Lars Pelke
Several liberal democracies view the People’s Republic of China no longer as a strategic partner, but as a systemic rival. Yet how intense is China’s influence? The China Index seeks to measure this influence across different domains. This is a welcome first step, but it is not without far-reaching flaws, write Lars Pelke and Katrin Kinzelbach Read more
Tejendra Pratap Gautam
The recent victory of the Congress party in the southern state of Karnataka is a step towards the reversal of India's democratic backsliding, writes Tejendra Pratap Gautam Read more
Max Steuer
After the break-up of the governing coalition in Slovakia, President Čaputová appointed Slovakia's first cabinet composed of largely non-partisan experts. Max Steuer questions the labelling of this cabinet as ‘non-political’ or ‘technocratic’. While not hailing from general election results, it enjoys other sources of democratic legitimacy Read more
Michael Hameleers
When facts are disputed and experts delegitimised, the term 'populism' may apply to truths and to untruths. Michael Hameleers argues that populist ideas are often strategically communicated to emphasise a divide between congruent truths and incongruent lies. This only serves to emphasise the idea of a divide between ordinary people and corrupt political elites Read more
Erin O'Brien
Investors’ political participation goes well beyond the traditional model of shareholder activism at AGMs. Yet the diversity of investors’ participation is not well recognised or conceptualised. Erin O’Brien argues for the adoption of ‘political investorism’ to capture diverse forms of investors’ political participation, and to distinguish between consumers and investors as political actors Read more
Scott R. Stroud
Bhimrao Ambedkar was many things, and is often known as a political activist and an anti-caste thinker. In addition, Scott R. Stroud positions Ambedkar as a theorist of democracy who extends the pragmatist tradition Read more
Erdoğan Altun
In the first round of the Turkish elections on 14 May, the incumbent AKP, led by President Erdoğan, won a narrow victory. This was a crushing blow for the opposition, who had pinned their hopes on Turkey's economic crisis, and crippling inflation, ending Erdoğan's authority. Erdoğan Altun explains how the AKP's electoral campaign, patronage and social assistance were crucial to its success Read more
Sorina Soare
Sorina Soare rebuts the commonly held idea that all populist parties are unstructured organisations, exclusively dependent on their leaders’ communication skills. In Romania, through initiatives such as the creation of a mobile hospital, the populist party has been able to forge stable territorial linkages with diverse groups of voters Read more
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