Political party bans
This briefing examines the theoretical and legal foundations of party bans, their implementation in EU Member States, and international recommendations concerning this measure.
democracy
With this Putin-inspired attack, Trump crossed a line no president ever dared touch
On Monday, Donald Trump crossed another line that no president in our history has ever dared to touch. With the echo of Vladimir Putin’s whisper in his ear, in front of President Volodymyr Zelensky and seven other European leaders, Trump announced he’…
How Cybersecurity Fears Affect Confidence in Voting Systems
American democracy runs on trust, and that trust is cracking.
Nearly half of Americans, both Democrats and Republicans, question whether elections are conducted fairly. Some voters accept election results only when their side wins. The problem isn’t just political polarization—it’s a creeping erosion of trust in the machinery of democracy itself.
Commentators blame ideological tribalism, misinformation campaigns and partisan echo chambers for this crisis of trust. But these explanations miss a critical piece of the puzzle: a growing unease with the digital infrastructure that now underpins nearly every aspect of how Americans vote…
Interview – Olukayode Bakare
Olukayode Bakare analyzes coups, global rivalries, Nigeria-EU ties, and Africa’s democratic decline amid insecurity and shifting geopolitical dynamics.
The Voter Experience
Technology and innovation have transformed every part of society, including our electoral experiences. Campaigns are spending and doing more than at any other time in history. Ever-growing war chests fuel billions of voter contacts every cycle. Campaigns now have better ways of scaling outreach methods and offer volunteers and donors more efficient ways to contribute time and money. Campaign staff have adapted to vast changes in media and social media landscapes, and use data analytics to forecast voter turnout and behavior.
Yet despite these unprecedented investments in mobilizing voters, overall trust in electoral health, democratic institutions, voter satisfaction, and electoral engagement has significantly declined. What might we be missing?…
Opinion – The Return of Culture in Democracies
The return of the culture to the centre stage needs to be seen as constitutive of democracies and not an aberration.
Review – Contesting Pluralism
Fisher-Onar compellingly reframes Turkish politics as ‘pluralizers’ vs. ‘anti-pluralists’, though critics warn of reasserting Western hegemonies in pluralist terms.
Reimagining Democracy
Imagine that all of us—all of society—have landed on some alien planet and need to form a government: clean slate. We do not have any legacy systems from the United States or any other country. We do not have any special or unique interests to perturb our thinking. How would we govern ourselves? It is unlikely that we would use the systems we have today. Modern representative democracy was the best form of government that eighteenth-century technology could invent. The twenty-first century is very different: scientifically, technically, and philosophically. For example, eighteenth-century democracy was designed under the assumption that travel and communications were both hard…
The End of US Democracy and the Implications for International Relations
Trump’s illiberalism will leave the world with three dominant military powers that are all non-democratic: China, Russia and the US.
Interview – Gerardo L. Munck
Gerardo Munck explores global political history, democracy-capitalism tensions, and Latin America’s role in shaping political thought beyond Eurocentric theories.