On 15 August 2021, Marzia Saramad was working for UNICEF in the Afghan capital, Kabul, when the Taliban seized control. Here, she explains Afghanistan's relevance to the global illiberal agenda I left for work in the early morning, just as I did every day. On the bus en route, everyone seemed worried, but nobody could have predicted that day's gruesome turn of events. By the time I struggled to find my way back that evening, Kabul's once-bustling streets had fallen eerily silent. The next day, 16 August, the situation had worsened. As an Afghan woman from a minority group, I was no longer safe ..read more

How do think tanks establish a unique position in a saturated policy advisory landscape? Bert Fraussen and Valérie Pattyn show that Belgian think tanks set themselves apart from other actors by prioritising long-term, evidence-based policy advice. Aligned with the nation’s administrative tradition, they also adopt consensual strategies The relevance of Belgian think tanks In many countries, the number of think tanks has surged. Does this increase in numbers translate into political power and relevance? Previous research has focused mainly on Anglophone countries with Westminster systems. It co ..read more

As climate policy costs rise, right-leaning voters experience cognitive dissonance. As a result, Sofia Henriks writes, they lower their worries about climate impact when there is an increase in private costs. But what about the left-leaning voters? In recent years, few issues have attracted as much attention as the need to reduce carbon emissions on our planet. Despite a promising development in public opinion on support for climate mitigation policies, there is a strong divide between left and right in preferences terms, which presents a challenge for the green transition. To promote effectiv ..read more

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 Turkey’s tilted electoral playing field disproportionately favours the country's longstanding president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Opposition victory in the recent 2024 local elections th ..read more

Colombians are growing increasingly frustrated at their government's failure to produce progressive advances. This failure signals a peculiar democratic deficit: oligarchic modes of rule. Jan Boesten, Lerber Dimas Vásquez, Daniel Llanos Ramírez and William Andrés Mesa Cárdenas argue that oligarchy offers new insights into Latin America's democratic delinquents In government, but not in power The election of Gustavo Petro in 2022 could have been a watershed moment for Colombia. Petro was a relative outsider to the traditional political elite. He is a former guerrillero who enjoys the firm backi ..read more

Not all conspiracy theories that spread on social media remain popular over time. Courtney Blackington and Frances Cayton argue that conspiracy theories which map onto salient cleavages are more likely to persist and spread online. They find that elites who endorse such conspiracy theories do not always attract engagement unless an event occurs that makes those conspiracy theories salient When conspiracy theories gain engagement On social media, conspiracy theories can reach new audiences, attract new believers, and spread widely. However, not all gain traction. What influences how much engage ..read more

Is populism ‘emotional’ and mainstream politics ‘rational’? Donatella Bonansinga argues that the divide between rationality and emotionality is rooted in cultural misperceptions, and all politics can be ‘emotional’. Populism is peculiarly emotional, because it taps in to very specific affective states, with key differences between left and right Populism and emotions: the myth Conventional wisdom often equates populism with an ‘irrational’ or ‘emotional’ way of doing politics. Supporters of populist parties are accused of voting out of rage, anger, fear and ‘gut feelings’ rather than ‘rational ..read more

In Indonesia's most recent presidential elections, voters elected a popular strongman. Iqra Anugrah explains that the recent illiberal direction of Indonesian democracy has its roots in the authoritarian legacy of a political figure from the last century: the charismatic, Machiavellian and hugely influential Ali Moertopo After years of bucking the global authoritarian turn, Indonesia is now led by an illiberal strongman. Victory for Prabowo Subianto in the recent presidential election suggests the hollowing-out of Indonesian democracy. Subianto is a rich ex-general who served during the dictat ..read more

In recent decades, real progress has been made toward inclusivity in urban policies and access to urban spaces. Cătălina Frâncu warns these gains are now under threat. Here, she explores the impact of illiberalism on the exclusion of women and marginalised groups from urban public spaces Women and minorities in the city The foundation stone of the ancient city holds the names of its citizens... but only the patricians' — men, rich, the ruling class. Historically, women and slaves had no access to politics, neither could they speak in agoras. Over thousands of years, women and marginalised grou ..read more

Feelings are relevant to the study of democracy. Yet they prove difficult to encapsulate. Delving into the worlds of Michel Houellebecq, Jürgen Habermas and Emmanuel Macron, Shivdeep Grewal suggests an ‘experiential’ approach Sad passions Jean-Paul Gagnon writes of two states in which ‘data on democracy’ might be said to exist. One is ‘concerned with what peoples leave behind. Words.’ As a basis for research, it promises insights into the ‘total texture of democracy’. The other ‘is lived, phenomenal, and incredibly tricky to measure’. Nevertheless, ‘it is essential to study it’. Thinking back ..read more