Three Theses on the Czech Election Results

In this analyses of the Czech election results our research fellow Seongcheol Kim argues that the results of the recent Czech parliamentary elections mirror the populism / anti-populism conflict in the Czech party system, while the dramatic decline of previosuly established parties signals a seismic shift in the party system and its central cleavages. 

Andrej BabiĆĄ at the ANO press conference on election night (photo by DivĂ­ĆĄek Martin for denĂ­k.cz).

For background on the election campaign, please see Seongcheol`s previous post here.

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Ein „Demokratischer Putsch“ in Katalonien?

Das katalanische UnabhĂ€ngigkeitsreferendum war weder legal noch legitim, argumentieren Julian BrĂŒckner und Sascha Kneip. In diesem Beitrag gehen die Autoren der Frage nach, ob es sich bei dem Referendum fĂŒr eine UnabhĂ€ngigkeit von Spanien um einen Staatstreich handelt, wie die spanische Zentralregierung in Madrid behauptet, und ob ein solcher Coup ĂŒberhaupt demokratisch sein kann. Weiterlesen

Populism, Anti-Populism and Counter-Populism in the Czech Parliamentary Elections

The upcoming Czech parliamentary elections have seen a discursive shift from a left/right toward a populism/anti-populism conflict and a government without a populist party is unlikely, argues Seongcheol Kim in his latest Blogpost for the WZB Democracy Blog.

ANO campaign banner on a tram in Prague depicting Andrej BabiĆĄ & Martin StropnickĂœ. Foto by Martin Fendrych

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The religious foundations of the European Financial Crisis

The European financial crisis has divided European nations. The division runs between north and south and some have even described the division as one between saints and sinners. In this contribution Josef Hien sheds light on the cultural underpinnings of this division and argues that religious foundations are at the heart of this divide. He concludes that a “interdenominational” compromise is necessary in order to overcome the polarized status quo. Weiterlesen