Few political phenomena are as well known as the "Rally Around the Flag" effect. Tragic events or instances of conflict can shift public opinion in favor of ruling authorities. Much of the time, this …
Ethnic Nationalism and Democratic Erosion in Bosnia and Herzegovina
In 1995, the Dayton Agreement ended the Bosnian War, establishing modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina, a state explicitly structured by ethnic group. 25 years later, a strained peace persists, but …
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A Game of Tug of War Over Democracy
The European Union is failing to maintain democracy in their member states. Not only are they failing to threaten these countries into cooperating, they may also be creating an environment …
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What We Can Learn From The Irish: Lessons in Populism
2016 was the year of the populist; The Guardian noted that the words "populist" or "populism" were in almost 2,000 articles written by them in 2016, compared to only 1,000 the year before. In 2016: …
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Lessons Learned in Brussels: What Hungary’s Democratic Erosion Tells Us About the European Union’s Leverage
Incentives are everything. Since its founding in 1993, the European Union (EU) has understood this and become a master of soft power pressure and incentive-based democratic reforms. Indeed, as much as …
Four Key Takeaways from Poland’s Recent Presidential Election
While the COVID-19 pandemic has stalled out many aspects of life, including elections for over sixty countries, dozens of others such as Poland have forged ahead with elections. This past July, Polish …
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Will Ukraine’s President Zelenskiy Learn from his Predecessors?
The Ukrainian people have been through a lot. According to a 2019 Pew Poll, 81% of Ukrainians see a fair judicial system as one of the most important priorities, nevertheless, promises of judicial …
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Minority Parties Win Power, Not Inclusion, in Lithuania
In 2016, the populist Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union (LVŽS) took center stage in Lithuanian politics after unexpectedly winning a plurality in the legislative Seimas (Navickas 2017). The …
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