In the 50th anniversary of democracy, Portugal held snap legislative elections on March 10. The President of the Republic called the elections in response to the early termination of the Costa III cabinet in November 2023 and the corruption scandal surrounding it. Most noticeably, the election outcomes show a loss of support for the incumbent Socialist Party (-13%), the rise of the radical right-wing populist Enough! (+11%), and a 15% turnout increase. What explains these changes? What issues did political parties emphasize in the electoral campaign? How will the success of Enough! affect coal ..read more

Why do some presidents with authoritarian ambitions succeed while others fail? How can we resist democratic backsliding? Laura Gamboa (University of Utah) discusses the research and outcomes of her latest book Resisting Backsliding: Opposition Strategies against the Erosion of Democracy⁠ with Benedicte Bull (University of Oslo). Chaired by Luis Ramiro, Reviews Editor of European Political Science. Read Benedicte's complete review ⁠here ..read more

The Netherlands goes to the polls on 22 November in what is set to be a nail-biting general election. Pieter Omtzigt’s New Social Contract, a challenger party created only last summer, is predicted to become one of the major political parties in the Dutch parliament - and probably, too, in the next Dutch government. What does the new party stand for? How will its emergence affect the Dutch party system? What are the other key contenders in this election? And why did former Prime Minister Rutte decide to call a snap election in the first place? In this episode, Raul Gomez, co-editor of the Poli ..read more

How do group-based cross-pressures lead to instability in voters' choices? What explains increased net electoral volatility in the democracies of advanced countries? Ruth Dassonneville (University of Montreal) discusses the research and outcomes of her latest book Voters under Pressure: Group-Based Cross-Pressure and Electoral Volatility with Nick Martin (University of Amsterdam). Chaired by Luis Ramiro, Reviews Editor of European Political Science. Read Nick's complete review here ..read more

On October 15 2023, Polish citizens went to the polls to the renew the Parliament, producing the highest turnout ever in post-Communist Poland. The main result has been the defeat of the ruling PiS led by Jarosław Kaczyński and the victory of the opposition coalition, led by Donald Tusk. What were the main points of contentions between and withing the two political camps? Why did many Polish citizens go to vote for the opposition parties? What can one expect with regard to government formation and future policies? Michelangelo Vercesi, co-editor of the Political Data Yearbook, discusses these ..read more

The recent victory of the populist party Smer (Direction) in the 2023 Slovak parliamentary election has sparked concerns about Slovakia’s return to national populism. Are these fears warranted? Is Slovakia sliding into illiberalism and drifting away from the West? Or is the excessive focus on populism preventing analysts from seeing underlying opposing changes in Slovakia’s political landscape? In this episode, recorded two days after the election, Raul Gomez, co-editor of the Political Data Yearbook, discusses these issues with Kevin Deegan-Krause (Wayne State University), Erika Harris (Unive ..read more

What are the prospects of the radical right entering the next Spanish government? Will the coalition government between the Social Democrats and the radical left survive the general election? What are the main issues in this campaign? And what might Spanish politics look like after 23 July? With only a few weeks remaining before Spain’s next general election, Raul Gomez, co-editor of the Political Data Yearbook, talks to Ana Mar Fernandez-Pasarin (Autonomous University of Barcelona) and Asbel Bohigues (University of Valencia) about upcoming events ..read more

In this instalment of our Seminar Series on Migration and Ethnicity, our speaker discusses planetary movements in the 21st century and how it challenges traditional political agency through activism and resistance for justice. Speaker Engin Isin, Queen Mary University of London Find out more about this seminar: https://ecpr.eu/Events/Event/PanelDet ..read more

Held in conjunction with the 2023 ECPR Joint Sessions of Workshops in Sciences Po Toulouse and part of our House Series, this year's Stein Rokkan Lecture's speaker illustrates how Fariba Adelkhah's embodiment of scientific freedom, including her preservation of autonomy from political authorities and defense of independence from intellectual or scientific trends, can inspire a broader discussion on current trends challenging scientific freedom in authoritarian countries like Iran and democracies alike. Speaker Béatrice Hibou, Sciences Po Centre for International Studies Chair Jean-Michel Eymer ..read more

In this instalment of our Seminar Series on the European Union, our speakers talk about how the EU struggles with a lack of coordination in its asylum and migration policies, but the pandemic has accelerated the digitalization of public services for migrants, and they have used a comparative analysis of four European cities to reveal varying approaches to coordinative Europeanization based on a discourse of humanitarian civic duty. Speakers Sarah Wolff, Queen Mary University of London Federica Zardo, University of Krems Discussant Leila Hadj-Abdou, European University Institute Find out more a ..read more