Lea Portmann
In Switzerland, poor political representation of people with a migrant background is not simply the result of prejudice and deliberate penalising by voters. Lea Portmann and Nenad Stojanović show that it is also caused by voters systematically favouring native ingroup candidates Read more
Ekaterina Rashkova
Millions of people no longer live in their countries of birth, and this can distort political representation, argues Ekaterina Rashkova-Gerbrands. If expats had been eligible to vote in recent Dutch parliamentary elections, we would have seen more support for innovative parties such as the D66 and Groen Links 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
Fabian Habersack
Populist radical right parties have been remarkably successful in recent decades, yet strategies to contain them regularly fail. Can non-radical parties do anything to counter them? Fabian Habersack suggests mainstream parties could signal ‘responsiveness’ while remaining committed to their policy goals Read more
Maciej Górecki
Researchers now have tools to assess the influence of gender quotas on electoral systems. But, write Maciej Górecki and Michał Pierzgalski, the impact of such quotas reveals limited improvement in women’s political representation 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
Jonathan Polk
Political parties are the mainstay of our democracy – but do they adapt to changes in public opinion? In new research, Raimondas Ibenskas and Jonathan Polk reassure us that they do Read more
