According to Brussels, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has systematically been dismantling the rule of law in Hungary since 2010. In a final attempt to do something about this, the EU wants to make payment of subsidies dependent on respect for the rule of law.

It is difficult to hold international organisations (IOs) accountable for human rights violations. Gisela Hirschmann (Institute of Political Science, Leiden University) introduces the concept of pluralist accountability, whereby third parties set the standards for IOs’ actions in relation to human rights,…

Cynthia van Vonno, political scientist at Leiden University, explains why individual MPs vote according to the party group line.

It is often claimed that social media can contribute to democratic decision-making by bringing politicians and citizens into dialogue with one another. But is this potential always realised, and how? Most researchers look at politicians and their online communication strategies. In this New Media &…

The revolutionary organizations in Paris and Berlin around 1848.

Philosophical pragmatism has found more and more applications. But thus far it has not been applied to political crisis management. Political scientist Martin Bartenberger linked these two together and discovered that pragmatism, or the lack thereof, can help to explain how governments and public agencies…

This research cluster is a part of the Institute of Political Science’s research programme ‘Institutions, Decisions and Collective Behaviour’.

Everything you need to know about the minor Disinformation and Strategic Communication in Global Media.

This research cluster is a part of the Institute of Political Science’s research programme ‘Institutions, Decisions and Collective Behaviour’.

Ramesh Ganohariti, PhD student and Ernst Dijxhoorn, Assistant Professor at Leiden University, researched the relation between international relations and sports, with sport and sports events increasingly being used for various diplomatic and political goals.

How do politics and play relate to each other? Six Leiden academics hope to find an answer to that question over the coming years. They have received an NWO grant of 750,000 euros. Professor Sybille Lammes and University Lecturer Bram tell us how they plan to spend the money.

Rudy Andeweg, professor of empirical political science at Leiden University, joins the Dutch Electoral Council as of 1 January 2017.

How can the support for a collaborative approach to global challenges be increased, in times when international organisations’ capacity to act is under threat? Gisela Hirschmann (Leiden University) and Cornelia Ulbert (University of Duisburg-Essen) suggest a number of options.

On 17 October 2022, Jan Aart Scholte contributed to a conference plenary roundtable on 'From Internet Governance to Digital Political Economy'. Click here to find out more about the event.

The following maps show institutional collaborations and with indigenous communities (scroll down).

For the next couple of years, Joris van der Voet, Associate Professor and researcher at the Institute for Public Administration will be heading a research project on top-level bureaucrats and how they go about making choices and prioritizing issues. He has been awarded a Vidi grant by the Dutch Research…

The nominees for the Prof. Dr. J.Th.J. van den Berg-prijs 2022 and the IRO Thesis Prize 2022. Who wrote the best bachelor thesis in Political Science?

A flood of news reports, push notifications and even extra news broadcasts: on Wednesday, the world was shocked by the storming of the Capitol in Washington. Americanist Sara Polak discusses the events.

The nominees for the IRO thesis prize 2023 and the Prof. Dr. J.Th.J. van den Berg-prijs 2023. Who wrote the best bachelor theses in Political Science?

Leiden political scientists Yvonne Kleistra and Niels van Willigen have advised the United States State Department as to how to evaluate its foreign policy. Point of departure was a scientific model that Kleistra and Van Willigen have developed on the basis of their work for the Dutch Foreign Affairs…

With the Dutch general elections just around the corner, it’s not always easy when political differences exist within your circle of friends. How do you not lose sight of each other in political discussions? We asked best friends Jort Schaafsma and Michiel van der Velde, both students at Leiden Law…

This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the Islamic State's use of images taken by drones, drawing on a dataset of ISIS propaganda images from October 2016 to December 2018.

Impressions by Oene de Haan - PhD candidate at Utrecht University

Political scientist Simon Chauchard (Leiden University) has been awarded a Consolidator Grant by the European Research Council (ERC). This brings him recognition as ‘researcher with a promising track record’ and enables him to set up a research group in the coming five years. Chauchard et al. will analyse…

Bart Barendregt, Ratna Saptari, and Annemarie Samuels co-organised a two-day workshop on

Political scientist Femke Bakker (Leiden University) is going to investigate whether meditation affects political behaviour. Bakker has been awarded a PEACE Grant by the Mind & Life Institute, which enables her to conduct innovative, experimental research. The aim is an answer to the question whether…

The Member States of the European Union do not intervene when a Member State disrespects the values of the European Union, Judith Sargentini, member of the GroenLinks party at the European Parliament, said at the annual Europa Lecture on 9 May in the Lorentzzaal of the KOG Building.

Wouter Veenendaal, a political scientist at Leiden University, is an analyst for the Freedom House report. Freedom House is an American non-profit organisation dedicated to democracy, political freedom and human rights. In short, the report describes the degree of freedom and the state of democracy…

In less than a week’s time, millions of Turkish people are going to decide who will govern their country for the next five years. These elections promise to be the most closely contested in years, with the opinion polls showing very small differences and everything at stake, including for Europe. Alp…

The ECPR summer school on Interest Group Politics is celebrating its 10th anniversary. To celebrate this especial edition, this year’s summer school includes many renowned researchers and professors from around the world. In addition, as a part of the celebration, we are organizing an exceptional one-day…

One of the baffling aspects of international power politics is the unexpectedly major influence exercised by particular small states. Professor of International Studies and Global History Isabelle Duijvesteijn discovered that peace missions and development aid help generate power. Inaugural lecture…

We are living through an age in which social media platforms have given way to entirely new forms of politics and politicking. It is no exaggeration to say: there is a before and after social media.

In recent years, freedom of movement within Europe has come under increasing pressure as a result of transboundary crisis situations. In his inaugural lecture on 22 October, Professor Jorrit Rijpma argues that what is needed is even closer cooperation to provide the best protection.

Leiden University continues to do well in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings. For the subject area Politics and International Relations, the 2018 edition ranks Leiden 67th in the world. This is not that far behind the ‘usual suspects’ (Cambridge, Stanford, MIT and the like). Among…

This dissertation sheds light on politics, education and linguistic identity by studying the case of the College of Jerusalem, founded by the Brothers of the Christian Schools.

It is with great sadness that we have learned of the death Professor Hans Daalder (4 May 1928 – 4 April 2016).

China is a one-party regime, yet elections are held for the local congresses. PhD candidate Wang Zhongyuan investigated how the Communist Party uses this democratic instrument to strengthen the authoritarian regime. PhD defence 31 January.

This winter the OZSW offers a special PhD-course in Political Philosophy. The course discusses state-of-the-art themes and developments in political philosophy, and acquaints students with a broad range of teachers in political philosophy in the Netherlands.

Ramsey Albers wins Political Science Master’s Thesis Prize 2022

Recently, a new round of NWO XS grants was awarded. This grant is given to researchers with small, high-risk, innovative or promising research projects by the Dutch Research Council (NWO). In this round of the so-called Open Competition XS, no fewer than six researchers from the Institute of Political…

This article examines to what extent bureaucratic responsiveness depends upon the source, the content and the salience.