It is a tragic fact that mass atrocities have been, and are being, committed across the world. The international community, while condemning these acts, often stands idly by. This conundrum raises a host of empirical, legal, and normative questions regarding the role of public opinion in responding…

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

This book examines the critical role of information and knowledge in early modern Europe's global pursuits, exploring challenges in trusting distant information, the development of doubt in intercultural encounters, and the impact of misinformation.

Jelke Bethlehem (Leiden University, Institute of Political Science) gives an overview of many aspects of polls: questionnaire design, sample selection, estimation, margins of error, nonresponse and weighting. As such, it is useful both for readers who want to gain a better understanding of the ins and…

Prior to publication, the corresponding author has to agree with a small publication fee of 95 Swiss Francs (CHF). After a successful review procedure, but prior to publication of the article, the corresponding author will have to pay the publication fee.

How can innovation help or hinder public procurement processes?

What does it mean to do public policy ethics today? How should philosophers engage with ethical issues in policy-making when policy decisions are circumscribed by political and pragmatic concerns? How do ethical issues in public policy differ between areas such as foreign policy, criminal justice, or…

Many of the big challenges of the 21st century (climate change, international migration, financial instability, socio-economic inequality) find their origins in the organisation of the global economy. Any solution to the world’s big challenges therefore requires forceful policy interventions at the…

This article studies the perceived legitimacy of EU enforcement actions.

The idea of citizens and public professionals collaborating to provide public services has widely spread in several countries around the globe. Co-production is often presented as the go-to solution for challenges like a legitimacy crisis of both the government and the market, and financial concerns.…

Article in the journal Irish Political Studies discussing the challenge of aggregating opinion polls and presenting a method to better model major sudden political and societal events. This can can enhance opinion poll reporting in the media.

Kohei Suzuki, assistant professor at Leiden University, together with Victor Lapuente, examined how male and female public managers show attitudinal differences toward innovation in the public sector.

This thesis investigates opinion dynamics on random graphs through the lens of the voter model, a classical interacting particle system used to describe how consensus emerges in networks.

This PhD dissertation examines international responsibility for the crime of aggression from a public international law perspective. Under customary international law, as well as the amendments to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court adopted in the Review Conference in Kampala in 2010,…

Promotores: Prof.dr. G. Miley & Prof.dr. J.M. van den Broek

This dissertation explores how Large Language Models (LLMs) can effectively and responsibly contribute to complex decision-making processes. By combining AI and human intelligence, Hybrid Intelligence (HI) emerges, allowing the strengths of both humans and machines to be utilized.

During times of domestic turmoil, the use of force abroad becomes an appealing strategy to US presidents in hopes of diverting attention away from internal conditions and toward a foreign policy success.

How interest groups, differences in policy issues and institutional differences between countries affect whether public opinion is translated into policy?

In this article, Thomas Maguire, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs, examines why states use intelligence to influence external audiences.

A History of Dutch Corruption and Morality showcases 300 years of change, continuity, and diversity in the history of Dutch political corruption and public morality. It analyses a series of corruption scandals and shows how the following debates were connected to the big changes of that time: from the…

How does open government affect the level of public trust?

Seminar

In educational settings such as museums, universities and schools, white, male, able-bodied and rational subjects still dominate. Although there has been a lot of theoretical work on processes of in- and exclusion through racialization, sexualization, and disabilization, we still know very little about…

On 8 July 2020, Andres Sarmiento Lamus defended his thesis 'The Proliferation of Dissenting Opinions in International Law'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. L.J. van den Herik and Prof. Y.A.A.S. Radi (UCLouvain).

How do European Dutch think about Kingdom relations? There are all sorts of assumptions about this, but due to a lack of research, we do not really know. That is why, as part of his Chair in Kingdom Relations, Wouter Veenendaal commissioned a thorough opinion survey on Kingdom Relations among European…

Implementing all kinds of change and introducing new structures, far-reaching rules and administrative systems may sometimes seem to distract an organisation from its purpose. Furthermore, there is growing recognition of the need of staff of public organisations to find more meaning in their work: the…

This book is a much-needed update on our understanding of public diplomacy. It intends to stimulate new thinking on what is one of the most remarkable recent developments in diplomatic practice that has challenged practitioners as much as scholars.

Public Administration is a major refereed journal publishing articles on public administration, public policy and public management.

On Wednesday 25 June 2025 Dechun Zhang successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

In this paper, the authors study how individual and country-level variables interact in affecting political gender attitudes in Europe.

Double Bind. Public service professionals coping with contrasting demands. How do public service professionals align their PSM with contrasting demands set by the organizational and social contexts in which they work?

In the research project ‘Furthering public leadership’ the Leiden Leadership Centre collaborates with several public organisations in order to obtain academic insights on public leadership and to develop leadership in practice. This allows for evidence-based development of public leadership and direct…

This book explores how demographic changes, especially population decline and ageing, influence digital innovation within the public sector. Drawing on an analysis of 110 Italian municipalities, the research illuminates the under-researched impact of 'big but slow moving' macro-level factors.

LACDR has delegated two roles in the process of reviewing your dissertation in preparations of your public defense:

The Public Policy and Innovation department of the Institute of Public Administration focuses on shaping, implementing, and evaluating policy through innovative approaches. Our goal is to tackle complex societal challenges by exploring technological advancements and creative policy tools.

In their vision trajectory, the Office for the Senior Civil Service (in Dutch: Bureau Algemene Bestuursdienst) communicated its plan to renew its vision on public leadership. Over the course of 2021, the Leiden Leadership Centre contributed as a scientific partner to the substantiation of this visio…

Previous studies have identified institutional, organizational, and individual factors that promote innovation in public organizations. Yet they have overlooked how the type of public administration—and the type of administrators—is associated with innovative attitudes.

In this article, Friso Selten and Bram Klievink explore how public organisations strategically manage the adoption of AI.

This article provides an all-inclusive overview of public diplomacy literature that relates to a myriad of issues and has been studied from various points of view.

Honorata Mazepus and Jaroslaw Kantorowicz are assistant professors at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs. Mazepus and Kantorowicz are one of the authors of this article in Nature on the role of national identity on public health support during global pandemics.

The Behavioral Public Administration Lab (BPA Lab) conducts behavioral science to generate, share, and apply insights about human behavior to improve governance, policy, and management in the public sector.

The Institute of Public Law comprises all areas of public law, with the exception of criminal law, and including labour law.

The Public Management and Organisation section of the Institute of Public Administration focuses on public organisations and the behaviour of the managers and professionals working within them. Our vision is that understanding human behaviour and organisational dynamics is essential for understanding…