Recent articles
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Making Refugees Political Agency Visible: Practices of the Subject by Amelie Harbisch
(Volume 22, Issue 1)Harbisch, Amelie (2024): Making Refugees Political Agency Visible: Practices of the Subject. London: Routledge.
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Story of the Czech Senate Elections: What Roles of the Upper Chamber Voters Expect and Which Candidates They Vote For
(Volume 22, Issue 1)Abstract Although upper chambers play a key role in democratic systems, little is known about how citizens actually perceive their functions. The Czech Senate offers an instructive case due to its ambiguous institutional position and relatively low public visibility. This paper examines how Czech voters perceive the Senate and how these perceptions have evolved over time, distinguishing three main conceptions: an oversight institution within the horizontal separation of powers, a...
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Populist‑patriotism in Hungary: ‘A Conservative Island in this Liberal European Ocean’
(Volume 22, Issue 1)Abstract The growth of illiberal and authoritarian political parties and governments has given the notion of patriotism fresh political impetus. This article explores how Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, used patriotic discourse during Hungary’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union from July to December 2024. It draws from an analysis of Orbán’s speeches and interviews from this period that shows patriotism was used as a powerful signifier of illiberal ambition. We ask...
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Gender Quotas and Women’s Access to Viable List Positions: Evidence from the European Parliament Elections in Poland
(Volume 22, Issue 1)Abstract The article contributes to the scholarly work on factors influencing women’s parliamentary representation by exploring the relationship between gender, gender quotas and the assignment of electorally viable list positions. Drawing on the insights from the existing scholarly work and feminist institutional literature, I investigate the impact of the introduction of legislated gender quotas in Poland in 2011 on the distribution of winnable positions on electoral lists in the European...
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Political Regimes and Institutional Design as Factors in War: World, Regional and National Contexts
(Volume 22, Issue 1)Abstract The article investigates the political and institutional factors that shape the initiation, participation and outcomes of interstate wars. It highlights the importance of political regimes and systems of government, or institutional design. While democratic peace theory has long argued that democracies are less likely to fight and more likely to prevail, this study broadens the perspective by examining the impact of parliamentary, presidential and semi-presidential systems as forms of...
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Why Should I Defend my Country? Psychological, Moral and Cultural Factors in the ‘Willingness to Fight’
(Volume 22, Issue 1)Abstract The psychological willingness to fight for one’s country has become an increasingly important issue in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 and the ongoing war near the eastern flank of Europe. This article presents three new analyses of the seventh wave of the recently completed World Values Survey that are designed to shed light on the features and factors that play a role in citizens’ attitudes toward defending their own country. Our goal was to find individual and...