by Saleh Alharbi The Arab Spring of 2011 ended several authoritarian regimes in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Other authoritarian regimes, especially the gulf monarchies like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia remained largely undisturbed. On one hand, … Continue reading
by Emma Mathias “Madness has been and remains an elusive thing … it is equally possible to think in terms of the manufacture of madness, that is, the idea that labelling insanity is primarily a social act, a cultural construct” … Continue reading
by Mary Brennan, University College Dublin Around the world millions of women celebrate 100 years since they joined the ranks of the electorate… but not the ranks of the Parliamentarians!! As Yvonne Galligan consistently points out, the suffragettes did not suffer … Continue reading
by Dr Galia Chimiak, Polish Academy of Sciences. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have emerged over time as the entities considered best equipped to initiate “development from below” (Hart 2001). Yet in the 1990s it was professed that their popularity with donors will … Continue reading
by Dr Caroline McEvoy A defining feature of politics in the twenty-first century is the idea of democracy as a normative good. Studies have shown that, far from being the ‘best of the worst’ form of government, democracy is considered … Continue reading
by Carolina Plescia and Sylvia Kritzinger (Department of Government, University of Vienna) Competitive elections offer citizens the opportunity to reward or punish elected officials for their performance while in office. Keeping elected official accountable is a keystone of democracy. The … Continue reading
By Cristina Bucur (Lecturer / Assistant Professor, University College Dublin) and Petra Schleiter (Professor of Comparative Politics, University of Oxford) Governments in most parliamentary democracies have some influence on assembly dissolution, which enables them to affect parliamentary bargaining. Yet, whether these … Continue reading
By Prof. Graham Smith, Centre for the Study of Democracy, University of Westminster. Over two weekends in September 2017, the Citizens’ Assembly on Brexit brought together 50 randomly selected citizens who reflected the diversity of the UK electorate. The Assembly … Continue reading
by David Sylvan Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies In the three years since Edward Snowden’s revelations about the NSA, it has become clear in one country after another that such surveillance is carried out by each country’s own … Continue reading
by Dr Indra de Soysa, Norwegian University of Science and Technology to accompany workshop, details below Popular and academic discourse, prompted by Islamist violence and terrorism, debates the true nature of Islam in politics. By an accident of history and … Continue reading
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