‘Politicians act only in their own interests. The common man does not interest them at all.’ And, ‘The debate in parliament was a sorry sight and demonstrated incompetence.’ These are two pieces of criticism that you might read in tomorrow’s newspaper. But they were actually in the papers at the time…

What with coronavirus, the American elections and the Brexit botheration, we had almost forgotten that something miraculous happened in 2020: the repressed people of Belarus rallied against dictator Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power for 26 years. Months later, what remains of the protest?…

Lecturer Andrew Gawthorpe of Leiden University discusses in The Conversation the growing influence of far-right activist Laura Loomer in Donald Trump’s administration.

What is the role of local authorities and communities in shaping how inter-Schengen borders are understood and dealt with?

When we think of politics, we tend to think of adversary, antagonism, polarisation, a struggle for power. But politics should serve positive purposes, as well. Political psychologist and meditation teacher Femke Bakker (Leiden University) thinks that positive politics is first and foremost about tolerance.…

What makes a pension scheme sustainable? Most answers to this question have revolved around expert assessments of pension schemes’ affordability or adequacy. This study shifts focus from the financial or social sustainability of pension scheme designs to their political sustainability. The key question…

This article introduces the concept of Repertoires of Comparison (RoCs) to explain how certain comparisons become deeply embedded in social and political life.

As Bolivia reels from the collapse of the government in November 2019, a wave of social protests, and now the impact of Covid-19, this book asks: where next for Bolivia?

On 1 September 2022 Güldeniz Kibris successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

Does the political context (e.g., democracy vs. authoritarianism) influence what makes people perceive authorities as legitimate?

The complexities of modernization in Brazil and Graciliano Ramos significance for our understanding of Brazil today.

Muhammad Adlin Sila examines the range of ways Bima Muslims constitute their Islamic identities and agencies through rituals and festivals. In response to their surroundings, what it means to be a Muslim is constantly being negotiated.

How does economic downturn affect pre-existing democratic values and intergroup attitudes? Does economic downturn lead people to lose support for democracy and does it raise perceptions of intergroup threat? Is the potential effect of economic downturn on these political attitudes conditional upon earlier…

Conference

The controversial Disciplinary Chamber of the Polish Supreme Court is one of many other judiciary reforms which the PiS, the Polish nationalist ruling party, carried out since 2015. The Disciplinary Chamber allows for judges to be fined, degraded and discharged. Von der Leyen expects the highest European…

Furious protesters in Budapest and other Hungarian cities demand the departure of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. The reason for the large-scale protests is the adaptation of the labor law, especially lucrative for German companies and investors, by the Hungarian prime minister.

This research project is an integral part of its mother-programme NEXUS1492 ERC Synergy Project directed by Prof. Corinne Hofman. Overarchingly, it aims at understanding and bridging from the archaeological perspective the late pre-colonial and early colonial history of the Southeastern Caribbean macroregion…

Subjects Barbarian, Monstrous, and Wild responds to a contemporary political climate in which historically invested figures of otherness—barbarians, savages, monsters—have become common discursive currency.

This article explores the concept of issue prioritisation within the context of public administration research, focusing on decision-making processes.

This book explores the relationship between the production of new urban spaces and illiberal community-making in contemporary India. It is based on an ethnographic study in Noida, a city at the eastern fringe of the state of Uttar Pradesh, bordering national capital Delhi.

Grabovski spoke in various media on the occasion of Holocaust Remembrance Day on 27 January 2022.

Lecture, Global Questions Seminar

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.

Big data promises to transform public decision-making for the better by making it more responsive to actual needs and policy effects. However, much recent work on big data in public decision-making assumes a rational view of decision-making, which has been much criticized in the public administration…

These are turbulent times in the UK. The cost of living is high, leaving many people struggling to make ends meet, and these past few months have been tumultuous in terms of politics. University lecturer Anne Heyer explains what impact this can have on people's political perceptions and participatio…

This study employs a comparative perspective to identify generic and specific qualities of petitions and petitioning. It charts the chronological development of petitioning practices over centuries. The interdisciplinary approaches provide range of conceptual and methodological expertise for reade…

This book systematically evaluates the empirical evidence for legitimacy decline in established democracies, the explanatory power of theories of legitimacy decline, and promises new routes in investigating and assessing political legitimacy.

Leiden’s Institute for History has an exceptionally strong expertise in premodern European history in its global context, with specialists whose interests cover virtually the whole continent. We have a strong track record in leading larger research teams and work together with colleagues across Europe…

How and when do interest groups organise themselves as transmission belts and what are the implications for their political relevance among public officials involved decision-making processes?

Diana Dávila Gordillo, PhD candidate at Leiden University’s Institute of Political Science does field trips to her native Ecuador.