In the wake of controversial disclosures of classified government information by WikiLeaks and Edward Snowden, questions about the democratic status of secret uses of political power are rarely far from the headlines. Despite an increase in initiatives aimed at enhancing government transparency – such…

In this article, Sophie Vériter examines the EU’s unprecedented ban on Russian state media following the invasion of Ukraine, using securitisation theory

This paper written by Alexandre Afonso, Assistant Professor and Researcher at Leiden University, argues that gender norms and the political strength of the left were important structuring factors regarding why European countries choose migrant labour to expand their labour force in the decades that…

This book offers a concise and accessible introduction to debates about expertise, policy-making and democracy. It uniquely combines an overview of recent research on the policy role of experts with discussions in political philosophy and the philosophy of expertise.

Written by a select international group of leading privacy scholars, Social Dimensions of Privacy endorses and develops an innovative approach to privacy.

SEECR-CONGO aims to strengthen the doctoral education ecosystem in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in order to foster a new generation of highly skilled researchers who can contribute to academia and the wider labour market.

Wanneer de overheid niet binnen de gestelde termijn beslist, geldt een dwangsomregeling. Volgens verschillende experts werkt dit pressiemiddel niet meer. Annemarie Drahmann, universitair hoofddocent Bestuursrecht en WOO specialist, zegt in Magazine Advocatie dat dit ‘schadelijk is voor de democratische…

From academic freedom to security and medical breakthroughs: during Leiden University’s 451st Dies Natalis, the speakers reflected on the role of universities in a world of social and geopolitical tensions.

The Institute for Philosophy at Leiden University is host to the NWO programme,

De roep om regie op Digitalisering en kunstmatige intelligentie wordt steeds luider. Reijer Passchier, universitair docent staatsrecht en hoogleraar digitalisering en de democratische rechtsstaat, stelt in Trouw dat dit belangrijke thema nu tussen ‘wal en schip dreigt te vallen, omdat niemand in Den…

Digitalisering ondermijnt de democratische rechtsstaat en verschuift macht van parlementen naar Silicon Valley, waarschuwt Reijer Passchier, hoogleraar digitalisering en beginselen van de democratische rechtstaat (OU) en docent staatsrecht in Leiden, in een podcast van de Publieke Ruimte.

How is law shaped by and shaping social, political and economic change in Indonesia?

In countries with complex domestic situations, citizens have little opportunity to exercise influence on governance and policy. Leiden academics research these situations and share their insights with the public, such as in Nigeria for instance. This enables the people and their communities to improve…

Lecture

How did parties as political organizations emerge?

Check the structure of the MSc Democracy and Representation at Leiden University: core and elective seminars, thesis or internship, semester format, and internship research integration.

In order to solve problems such as the refugee crisis, countries must work together at international level. This requires big changes in the way in which states make and implement policy. Leiden researchers analyse these changes and advise policymakers on best practices.

Politics is about the authorised allocation of values: who gets what, when and how much? This question is relevant at many different levels, in many different places and in very different ways.

This research project is supported by an NWO Aspasia grant, DeepDish TV, crowd-sourced funding, and the Democracy and Media Foundation.

The Team International Relations and European Studies addresses the interconnections and interdependence of contemporary global political, economic, security and culture from a multidisciplinary perspective rooted in the humanities. More specifically it is concerned with the study of international relations…

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

On 27 June 2017, Daniel Dimov defended his PhD dissertation “Crowdsourced Online Dispute Resolution”. The supervisors are Professor H.J. van den Herik and Professor A.R. Lodder.

A History of Modern Political Thought in East Central Europe is a synthetic work, authored by an international team of researchers, covering twenty national cultures and 250 years. It goes beyond the conventional nation-centered narratives and presents a novel vision especially sensitive to the cross-cultural…

On 9 April 2020, Mohamed Azizi defended his thesis 'Reflecties op Wereldburgerschap: In de spiegel van Afghanistan en Nederland'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. P.B. Cliteur en Prof. W. Veugelers (Universiteit voor Humanistiek).

The Van Vollenhoven Institute for Law, Governance and Society (VVI) is part of the Leiden Law School.

Recently Cambridge University Press published dr. Jan Osters monograph “Media Freedom as a Fundamental Right”.

From Crisis to Critique

In this article, Tom Buitelaar proposes a systematic framework for analyzing the impact of individual characteristics of peacekeeping leaders on the behaviour of field-level personnel in UN peacekeeping operations.

To meet the rising demand for minerals driven by the global shift to clean energy technologies, ensuring responsible and resilient supply chains is critical. Minerals like cobalt, lithium, and nickel for batteries, neodymium and zinc for wind turbines, and indium for solar panels are essential.

Sarah Giest and Annemarie Samuels, both Assistant Professors at Leiden University, researched the quality and coverage of the data being collected for policiymakers to be used, specifically pertaining to minority groups.

On a referendum held on May 21, 2006, 55.5% of voters in Montenegro voted in favor of their country’s independence. While in numerical terms the outcome shows overwhelming support for independent Montenegro, from a normative standpoint it was a narrow win. The normative framework that regulated rules…

How can party bans be justified? Which parties were banned in post-war Europe – and why? Do militant democracy instruments work? Is an international militant democracy concept in the making?

Bahar Şimşek defended her thesis on 4 May 2021.

An analysis of people’s access to justice and the working of (legal) institutions in post-conflict, democratic Libya

On Tuesday 14 January 2025 Milan Ismangil successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

The E.M. Meijers Book Series is the book series published by the E.M. Meijers Institute of the Leiden Law School. The series includes dissertations defended by PhD candidates from the Leiden Law School. Below you will find recent dissertations of team members of the Business & Law Research Network.

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.

This book explores the relationship between tragedy and the justice that is sought in moral philosophy and the law. It shows how our moral and legal judgments can be seen as aesthetic or tragic judgments, and it considers what kind of passion or vocation moves the science and scholarship of law.

This paper examines the need and possibility for developing online resilience-based approaches in response to COVID-19 vaccine conspiracies, often linked to the far right.

Facilitating direct citizen participation through online channels is considered as an opportunity for including harder to reach groups in participation.

Across Europe, the need for a more dynamic governance and a better societal integration of research and innovation is increasingly appreciated. Internal drivers of change (such as the digitalization of science) and political will to better align with societal needs and concerns are bringing about aspirational…

Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) implies that societal actors (researchers, citizens, policy makers, business, third sector organisations, etc.) work together during the whole research and innovation process in order to better align both the process and its outcomes with the values, needs and…

How does open government affect the level of public trust?

Honorata Mazepus, Assisstant Professor at Leiden University, researched the topic of Madisonian Judgments in Five Cultures, together with three other authors.

In this book, Lydie Cabane examines the history of disaster management in South Africa.

Kuba funerary art from the Congo River Basin

This study aims to examine how South Korea (hereafter, Korea) and Japan, two neighboring countries in Northeast Asia, have been responding to and mitigating the spread of COVID-19.

This article tries to examine if one can take the 'One Net' for granted, since the world becomes increasingly fragmented with social and geopolitical tensions. Furthermore, the author seeks to discover what is at stake if the global interoperable network is under a threat of fragmentation.