In October 2023, Poland’s illiberal right-wing government held a referendum modeled after the one held in Hungary one year earlier. Organized in conjunction with the parliamentary elections under the pretext of “saving costs,” the 2023 Polish referendum constitutes the most recent example of how populists can use direct democracy to mobilize their electorate. However, unlike Hungary’s experience a year earlier, this referendum highlights how “populist polarizing” referendums can become a double-edged sword. Building on previous work by Bartolini and Mair, and Enyedi, this article introduces a new type of referendum: the populist polarizing. Initiated by populist parties to amplify political divisions for partisan gain, this referendum-type frames choices in starkly oppositional terms, creating an “us vs. them” dynamic that intensifies polarization. We contrast this with the more known and studied “cleavage referendums.” In particular, using both primary and secondary data, we demonstrate how Poland’s populist government employed the referendum instrumentally. They posed thematically differentiated questions on issues such as relocating migrants within the EU, selling state assets, raising the retirement age, and removing a border barrier. By exploiting emotionally driven political divides, the government aimed to polarize the campaign and mobilize their voters in the lead-up to the general elections. Departing from the case-study literature, we present an innovative argument: opposition parties can counteract populist governments’ strategies and successfully defend democracy by encouraging a selective boycott—voting in elections while refusing to participate in the referendum. The Polish experience illustrates how populist polarizing referendums, initially aimed to increase polarization and undermine democracy, can paradoxically be used to reverse democratic backsliding and safeguard liberal democracy. The Polish case shows that populist polarizing referendums are not infallible. While populist forces typically exploit polarization, referendums can also become a tool for the opposition. However, for the strategy to be effective, the opposition must take a constructive and strategic approach.
Keywords: boycott; cleavages; Poland; populist polarization; referendum Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9206 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The Emotional Dimension of the Catalan Independentist Referendum in 2017 File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9241 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9241 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9241 Author-Name: José Manuel Rivera Otero Author-Workplace-Name: Equipo de Investigaciones Políticas, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain Author-Name: Erika Jaráiz Gulías Author-Workplace-Name: Equipo de Investigaciones Políticas, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain Author-Name: Paloma Castro Martínez Author-Workplace-Name: Equipo de Investigaciones Políticas, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain Abstract: In this article, we examined the emotional regime emerging in Catalonia as a result of the 1st of October 2017 independence referendum and determined the effect of emotions and cleavages, among others, on the decision to vote in this referendum. The emotional regime, which involves the articulation of normative emotions and dominant practices in political mobilisation, is interrelated with affective polarisation. Indeed, for this phenomenon to occur the presence of positive emotions towards the ingroup and negative emotions towards the outgroup is necessary. In Catalonia, the formation of both groups—pro-independence and non-independence—is the result of the evolution of the Catalan nationalist cleavage. We used four surveys carried out by the Equipo de Investigaciones Políticas of the University of Santiago de Compostela (EIP-USC) and advanced statistical techniques. Our analysis reveals that, after the referendum, there was an increase in positive emotional presence towards pro-independence actors, which decreased as the Catalan independence process—the procés—progressed. We have found that, although the variable with the greatest effect in voting decision at the referendum was party identification, emotions towards leaders and parties and the Catalan nationalist cleavage greatly influenced this decision. Keywords: Catalonia; emotions; independence; nationalism; referendum Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9241 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Constitutional Change and Referendums in Chile and Ireland: Faraway, So Close File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9197 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9197 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9197 Author-Name: Felipe Paredes Author-Workplace-Name: School of Law, Austral University of Chile, Chile Author-Name: Alberto Coddou Mc Manus Author-Workplace-Name: School of Government, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, Chile Author-Name: Jane Suiter Author-Workplace-Name: School of Communications, Dublin City University, Ireland Abstract: Chile and Ireland have held constitutional referendums in recent years. While Ireland has successfully passed several controversial constitutional amendments over the last decade, Chile has struggled with its proposed constitutional reform, with two unsuccessful national referendums in September 2022 and December 2023, leaving the constitutional debate unresolved. Both countries have shared challenges, such as constitutional blockage and political polarisation, and both have attempted to involve citizens in pre-referendum processes in various ways. Ireland has consolidated public participation and deliberation mechanisms despite recent setbacks, unlike Chile, which has relied on electoral innovations. So, how can these diverging outcomes be explained? This article proposes an explanation by comparing these two cases, highlighting the importance, possibilities, and limitations of constitutional referendums based on three criteria: the extent and intensity of change, the model of democratic participation, and the role of elites and incumbent powers. These three criteria are crucial for addressing constitutional change’s central challenges when linked to a referendum. Consequently, these criteria offer a focused analytical framework for understanding the explicit or implicit elements that can influence the success or failure of a constitutional referendum and must be considered in its design and organisation. Keywords: Chile; constitutional change; democratic innovations; Ireland; mini‐publics; referendums Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9197 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Right to a Referendum, or Duty to Deliberate? Rethinking Normative Entitlements to Secession File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9018 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9018 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9018 Author-Name: Ron Levy Author-Workplace-Name: Law School, Australian National University, Australia Abstract: When should groups within a state be owed a process, such as a referendum, that can enable their secession or greater internal autonomy? Much of the prior normative literature has overlooked the constitutional theory context of this question. Autonomy movements raise a “constitutional legitimacy crisis” in which the core question is what a constitution’s normative foundations are or should be. Firm answers remain elusive. The parties tend to make selective and circular (“normative bootstrapping”) claims, which are neither sound nor practically persuasive to the other parties to a dispute. Thus this article, firstly, relies on the constitutional legitimacy crisis lens to explain why disputes over autonomy movements are largely intractable under existing approaches; and, secondly, identifies a promising species of solution to the problem. Departing from both “primary right” and “remedial right only” theories, the article endorses a duty to deliberate. This duty relies on deliberative democratic procedures (e.g., “mini-publics,” “deliberative referendums,” and “deliberative negotiation”), applied to autonomy movements’ various phases, to decide how and whether autonomy movements should progress. Such an approach may offer a sounder and more practically effective approach to resolving autonomy-related constitutional legitimacy crises. Keywords: autonomy; deliberative democracy; duty to deliberate; referendum; secession Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9018 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Cleavage Referendums: Ideological Decisions and Transformational Political Change File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/10321 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.10321 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 10321 Author-Name: Theresa Reidy Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Government and Politics, University College Cork, Ireland Abstract: Referendum use has been increasing around the world. In some cases, referendum devices are incorporated into the institutional architecture of the state while in many others, referendums are used in an, and often consultative manner, to determine positions on contentious and divisive political questions. Many of the divisive referendum questions are what we term “cleavage referendums” in this thematic issue. These referendums ask questions that draw from underlying cleavages or fault lines in politics. Voting in these referendums will often exhibit first‐order effects, as voters make decisions that align with their fundamental values and beliefs. The articles in this issue make three important contributions to enrich existing work on referendums: The first contribution lies in the development of new conceptual models for analysing referendums, such as new forms of classifying cleavage referendums, presenting a predictive model for the outcomes of referendum votes, and documenting and applying methodological approaches and frameworks that can provide the foundations for further future comparative work. The second contribution builds on the burgeoning literature that sits at the intersection of deliberative and direct democracy. In this sense, the articles interrogate examples of deliberative and participatory innovations in combination with referendum votes, while also examining their further potential, especially in one of the most contentious referendum contexts, secession. Finally, the role of cleavage structures in shaping voter decision‐making is explored thoroughly in comparative analyses and single case studies. Keywords: cleavage referendums; ideology; political cleavages; referendum campaigns; referendum voting; referendums Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:10321 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The Centrality of Voting in Democracy: The Plebiscitarian Origins of the Idea File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9722 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9722 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9722 Author-Name: Greg Yudin Author-Workplace-Name: Shelby Cullom Davis Center for Historical Studies, Princeton University, USA Abstract: Democracy is often equated with voting, an assumption shared by many defenders, reformers, and critics of liberal democracy. This article explores the origins of the idea of the centrality of voting in democracy, arguing that current thinking about liberal democracy is heavily influenced by a nearly forgotten tradition of plebiscitary democracy. Originally conceived with a reverence for personalist leadership, this tradition sought to tame democracy. The article outlines three key stages in the development of the plebiscitary theory of voting. In the 19th century, the Bonapartist regime in France embraced the expansion of suffrage as a means to solidify monarchical power through popular acclamations. In the interwar period, thinkers such as Max Weber and Carl Schmitt, reflecting on the American and French mass voting experiences, developed a plebiscitary interpretation of voting and suggested a normative justification for a synthesis of democracy and monarchy. Later, plebiscitary theory influenced political science and its techniques for measuring democracy, notably through Joseph Schumpeter’s minimalist view, which, as argued here, was shaped by plebiscitarian intuitions. The focus on elections and plebiscites is unlikely to revive democracy; instead, it may pave the way for powerful monarchical leaders who claim to rely on popular will. Keywords: Bonapartism; Carl Schmitt; elections; Joseph Schumpeter; Max Weber; plebiscitary democracy; voting Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9722 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Ancient Demagoguery and Contemporary Populism: Conceptual Analogies and Differences in Historical Perspective File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9729 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9729 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9729 Author-Name: Giuseppe Ballacci Author-Workplace-Name: Centre for Ethics, Politics and Society, University of Minho, Portugal Abstract: The association between contemporary populism and demagoguery is frequent, both in academic literature and political debate. However, the scholarly attention devoted to the latter is considerably less than that given to the former. This is a peculiar situation considering that demagoguery has been a primary concern for political thinkers since classical Greece. Even when not explicitly discussed, the question of demagoguery was an underlying concern framing discussions on pivotal themes like political leadership, public rhetoric, tensions between oligarchic and popular factions, and the nature of the best regime. This raises the question of how historical conceptions of demagoguery align with contemporary theories of populism and whether relevant differences between them can deepen our understanding of both phenomena. The first part of the article reconstructs the classical conception of demagoguery focusing on its treatment by two of its most influential theorists, Plato and Aristotle. For them, demagoguery was a corrupted political form in which popular power turns into tyranny under unprincipled leaders exacerbating divisions between popular and oligarchic factions. Building on this historical analysis, the second part of the article compares the ancient conception of demagoguery and contemporary theories of populism focusing on the three primary aspects around which the current debate revolves: ideology, political style, and institutions and forms of organization. Keywords: ancient democracy; demagoguery; history of political thought; modern democracy; populism Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9729 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: After Post‐Truth: Revisiting the Lippmann–Dewey Debate File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9735 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9735 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9735 Author-Name: Andreas Aagaard Nøhr Author-Workplace-Name: Department of International Relations and International Organization, University of Groningen, The Netherlands Author-Name: Filipe dos Reis Author-Workplace-Name: Department of International Relations and International Organization, University of Groningen, The Netherlands Author-Name: Benjamin Herborth Author-Workplace-Name: Department of International Relations and International Organization, University of Groningen, The Netherlands Abstract: The debate on post‐truth has sought to restore what it held to be the proper relationship between knowledge, truth, and political judgment. This made for an intuitively plausible response to the experience of democracy itself being increasingly contested. However, with the re‐election of Donald Trump as US president and a broad array of instances of democratic backsliding in Europe and beyond, such a restorative framing may have exhausted itself. Therefore, we suggest revisiting the Lippmann–Dewey debate as a starting point for an alternative way of theorizing the contemporary crisis of democracy and knowledge production. The article outlines the potential of revisiting the Lippmann–Dewey debate to this end in three steps. First, we read the Lippmann–Dewey debate as a classical instance of the contestation of the concept of (liberal) democracy. Second, we discuss the relevance of two fundamentally different perspectives on the politics of knowledge: expertise and education. Third, we introduce two empirical sites to further illustrate such reflexive contestedness: the contestation of economic knowledge during European austerity politics and the role of Scientists for Future in environmental protests. A brief conclusion reflects on how one could think of the paradigmatic positions of Dewey and Lippmann not as mutually exclusive but complementary ways to problematize democracy in crisis. Keywords: climate change; crisis of democracy; education; expertise; euro crisis; John Dewey; post‐truth; social movements; Walter Lippmann Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9735 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Making Russia Great Again? Vladimir Putin’s Changing Sources of Legitimacy 2000–2024 File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9029 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9029 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9029 Author-Name: Tina Burrett Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Liberal Arts, Sophia University, Japan Abstract: This article analyses the changing sources of President Vladimir Putin’s legitimacy during his quarter century at the apex of power in Russia. To reveal the shifting underpinnings of Putin’s legitimacy, I examine the central themes of his five presidential election campaigns, from March 2000 to March 2024. Public opinion data is used to assess the relationship between these campaign themes and the priorities of Russian voters, as legitimacy rests on shared values between ruler and ruled. I argue that the main sources of Putin’s legitimacy have shifted during his long tenure, especially since his 2012 return to the presidency, after four years as prime minister. Putin first won the Russian presidency by positioning himself as a soft nationalist reformer, intent on integrating with the West, and wrestling wealth from Russia’s oligarchs. Twelve years later, Putin turned his ire on international enemies, claiming the role of Russia’s champion against a hostile West and fifth column within—themes pursued with greater vigour following Russia’s incursions in Ukraine since 2014. In addition, Putin has doubled down on conservative appeals, including support for the Orthodox Church and anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric. Appropriation of Russia’s role in WW2 has also been a source of legitimacy throughout Putin’s leadership, but one put to different uses over time. Putin’s legitimacy has been further bolstered by his stewardship of Russia’s economy, which has remained relatively stable, even in the face of sanctions, since 2014. I conclude that Putin’s longevity in office rests not only on increasing state repression, but also on his success in reorientating Russian social values to suit his changing political needs. Keywords: election campaigns; legitimacy; nationalism; Putin; Russia Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9029 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Twenty‐First Century Autocrats and Their Followers: A Comparative Inquiry File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9065 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9065 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9065 Author-Name: Ludger Helms Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, University of Innsbruck, Austria Abstract:Leadership and followership have long been considered to be defining features of democratic politics. However, more recently, both conceptual redefinitions and real-world developments have put issues of leadership and followership in regimes from beyond the family of established liberal democracies center-stage. This article looks into the nature of authoritarian leadership and followership from a comparative perspective and in light of theories of democratic political leadership. As the inquiry suggests, the rise and nature of leadership activities in contemporary authoritarian regimes reflects both the turn towards more competitive types of autocracy and the aspiration of many authoritarian powerholders to be seen as democratic. At the same time, some of the most spectacular manifestations of autocratic leadership relate to democratic rather than established authoritarian regimes. While followers of autocratic leaders can control their leaders only to the extent that a regime provides mechanisms of vertical accountability, authoritarian followers, even in established autocracies, are not in all regards less important or powerful than their democratic counterparts. Many authoritarian followers do not just support autocrats, but actively attack and chase non-followers or followers of other leaders, and thus play an independent role in the legitimation or de-legitimation of leaders and regimes.
Keywords: authoritarian; autocracy; autocrats; followers; followership; leaders; leadership Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9065 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Legitimacy First: Marine Le Pen’s Visual De‐Demonisation Strategies on Instagram File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/8939 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.8939 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 8939 Author-Name: Donatella Bonansinga Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, University College London, UK Abstract: Recent research on populist visual communication has found a predominance of positivity in the way the populist radical right (PRR) communicates on Instagram. This counters the understanding of PRR actors as “dark” communicators, relying on appeals to negative emotions and attacks against perceived enemies and wider outgroups. This article tests the novel conceptual framework of “visual de-demonisation” that has been proposed to capture the interplay between populist strategic communication, radical right mainstreaming, and positive content on visual social media. This article uses Marine Le Pen’s Instagram account (2015–2021) as a case in point, to illustrate the dynamics of visual de-demonisation and unpack how the three angles of the strategy (legitimacy, good character, and policy) are performed visually. The study offers two contributions to the literature on populism and leadership. First, it expands theory-building around visual de-demonisation by operationalising the framework, testing its empirical application, and producing further theoretical considerations to support concept development. Second, it contributes to debates on the mainstreaming of the radical right, by empirically unpacking its visual performance and evidencing the role of legitimacy-signalling as a prominent concern of populist leaders interested in de-demonising. Keywords: de‐demonisation; Instagram; legitimacy; Le Pen; populist radical right; visual communication Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:8939 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Transformational Party Leaders: Determinants of Leadership Style Assessment in Central and Eastern Europe File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9141 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9141 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9141 Author-Name: Sergiu Gherghina Author-Workplace-Name: Department of International Studies and Contemporary History, Babes‐Bolyai University, Romania / Department of Politics, University of Glasgow, Scotland Abstract: The literature discussing leadership style identifies great variation between contemporary party leaders. While much attention is devoted to their actions, portrayal in the media, and relationships with their followers, there is limited analysis of which factors make a party leader transformational or transactional. This article addresses this gap in the literature and seeks to identify the characteristics of the party leaders or of the party to which they belong which lead party members to evaluate them on the transactional–transformational continuum. It uses original survey data from a modified version of the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire. The analysis includes 12 political parties with parliamentary representation from Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania between 2004 and 2018. The findings illustrate that members perceive as more transformational the first leaders of the party, those who have won competitive internal elections, and those with extensive political experience within the party. Keywords: leadership style; organization; party leaders; post‐communism; transformational Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9141 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Followers First: Rethinking the Legitimacy of Political Leadership File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/10412 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.10412 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 10412 Author-Name: Femke van Esch Author-Workplace-Name: Utrecht University School of Governance, Utrecht University, The Netherlands Author-Name: Rudolf Metz Author-Workplace-Name: Institute for Political Science, HUN‐REN Centre for Social Sciences, Hungary / Institute of Social and Political Science, Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary Abstract: The study of political leadership has traditionally focused on leaders, often overlooking how followers actively shape legitimacy through attribution and contestation. In this thematic issue, the focus shifts from leaders to followership and legitimacy, examining how citizens construct and challenge political authority. The first set of articles explores the role of leadership attribution, populism, and negative personalisation, showing how charismatic appeal, ideological predispositions, social identification, and emotional biases influence how citizens evaluate leaders. The second group of articles focuses on different dimensions of legitimacy and investigates how leadership distance, representation styles, and visual de-demonisation affect followers’ assessment of leaders. The final set extends the discussion from the democratic to the autocratic context and shows how legitimacy and followership also play an essential role in autocratic politics. By using different and novel methodologies, introducing conceptual innovations, and applying these to a wide variety of cases and contexts, the contributions collectively advance the relational approach to political leadership and legitimacy. Ultimately, it lays the groundwork for a new research agenda that redefines leader–follower dynamics, highlighting the contested and evolving nature of political legitimacy across democratic and non-democratic contexts. Keywords: autocracy; democracy; distance; followership; leadership; legitimacy; personalisation; populism; representation; visual de‐demonisation Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:10412 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Forecasting Referendums: A Structural Model Predicting Adoption and Support in Irish Plebiscites 1968–2024 File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9378 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9378 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9378 Author-Name: Stephen Quinlan Author-Workplace-Name: GESIS—Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Germany Author-Name: Michael S. Lewis-Beck Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, University of Iowa, USA Author-Name: Matt Qvortrup Author-Workplace-Name: Centre for European Studies, Australian National University, Australia Abstract: Election prediction flourishes among pollsters, the media, academics, and political anoraks, with four significant prognostic paradigms: opinion polls, markets, structural models, and hybrid approaches. Structural models, inspired by political science theory and based on so-called “fundamental” indicators, have a long pedigree in predicting government performance in elections cross-nationally. Despite their prevalence and prowess in forecasting contests for government, these structural models have not been applied to predict referendums, where the prognosis game, as far as it exists, primarily relies on polls. Perhaps this is unsurprising given that plebiscites can be especially hard to forecast given that citizens often vote on complex subjects not always salient in public discourse, partisan cues are sometimes lacking, and late opinion shifts are arguably more common than in elections. In this contribution, we break new ground by fusing two strands of political science literature—election forecasting and referendums—and devise a prediction model of plebiscites based on economic, institutional, and historical variables, thereby providing the first structural forecasting model to account for referendum adoption and support levels. We apply this model ex-post to 42 national referendums in Ireland between 1968 and 2024 to test its applicability ex-ante. In Europe, Ireland stands third only to Switzerland and Italy as polities that regularly employ referendums to decide public policy issues. With reasonable lead time, ex-post estimates of our model offer solid predictions of the referendums’ outcome, with out-of-sample estimates calling the outcome correctly 68%–79% of the time, a remarkable feat given that the issues up for decision are varied. Moreover, we demonstrate that our model’s predictions are competitive with opinion poll estimates of these contests, illustrating that while our model is not a panacea, it provides a reasonable starting point for predicting the outcomes of referendums in Ireland and, importantly, plants a vital seed for future work on forecasting plebiscites using model approaches. Keywords: forecasting; Ireland; referendums; structural models Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9378 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Social and Discursive Capital as Illiberal Enabler: A Tale of Two Far‐Right Fictions in France File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9654 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9654 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9654 Author-Name: Périne Schir Author-Workplace-Name: ERIAC, University of Rouen Normandy, France Author-Name: Marlène Laruelle Author-Workplace-Name: Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies, The George Washington University, USA Abstract:There is a growing body of scholarship examining the circulation of illiberal ideas. While the majority of approaches have centered on political culture, we instead explore how such ideas manifest themselves in domains not traditionally viewed as overtly political, such as novels and works of fiction. We take two examples from the French literary scene: The Camp of the Saints, written by Jean Raspail in 1973, and Submission, written by Michel Houellebecq in 2015. Both works incorporate great replacement theory into their narratives, but while Raspail’s novel generally belongs to fringe far-right literature, Houellebecq’s has achieved widespread media and commercial success, establishing the author as a leading figure in contemporary French literature. We hypothesise that this discrepancy can be explained through the differing levels of social and discursive capital employed by the two authors. We argue that practices of illiberal diffusion encompass the entirety of the author’s “posture,” which includes both rhetorical or intra-textual practices (that is, how ideas are formulated within the text to align with prevailing norms), as well as instrumental or extra-textual practices (that is, how authors secure favorable reception by controlling external factors, such as media coverage or institutional networks). This broader lens provides a more nuanced understanding of how political ideas circulate within society.
Keywords: cultural circulation; France; great replacement theory; illiberalism; Jean Raspail; Michel Houellebecq Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9654 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Leader Effects in an Era of Negative Politics: Who Has a Negativity Bias? File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9187 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9187 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9187 Author-Name: Loes Aaldering Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands Author-Name: Frederico Ferreira da Silva Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Political Studies, University of Lausanne, Switzerland Author-Name: Diego Garzia Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Political Studies, University of Lausanne, Switzerland Author-Name: Katjana Gattermann Author-Workplace-Name: Amsterdam School of Communication Research, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Author-Name: Alessandro Nai Author-Workplace-Name: Amsterdam School of Communication Research, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Abstract:It is well known that voters’ evaluation of candidates on leadership traits influences their overall candidate assessment and vote choice (i.e., leader effects). It remains unclear, however, whether positive or negative leader trait evaluations are most influential. We argue that especially in current-day political reality—in which ideological and affective polarization are skyrocketing and the political climate is fueled with negativity, high levels of incivility, and negative campaigning—the negative leader effects outweigh the positive ones. Moreover, we expect this negativity bias in leader effects to be conditioned by partisanship and political dissatisfaction. To test these expectations, we triangulate multiple studies. First, we use data from a multi-country election survey to examine the relation between perceived leadership traits of real candidates and party preferences, providing observational evidence from the US, the Netherlands, France, and Germany. Second, focusing on the causal mechanism, we test the negativity bias in a survey experiment among American voters. Here, we manipulate how leadership traits (competence, leadership, integrity, empathy) of a fictitious candidate are presented in terms of valence (positive, negative), and test the impact of these cues on voters’ candidate evaluations and vote choices. The findings indicate, as predicted, that negative leader effects influence voters most strongly. Thus, the role of party leaders is mainly a push instead of a pull factor in elections. Additionally, we show that partisanship and political dissatisfaction seem relevant only for candidate evaluations, not for vote choice. This article pushes the field of candidate evaluations forward by examining the dynamics of the negativity bias in leader effects in an era of negative politics.
Keywords: candidate evaluation; leader effects; negativity bias; political polarization Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9187 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The European Parliament: On the Politics of Naming File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9652 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9652 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9652 Author-Name: Kari Palonen Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy, University of Jyväskylä, Finland Abstract: In this article, I discuss the early history of the expression of the European Parliament and analyse the political points of its different rhetorical nuances and connotations. I shall use as the background a wider discussion on the politics of naming, indebted to the rhetorical work of Quentin Skinner as well as to the historical repertoire of alternative titles for parliamentary assemblies. The expression “European Parliament” had already been in use in the post-war years, first among the pro-federalist wing of the European movement. In the initial sitting of the ECSC Common Assembly on 13 September 1952, Théodore Lefevre spoke of the Assembly as “la première à mériter le nom de ‘Parlement européen’” in the sense of both describing and legitimising the political novelty of that Assembly. In the Ad Hoc Assembly’s debates on the constitutional draft for the European Political Community in 1952/1953, which proposed a supranational parliamentary government, the expression—first in French and then in English—became a colloquial title for the two chambers of the Parliament of the European Political Community. The European Parliamentary Assembly of the EEC changed its name to the European Parliament on 30 March 1962. The title European Parliament has been used both for an existing assembly with a low “parliamentarity” and for a future assembly with full parliamentary powers. Keywords: Ad Hoc Assembly; European Parliament; politics and rhetoric of naming; supranational parliamentarism Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9652 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: When Illiberals Govern: Educational and Cultural Policies in Hungary and Poland File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9535 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9535 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9535 Author-Name: Péter Radó Author-Workplace-Name: CEU Democracy Institute, Hungary / Faculty of Education and Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary Author-Name: Bálint Mikola Author-Workplace-Name: CEU Democracy Institute, Hungary Abstract: Illiberal governments have been widely associated with democratic backsliding, the erosion of the rule of law, and executive aggrandisement. However, their impact on the various domains of knowledge production has not received enough scholarly attention. Through what policies do illiberal actors ensure the reproduction of their narratives? Do illiberal political leaders see education and culture as ideological vehicles, or do they consider them as arenas for power distribution? The article addresses these questions through the educational and cultural policy changes in two crucial cases of illiberals in power: post-2010 Hungary and 2015–2023 Poland. The article distinguishes between overt and hidden policy agendas, i.e., initiatives and aspirations that are driven by values and social or economic goals vs. policies serving purposes that cannot be openly represented. Through the analysis of legislative changes, party programs, and party discourse, complemented with semi-structured expert interviews, the study finds that despite sharing similar policy agendas, Fidesz and PiS considerably differ in the extent to which they transformed educational and cultural policies during their reign. While the main feature of educational and cultural policies in Hungary has been radical political power concentration, these policies in Poland rather served the ideological goals of the illiberal culture war. The article concludes that these differences were caused by the latitude afforded to these parties by their respective legislative majorities, indicating that whether illiberals have a supermajority in parliament influences the extent to which they can abuse their power. Keywords: cultural policy; education policy; Hungary; illiberalism; Poland Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9535 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Virtues in Political Practice: Insights From an Interview Study With Swedish Parliamentarians File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9326 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9326 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9326 Author-Name: Joel Martinsson Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, Linnaeus University, Sweden Abstract: Which virtues, and why these, are most important for politicians? While philosophical discussions on virtues in politics are extensive, empirical investigations into the virtues politicians themselves value remain limited. This article addresses this gap through in-depth interviews with 74 Swedish parliamentarians. Analyzing these interviews using a structured multi-level coding approach, I make three main claims. First, the cardinal virtue in the Swedish parliament is the ability to separate ideas from those who hold them; this principle is seen as vital for fostering political trust within parliament and with the public. Second, virtue pluralism is essential within parliamentary and party groups as the virtues politicians prioritize depend on the broader virtue composition of their group. Third, virtues can be categorized into five key themes—entrepreneurial, social, integrity, wisdom, and craftsman—reflecting the multifaceted nature of parliamentary representative roles and responsibilities. Collectively, these findings underscore the interdependent nature of virtues in political practice, where the value of specific virtues is shaped by group dynamics and the presence or absence of the cardinal virtue. This study provides novel empirical insights into how national political leaders perceive and value virtues in politics, contributing to the literature on political ethics, representation, and leadership. Keywords: parliaments; political ethics; political virtues; representative democracy; virtue ethics Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9326 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Voices in the Margins: Exploring the Link Between Discrimination and Adolescents’ Political Involvement File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9309 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9309 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9309 Author-Name: Philipp Kleer Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany Author-Name: Simone Abendschön Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany Author-Name: Gema García-Albacete Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Social Sciences, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain / Carlos III‐Juan March Institute, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain Author-Name: Lidia Núñez Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Social Sciences, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain / Carlos III‐Juan March Institute, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain Author-Name: David Sánchez Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Social Sciences, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain / Carlos III‐Juan March Institute, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain Abstract: Political interest is one of the main determinants of political participation. Understanding the development and the mechanisms involved in forming this crucial cognitive orientation is necessary for an enhanced understanding and a successful political integration of young people. We know that political interest starts forming at an early age and that this process depends on several social characteristics, i.e., socioeconomic and immigration background have proven to be a significant element. However, the direction of the differences in the political interest of adolescents with an immigrant background compared to native adolescents is disputed. At the same time, some studies present lower political interest levels for immigrant youth, and others found higher political interest levels. Our article explores whether these inconsistent findings are related to (a) different discrimination experiences and (b) the moderation effects of these discrimination experiences on one important correlate of political interest—social participation. We expect that experiences of discrimination represent an important determinant of political interest. Despite its importance, little attention has been paid to the mechanisms by which discrimination fosters political interest. We rely on data from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in Four European Countries (CILS4EU), allowing us to account for a wide range of discrimination experiences of youth. We use linear regression models to examine the effect of discrimination experience on political interest. From our results, both discrimination experience and social participation positively affect youth’s political interest, but neither amplifies the other effect through suggested moderation. Keywords: discrimination; immigration background; political interest; political involvement; youth Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9309 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The Influence of Age on Citizens’ Preferences for Age‐Related Descriptive Representation File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9251 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9251 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9251 Author-Name: Kira Renée Kurz Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, University of Freiburg, Germany Author-Name: L. Constantin Wurthmann Author-Workplace-Name: Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES), University of Mannheim, Germany Author-Name: Martin Gross Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, LMU Munich, Germany Abstract: While in most countries the age of candidacy is 18, young people are strongly underrepresented in legislatures around the world. This results in a notable age gap between the average parliamentarian and the electorate. So far, the majority of studies focus on structural and party-level factors contributing to age disparities in descriptive underrepresentation. And even though young candidates are perceived as less experienced, recent research shows varying effects of candidates’ age on voters’ willingness to elect them. What is mostly lacking, however, is an individual-level perspective on age-centred representation. How does a political representative’s age matter for citizens and do citizens’ preferences regarding representation differ between age groups? We base our theoretical arguments on the literature on candidate characteristics and ingroup-outgroup behaviour. Empirically, we provide evidence based on original data collected in Germany—that age matters for citizens on all levels of government, but especially for young people (below 31 years). Furthermore, we observe strong and significant ingroup preferences for both young and elderly citizens (60 years and above). Yet, with regard to outgroup discrimination, we find a notable asymmetry: Young adults exhibit aversion to being represented by individuals over 60 years, whilst seniors do not significantly discriminate against young representatives. These preference patterns speak to recent findings that enhanced descriptive youth representation leads to an increase in turnout among young people by providing additional insights into the mechanisms behind this relationship. Keywords: age groups; candidates; descriptive representation; Germany; ingroup‐outgroup; representation preferences; representatives; youth Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9251 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Unequal Participation Among Youth and Immigrants: An Overview File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/10364 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.10364 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 10364 Author-Name: Arndt Leininger Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Political Science, Chemnitz University of Technology, Germany Author-Name: Sabrina J. Mayer Author-Workplace-Name: Department for Political Science, University of Bamberg, Germany / German Center for Integration and Migration Research, Germany Abstract: This thematic issue covers the political participation of youth and immigrants in contemporary democracies. The articles in this issue advance knowledge in youth studies, migration studies, and political behavior, theoretically and empirically. They do so by proposing innovative perspectives on voter turnout, political efficacy, protest behavior, representation preferences, and intersectional dynamics among young and immigrant-origin voters. Utilizing diverse methodological approaches, including quantitative analyses, qualitative interviews, and intersectional studies, the contributions highlight significant participation gaps and the factors that influence these disparities. The findings underscore the importance of addressing inequalities to strengthen democratic representation and stability. Keywords: immigrants; minorities; political participation; representation; voting; youth Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:10364 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Opposition to Government and Back: How Illiberal Parties Shape Immigration Discourse and Party Competition File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9609 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9609 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9609 Author-Name: Franziska Wagner Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, Central European University, Austria Author-Name: Dean Schafer Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Mississippi State University, USA / CEU Democracy Institute, Hungary Author-Name: Mehmet Yavuz Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, Central European University, Austria / Department of Political Science, University of Salzburg, Austria Abstract: In recent decades, illiberal far-right parties have seen electoral success, reshaped European politics, challenged established norms, and accelerated shifts in political discourse. Thought to be isolated by a cordon sanitaire, these parties are increasingly normalized, gaining footholds in parliament and government—from coalition participation in Austria to majority rule in Hungary. As illiberal far-right parties gain access to power, a pressing question arises: How does their parliamentary and governmental participation influence both their discourse and that of mainstream parties? While we know that far-right parliamentary entry influences mainstream parties’ policy adaptations and strategic positioning, less is known about their systematic effects across countries or how governing responsibilities affect their discourse. Theories of issue competition suggest that parties adjust their stances to maintain voter support, but case studies have suggested diverging results. Leveraging a novel liberal–illiberal scale based on word embeddings and dictionaries, this study examines how far-right parties’ participation in parliaments and governments affects their own immigration discourse and that of mainstream parties by analyzing the interaction between 67 parties in eight European countries (Austria, Czechia, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, and Poland) over the last 15 years. Our findings show that mainstream parties, especially conservative ones, follow the shifts in the immigration discourse of far-right parties. Furthermore, we find that far-right parties minimally moderate their anti-immigration discourse when entering government and then radicalize again when they leave. The illiberal far-right therefore appears to have the net effect of pulling their country’s party system to the right on immigration. These findings clarify the consequences of illiberal party normalization for party competition, coalition strategies, and democratic stability in European politics. Keywords: Europe; far‐right parties; illiberal parties; immigration discourse; parliamentary speeches; party competition Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9609 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Decision‐Making Preferences in Times of Crisis File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9178 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9178 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9178 Author-Name: Réka Várnagy Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary Author-Name: Anna Novák Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary Author-Name: Judit Badics Author-Workplace-Name: Independent Researcher, Hungary Abstract: During crises, understanding political decision-making processes and evaluating related preferences are key to the legitimacy of political decisions. Our research focuses on preferences in decision-making processes in times of crisis through the analysis of the representational style most preferred by voters: that is, whether they prefer representation of the public good by the representatives, the party lines, the involvement of experts, or the incorporation of voters’ interests. Within the framework of representative democracy, these decisions are mediated by representatives whose representational style determines whose interest and opinion decision-making processes integrate. In our analysis, we examined representative styles in the context of three different types of crises: economic, social, and environmental. Our results indicate that the type of crisis is indifferent when it comes to preferred political decision-making processes, as Hungarian voters tend to favor processes where they are being consulted by the representatives across different scenarios. Representatives’ commitment to party lines is disfavored when making political decisions and we observed there is no clear preference regarding the involvement of experts in political decisions in times of crisis. These observed preferences strongly contradict the prevailing “strong party discipline” in Hungary. This deviation accentuates both weakening representative linkages and the importance of the performative elements of representation feeding into the populist characteristic of Hungarian democracy. Keywords: decision‐making processes; experts; political legitimacy; representative democracy; voter preferences Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9178 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The Irresistible Allure of Charismatic Leaders? Populism, Social Identity, and Polarisation File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9017 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9017 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9017 Author-Name: Rudolf Metz Author-Workplace-Name: Institute for Political Science, HUN‐REN Centre for Social Sciences, Hungary / Institute of Social and Political Science, Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary Author-Name: Bendegúz Plesz Author-Workplace-Name: Institute for Political Science, HUN‐REN Centre for Social Sciences, Hungary / Faculty of Law, Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary Abstract: This article examines the complex interplay between populism, social identity, and charisma attribution in leader–follower relationships. Drawing on a survey conducted in Hungary during the 2022 election, we investigate how populist attitudes and partisan identity shape citizens’ perceptions of leaders, specifically assessing the charismatic appeal of Viktor Orbán and Péter Márki-Zay, and charisma attribution across three levels: a general need for charismatic leadership, recognition of specific charismatic behaviours, and emotional attachment. We found that while populist attitudes drive an overarching idealisation of leadership, partisan identity more directly influences the perception of leaders’ charismatic qualities and emotional connections to them. Contrary to prevailing assumptions, our findings reveal that populist attitudes do not have a direct effect on (leader) affective polarisation, while the idealisation of leadership significantly increases it. A key observation here is that while partisanship influences both positive and negative perceptions of charisma, identity strength only enhances emotional attachment in the positive direction. It has no moderating effect on negative perceptions, suggesting that rejection of the out-group leader is a foundational aspect of group membership. These dynamics underscore the role of populism and identity politics in fostering political divisions, suggesting that identity-based attachments are crucial for understanding the emotional resonance between charismatic leaders and their followers. This study contributes to the ongoing discourse on the relationship between charismatic leadership and populism, identity, and polarisation, emphasising the significance of followers’ attitudes in political dynamics. Keywords: affective polarisation; charismatic leadership; followership; Péter Márki‐Zay; populist attitudes; social identity; Viktor Orbán Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9017 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Finding Space in Politics: Perceptions of Representation Among Dutch Citizens With an Immigration Background File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9212 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9212 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9212 Author-Name: Floris Vermeulen Author-Workplace-Name: Political Science Department, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Author-Name: Nella Geurts Author-Workplace-Name: Sociology Department, Radboud University, The Netherlands Author-Name: Jaco Dagevos Author-Workplace-Name: The Netherlands Institute for Social Research, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands Author-Name: Niels Spierings Author-Workplace-Name: Sociology Department, Radboud University, The Netherlands Abstract: Representative democracy functions optimally when all citizens can participate, are heard, and feel represented. We know, however, that those interested and satisfied in politics rarely reflect a cross-section of the population. What’s more, the influence exercised by certain groups in a democracy is unevenly distributed, and citizens with an immigration background feel on average less represented politically than citizens without one. This article explores how processes of perceived inclusion and exclusion influence the sense of political representation experienced by Dutch citizens with an immigration background. Our study aims to offer greater insight into perceptions of political representation and gain an understanding of what leads to these experiences. We draw on data from six focus group discussions with people who share the categorical trait of being deemed “different” by the majority society along various dimensions, such as ethnic and religious background, race, postcolonial background, and migration motive (e.g., asylum-seeking). Prior to our analysis, we expected these potential grounds for exclusion to have differing influences on perceived representation and how members of the groups relate to the political institutions. Our results show that descriptive representation is a critical start though not enough for adequate substantive political representation of people with an immigration background. Our respondents felt substantive representation fails in the Netherlands due to a lack of perceived representation in the form of politicians with shared experiences who know what it feels like to be excluded, opposed, and dismissed as problematic. Keywords: descriptive representation; exclusion; immigration; substantive representation; the Netherlands Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9212 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Muslims’ Vote Choice: Exclusion and Group Voting in Europe File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9313 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9313 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9313 Author-Name: Odelia Oshri Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel Author-Name: Reut Itzkovitch-Malka Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Sociology, Political Science and Communication, Open University of Israel, Israel Abstract: A well-documented fact is that Muslim citizens tend to vote for the left in greater proportion than non-Muslim citizens. In Western Europe, this difference in the vote for left-wing parties exceeds 30%. Interestingly, the gap endures despite Muslims’ integration into the host society, which is expected to militate against group voting. Why, then, do Muslims continue to vote as a group? And what factors account for their leaning towards the left? We argue that exclusion and discrimination, to which Muslims are regularly subjected as a group, work against the effect of integration on their vote choice, as it strengthens the saliency of group interests and “linked fate” in their voting calculus. Using public opinion survey data, we show that the more Muslims feel discriminated against by their host society, the more likely they are to engage in group voting and vote for the left. We also show that political exclusion, proxied by the electoral strength of radical-right parties, has a positive association with Muslims’ support for left-wing parties. Finally, we delve into the British case and show that experiences of physical violence are also manifested in stronger group voting by non-Western immigrants. Our article sheds light on a phenomenon that has the potential to reshape the electoral landscape in Europe by rendering ethnic and religious identity a crucial dimension of party competition. Keywords: exclusion; immigration; left‐wing parties; Muslims; radical‐right parties; voting behavior Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9313 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Electoral Turnout of Non‐Citizens Under Voluntary and Compulsory Voting: Evidence From Chile File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9152 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9152 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9152 Author-Name: Mauricio Morales Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Social and Juridical Sciences, Universidad de Talca, Chile Author-Name: Mario Herrera Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Social and Juridical Sciences, Universidad de Talca, Chile Author-Name: Teresa Pérez‐Cosgaya Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Humanities, Universidad de Santiago, Chile Abstract: It is often argued that non-citizens are less interested in the political processes of the host country and, therefore, vote less than citizens. We discuss this using Chile’s administrative electoral census for the 2012–2023 elections. We choose Chile for three reasons. First, it is one of the few countries worldwide that allows non-citizens to vote in local and national elections. Second, Chile requires only five years of permanent residence for non-citizens to vote. Third, Chile implemented a voluntary voting system between 2012 and 2021 and a compulsory voting system in 2022. This latter particularity means that voting is compulsory for non-citizens registered on the electoral roll. How much and how did the electoral participation of citizens and non-citizens change with the introduction of compulsory voting? Four results stand out. First, citizen turnout averaged 44.7% under voluntary voting, while non-citizen turnout averaged 17.1%. Second, with the introduction of compulsory voting, the figures narrowed. Citizens averaged 86.3% and non-citizens 60.0%, tripling their turnout compared to elections organised under voluntary voting. Third, there is a gender gap in voter turnout in favour of women, both among citizens and non-citizens. Fourth, since 2020—when a constitutional referendum was held during the Covid-19 pandemic—there has been a higher turnout of young people in citizen and non-citizen groups. These results are beneficial for assessing the institutions that regulate the right and exercise of the vote for non-citizens, the impact of compulsory voting on electoral participation, and the re-boosting of youth participation. Keywords: administrative censuses; Chile; compulsory vote; electoral turnout; non‐citizens Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9152 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Learning to Lead at the WHO: Thailand’s Global Health Diplomacy at the World Health Assembly File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9114 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9114 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9114 Author-Name: Joseph Harris Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Sociology, Boston University, USA Author-Name: Suriwan Thaiprayoon Author-Workplace-Name: Division of Global Health, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand Abstract: One of the largest delegations at the governing body of the WHO—the World Health Assembly (WHA)—hails from a small country in Southeast Asia. While Thailand’s presence through the 1990s was small, its delegation and engagement at annual WHA meetings grew substantially from the early 2000s through the 2010s, coming to rival that of the US. Thailand has tabled important resolutions at the WHA. The country serves on the WHO’s Executive Board; officials serve on politically sensitive drafting committees and have played important roles in high-profile resolutions. How and why did Thailand invest in building a presence at the WHO and what dividends have accrued from it? This article explores the development and growth of Thailand’s unique approach to global health diplomacy at the WHO, based on nearly 70 interviews with officials from the government, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, and academics. The country’s growing prominence at the WHA was part of a deliberate investment strategy that required sustained political and economic resources which allowed the country to play credible leadership roles and begin to take a proactive (rather than reactive) approach to set the global health agenda, attaining status through its growing “epistemic power” in the process. Keywords: development; diplomacy; epistemic power; global health; Global South; hierarchy; international order; international relations; status; world order Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9114 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Rational Illusions: Everyday Theories of International Status and the Domestic Politics of Boer War File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9113 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9113 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9113 Author-Name: Paul David Beaumont Author-Workplace-Name: Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, Norway Abstract: Existing research has documented that status-seeking abounds in world politics. Yet the status hierarchies to which states respond and compete within are notoriously ambiguous and difficult to empirically ascertain. This ambiguity has begotten considerable disagreement among scholars over the nature of international hierarchies. Making a strength out of this slipperiness, this article posits that international status can be studied via the everyday theories of status that governments and their opponents themselves produce and use to interpret their state’s status. Treating these everyday theories as productive of the world they purport to describe, such an approach foregrounds the interpretative agency of domestic groups to develop and maintain “hierarchies of their own making,” which need not be recognized internationally to become crucial for policy legitimation domestically. In order to study such everyday theories’ systematically, the article develops a new meta-linguistic framework for identifying and mapping their use within domestic politics. Via a case study on the Boer War (1899–1902), the article shows how domestic battles over what international status is can shape domestic politics and policy outcomes. Keywords: constructivism; discourse analysis; imperialism; status competition; status hierarchies; status seeking Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9113 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: China as a “Green Soft Power” and the Belt and Road Initiative: Evidence From Pakistan File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9106 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9106 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9106 Author-Name: Agnieszka Nitza-Makowska Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Political Science and International Relations, Collegium Civitas, Poland Abstract: By taking a proactive role in international negotiations on climate change and extending the ecological dimension of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China has been strengthening its position as a leader in global environmental governance. This article examines the effects of China’s efforts regarding its soft power. Specifically, it argues that prioritising environmental protection in foreign policies can enhance a state’s status as a “green soft power.” To test this argument, this article examines the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a key component of the BRI and a multibillion-dollar, 3,000-km energy, road and railway infrastructure network, accompanied by geostrategic, diplomatic, and economic initiatives promoted as a “game-changer” and a “win-win” situation. More specifically, the article aims to assess this project’s influence on China’s green soft power “reserves,” and it sheds light on the role of the bilateral relationship in shaping China’s international status. This article asks the following: What is the impact of the CPEC on China’s green soft power vis-à-vis Pakistan and globally, especially given that it encompasses numerous coal-based energy projects? To address this question, it draws on selected academic literature, triangulated with primary sources such as policy documents and semi-structured interviews with local stakeholders in Pakistan. Keywords: Belt and Road Initiative; China; climate; environmental leadership; Global South; green soft power; international status; Pakistan; renewable energy Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9106 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: “Bounded States”: How (Extreme) Risk Constrains the Aspiration for Status File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9085 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9085 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9085 Author-Name: Kennedy Mbeva Author-Workplace-Name: Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, University of Cambridge, UK Author-Name: Reuben Makomere Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Law, University of Tasmania, Australia Abstract: We introduce the concept of “bounded states” to analyse how aspiration and risk (exposure and vulnerability to threats) shape the politics of status-seeking among states. We do so by examining how vulnerability to domestic and geopolitical threats constrain the aspiration of states for higher status in the international system, using the African Union Agenda 2063 strategic initiative as an illustrative case study. We draw on a review of key policy documents and secondary data analysis to highlight the tension between the collective aspiration for continental transformation and the catastrophic risks posed by climate change and geo-economic competition. We argue that African states, acting as “bounded states,” navigate these risks through a constrained version of Pan-Africanism—which we term as bounded Pan-Africanism—balancing their ambitions with the realities of high vulnerability to internal and external threats. In conclusion, this study offers new insights into the complex dynamics of status-seeking for states in a volatile global landscape. Keywords: African Union Agenda 2063; bounded states; catastrophic risk; climate change; geoeconomics; Pan‐Africanism; status‐seeking Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9085 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Status‐Seeking Through Disaster Relief: India and China’s Response to Turkey–Syria Earthquakes File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9072 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9072 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9072 Author-Name: Dhanasree Jayaram Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geopolitics and International Relations, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, India Author-Name: Lina Gong Author-Workplace-Name: Department of International Studies, Xi’an Jiaotong–Liverpool University, China Author-Name: Manaswini Dahagam Srivatsav Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geopolitics and International Relations, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, India Abstract: Disaster relief cooperation has emerged as an active area of status-seeking by major powers. In recent decades, India and China have increasingly leveraged their disaster management capabilities to project their power globally. Disaster relief cooperation can be viewed through the lenses of the logics of both appropriateness and consequences. As “non-Western” powers, they have conventionally been known to contest disaster relief norms perceived by them as Western. Simultaneously, they have varied status-seeking approaches, guided by distinct geopolitical equations and involving different actors. Against this background, the article analyses the patterns and drivers of India and China’s status-seeking behaviour through disaster relief cooperation using the frameworks of the logics of appropriateness and consequences, in the case of the 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes. It delineates the actors and capabilities involved in their overseas disaster relief activities as well as their implications. It also investigates the strategic and normative imperatives, and geopolitical considerations of their disaster relief cooperation. The article argues that the status-seeking behaviour of India and China through disaster relief cooperation with Turkey and Syria is guided by an interplay between the logic of appropriateness and the logic of consequences, based on their motivations, capacities, and distinct contexts of the recipient countries. Keywords: China; disaster relief cooperation; India; logic of appropriateness; logic of consequences; status‐seeking; Turkey–Syria earthquakes Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9072 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Nepal’s Status‐Seeking Endeavors: Between Normative Convergence and Geopolitical Interests File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9032 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9032 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9032 Author-Name: Bibek Chand Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science and International Affairs, University of North Georgia, USA Abstract: Due to limited material and geopolitical factors, the agency of small states is limited in international politics. As such, these states may seek to mitigate such weaknesses through status-seeking, adopting peculiar foreign policy approaches or international commitments to signal to more powerful actors about specific political or normative affinities. In this article, the conceptual framework of social identity theory, specifically social mobility, is used to assess Nepal’s foreign policy choices. It is argued that Nepal pursues the identity management strategy of social mobility in the form of normative conformance with more powerful actors to reinforce its status in the international community but not necessarily to rise up in the hierarchy of states. Social mobility through normative conformance not only allows Nepal to elevate its status with higher-status groups like the EU, the UN, and US (which are the country’s primary development partners), but it also reinforces Nepal’s interest in maintaining (and if possible, expanding) its agency as a sovereign state which is constrained due to its geopolitical location in between much larger neighbors, India and China. Nepal’s normative convergence efforts are broadly categorized into two specific types of commitments: (a) multilateralism and (b) normative congruence with development partners. Both of these normative conformance approaches seek to emulate the values and practices of the higher-status group—the US, the UN, and the EU. Keywords: China; European Union; India; Nepal; small states; status Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9032 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Norm Compliance and International Status: National Human Rights Institutions in Domestic and Global Politics File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/8879 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.8879 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 8879 Author-Name: Luka Glušac Author-Workplace-Name: Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade, Serbia Abstract: Traditional literature associates status-seeking with aggressive behaviour based on state attributes such as military and economic capacities. This article argues that both material and ideational attributes help to confer status. It demonstrates that fundamental values, such as the rule of law and human rights, act as structural incentives for states to adopt prevailing international norms. It does so by analysing the creation of independent national institutions for the protection and promotion of human rights (also known as national human rights institutions [NHRIs]) in line with the Paris Principles adopted by the UN General Assembly. The article reaffirms the power of club membership in international relations, as governments choose to establish NHRIs despite the fact that these institutions serve to expose their human rights deficiencies and wrongdoings. It warns, however, that some governments might attempt to influence how NHRIs exercise their stratified rights as members of the global NHRI club (the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions) by pressuring them to align their views of the state’s human rights record in international forums with those of the government. The article sheds additional light on the importance of domestic political dynamics in status-seeking and status-keeping, which is an overlooked subject in the status literature. Finally, the article raises concerns about the pledge to create NHRIs in all UN member states by 2030, as expressed by Sustainable Development Goal 16, citing a genuine risk of individual NHRIs being captured by their governments in the current climate of democratic backsliding. In light of this, the article deepens our understanding of the interplay between global aspirations, status-seeking, and the integrity of human rights institutions. Keywords: domestic politics; global politics; human rights; national human rights institutions; norm compliance; status; sustainable development goals Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:8879 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Status Threat, Campaign Rhetoric, and US Foreign Policy File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/8760 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.8760 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 8760 Author-Name: Jonathan Schulman Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, Northwestern University, USA / Institute for the Study of Citizens and Politics, University of Pennsylvania, USA Abstract: Candidates for office frequently warn that the United States is falling behind its rivals. How does this rhetoric affect voters’ perceptions of their commitment to action and, in turn, potential foreign policy outcomes? The study of status in international politics has blossomed over the past decade, including a recent turn to the origins and consequences of domestic concerns over national status and decline. I contribute to this research, arguing that candidates frequently employ status-threatening rhetoric on the campaign trail due to its emotional and identity-threatening appeal, but this rhetoric in turn significantly increases the public’s expectation of action. As a result, status-threatening campaign rhetoric allows candidates to define issues as arenas for status competition but simultaneously increases pressure on leaders to follow through once in office with policies they can justify as status-saving. I support this theory with two survey experiments and a case study examining how Kennedy attached space exploration to status in the 1960 campaign, increasing domestic pressure to act once in office. Keywords: campaign rhetoric; decline; foreign policy; public opinion; status threat Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:8760 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Editorial: Novel Perspectives on Status in Global Politics File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9870 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9870 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9870 Author-Name: Ali Bilgic Author-Workplace-Name: Department of International Relations, Politics and History, Loughborough University, UK Author-Name: Miriam Prys‐Hansen Author-Workplace-Name: German Institute for Global and Area Studies, Germany Author-Name: Clemens Hoffmann Author-Workplace-Name: Division of History, Heritage and Politics, University of Stirling, UK Abstract: This thematic issue advances debates on status in international relations (IR) by integrating novel empirical research with innovative theoretical perspectives. It moves beyond traditional power-centric views, highlighting the social and relational dimensions of status-seeking as a diplomatic and foreign policy practice. The contributions explore, for instance, how states pursue status through cooperation, adherence to international norms, and strategic identity management. By examining diverse cases, including non-traditional status-seekers, this collection of contributions underscores the multifaceted nature of status-seeking, involving both material and ideational factors, and enriches the literature on status in IR, offering new insights into the complex dynamics of international hierarchy and state behaviour. In this editorial, we highlight the main findings and give an outlook on the overarching contribution to IR research. Keywords: emerging powers; global politics; international relations; international relations theory; status politics Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9870 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Addressing Migrant Inequality in Youth Political Engagement: The Role of Parental Influences File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9282 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9282 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9282 Author-Name: Simona Guglielmi Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Social and Political Sciences, University of Milan, Italy Author-Name: Nicola Maggini Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political and Social Sciences, University of Bologna, Italy Abstract: While citizenship acquisition varies across the EU, children of immigrants are expected to comprise a growing share of the voting-age population in the coming years. Consequently, understanding the factors influencing their political integration has garnered increasing attention from researchers and policymakers. Existing studies highlight the complex and context-dependent interplay of structural, cultural, and policy-related factors that shape immigrant political engagement. Additionally, some scholars have noted that the standard model of youth political socialisation—where political learning is transmitted from parent to child—may be “disrupted” in immigrant families. Against this backdrop, this article investigates the critical role of family political discussions and parent–child political alignment in (re)producing ethnic inequalities in political engagement among late adolescents, using Lombardy (Italy) as a case study. The project MAYBE—Moving into Adulthood in uncertain times: Youth Beliefs, future Expectations, and life choices (University of Milan) collected survey data from 2,756 final-year high school students (aged 18–19) between February 2023 and March 2024, including 620 students with migrant backgrounds. The study applied a multilevel regression model—spanning 81 schools, 165 classes—to investigate individual and contextual factors, such as the classroom political climate and municipal electoral competitiveness. Migrant parents navigate the host country’s political environment with varying levels of familiarity, shaped by their connections to the political culture of their country of origin. Findings suggest that these dynamics create unique pathways for the political socialisation of their children, in which the influence of socioeconomic status and intergenerational social learning on political engagement differs significantly from the patterns observed among native-born youth. Keywords: family political discussions; Italy; parent–child political alignment; political socialisation; second‐generation migrants; youth political engagement Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9282 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Depoliticizing Transnational Cleavage‐Related Issues Through Social Media Advertising: The 2022 Danish Defense Referendum Campaign File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9229 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9229 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9229 Author-Name: Toine Paulissen Author-Workplace-Name: Research Group Voting and Democracy, KU Leuven, Belgium Author-Name: Lien Jansen Author-Workplace-Name: Public Governance Institute, KU Leuven, Belgium Author-Name: Steven Van Hecke Author-Workplace-Name: Public Governance Institute, KU Leuven, Belgium Abstract: Denmark has an extensive but troubled experience when it comes to referendums related to the EU, with the Danes rejecting the pro-integration options in three votes up to 2022. As Denmark is the “home of issue voting,” these outcomes are symbolic of the transnational cleavage permeating its society, which has been argued to make the abolition of Denmark’s opt-outs impossible. Nevertheless, the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 resulted in an apparent shift in the balance between the sides of this cleavage as Denmark subsequently voted overwhelmingly in favor of abolishing its EU defense opt-out. Scholarly work has argued that voters responded to efforts from the pro-abolition camp to depoliticize the issue of European integration, which raises the question of how the campaigning actors were able to achieve this. This contribution examines the role of social media advertising in this regard. Prior studies have focused primarily on social media discourse and its impact on voter behavior in referendum contexts, portraying it as a site for polarization and politicization, rather than depoliticization. We map the advertising expenditures of campaigning actors in the run-up to the referendum using data from the Meta Ad Library, and analyze their messaging using structured framing analysis to show how both sides in the campaign deal with the issue of European integration. Results show the pro-side being much more present than the contra-side, and offer empirical evidence for passive and active depoliticization strategies by the former vis-à-vis the transnational cleavage-related issue of European defense cooperation. Keywords: cleavage referendums; Denmark; digital advertising; European integration; social media Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9229 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Character, Gender, and Populism: How Female Populist Voters Judge the Character of Political Leaders File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9079 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9079 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9079 Author-Name: Cristine de Clercy Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, Western University, Canada / Department of Political Studies, Trent University, Canada Author-Name: Gerard Seijts Author-Workplace-Name: Ivey Business School, Western University, Canada Author-Name: Ana Ruiz Pardo Author-Workplace-Name: Ivey Business School, Western University, Canada Abstract: Many voters choose to follow political leaders based on an assessment of character. However, political scientists employ relatively few tools to precisely measure character, and there is even less study of the key factors that influence such voter assessments. We employ an analytical framework drawn from the management sciences to examine how a sample of voting-age, anglophone Canadians judged the character of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during the 2020–2021 Covid-19 pandemic time frame. We propose and find support for the assertion that gender and right-wing populism are important explanatory variables. Importantly, and controlling for a host of demographic variables, the interaction of gender and populism suggests that subscription to right-wing populist attitudes may more significantly corrode character assessments among female voters than among male voters. Keywords: character; Covid‐19; gender; leadership; right‐wing authoritarianism; right‐wing populism Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9079 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Uneven Pathways to Local Power: The Political Incorporation of Immigrants’ Descendants File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9293 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9293 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9293 Author-Name: Robin Stünzi Author-Workplace-Name: Swiss Forum for Migration and Population Studies, University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland Author-Name: Rosita Fibbi Author-Workplace-Name: Swiss Forum for Migration and Population Studies, University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland Author-Name: Gianni D'Amato Author-Workplace-Name: Swiss Forum for Migration and Population Studies, University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland Abstract: Research focusing on the political incorporation of immigrants’ descendants is rather scarce, in contrast to the high level of scholarly attention paid to the case of foreign-born immigrants. This exploratory study addresses this gap by adopting a sociological and neo-institutionalist approach to investigate the trajectories leading to political involvement of children of immigrants elected to local parliaments across a selection of Swiss cantons. The analysis of the factors shaping their mobilization in relation to the features of local policies for immigrants’ integration and cantonal conceptions of citizenship sheds light on the variability of their political incorporation. The article thus makes a twofold contribution to the existing literature. First, it highlights the distinctive role played by local schools in the political socialization of immigrants’ descendants, compared to that of their Swiss-origin counterparts. Second, it shows the decisive impact of cantonal institutional and discursive contexts in shaping the categories that are relevant for political action, influencing collective identities, claim-making, and political mobilization. Keywords: political incorporation; political mobilization; second generation; subnational contexts; Switzerland Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9293 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Understanding the Electoral Participation Gap: A Study of Racialized Minorities in Canada File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9377 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9377 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9377 Author-Name: Baowen Liang Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada / Department of Francophone Studies, Shanghai International Studies University, China Author-Name: Allison Harell Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada Abstract: Racialized minorities constitute an increasingly substantial segment of modern electorates in Western democracies, in part driven by immigration. Analyzing data from the 2021 Canadian Election Study (N = 9,496) and yearly Democracy Checkup surveys between 2020 and 2023 (N = 26,908), we explore the significance of racial identity as a determinant of voter turnout. Our findings reveal stark disparities in electoral participation between the most racialized minority groups in Canada and the White majority. Except for Latino identifiers, Indigenous, Asian, Black, and Arab-identifying respondents all exhibit lower voting rates, with Black voters facing the most significant gap, nearly 16 percentage points below their White counterparts. The gap is particularly prominent among second-generation racialized Canadians, suggesting that newcomers to Canada exhibit relatively high levels of engagement compared to their children. Next, we explore three key individual factors that may contribute to the gap: differences in socioeconomics, psychological engagement, and mobilization and community embeddedness. We employ a linear decomposition technique to assess the contributions of these factors to the majority–minority participation gap. Our analysis underscores the potency of socio-economic and psychological models in explaining minority under-participation in the Canadian context. The mobilization and community embeddedness model, however, exhibits weak explanatory power. Despite these insights, a substantial portion of the participation differentials remains unexplained, suggesting the necessity for novel perspectives to understand gaps in the electoral participation of racialized electors. Keywords: participation gap; psychological model; racialized minority; socio‐economic model; voter turnout Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9377 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Fonder From Afar: Distance, Leadership, and the Legitimacy of the EU File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/8944 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.8944 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 8944 Author-Name: Femke van Esch Author-Workplace-Name: Utrecht University School of Governance, Utrecht University, The Netherlands Author-Name: Sebastiaan Steenman Author-Workplace-Name: Utrecht University School of Governance, Utrecht University, The Netherlands Abstract: Why do people support political leadership? This age-old question is increasingly relevant in international politics and especially for the EU, which is seen as suffering from a legitimacy deficit. In EU studies, the question of legitimacy has been approached predominantly from an institutional perspective. However, in times of increased mediatisation and personalisation of politics, leaders play an increasingly important role in determining the legitimacy of politics in the eyes of the people, especially in “distant” polities like the EU. Following these insights from leadership studies, this article examines to what extent citizens’ trust in the EU is influenced by their assessment of different types of EU leaders, as well as distance. A unique survey of citizens’ assessments of EU leaders on five dimensions—being democratically elected, credibility, ideology, social identification, and emotions—is used to answer this question. The study unexpectedly finds that the more distant the leader, the more positive people’s evaluation of their EU leadership. Moreover, the assessment of these leaders significantly and strongly correlates with the extent to which citizens trust the EU. This finding holds for all three categories of EU leaders but is strongest for the most distant leaders. No support, however, is found for the expectation that, in the case of increased distance between leaders and followers, the psychological aspects of legitimacy dominate over the more utilitarian considerations underlying people’s trust in the EU. Keywords: distance; European Union; followership; leadership; legitimacy; trust Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:8944 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: After the Storm: Comparing the Determinants of Young People’s Protest Behaviour Across South European Contexts File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9179 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9179 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9179 Author-Name: Martín Portos Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Social Sciences, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain / Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Scuola Normale Superiore, Italy Abstract: Young people’s mass mobilisation has been key for restructuring political competition in Southern Europe in the last decade. From a comparative standpoint, this article examines the drivers of protest in Greece, Italy, and Spain. The main results point towards a strong heterogeneity among the three cases: while women and people with left-libertarian attitudes form the basis of youth-driven contemporary street protest in Spain, these findings are partially confirmed for Italy and ruled out for Greece. We argue that protest legacies and trajectories need to go together with politicisation and issue salience to get individual-level correlates of protest activated—however, our mixed empirical evidence suggests that some context-specific conditions intervene in this relationship. Our results point towards a strong heterogeneity in the profile of protesters, inviting us to question the use of Southern Europe as a valid unit of analysis for the study of contemporary social movements and protests. Keywords: deprivation; gender; left‐right ideology; social movements; Southern Europe; youth politics Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9179 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The ECB’s Evolving Mandate and High Independence: An Undemocratic Mix File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9811 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9811 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9811 Author-Name: Anna-Lena Högenauer Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Social Sciences, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg Author-Name: Joana Mendes Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Law, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg Abstract: After over a decade of crisis, the ECB’s functions have expanded considerably. The ECB’s activities during the eurozone crisis, new debates on the ECB’s role in supporting political goals like the fight against climate change, and its participation in geopolitical stand-offs have overcome the fiction of a technocratic role that can be allocated to an independent institution with few constraints to democracy. We highlight how the ECB’s mandate has been (re)interpreted while eschewing the impact of this change on its independence. Drawing on the contributions to this thematic issue, we also argue that the limited legal and political accountability does not match the evolving mandate. In particular, we contrast the voluntary mechanisms of accountability created in the past years and the judicial endorsement of the expansion of the ECB’s mandate. Keywords: accountability; European Central Bank; European Parliament; eurozone crisis; independence; inflation; judicial review; mandate Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9811 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: No Way Back? ECB’s Forward Guidance and Policy Normalisation File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/8953 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.8953 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 8953 Author-Name: Jakob de Haan Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Groningen, The Netherlands Abstract: This article (a) analyses forward guidance by the European Central Bank (ECB) and its role in the “normalisation” of the ECB’s monetary policy, and (b) assesses whether communication under the new ECB’s “meeting-by-meeting and data-dependent” approach has the potential to increase trust in the ECB and to steer financial markets in the intended direction. By communicating its future policy intentions (forward guidance), a central bank can tighten the gears between the short-term policy rate that it controls and the interest rates that influence economic behaviour. The ECB’s forward guidance steered financial markets in the desired direction and, in combination with other unconventional policies, probably helped to raise inflation when it was below target. However, forward guidance constrained the central bank’s ability to decide to end asset purchases and raise policy rates once inflation had risen above target. Furthermore, the ECB’s forward guidance was formulated in terms of inflation forecasts. As these forecasts seriously underestimated inflation, the ECB reacted too late to the inflation hike, undermining trust in the central bank. Trust is important because the inflation expectations of people who trust the central bank tend to be closer to the central bank’s inflation target. Communication under its current “meeting-by-meeting and data-dependent” approach can steer financial markets in the intended direction. It may also be easier for the public to digest than forward guidance. However, recent research questions whether it will increase trust in the ECB. The best way to regain trust is probably to bring inflation back to target. Keywords: central bank communication; European Central Bank; forward guidance; trust Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:8953 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The End Justifies the Means? The Impact of the ECB’s Unconventional Monetary Policy on Citizens’ Trust File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/8928 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.8928 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 8928 Author-Name: Moritz Rehm Author-Workplace-Name: Department of European Social Research, Saarland University, Germany Author-Name: Martin Ulrich Author-Workplace-Name: Department of European Social Research, Saarland University, Germany Abstract: Since 2010, the European Central Bank (ECB) has established a range of unconventional monetary policies in the context of several crises, including cheap and long-term refinancing operations and several forms of asset purchases. This ECB action has been legally and politically challenged, raising the question as to how the public has perceived the ECB’s mandate widening. This article assesses the legitimacy of the ECB’s unconventional monetary policy through the lens of public trust using Eurobarometer data from 1999 to 2023. This approach follows the theoretical argument that the legitimacy of non-elected independent public institutions derives from the citizens’ trust in the fulfilment of the institutions’ tasks. Through panel regression analysis, this article first finds that trust in the ECB is commonly pooled with trust in other EU institutions, which makes a singular assessment of public support of the ECB and its policies difficult. Second, macroeconomic factors, which are partially influenced by ECB policies, but which are mostly dependent on national decision-making, are the key factors influencing citizens’ trust in EU institutions, including the ECB. Thus, citizens’ trust in the ECB or the lack thereof is not determined by the ECB’s use of contested unconventional monetary policy, but rather by the macroeconomic performance of their respective national economy. Keywords: Eurobarometer; European Central Bank; output‐legitimacy; public trust; unconventional monetary policy Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:8928 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Oversight, Accountability, or Influence? Understanding the Use of Monetary Dialogues in the European Parliament File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/8941 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.8941 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 8941 Author-Name: Amie Kreppel Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, University of Florida, USA Author-Name: Corinne Tomasi Author-Workplace-Name: Center for European Studies, University of Florida, USA Abstract: The Monetary Dialogue (MD) between the European Central Bank (ECB) and the European Parliament (EP) has received ample research that has offered an insightful discussion on the effectiveness of the dialogue as a forum for ECB accountability. However, most of the literature has focused on what the ECB is held accountable for or how the ECB engages in the dialogues. Key questions remain, however, regarding the goals and actions of the individual members of the European Parliament (MEPs) that this article seeks to address. First, we develop a theoretical framework that moves beyond a general concept of “accountability” and differentiates between accountability, oversight, and influence. By defining the concepts more precisely, our aim is to distinguish types of engagement and offer a comparative perspective to broaden the discussion of accountability forums. Second, our article contributes to a growing subset of literature on the MD that shifts the focus from what the ECB gets from the dialogues to how MEPs utilize the MD. To achieve this, we analyze and code MEP questions during the quarterly MD and investigate the impact that member state, national party, and EP political group affiliation have on the character of the questions asked by MEPs over time. Keywords: accountability; European Central Bank; European Parliament; Monetary Dialogues; oversight Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:8941 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Revisiting ECB’s Technocratic Legitimacy: No Longer Fit‐for‐Purpose? File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9094 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9094 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9094 Author-Name: Dimitrios Argyroulis Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Social Sciences, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg / Centre d’Étude de la Vie Politique (Cevipol), Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium Author-Name: Nikolas Vagdoutis Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Law, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg / Edinburgh Law School, University of Edinburgh, UK Abstract: This article revisits the technocratic model of legitimacy that the European Central Bank (ECB) has enjoyed since its early period, by exploring the Monetary Policy Strategy statements that constitute the “comprehensive framework” guiding the Bank’s operational decisions. We examine whether the operational framework and the interpretation of the ECB’s legal mandate, which are included in these statements, are aligned with this model. We find that the ECB’s early monetary policy statements (1998 and 2003) appear to be aligned with this model, due to the presence of strictly defined performance criteria and an interpretation of the ECB’s mandate that was limited to pursuing price stability as a single objective. Our analysis of the ECB’s 2021 monetary policy strategy highlights its incompatibility with the technocratic model as a result of significant changes that enabled wide policy discretion and a re-interpretation of the ECB’s mandate, which revealed a largely vague and broad mandate. We argue that the ECB’s model of technocratic legitimacy is untenable in a democratic polity, given the extent and type of choices that the Governing Council is required to make in the current policy setting. Finally, we suggest that only a strengthening of the (hitherto diminished) input dimension of the ECB’s legitimacy could address this legitimacy gap. Keywords: European Central Bank; legal mandate; legitimacy; monetary policy strategy; unconventional monetary policies Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9094 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Defining Price Stability: Public Accountability of the European Central Bank’s Goal Independence File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/8961 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.8961 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 8961 Author-Name: Mattias Vermeiren Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Sciences, Ghent University, Belgium Abstract: The persistent undershooting of its self-defined target to achieve inflation “below but near two percent” prompted the European Central Bank (ECB) to launch a review of its monetary policy strategy and adopt a symmetric inflation target. In this article, I examine the politics of accountability underlying the ECB’s re-definition of its price stability objective through a comparison with the strategy review of the Federal Reserve, which went further than the ECB by setting an average inflation target that intentionally seeks to pursue periods of above-target inflation to compensate for periods of below-target inflation. Drawing on a reputational perspective on public accountability, I elaborate two arguments. First, the ECB decided to engage in a strategy review and revise its inflation target to restore its performative and technical reputation in the face of its persistent undershooting of its inflation target in the decade after the great financial and euro crisis. Second, the presence of a stronger “deflationary bloc” in the region constrained the ECB in adopting an average inflation target and its associated make-up strategy without tarnishing its socio-political reputation. Keywords: central banks; inflation; reputation; strategy review Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:8961 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Hybrid Governance Structures and Monetary Policy: The Legal and Institutional Position of National Central Banks in the Eurosystem File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/8943 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.8943 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 8943 Author-Name: Paul Dermine Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Law, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium Author-Name: Menelaos Markakis Author-Workplace-Name: Erasmus School of Law, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands Abstract: National central banks (NCBs) are an integral part of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB)—a highly integrated system which comprises the ECB and NCBs, and is in charge of monetary policy in the Union. Various (primary) EU law provisions partly Europeanize NCBs, while also preserving their national embeddedness. This article explores the evolving legal and institutional position of the NCBs in the ESCB and the Eurosystem. The NCBs’ hybrid status has proven fertile ground for tensions and has given rise to both centrifugal and centripetal forces in the Eurosystem. The discussion begins with the legal and institutional position of NCBs as established in Maastricht. The focus then shifts to centrifugal forces in the Eurosystem. NCBs can be confronted with conflicting loyalties and duties, which can compromise the singleness and effectiveness of monetary policy. We then turn to consider the emergence of centripetal forces in light of the recent case law of the EU Courts, which, together with the ECB’s actions, has brought about a Europeanization of various aspects of the NCBs’ organization and powers. The penultimate section considers the implications of the NCBs’ institutional repositioning for their independence and accountability. Centripetal pressures can contribute to reinforcing the NCBs’ independence vis-à-vis domestic political authorities and to reducing opportunities for accountability at the national level, which are only partly made up for at the EU level. The concluding section considers whether the developments adumbrated above consecrate a highly Europeanized, agent-like vision of NCBs. Keywords: accountability; central bank governors; European System of Central Banks; Eurosystem; hybridity; independence; monetary policy; national central banks Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:8943 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Unpacking Legal Accountability: The Case of the European Central Bank File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/8907 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.8907 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 8907 Author-Name: Mark Dawson Author-Workplace-Name: Jacques Delors Centre, Hertie School, Germany Author-Name: Ana Bobić Author-Workplace-Name: Jacques Delors Centre, Hertie School, Germany Abstract: Although the term “legal accountability” increasingly appears in scholarly discourse surrounding the European Central Bank (ECB), it is under-theorised. This article explores three different dimensions of legal accountability, which are often confused. Accountability to law refers to accountability to legal rules and standards. Accountability through law refers to achieving routes of administrative and political accountability through legal institutions. Accountability of law implies the accountability of legal institutions themselves to the wider public (and other courts) for their decisions. We argue that these dimensions are deeply connected in the sense that either improvements or failures along one dimension are easily carried to the others. We demonstrate the argument by applying our concept of legal accountability to ECB activity, comparing judicial review in the context of monetary policy with the Single Supervisory Mechanism. These cases suggest a possible vicious rather than virtuous circle of legal accountability, i.e., a tendency for either unclear legal standards or lack of accountability of courts themselves to undermine accountability for ECB activity as a whole. Keywords: accountability; banking supervision; European Central Bank; judicial review; monetary policy Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:8907 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Monetary‐Fiscal Interactions and the Problem of Outdated Commitments: Eurozone Crisis Versus Covid‐19 File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/8960 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.8960 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 8960 Author-Name: Sebastian Diessner Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Public Administration, Leiden University, The Netherlands Author-Name: Philipp Genschel Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Intercultural and International Studies, University of Bremen, Germany Abstract: Post-crisis accounts of economic governance in Europe have often analysed the monetary policy decisions of the supranational European Central Bank and the fiscal policy coordination of the intergovernmental Council and Eurogroup separately. This is unfortunate since both policy fields are closely linked and increasingly interdependent. We put forward a theory of monetary-fiscal interactions in the Economic and Monetary Union based on the notion of de-commitment and re-commitment. In juxtaposition to the grand theories of neo-functionalism and liberal intergovernmentalism, we argue that EU institutions serve not only to tie the member states to policy commitments but also to untie them from previous policy commitments that have become outdated and harmful. The European Central Bank’s main contribution to safeguarding the Eurozone in 2012 and 2020 has not been to enforce but to relax the monetary financing prohibition of the Treaty, and the Council’s main contribution in 2020 was not to double down on the no bail-out clause but to re-commit to risk-sharing and burden-sharing through the NextGenerationEU programme. We argue and show that economic governance in Europe has progressed through three stages of commitment. Whereas monetary-fiscal interactions followed a commitment logic during the first decade of the Economic and Monetary Union (the “old normal”), the defining feature of the second decade has been de-commitment (the “new normal”). In the Covid-19 crisis, economic governance finally entered a phase of re-commitment (taking the Economic and Monetary Union “back to the future”). The analysis has implications for our understanding of the purpose and power of supranational institutions in overcoming the problem of outdated commitments post-crisis. Keywords: Economic and Monetary Union; economic governance; Eurogroup; European Central Bank; European Council; Eurozone; monetary‐fiscal interactions Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:8960 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Green Monetary Policy Measures and Central Bank Mandates: A Comparative Political Economy Analysis File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/8919 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.8919 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 8919 Author-Name: Susana Matos Rosa Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Social Sciences, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg Abstract: Climate change and the political pressure for urgent policy responses have stirred an intense debate as to whether central banks should adjust their monetary policy frameworks in support of the transition to a greener economy. Despite the seriousness of environmental issues and the seeming existence of monetary policy tools to address them, some economists and central bank officials argue that monetary authorities cannot, or should not, be responsible for making policies that act upon the source of those problems. Among other reasons, the adoption of green monetary policy measures can conflict with the primary monetary policy goals, compromise the political independence of central banks, and raise questions about the legitimacy and increased power of some of these banks. Yet, evidence shows that a number of monetary authorities have already adopted environmental criteria in their policymaking, resulting in an expansion of monetary policy toolkits and areas of responsibility. This article undertakes a comparative political economy analysis of the green monetary policy measures and legal mandates of 20 central banks, covering the period between January 2010 and January 2024. This article then examines the monetary policy decisions of two case study central banks, whose green strategies appear not to be fully aligned with their mandates. The empirical findings aim to contribute to the growing political economy literature and international debate on how central banks address pressures related to environmental concerns which, although vital to society and the planet, may pose challenges to conventional goals and established mandates. Keywords: central bank mandates; climate change; green central banking; historical institutionalism; sustainable finance; unconventional monetary policy Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:8919 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: No Longer Neutral: The ECB’s Geopoliticization of the International Role of the Euro File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/8877 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.8877 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 8877 Author-Name: Lukas Spielberger Author-Workplace-Name: Brussels School of Governance, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium Abstract: While the euro has, since its creation, been the world’s second most important currency, the ECB has long depoliticized the international role of the euro by proclaiming a neutral stance. However, as this article explains, since 2019, the ECB has embraced currency internationalization and framed the issue in geopolitical terms. This policy change reflects a response to a changed international political environment after 2018 and it has led the ECB to seek closer political coordination regarding external economic policy. As the international role of the euro has become a concern for the EU’s broader geoeconomic turn, it may, however, become difficult for the ECB to reconcile its political independence with its more geopolitical view of currency internationalization. Keywords: China; European Central Bank; European Union; geopoliticization; international role of the euro; strategic autonomy Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:8877 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Policy‐Maker of Last Resort? Drivers of Discretion at the European Central Bank File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/8958 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.8958 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 8958 Author-Name: Shawn Donnelly Author-Workplace-Name: Public Administration Section, University of Twente, The Netherlands / Institute of Political Science, Leiden University, The Netherlands Abstract: Under what conditions does the ECB become the policy-maker of last resort? This article surveys five incidences in which the ECB created its own rules or exercised discretion beyond the effective control of political principals. ECB rule-making took place where the Bank had an initial legal mandate to be present in the policy space, where it could exploit unique institutional interfaces with the banking community and Economic and Monetary Union system, where it had advantages in expertise and information, and where the Council either fully supported the ECB to design new powers, or was divided on whether to retrench ECB freedom. The article examines discretion in macroeconomic policy instruments, capital requirements for banks, including choices that have industrial policy (targeted sectoral) effects, the design of the digital euro, and ECB efforts to force the migration of UK-based financial services to the EU. Keywords: bank supervision; ECB; industrial policy; macroeconomic policy; microeconomic management Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:8958 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The European Central Bank: From a Price Stability Paradigm to a Multidimensional Stability Paradigm File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/8920 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.8920 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 8920 Author-Name: Lucia Quaglia Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political and Social Sciences, University of Bologna, Italy Author-Name: Amy Verdun Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, University of Victoria, Canada / Institute of Political Science, Leiden University, The Netherlands Abstract: This article maps and explains the shift in economic thinking at the European Central Bank (ECB), i.e., its “ideational” evolution over the past two decades. When the ECB was set up in 1999 its institutional design and epistemic outlook were very much inspired by the legacy of the German central bank, the Bundesbank. Thus, the ECB embraced a “price stability” paradigm that prioritized inflation control. However, over time, policy learning in response to economic shocks (first and foremost, a series of consecutive financial and economic crises from 2008 onwards) and the internal organic evolution of the ECB have led to a shift of economic thinking at the Bank, which has also been reflected by its policy actions. The new paradigm can be characterized as a “multidimensional stability” paradigm. By relying on inter alia secondary literature, speeches, semi-structured elite interviews, and data we collected concerning the previous experience at national central banks of senior ECB staff, we identify a novel causal mechanism for ideational change at the Bank: the change in the composition of senior managerial staff from 1999 onward. Keywords: central bank; crisis; euro; European Central Bank; monetary policy; policy paradigms Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:8920 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Maastricht Overcome: An Evolving Disconnect Between the ECB’s Power and Independence File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9810 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9810 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9810 Author-Name: Anna-Lena Högenauer Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Social Sciences, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg Author-Name: Joana Mendes Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Law, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg Abstract: In the course of the last two decades, the legitimacy of the European Central Bank (ECB) has withered as monetary policy has become more politicized. This editorial places these debates in the context of the literature on central bank independence. Many critical voices warned—long before the crisis—that the ideal of highly independent central banks with narrow technocratic mandates would not work in the long term and would come under particular pressure during periods of instability. Indeed, after over a decade of ongoing crisis, the ECB’s functions have expanded considerably, which in turn altered its relationship with other institutions and its role in the economic and political system of the European Union. In particular, the ECB’s activities during the eurozone crisis, new debates on whether the ECB should support political goals like the fight against climate change, and its participation in geopolitical stand-offs have brought its political role clearly to the fore. Crucially, this evolution challenges the ECB’s high degree of independence, as decisions that are closely related to political debate also require stronger political (democratic) legitimacy and legal accountability. Keywords: accountability; European Central Bank; European Parliament; eurozone crisis; independence; inflation; judicial review; mandate Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9810 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Campaigns, Mobilisation, and Composition Effects in the 2018 Irish Abortion Referendum File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9236 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9236 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9236 Author-Name: Kevin Cunningham Author-Workplace-Name: School of Media, Technological University Dublin, Ireland Author-Name: Eoin O'Malley Author-Workplace-Name: School of Law and Government, Dublin City University, Ireland Author-Name: Stephen Quinlan Author-Workplace-Name: GESIS—Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Germany Abstract: Referendums on issues usually thought to split along cleavage lines are least likely to see significant campaign effects because it is difficult to get voters to switch sides on such issues. We argue that even though campaigns might not be very effective at shifting people’s votes—persuasive effects—the campaign can influence the decision to vote or not—mobilising effects. Using the 2018 referendum to repeal the Irish ban on abortion, we test for mobilisation effects in which one campaign caused the withdrawal of support for its campaign and possibly motivated potential voters in the other side’s campaign. By remaining “on message” the pro-choice side’s arguably less interesting campaign allowed mainstream elites to come on board. We offer evidence that the campaigns mobilized some groups and suppressed turnout in others, leading to a larger victory for the repeal (the ban on abortion) side than most had expected. Keywords: backfire effects; cleavages; electoral campaigns; minimal effects; referendums; turnout composition effects Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9236 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Game Changers: National Referendums and the Politicization of Europe File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9261 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9261 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9261 Author-Name: Swen Hutter Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political and Social Sciences, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany / Center for Civil Society Research, WZB Berlin Social Science Center, German Abstract: How do national referendums shape political contestation? This article explores this question by examining the politicization of European integration, a key “cleavage issue” restructuring political conflict across Europe. While national referendums are often assumed to intensify public contestation over European integration, systematic comparative evidence remains limited. This study contributes to the debate by analyzing 87 public debates on European integration across six Western European countries (Austria, Britain, France, Germany, Sweden, and Switzerland), including 12 debates with national referendums. The analysis draws on the PolDem dataset (Hutter et al., 2016), updated to include the Brexit referendum. Through comprehensive across-debate and within-debate analyses, the findings show that referendums are associated with heightened politicization, particularly by expanding actor participation and increasing issue salience. Civil society and other non-executive actors gain visibility in referendum contexts, reinforcing the view that referendums level the political playing field. Although referendums increase framing diversity, they do not consistently lead to more polarized or identity-focused debates involving radical parties, challenging the notion that referendums inherently drive cultural conflict. This study advances our understanding of how direct democracy shapes European integration debates and calls for further comparative research on institutional factors and endogenous conflict dynamics to better grasp the varied impacts of referendums on politicization. Keywords: direct democracy; European integration; framing; post‐functionalism; referendums Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9261 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Beyond Gender: Exploring the Intersectional Dynamics in Political Interest Among Youth File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9286 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9286 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9286 Author-Name: Gema García-Albacete Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Social Sciences, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain / Carlos III‐Juan March Institute, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain Author-Name: Lidia Núñez Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Social Sciences, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain / Carlos III‐Juan March Institute, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain Author-Name: David Sánchez Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Social Sciences, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain / Carlos III‐Juan March Institute, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain Author-Name: Simone Abendschön Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany Author-Name: Philipp Kleer Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany Abstract: One of the most persistent and puzzling inequalities across Western democracies is that women are less interested in politics than men. We know that political interest is developed—or not—at an early age, and that it becomes a key determinant of political involvement during adulthood. Due to its early development, recent research suggests focusing on gendered political socialization patterns to understand why women display lower levels of political interest than men. A recent systematic literature review on political interest confirms that the gap is already present at an early age. In addition, the review shows that research and evidence on the potential intersectionality of inequalities on young people’s political interest is surprisingly scarce. In this article we present novel evidence on the interaction of gender with an additional source of political inequality: immigration background. In doing so we use the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in Four European Countries (CILS4EU) dataset, a longitudinal survey that follows a sample of adolescents with foreign-born parents that can be compared to natives in four countries. The analyses follow the latest recommendations regarding the use of interactions to evaluate claims of intersectionality. The results of our preliminary tests indicate that girls with an immigrant background are more interested in politics than girls without personal or family immigration background. Furthermore, the results are compatible with an intersectional approach by which being both a girl and having an immigration background has an independent positive relationship with political interest. Finally, we do not find significant differences between first- and second-generation immigrant girls. Keywords: gender gap; immigration background; intersectionality; political attitudes; political interest; youth Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9286 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Unequal Turnout Among the Newly Enfranchised: The Role of Political Efficacy File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9196 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9196 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9196 Author-Name: Susanne Garritzmann Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Social Sciences, Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany Author-Name: Sigrid Roßteutscher Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Social Sciences, Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany Author-Name: Arndt Leininger Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Political Science, Chemnitz University of Technology, Germany Author-Name: Birgit Becker Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Social Sciences, Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany Author-Name: Thorsten Faas Author-Workplace-Name: Otto Suhr Institute for Political Science, Free University of Berlin, Germany Author-Name: Max P. Jansen Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Social Sciences, Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany Author-Name: Armin Schäfer Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Political Science, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Germany Abstract: Unequal political participation increasingly challenges democracies. The turnout gap is particularly large among younger voters, with severe implications for future developments of democratic representation, legitimacy, and quality. This article focuses on the role of political efficacy beliefs in explaining unequal turnout among newly enfranchised citizens. We argue that internal political efficacy beliefs are particularly important for turnout among the newly enfranchised from lower-class backgrounds, as they lack alternative mobilizing factors such as politically aware and active parents, political knowledge, and mobilizing networks. Furthermore, we argue that once these voters successfully turn out in their first election, they are as likely as those from higher-class backgrounds to turn out in their second election. We empirically test these arguments using original longitudinal data on newly enfranchised citizens from three German federal states (Bundesländer). Overall, our results support the argument: Political efficacy beliefs are a stronger predictor of first turnout among young adults from disadvantaged backgrounds compared to those from more advantaged backgrounds, and those who do turn out are as likely as those with higher-class backgrounds to turn out in their second election. This highlights the relevance of political efficacy beliefs in the (re)production of persisting political inequality. Keywords: first‐time voters; Germany; habitual voting; multilevel system; panel studies; political efficacy; political inequality Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9196 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Political Participation of Young Immigrants: Do National Identification and Discrimination Moderate the Relationship? File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9253 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9253 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9253 Author-Name: Philipp Hoffmann Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Political Science, University of Bamberg, Germany Author-Name: Verena Benoit Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Political Science, University of Bamberg, Germany Abstract: With nearly a third of the German population having a migration background, immigrant political participation is crucial for democracy and immigrants’ integration. Adults with a migration background tend to participate less than the majority population. The findings become less conclusive when focusing specifically on young adults. The socialization phase during youth and young adulthood lays the foundation for future political participation and thus holds significant importance. At the same time, established factors that explain political participation, such as socio-economic status, political interest, or political efficacy, may not yet be fully developed in young adults. The present study starts here and focuses on the conventional and unconventional political participation of young adults (ages 18–30) with and without a migration background in Germany. Specifically, we investigate the moderating effects of perceived discrimination and national identification, which play a key role in shaping immigrants’ political integration. We use the civic voluntarism model as our baseline and explanatory framework. It provides a foundation for understanding differences in political participation more broadly. For our analyses, we rely on data from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in Four European Countries (CILS4EU-DE, wave 5; linear regressions). First, we find contrary effects of perceived discrimination on recruitment networks and unconventional participation: Positive for individuals with a migration background and negative for individuals without a migration background. Second, national identification weakens the positive impact of political interest among the majority population and of recruitment networks among immigrants. Lastly, we observe no moderating effects for resources and conventional political participation for either group. Keywords: civic voluntarism model; immigrants; migration background; political participation; young adulthood Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9253 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Longer‐Term Effects of Voting at Age 16: Higher Turnout Among Young People in Scotland File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9283 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.9283 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 13 Year: 2025 Number: 9283 Author-Name: Jan Eichhorn Author-Workplace-Name: School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh, UK Author-Name: Christine Huebner Author-Workplace-Name: Sheffield Methods Institute, University of Sheffield, UK Abstract: Debates about the lowering of the voting age to 16 often include claims about the possible longer-term outcomes of earlier enfranchisement for the electorate. It has been shown that, when eligible to vote, 16-and 17-year-olds turn out to vote in higher proportions than slightly older peers (Zeglovits & Aichholzer, 2014). However, questions remain regarding the longevity of this early voter boost and whether it carries on as young people grow older (Franklin, 2004, 2020). Using original survey data collected from 863 young people in Scotland, we investigate the outcomes of being eligible to vote in elections from age 16/17 and its effects on political behaviour for young people aged up to 24. We compare levels of political engagement, including voting in the 2021 Scottish parliament elections, among cohorts of young people who were enfranchised at age 16/17 to cohorts who experienced their first election aged 18 or older. We show that young people who were eligible to vote at 16/17 exhibited greater levels of turnout in the 2021 Scottish parliament elections, up to seven years after the initial lowering of the voting age than those who got to vote for the first time at 18 or older. This finding provides new evidence in support of theories on the longer-term effects of voting at age 16/17 on electoral political engagement. However, we find no similar pattern for non-electoral political engagement, showing that the outcomes of the lowering of the voting age may be limited to turnout. Keywords: enfranchisement; political participation; Scotland; votes‐at‐16; voting age; youth Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:9283