Martín Portos
The fight against corruption has been at the heart of recent mass protests across the world. But does corruption drive political participation, and if so, who is it mobilising? Research by Raffaele Bazurli and Martín Portos suggests – counterintuitively – that people with less education are the most likely to rise up Read more
Lucía Dammert
On 6 June, amid a profound health and economic crisis, presidential elections take place in Peru. Voting for the lesser of two evils is not new, writes Lucia Dammert, yet the 2021 election deepens Peru's political deterioration and further weakens its democratic governance Read more
Dragomir Stoyanov
The success of new challenger parties in Bulgaria's recent national election has reconfigured the country's party system. Dragomir Stoyanov speculates that this may well mark an end to the decade-long era of Prime Minister Boyko Borissov Read more
Alistair Cole
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been found guilty of corruption and misuse of influence. Alistair Cole traces Sarkozy’s misfortunes in part to his personal political style, but also, more profoundly, to a broader move towards transparency that has pitted judges against politicians 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
Rachel M. Gisselquist
The last several months have given us many reasons to worry about US democracy – not least the riot at the US Capitol and the president’s refusal to accept the results of the November election, with Republican support. Rachel Gisselquist argues that clientelism is yet another reason to worry Read more
Albrecht Rothacher
The impact of Covid-19 has laid bare the structural weaknesses of the Russian economy, dependent as it is upon nefarious practices and long-term assumptions about perennial growth in the world market for oil and gas, writes Albrecht Rothacher. And in the face of rising Chinese competition, future prospects are bleak Read more
Sarah Engler
Only populist parties fight elections using anti-corruption slogans, right? Wrong. Sarah Engler finds that other parties too, sloganeer in this way – many without any reference to the ‘corrupt elite’ Read more
