Sort Articles

Political Concepts

August 12, 2022

♟️ Before categorising autocracies, we need to count them accurately

Edward Goldring Hager Ali launched this series by pointing out that 'we lack the terminology to do anything beyond counting non-democracies'. Yet Edward Goldring argues that we sometimes struggle to accurately do that. This raises troubling questions for analyses of non-democracies – and emphasises the importance of studying history Read more
August 6, 2022

🦋 Collecting the butterflies of democracy with Ludwig Wittgenstein

Erik Liam Severson Defining ‘democracy’ has proven to be an arduous task, but Erik Liam Severson asks whether we need a definitive definition. He finds that the work of Ludwig Wittgenstein can offer support for the project, but indicates the value of having an open, rather than total, texture and definition of democracy Read more
August 1, 2022

🦋 Confronting democracy’s foundational flaws

Anna Drake How should we approach a database of democracy’s words when many of these collected democracies fail to respect people’s moral and political equality? According to Anna Drake, if we want meaningful narratives to emerge, then we must confront foundational challenges to democracy and centre these in our analysis. Read more
July 25, 2022

🦋 The ‘Science of Democracy’ is more than falsification

James Wong While Jean-Paul Gagnon’s data mountain project aims to rescue an abandoned science, others reject the study as not genuinely scientific. James Wong advocates a pluralist view of the epistemic commitments of (political) science and argues that Gagnon’s project can be grounded in scientific anti-realism and constructivism Read more
July 20, 2022

🦋 Connecting theory to the messy realities of democratic innovations in practice

Lucy J Parry Lucy J Parry recognises the value of a database of democracy but is concerned about its utility in the real world. If this data mountain is to bolster democratic innovation, we need to step away from detached order and engage with the messy reality of democratic innovations in practice Read more
July 11, 2022

♟️ Autocracy in democracy’s mirror

Matthijs Bogaards Can we see autocracy more clearly if we see it as the opposite of democracy? Or do we need to look at autocracy as a category in its own right? Matthijs Bogaards provides an answer through a critical examination of the concept of defective autocracy, the mirror of defective democracy. Read more
July 8, 2022

🦋 The butterfly effect: representation as fractal politics

Alex Prior What does a coastline have in common with effective rhetoric? Each component resembles something bigger, and bigger, and bigger. And what can this sort of fractal pattern show us about politics? To Alex Prior, fractals illustrate successful representation, and the impulses that drive it Read more
July 7, 2022

♟️ A 'cat-dog' called electoral autocracy

Adrián del Río Since the 80s, electoral autocracy has been considered the most common form of dictatorship. Yet, as Adrián del Río shows, little is known about what this regime is and how we can recognise it. There is, in fact, only a 34% probability of datasets agreeing on examples Read more

The Loop

Cutting-edge analysis showcasing the work of the political science discipline at its best.
Read more
THE EUROPEAN CONSORTIUM FOR POLITICAL RESEARCH
Advancing Political Science
© 2024 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.
linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram