Reginald Oduor
Reginald M.J. Oduor encourages more political theorists to disentangle themselves from the idea that democracy and elections are inextricably bound. Through this he seeks to promote the pursuit of genuine citizen participation in post-colonial states in Africa and elsewhere Read more
John Capps
Democracy comes in lots of different flavours. How do we make sense of this? Is having all these meanings a feature or a bug? John Capps suggests that the idea of 'open texture' can help us better understand democratic theory and practice Read more
Erica Dorn
Democracy today is a colonial artefact tied to violent borders. Moreover, it produces an increasing number of non-citizens, unable to participate in democracy where they live. Erica Dorn and Federico Vaz argue that Gagnon's courageous enquiry into defining the historical landscape of democracy can bring more equity to its current – unjust – paradigm Read more
Giovanni Capoccia
A second term of office for Emmanuel Macron remains the most probable outcome of the French Presidential election, but it is no longer a foregone conclusion. The race with Marine Le Pen now looks more competitive than ever, says Giovanni Capoccia. Read more
Katjana Gattermann
Media reports on elections often refer to the 'winners' and 'losers'. Yet, especially in multi-party systems, there is often more than one way to interpret election results. How the media frames election results does not depend only on parties’ objective performance, write Katjana Gattermann, Thomas M. Meyer and Katharina Wurzer. It also depends on also on party ideology Read more
Costas Panayotakis
Costas Panayotakis recently exposed the fiction in the ‘Every Vote Counts’ thesis. Here, he explores the implications of that fiction for different electoral systems, notably those based on Proportional Representation and First Past the Post. In so doing, he reveals the futility of tactical voting Read more
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
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
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