By Caitlin Andrews-Lee Charismatic Leadership in Latin America In recent years, charisma has enjoyed a resurgence in political science as leaders around the world deemed to be “charismatic” have risen to power amidst deep crises and used their authority to disrupt the political status quo. Latin America is no stranger to charismatic leadership. Historically, José... Continue Reading →
By Takis S. Pappas Describing Political Systems Say you want to construct an all-encompassing typology of political systems in the world. Now, since most knowledge is mediated by words, you had better start with establishing a clear vocabulary. Fine, but you are already stumbling upon the unclear and confusing terms used by such well-respected sources... Continue Reading →
By María Isabel Puerta Riera A massive fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, & articles, even those found in the Constitution. Donald J. Trump, December 3, 2022 The Age of Reality TV in the White House The arrival of Donald J. Trump to the White House was... Continue Reading →
by Justin Kempf A review of Anti-Constitutional Populism edited by Martin Krygier, Adam Czarnota, and Wojciech Sadurski and Constitutionalism and a Right to Effective Government? edited by Vicki C. Jackson and Yasmin Dawood. The Purpose of a Constitution Among the most useful resources for those concerned about democracy is found at Constitute. It brings together 202... Continue Reading →
Become a Patron! Preorder Towards a Green Democratic Revolution: Left Populism and the Power of Affects Populism and Chantal Mouffe In 2018, Chantal Mouffe tried to reclaim the idea of populism for the left. She argued the left must abandon its technocratic inclinations to reclaim a populist message for the masses and the working class... Continue Reading →
Become a Patron! Order your copy of Democracy in Hard Places today! Strategies Against Aspiring Autocrats The Hungarian opposition pursued a complicated electoral strategy against Viktor Orbán and Fidesz in the 2022 Hungarian parliamentary elections. They tried to unify the opposition into a single political party to overtake Fidesz in single member district competitions. The problem... Continue Reading →
Become a Patron! Colombia's Presidential Election Yesterday Gustavo Petro won Colombia's presidential election. Many journalists and commentators have already written extensively about the electoral campaign. Perhaps the most common narrative is Gustavo Petro as Columbia's first leftist president. For readers in the United States or Europe this may come across as surprising. However, Colombia's leftwing... Continue Reading →
Become a Patron! Party System Institutionalization and Democracy Political parties do not exist independently. They operate as a system or a network. Scott Mainwaring developed a term he calls party system institutionalization (PSI). A party system with high degrees of institutionalization encourages long-term party formation. On the other hand, weakly institutionalized party systems discourage the... Continue Reading →
The French Presidential Election Outcome The French Presidential Election is always important. France is the seventh largest economy in the world and a leader within the EU and NATO. However, this election had even more significant international implications. In many ways this election was the first serious test of Western support for Ukraine. Marine Le... Continue Reading →
Charismatic Movements Last week’s focus on democratic backsliding incorporated many different themes from polarization to personalist leaders. This week’s focus narrows its scope to discuss charismatic leaders and their movements. The emergence of a charismatic leader often brings about democratic erosion. However, many of us struggle to understand why people so easily fall under the... Continue Reading →
