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March 30, 2026

How AI is becoming a core instrument of state power

Elif Davutoğlu AI companies often present their technologies as politically neutral. But as frontier models become intertwined with national security strategies, neutrality is giving way to a new reality: AI as a core instrument of state power, writes Elif Davutoğlu Read more
March 30, 2026

🔮 Italy’s Five-Star Movement: a cautionary tale for valence populists in power

Matthew E Bergman Matthew E Bergman reveals how so-called valence populism (populism focused on competence and good governance rather than ideology) has a potential electoral disadvantage. While non-ideological messages that focus on good governance may broaden electoral appeal, lacking an ideological core can also cost votes. The fortunes of Italy’s Five-Star Movement offer a cautionary tale Read more
March 27, 2026

Is trust learned or earned? Lessons from adolescents 

Linde Stals Democratic legitimacy runs on citizens’ trust in public institutions. We often assume citizens critically monitor their institutions, only granting trust when they perform well. However, Linde Stals and Carmen van Alebeek show that much of this institutional trust is learned, rather than earned. Their findings raise important questions about democratic accountability  Read more
March 26, 2026

🎈 How opposition MPs survive in electoral autocracies

Annamária Sebestyén In countries experiencing democratic backsliding, opposition MPs must confront not only the crisis of political representation but also structural constraints that limit their influence. Drawing on research in Hungary, Annamária Sebestyén argues that in such circumstances opposition MPs develop innovative strategies to remain politically relevant, but these have clear limits Read more
March 26, 2026

The invisible labour behind 'intelligent' machines

Soumi Banerjee Tech leaders compare AI’s electricity demand to the energy needed to ‘train a human’. In doing so, they judge people and server racks by the same dehumanising efficiency metric. Soumi Banerjee and Mo Hamza explain how this logic is most brutally realised in planetary AI supply chains; in the hidden work that makes 'intelligent' machines seem autonomous Read more
March 25, 2026

The European Commission adapts its tone to political pressure

Radu-Mihai Triculescu Under growing public scrutiny and growing demands for public communication, how does the European Commission respond to various political pressures? Drawing on two new studies, Radu-Mihai Triculescu, Leonce Röth, Christoph Ivanusch and Klaus H. Goetz show how the European Commission balances and communicatively addresses problem and public pressures in migration and asylum policy Read more
March 20, 2026

India in a fix amid US-Israel war against Iran 

Sonia Sarkar India sits precariously in this US-Israel-led war against its old regional partner Iran. This, says Sonia Sarkar, is because of Hindu supremacist Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s proximity to Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu  Read more
March 20, 2026

The Iran crisis is deepening Britain’s anxiety over its international role

Ruairidh Brown Trump’s dismissal of Keir Starmer as 'no Churchill' cuts Britain deep, argues Ruairidh Brown. His open contempt strikes at the heart of Britain’s post-imperial anxiety Read more

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THE EUROPEAN CONSORTIUM FOR POLITICAL RESEARCH
Advancing Political Science
© 2026 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.
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