Increased public trust in law, government and democracy.

'Trust in institutions' is one of Leiden Law School's four research focus areas.

Parliamentary democracy is under severe strain, says Hélène Landemore. Her solution is surprisingly simple: allow ordinary citizens to replace professional lawmakers. On 22 June, she presented her argument for the future of democracy to students and staff in The Hague.

What are the essential determinants of (dis)trust? And, what are the effects of being (dis)trusted?

This project seeks to develop a conceptual framework and provide empirical evidence on academic leadership that builds a fairer world and fosters trust in polarised times.

Together with Pepijn Tuinier and Thijs Brocades Zaalberg, Sebastiaan Rietjens researched the role of trust in an international intelligence cooperation.

Intelligence scholars have been struggling to find the conditions under which international intelligence cooperation occurs. Most focus on transactional motives and guaranteed returns, the so called ‘Quid pro Quo’. At the same time, trust is often mentioned as one of the foremost conditions, yet it…

Trust in public institutions in the Tata Steel case and beyond

We know that armed conflict breeds conflict. We also know the political, economic and demographic factors that inform this repetition of conflict. But we do not understand why accumulated conflict risk factors sometimes do and other times do not pay out in more violence. What if we go beyond macro structural…

Voor het universitaire thema ‘Vertrouwen ten tijde van polarisatie’ slaan Leidse en Haagse onderzoekers de handen ineen. Op vrijdagmiddag 5 juni wordt het thema afgetrapt in Den Haag en komen collega’s samen om te verkennen en te ontmoeten.

How can the Indonesian National Ombudsman make the transition from autonomous to responsive justice in view of the day-to-day challenges it is faced with?

What are the main issues leading to polarisation and division? What is the role of social exclusion in these processes? How can we inform and design better policies to safeguard young people from falling prey to intolerance and polarisation? The DRIVE project, led by Leiden University in The Hague,…

How does open government affect the level of public trust?

Here I propose to study the relationship between autonomic pupil-synchronisation and trust, at the behavioural and neural level, and examine a targeted set of possible contextual moderators.

On November 24, 2017, Esther Keymolen gave a presentation on Trust in the Networked Era, as part of the annual Philosophy of Technology Lab. This lab is organized by a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School for the Humanities Cologne and CFCU (Centro de Filosofia das Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa). The general…

Staff shortages within the Dutch police force mean that fewer reported crimes are being investigated. Maarten Kunst, Professor of Criminology, spoke to Dutch public broadcaster NOS about the consequences of the staffing problems.

Leiden University is an international, broad-based university. We distinguish five core domains for our research and teaching activities.

Increasingly, citizens are going to court to challenge decisions by the Public Prosecution Service not to prosecute in certain, sometimes socially sensitive, cases. Yet, these citizens are not always taken seriously as democratically engaged persons. A mistake, says Sophie Koning.

Trust and reciprocity are two important social behaviors that help adolescents to navigate their social world successfully. In their empirical article in Journal of Research on Adolescence, van de Groep, Meuwese, Zanolie, Güroğlu, and Crone describe the development of trust and reciprocity in adolescents…

The scientific research of the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs is organised around a number of centres and institutes in The Hague, city of peace, security and justice.

What do the election results say about the Netherlands today? Students and experts discussed this at an Election Breakfast organised by study association Diqit. Analysts, including Hans-Martien ten Napel, Associate Professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law, notice a new dividing line in Dutch…

When Dutch citizens request information under the Open Government Act (Woo), third parties can ask the public authority to withhold certain information. Leiden research reveals that the position of these third parties is unclear and accessing information is a difficult process.

The Politics and Governance department of the Institute of Public Administration focuses on the complex interaction between politics and governance. Our research explores contemporary issues such as the impact of global crises, populism, and polarisation at various levels of government.

PhD candidates from Institutions for Conflict Resolution (COI), Eva Grosfeld (Leiden University), Marlou Overheul (Utrecht University), and Amarins Jansma (social psychology, Utrecht University), won the KLI seed money grant for research on the influence of politically sensitive cases on public trust…

Groupcard provided prepaid cards to Dutch municipalities for welfare recipients, informal carers and volunteers. Now it is bankrupt, the cards are worthless and consumers and municipalities have lost money. Associate Professor Jessie Pool is investigating whether vulnerable people need better protection…

A new Executive Board has been leading Leiden University since mid-January. What are their impressions and their plans? An introduction in two parts. Today is the final part.

Many European citizens feel connected to the European Union and place trust in it, Eva Grosfeld found in her PhD research. Yet around a quarter do not identify with the EU at all. How can the EU regain their trust?

Technology and privacy, trust and mistrust. A discussion about this broke out when the University installed scanners and students protested. On Wednesday 2 February experts from Leiden University will explore this topic at the eponymous symposium. We called Roy de Kleijn, as a computer scientist and…

Leiden Law School has developed a new course for the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee, bringing together scientific research and professional practice. The course starts on 5 February 2026 at the Centre for Professional Learning in The Hague.

People in leadership roles are unlikely to discuss leadership skills with their colleagues. But that is precisely what we as a university would like them to do. Because trust in one another’s abilities will make us an agile university that innovates and makes room for talent.

While the first votes of the American elections are being counted, PhD candidate Tessa van Buchem appeared as a guest on Radio 1. During the radio broadcast, she discussed the US Supreme Court: ‘The judges are seen as politicians in gowns.’

INFLUEX examines the influence of experts on public policy, aiming to define, measure, and explain their role in democratic policymaking

Brexit has been a kind of shock therapy for the EU and has eventually led to more appreciation for European cooperation. That is what Professor Luuk van Middelaar claimed on 30 November at the conference ‘Brexit and the future of the European Union’ which marked the 60th anniversary of the Europa Institute…

What Accounts for the Variety of National Policy Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Europe?

How to strengthen mutual trust between agencies in the criminal justice system and youth with a migration background or weaker socio-economic position. The Netherlands Science Agenda has awarded 1.5 million euros to a consortium to find out.

A new way to decipher the light from distant worlds could give us unmistakable evidence of extraterrestrial photosynthesis, and maybe alien plants, finds astronomy author Colin Stuart in the New Scientist. In his article, he describes the work of the group led by Leiden astronomer Rob van Holstein.…

Leiden Law Cast is a podcast made by Leiden Law School, Leiden University, for everyone who wants to learn more about current legal issues.

Our constitutional democracy is under pressure. Politicians are increasingly bending rules and institutions to their will, often in small steps. PhD candidate Jorieke Manenschijn warns that through a combination of subtle changes we can cross a line without realising it.

In a podcast episode of 'The Next Page' professor Daniel Laqua, Professor Dan Gorman and Dr. Anne-Isabelle Richard talk about GLO, a transatlantic research project examining how civil society, activists, and NGOs have campaigned to build, shape, reform or put an end to international organizations from…

Profile Area Political Legitimacy, Leiden University

In this article, Dimiter Toshkov investigates the determinants of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and refusal, focusing on Eastern, Southern and Western Europe.

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