In the early 1990s, the growth of independent media played a vital role in Africa’s democratic transitions. New outlets broke state monopolies, promoting accountability and pluralism. But media freedom has…
Leave a CommentCategory: Comparative Politics
Montevideo’s Lottery for Good TaxpayersIn 2004, Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, launched a pioneering program to reward punctual taxpayers by entering them into a lottery. The winners got a “tax…
Leave a Comment
Climate change is an issue of economic transformation. As societies decarbonize, the focus of economic activity will shift from greenhouse gas-intensive industries to clean alternatives. As they are forced to…
1 Comment
Imagine you’re a politician enjoying a decent run in the opinion polls. You post on Facebook about the issues you care about most—your party’s core themes, the things you think…
1 CommentWhat happens when politicians face stricter budget constraints? Do they become more efficient managers of public resources, or do they find new ways to conceal misbehavior? Following the Great Recession,…
Leave a Comment
Voters in democracies regularly have the chance to hold political parties accountable for their behavior in office. That includes taking stock of public policies that benefit some people at the…
Leave a Comment
Online Framings of Offline Violence in Syria’s Civil War How do representations of violent conflict differ across social media platforms? Our recently published article tackles this question through a close…
Leave a Comment
Political inequality does not stop at the doorstep of political office. Women who overcome the political glass ceiling and win elections, often against the odds, continue to face discrimination and…
Leave a Comment
Exploiting migrants can help criminal groups expand into strong states Organized crime is widely considered a problem in weak states, emerging where states fail to provide security and property rights…
1 Comment
In recent years, challenger parties—political groups without experience in government—have disrupted party systems across Europe, often gaining significant voter support by positioning themselves as anti-establishment outsiders. While some of these…
Leave a Comment