Reginald Oduor
Reginald M.J. Oduor encourages more political theorists to disentangle themselves from the idea that democracy and elections are inextricably bound. Through this he seeks to promote the pursuit of genuine citizen participation in post-colonial states in Africa and elsewhere Read more
Steffen Hurka
Why are laws often so hard to understand? Steffen Hurka argues that the complexity of laws increases when political conflict becomes more intense and when decision-making becomes more inclusive. Democracies aim for compromise and the balancing of interests, and complex laws are the inevitable consequence Read more
Arianna Giovannini
A right-wing coalition won the Italian general election in September, but not all the parties within it fared well. After a boom in votes in 2018–19, support for Salvini’s League has collapsed. This, argue Arianna Giovannini and Davide Vampa, is the price for selling the party’s soul Read more
Cindy Regnier
Renewed tensions between Russia and the West amid war in Ukraine have focused attention on the ‘Suwałki gap’. According to Cindy Regnier, this corridor along the Lithuanian-Polish border has been increasingly securitised. Still, any attempt to seize control over it would gain the Russians little Read more
Avery Reyna
Social scientists are increasingly using quantitative interdisciplinary research methods in the hope of obtaining more nuanced, concrete findings. However, Avery Reyna argues that without proper foresight, relying on these approaches to describe interactions between people, countries, and more complex sociopolitical systems may be harmful to the field overall Read more
Guido Panzano
The likely installation of a neo-fascist Prime Minister has generated considerable fears for the future of Italian democracy. Guido Panzano argues that we should use the tools available in political science to arrive at a more scientific understanding of the prospects for the quality of Italian democracy under such a government Read more
Dragomir Stoyanov
The snap Bulgarian general election of 2 October has failed to resolve the ongoing political stalemate in the country caused by polarisation between two opposing political camps. Dragomir Stoyanov writes that the new government will be characterised by instability, with the prospect of further snap elections next year Read more
Emilia Simison
We associate authoritarian regimes with certain policies. However, the relationship between regime type and policy is not straightforward – and not all transitions towards authoritarianism bring policy change. To better understand this, Emilia Simison suggests paying attention to differences within authoritarian regimes and how the adjectives of autocracy affect policy Read more
