populism research, insists David Arter, who holds that political scientists would benefit from using a longer lens when viewing the genealogy of the populist party family Read more
Gift Mwonzora
Can digitalisation prevent election tampering in Zimbabwe? New technologies certainly have the potential to improve the conduct and management of elections. But, as Gift Mwonzora argues, without concomitant political will and adherence to electoral laws, digitalisation does little to enhance electoral integrity and democracy in (semi-)authoritarian regimes Read more
Akudo McGee
The results of the Polish parliamentary elections suggest that a coalition of the opposition will lead the next government. This is good news for civil society, which faced constant threats under the current Law and Justice (PiS) party. However, Akudo McGee warns that challenges still lie ahead for civil society Read more
Licia Cianetti
Licia Cianetti and Petra Alderman critique the trend for claiming that a 'global' autocratisation is sweeping the world. It is, they argue, not a homogenous process, but many processes that look differently across time and space. Just as we need to better differentiate autocracies, so we also need better language to reflect these differences in autocratisation Read more
Thomas Kestler
Thomas Kestler highlights the structural conditions of populism. He emphasises that demand-side factors contributing to the rise of populism should not focus solely on the populist electorate and its psychological dispositions. It should also encompass structures of social organisation and integration Read more
Karl Gustafsson
Anxiety is widespread in academia, among faculty members and students. However, anxiety is not unequivocally a negative emotion. Karl Gustafsson and Linus Hagström argue that it can also be a creative force. Anxiety can help us develop better ideas and research problems. It can help us do better research Read more
