Greece and Spain

Two Unexpectedly Different Political Paths By Alexandros Ntaflos A few days ago, Greece was celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the historic Polytechnic uprising. According to many historians, the radical nature of this uprising played an important role in the subsequent major social change brought about by the Metapolitefsi, gradually consolidating the political hegemony of the... Continue Reading →

The 2022 Slovenian Parliamentary Elections

By Simona Kustec Background After the last parliamentary elections in 2018 the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDP) was a relative winner. Nonetheless, they were not able to form a coalition government.  Instead, Marjan Šarec, as the second best by the election results formed a minority left-centered government. Still, he resigned just before the Covid-19 pandemic became widespread.... Continue Reading →

Two New Members Elected to the Swiss Federal Council

By Stephan Kyburz The Swiss Federal Council – Collective Executive Power On Tuesday, December 7th, the Swiss parliament elected two new Federal Councillors. While Albert Rösti (55) of the People’s Party (SVP) was elected as expected, Elisabeth Baume-Schneider (59) of the Social-Democratic Party (SP) was a surprise winner, defeating the favored Eva Herzog (SP). Mrs.... Continue Reading →

Simon Usherwood on Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, and the Nested Games of British Politics

Simon Usherwood is a Professor of Politics & International Studies at the Open University, Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Surrey's Centre for Britain & Europe and a National Teaching Fellow. Simon coauthored (along with John Pindar) The European Union: A Very Short Introduction. He recently coedited (along with Agnès Alexandre-Collier and Pauline Schnapper) The Nested... Continue Reading →

Nested Games

Become a Patron! The Nested Games of Brexit It's typical to talk about a political calculus, but less common to think about politics like calculus. A common misconception about politicians is they care about public opinion. This is a half-truth. They do care about what voters think, but they don't care about the totality of... Continue Reading →

Martin Conway Believes “Democracy Owes its Durability Not to its Principles but to its Flexibility.” Democracy in Western Europe from 1945 to 1968

Martin Conway is the author of the new book Western Europe’s Democratic Age: 1945—1968 and a Professor of Contemporary European History at the University of Oxford.   Where you and I and, I think, many others start from an assumption that somehow there is a thing called democracy and we sort of know what it is.... Continue Reading →

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