Simon Weschle
The UK government is embroiled in a sleaze scandal after a Conservative Member of Parliament was found to have lobbied for a company in which he held a second job. Simon Weschle argues that these jobs have systematic consequences for how legislators behave in parliament — some problematic, some not Read more
Sergio Ricardo Quiroga
As Argentina heads for primary and then legislative elections in September, Sergio Ricardo Quiroga assesses the state of Argentinian politics through election build-up in a single province, San Luis. He finds that Argentina’s socioeconomic crisis cannot be resolved without first confronting its crisis of democracy Read more
MartÃn 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 MartÃn Portos suggests – counterintuitively – that people with less education are the most likely to rise up Read more
LucÃa 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
