By Marcelo Jenny (University of Innsbruck) For months polls predicted first place in the Austrian parliamentary elections on 29 September for the christian-democratic People's Party (ÖVP). The polls were right in that regard, but the ÖVP victory was bigger than expected and results of other parties so drastically altered that the country's political landscape transformed. [...]
By Daphne Halikiopoulou (University of Reading) Last Sunday’s Greek elections made international headlines as the ‘good news story in Europe’, generating much interest in a so-called ‘end of populism’. The most discussed outcome of this election is the victory of the centre-right New Democracy party with 39.85 of the vote, which translated into a comfortable [...]
By David M. Willumsen (University of Innsbruck) Since (at least) 2001, the question of immigration has been a key issue in Danish politics, with the Danish People’s Party (DPP) being successful in shifting public policy on this topic significantly to the right, and helping keep the center-right in power for all but four years in [...]
By Régis Dandoy (Ghent University) On 26 May 2019, more than eight million Belgians went to the polling stations to elect their representatives for the European, federal, regional and community parliaments. These elections were designated by the media as ‘the mother of all elections’ and are not only crucial for the management of the country [...]
By José Rama Caamaño and Andrés Santana Leitner (Autonomous University of Madrid) 2015 and 2016 general elections The 2015 and 2016 Spanish general elections turned the Spanish party system upside down. The first one was considered as an enormous earthquake that hit many of the well-established attributes of the national party system, such as the [...]
By Antti Kaihovaara (University of Helsinki) As the last votes were counted on Sunday evening, the progressive parties had most reasons to celebrate. After four years in opposition, the support for the Social Democrats, the Left Alliance and the Greens increased by over five percentage points in total. The Social Democrats came up top by [...]
By Juli Minoves-Triquell (University of La Verne and CIDOB-Barcelona) Andorra has term limits for Prime Ministers; they cannot run more than twice. With the end of the second term of Antoni Marti of Demòcrates per Andorra (DA, center-right) who had ruled with parliamentary majorities two full terms, elections were foreseen to be competitive. Seven national [...]
By Martin Mölder (University of Tartu) The Estonian parliamentary elections that ended on Sunday can be considered both exceptional or rather commonplace, depending on how one looks at the results. The same could be said about possible coalitions that can form in the aftermath. The elections were exceptional first and foremost because of the very [...]
By Vladislav Șaran (Independent Analytical Center “Spirit Critic”) On 24 February, citizens of the Republic of Moldova were invited to express their right to vote having a choice between the old political class and new politicians. Looking at the results, the new Parliament will have 4 political parties: namely, the Socialist Party (PSRM) (35 mandates), [...]
By Kjetil Duvold (Dalarna University) Sweden’s former Prime Minister Olof Palme once said that ‘politics is to want something’. For many people, Palme epitomised the classic Swedish welfare model of long-term and comprehensive social and economic planning, agreement between labour and capital, and a great deal of social consensus. But his assassination on a cold [...]