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March 4, 2022

🌊 Autocratisation: the key to capturing today's democratic difficulties

João Alípio Correa The concept of 'illiberal democracy' is well-founded, but João Alípio Correa argues that it fails to convey what is happening in regimes described as such. To gain a more incisive understanding of the current deterioration in democratic regimes, he proposes the umbrella definition 'autocratisation' Read more

March 1, 2022

🦋 Democracy by any other name

Kathleen McCrudden Illert Jean-Paul Gagnon has argued that the most promising way of approaching the total texture of democracy is through words. But, asks Kathleen McCrudden Illert, what’s in a name? Many theories that we would recognise today as democratic were not, due to their historical context, associated with the signifier ‘democracy’ – and these concepts will be missing from Gagnon’s data mountain. Read more

February 28, 2022

The fragility of democratic freedoms in the Covid-19 pandemic

Pavlos Vasilopoulos In research monitoring public attitudes during the Covid-19 pandemic, Pavlos Vasilopoulos, Haley McAvay, Sylvain Brouard, and Martial Foucault found that public commitment to civil liberties is highly volatile, especially when fear prevails. This, they argue, should worry proponents of democracy Restriction of civil liberties under Covid The Covid-19 pandemic brought unprecedented restrictions to civil liberties […] Read more

February 25, 2022

The benefits and risks for the EU of ‘differentiated integration’

Sandra Kröger Using an expert survey, Sandra Kröger and Thomas Loughran assess the benefits and risks for the EU of ‘differentiated integration’ – where countries do not participate in specific policy areas or proceed at different speeds of integration. Their findings reveal mixed support for the process with some notable differences of opinion. Read more

February 25, 2022

The public wants the government to protect them from themselves – sometimes

Clareta Treger In a study of public attitudes towards government paternalism, Clareta Treger finds that, when it comes to their own safety and health, individuals prefer coercive government policies over nudges that steer them towards welfare-enhancing behaviour. This should be taken into consideration when devising strategies to mitigate COVID-19 and future crises. Read more

February 22, 2022

🌊 The authoritarian consolidation attempt in Turkey

Görkem Altınörs Görkem Altınörs and Ümit Akçay analyse the political economy of regime change in Turkey. The AKP's 'authoritarian fix' strategy was a response to multiple crises in the 2010s. Now, it has led to an attempt at authoritarian consolidation Read more

February 21, 2022

Why Catalan pro-independence parties want their own state

Anwen Elias Many assume that pro-independence parties want their own state because they believe the state has treated their territory unfairly. Anwen Elias and Núria Franco-Guillén argue that Catalan independentists also want independence to improve democracy and create a fairer, more prosperous society Read more

February 18, 2022

EU foreign policy towards China is little more than the sum of its parts

Steven Langendonk Steven Langendonk contests the idea that Brussels’ new China strategy is indicative of greater agency. Instead, he says, the EU-China relationship is firmly grounded in internal struggles. The pressure is on to manipulate member states' sentiments and to provide a new political narrative for a changing relationship. Read more

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