Pelin Ayan Musil
In the 2023 presidential and parliamentary elections, Turkish opposition parties suffered catastrophic defeat. Several factors contributed to their surprise victory in the recent local elections. Pelin Ayan Musil and Sultan Tepe argue that shifting from alliance to party-centred competition gave opposition parties a striking advantage – and laid bare the vulnerabilities of President Erdoğan’s political strategies Read more
Collins Molua Ikome
Collins Molua Ikome writes that the political and electoral landscape in Cameroon makes it impossible to defeat the ruling CPDM party in an election. Paul Biya's regime is exploiting the Anglophone conflict to consolidate power. A potential military coup in Cameroon is, however, unlikely Read more
Andreas Dür
Andreas Dür and Robert A. Huber argue that (changes in) trade flows and regions’ economic structures matter for political outcomes. Regions’ trade competitiveness affects both legislators’ trade attitudes and incumbents’ re-election chances Read more
Seema Shah
Around the world, the quality of democracy – and support for it – is in decline. In this context, Seema Shah argues that the future legitimacy of the democratic model depends on the separation of democratic values from democratic procedures Read more
Werner Krause
Werner Krause and Christina Gahn argue that we need to pay more attention to how the media communicates the results of opinion polls to the public. Reporting methodological details, such as margins of error, can alter citizens’ vote choices on election day. This has important implications for elections around the globe Read more
Matthew E Bergman
Recent elections in several countries have produced inconclusive outcomes. This has resulted in extended periods of bargaining between parties to determine the next government. Matthew E Bergman, Hanna Bäck, and Wolfgang C Müller argue that contrary to conventional wisdom, long bargaining periods might actually be a constructive investment in future productivity Read more
Gift Mwonzora
Can digitalisation prevent election tampering in Zimbabwe? New technologies certainly have the potential to improve the conduct and management of elections. But, as Gift Mwonzora argues, without concomitant political will and adherence to electoral laws, digitalisation does little to enhance electoral integrity and democracy in (semi-)authoritarian regimes Read more
Piotr Marczyński
Neither Poland's government nor its opposition has a straightforward path toward an electoral majority. Meanwhile, personal conflict between Jarosław Kaczyński and Donald Tusk dominates the news cycle. Piotr Marczyński argues this configuration reflects the shallow roots of the Polish party system, with axes of polarisation gradually realigning along ideological lines Read more
