Costas Panayotakis
Costas Panayotakis analyses the popular claim that 'every vote counts' in a democracy. He finds it is based on false assumptions and a misunderstanding of statistical probability. Voting and democratic participation, he concludes, are not based on individualistic self-interest but on some degree of idealism and solidarity Read more
Lisa Van Dijk
In representative democracies, many citizens feel disconnected from those who make political decisions on their behalf. In extreme cases, they may even refuse to accept democratic decisions and contemplate alternative forms of government. Lisa van Dijk, James Pow and Sofie Marien test the effectiveness of ‘minipublics’ to offset these problems Read more
Julieta Suárez-Cao
Chile’s constitutional reform started after massive social protests in 2019. With gender parity, reserved seats for indigenous people, and a significant number of seats for independent delegates, Julieta Suarez-Cao argues that the country's assembly is on track to rebuild democratic legitimacy in the years to come 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
Markus Patberg
The Conference on the Future of Europe aims to produce proposals for EU ureform in a participatory manner. Yet, writes Markus Patberg, its setup suggests top-down steering, and lacks a clear conception of democratic authorisation. The envisaged forms of broad but unsystematic inclusion might even be counterproductive to the declared goal of empowering citizens Read more
Benjamin Leruth
A new European party, Volt, debuted in the Tweede Kamer following last week's Dutch elections. The party faces challenges, but it could play a role in domestic political landscapes throughout Europe, writes Benjamin Leruth Read more
Stefanie Reher
Disabled people are underrepresented in elected office, so it's unlikely that public policy will reflect the interests of the 15% of the population living with disability. Stefanie Reher argues that we need to better understand the causes, and consequences, of such low representation Read more
