Political Science Matters

Donald Trump has won the 2024 US presidential race, gaining a historic second term. Republicans now have full control of Washington. What role did gender play in the elections? How did Trump break down the ‘blue wall’? What can we expect from the new administration in the next four years? In this episode, Thomas Mustillo, co-editor of the Political Data Yearbook, discusses the

Following a disastrous result for his electoral alliance in the European Parliament elections, the French President, Emmanuelle Macron, called a snap legislative election for 30 June and 7 July 2024. While the election washed out the radical right’s hopes of determining the composition of the next government, it also produced a fragmented parliament where no political group can s

The tenth European Parliament elections (6-9 June 2024) witnessed a surge in far-right support, as predicted by the polls. Moreover, parliamentary fragmentation increased. Now that a weaker majority supports the EU Commission, what effects might these changes have on the future institutional relations between the EP, the Commission itself, the Council of Ministers, and the European

The United Kingdom is heading to the polls for the first time since its departure from the European Union. If forecasts are right, this election will be nothing short of an electoral disaster for the ruling Conservative party, which has given the country three prime ministers since 2019. How did the Tories end up in this situation? Did Rishi Sunak make a mistake by calling an early

In the 50th anniversary of democracy, Portugal held snap legislative elections on March 10. The President of the Republic called the elections in response to the early termination of the Costa III cabinet in November 2023 and the corruption scandal surrounding it. Most noticeably, the election outcomes show a loss of support for the incumbent Socialist Party (-13%), the rise of the

Why do some presidents with authoritarian ambitions succeed while others fail? How can we resist democratic backsliding? Laura Gamboa (University of Utah) discusses the research and outcomes of her latest book Resisting Backsliding: Opposition Strategies against the Erosion of Democracy⁠ with Benedicte Bull (University of Oslo). Chaired by Luis Ramiro, Reviews Editor of European

The Netherlands goes to the polls on 22 November in what is set to be a nail-biting general election. Pieter Omtzigt’s New Social Contract, a challenger party created only last summer, is predicted to become one of the major political parties in the Dutch parliament - and probably, too, in the next Dutch government. What does the new party stand for? How will its emergence affect

How do group-based cross-pressures lead to instability in voters' choices? What explains increased net electoral volatility in the democracies of advanced countries? Ruth Dassonneville (University of Montreal) discusses the research and outcomes of her latest book Voters under Pressure: Group-Based Cross-Pressure and Electoral Volatility with Nick Martin (University of Amsterda

On October 15 2023, Polish citizens went to the polls to the renew the Parliament, producing the highest turnout ever in post-Communist Poland. The main result has been the defeat of the ruling PiS led by Jarosław Kaczyński and the victory of the opposition coalition, led by Donald Tusk. What were the main points of contentions between and withing the two political camps? Why did

The recent victory of the populist party Smer (Direction) in the 2023 Slovak parliamentary election has sparked concerns about Slovakia’s return to national populism. Are these fears warranted? Is Slovakia sliding into illiberalism and drifting away from the West? Or is the excessive focus on populism preventing analysts from seeing underlying opposing changes in Slovakia’s pol