Julian Garritzmann
Public opinion affects policy-making when the topic is salient and when most people share the same opinion, write Julian Garritzmann, Marius Busemeyer and Erik Niemanns. Yet when the public disagrees on what they want – or when many people don’t care – the influence of public opinion is significantly reduced Read more
Angie Gago
From 2014, ECJ decisions on welfare access have departed significantly from previous case law. Angie Gago and Francesco Maiani analyse two Court dialogues, one with the EU legislator, the other with national authorities Read more
Martino Comelli
You might think the US would be world champion of household debt, yet the highest private indebtment has always been in the Nordic countries, where inclusive welfare makes debt into an investment. But debt takes on different forms, writes Martino Comelli, and gerontocratic welfare and consumer credit is a burden for those in other nations Read more
Lynda Gilby
Lynda Gilby explains how and why, against expectations, it is New Zealand’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic that has proved to be one of (if not the) most successful in the world Read more
Catherine Moury
While socialist parties in Europe struggle in times of austerity, the Portuguese left has found a winning strategy, write Catherine Moury and Elisabetta de Giorgi. Combining discrete austerity measures with some visible anti-austerity ones, they have managed to please constituency and supporting partners alike Read more
Simon Otjes
On 15 January, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte was forced to resign after thousands of parents in the Netherlands were wrongly accused of benefit fraud. But the outcry has not diminished faith in Rutte as a leader, writes Simon Otjes Read more
Gerelyn Terzo
The Covid vaccine debate is rapidly changing, from whether we will get a vaccine to when, where and how it will be rolled out. But, writes Gerelyn Terzo, this immediately raises questions about whether socio-economic development will determine who gets it first Read more
Francesco Saverio Montesano
An increasing number of scholars want to campaign for positive change outside the academic echo chamber, but overlook their own evidence when they refuse to engage with any view not exclusively based on science. Francesco S. Montesano argues that this will only deepen the gap between ‘experts’ and the rest of society Read more
