Sandra Leonie Field
Scholars of democracy must look beyond received paradigms. With his democracy 'data mountain', Jean-Paul Gagnon is challenging us to do so. However, drawing on Francis Bacon's analogous project for natural science, Sandra Leonie Field wonders whether a database of adjectives is indeed the best method of reaching this goal Read more
Christine Neuhold
Does the European Union have a democratic problem? Here, Christine Neuhold summarises a lively debate that aims to tackle this question. The EU’s democratic deficit dominates discussion, but citizen participation is now being trialled through the innovative Conference on the Future of Europe Read more
Nicholas Whithorn
In January, Italy must elect a new President in a ritual equivalent to a Papal conclave. The likely contenders are already emerging, but, argues Nicholas Whithorn, there are no certainties in this election – especially when there are complications concerning the favourite, Mario Draghi Read more
Dennis Penu
How do federal states die? Dennis Penu looks at the case of Ghana, explaining that a federal state can die gradually rather than suddenly. In crisis situations such as the current pandemic, political forces can easily exploit such gradual change Read more
Katjana Gattermann
Media reports on elections often refer to the 'winners' and 'losers'. Yet, especially in multi-party systems, there is often more than one way to interpret election results. How the media frames election results does not depend only on parties’ objective performance, write Katjana Gattermann, Thomas M. Meyer and Katharina Wurzer. It also depends on also on party ideology Read more
Kai Oppermann
Post-Brexit, support for EU referendums persists in the party systems of most EU member states. Kai Oppermann finds that this support mainly comes from Eurosceptic opposition parties, often on the populist far-right, and that the Brexit effect on party positions has been relatively weak and uneven Read more
Hager Ali
A military coup on 25 October put an abrupt end to Sudan’s fragile democratic transition. Hager Ali argues that although the coup pre-empted a foreseeable power-transfer, the military also created a much bigger problem for itself. The same socio-political conditions that kept al-Bashir in power for decades now threaten the military’s capacity to govern Read more
Tom Theuns
Tom Theuns argues Jean-Paul Gagnon’s ‘data mountain’ project cannot achieve its goals because of fundamental problems of over-inclusion and under-inclusion, problems that can only be solved by recourse to democratic theory. But that is not to say that the project is without value Read more
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