By Giorgos Venizelos Cyprus 2023 Elections On Sunday February 5th, 2023 Cyprus is heading to elections to choose its 8th president in the 13th electoral contest since the institution of the Republic in 1960. Cyprus is a presidential democracy, meaning that the president is elected directly from the people upon receiving 50% plus one vote.... Continue Reading →
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 →
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 →
Become a Patron! Make a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox. Authored by Valerio Alfonso Bruno Giorgia Meloni’s Victory In an election that witnessed a record level of abstentionism among voters (only about 64% went to vote), Fratelli d'Italia, with 26% of electoral preferences (Chamber of Deputies), undoubtedly cashed in a fine victory (in 2018 it... Continue Reading →
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 →
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 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 →
Western Europe's Democratic Age Over the last few years it has almost become cliché to refer to the democratic recession. Many of the most fragile democracies have reversed or even collapsed. Among the most recent involves the collapse of the government in Afghanistan due to the withdrawal of American troops. The experience serves as a... Continue Reading →
Michael Hughes explains the history of democracy in Germany. Michael is a professor of history at Wake Forest University. He discusses his most recent book Embracing Democracy in Germany: Political Citizenship and Participation, 1871-2000. A History of Democracy in Germany The German Question haunted international relations for generations. Like China, it was a rising... Continue Reading →
Political science uses Viktor Orbán as a caricature. He is thrown around as a stock example of democratic subversion. The criticism is warranted but few political scientists have gone beyond surface level analysis to understand The Orbán Regime in Hungary. It is not enough to laundry list the undesirable policies and laws his government have... Continue Reading →
