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Sounding the Alarm, and the Italian Regions’ Limited Ability to Counter Democratic Regression
Sounding the Alarm, and the Italian Regions’ Limited Ability to Counter Democratic Regression

Petra MALFERTHEINER & Elisabeth ALBER

Cultural hegemony lies at the heart of Meloni’s coalition government and its policymaking that continues to reshape the public space vis-à-vis immigration, sexual minorities, cultural institutions, and the freedom in academia and the media…

Unified Government but Divided Polity? The 2024 U.S. Elections and the Potential Counterweight of the States
Unified Government but Divided Polity? The 2024 U.S. Elections and the Potential Counterweight of the States

Jared SONNICKSEN

Despite the many controversies of his first presidency (2017-2021) – most notoriously the January 6, 2021 ‘storming of the Capitol’ with his refusal to recognize the election results, recurring scandals and more – Donald Trump was reelected as the 47th President of the United States…

2024 Elections amidst Authoritarian Centrism: A Mandate against Democratic Backsliding in India
2024 Elections amidst Authoritarian Centrism: A Mandate against Democratic Backsliding in India

Asha SARANGI

India held its federal parliamentary elections over seven phases between 19th April and 1st June, 2024. Before the elections were held, V-Dem, a leading Swedish research think-tank focused on the quality of democracy…

How Religious Conservatism is Redirecting the European Project
How Religious Conservatism is Redirecting the European Project

Paul BLOKKER

Elections to the European Parliament (the European Union’s directly elected legislative body) were held in June 2024 and saw a clear shift towards the conservative-religious right; a shift that has been underway for at least a decade now…

South Africa’s Government of National Unity: Power Sharing in a Fractured Democracy
South Africa’s Government of National Unity: Power Sharing in a Fractured Democracy

Nico STEYTLER

The national and provincial elections in South Africa held on 29 May 2024 heralded a new era in South African politics. After 30 years in power, the African National Congress (ANC) lost its majority in Parliament with 40% of the national vote…

The Last Check on Presidential Power? Governors and their Limits to Democratic Backsliding in Argentina and Brazil
The Last Check on Presidential Power? Governors and their Limits to Democratic Backsliding in Argentina and Brazil

Ángel ÁLVAREZ DÍAZ, Lucas GONZÁLEZ & Marcelo NAZARENO

Coups and executive self-coups (autogolpes) remain an important threat to democracy, as we recently saw in Bolivia. But evidence suggests they are less relevant today than in the past…

The Rising Tide of Populism Raises Questions About the Invulnerability of Germany’s Democratic and Federal System
The Rising Tide of Populism Raises Questions About the Invulnerability of Germany’s Democratic and Federal System

Jens WOELK

Last September, elections were held in three of the five eastern German Länder. As expected, two populist political parties dominated the scene, emerging much stronger…

The 2024 Elections to the Austrian National Council: Huge Shifts, but also a New Era?
The 2024 Elections to the Austrian National Council: Huge Shifts, but also a New Era?

Anna GAMPER

On 29 September 2024, elections to the National Council took place in Austria. The National Council is the first chamber of the Austrian Federal Parliament, whose 183 seats are elected by the federal citizens according to the principles of equal, direct, personal, secret and free suffrage…

Symposium Introduction: Federal Coalitions and Subnational Democracy
Symposium Introduction: Federal Coalitions and Subnational Democracy

Elisabeth ALBER

2024 is the biggest election year in over a century, with citizens in 60 countries called to cast their votes. Indeed, countries holding national elections this year make up nearly half of the world’s population…