Voting in Russia: Please Don’t Call it "Elections"


On September 8, numerous Russian regions voted in the framework of a so-called “single voting day”. Most significantly, Moscow voted for the members of City Council (“Duma”), and Russia’s second-largest city Saint Petersburg was to elect its governor. It would be a mistake, however, to draw any conclusions on the sentiments of the Russian people from the results as the voting process was skewed at every stage of the so-called “election”.

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Rationalising political representation within the European Parliament: the Italian Constitutional Court rules on the threshold for the European elections


In December 2018, the Italian Constitutional Court found the national 4% threshold for elections to the European Parliament to be constitutional. Unlike the Bundesverfassungsgericht, which focused in-depth on the European state of affairs at a given stage, the Corte costituzionale has pointed to a gradual evolutionary development towards “a rationalisation of the representation of political forces within the European parliamentary assembly”. According to this interpretation, both the national parliaments and the European Parliament face similar challenges.

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The Elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Means for Change or Consolidation of Paralysis?


On October 7th, general elections were held in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Its Constitution was meant to be an interim solution, setting up a complex structure of division of power between the three major ethnic groups leading to political paralysis. Constitutional reform is thus a pressing issue but the recent elections appear to reinforce the deadlock situation instead of paving the way for much needed change.

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The Tide is Turning: Elections in Turkey


Will the elections tomorrow change the course of the country in an equally abrupt and infinitely more dramatic manner? Is the seemingly limitless power of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (Justice and Development Party) about to crumble? It’s too early to say. But it is definitely possible.

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Transnational Partisanship vs Transnational Democracy


The European Parliament has called for he creation of a European cross-border constituency, a transnational list of candidates from across the continent. This idea, recently popularised by French president Emmanuel Macron, has been gutted by the European People’s Party, though – a move which could itself be seen as a powerful manifestation of the importance of transnational partisanship in the EU.

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Afghanistan: Was für ein Desaster


Hamid Karzai ist ein Präsident, der eins der ärmsten und gewalttätigsten Länder der Erde regiert und die Demokratie eine prima Sache findet, weil er als Präsident eine Menge Möglichkeiten hat, seine Wiederwahl durch gefälschte Stimmen abzusichern. Das ist soweit gar nichts besonderes. Davon gibt es – das kann man sagen, ohne zynisch zu sein – […]

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