This year, there are elections for the student and staff sections of the University Council and the student section of all faculty councils. You decide who represents you to university management. What topics and viewpoints are important to you? By voting, you ultimately have a say in university policy.…

This summer, political scientist Thijs Vos received the Kaare Strøm prize for his paper ‘Power or Ideology? What structures legislative voting behaviour in Dutch municipal councils, ideology or coalition-opposition dynamics?' He was awarded the prize during the ECPR summer school on parliaments in F…

On a referendum held on May 21, 2006, 55.5% of voters in Montenegro voted in favor of their country’s independence. While in numerical terms the outcome shows overwhelming support for independent Montenegro, from a normative standpoint it was a narrow win. The normative framework that regulated rules…

Have you spotted the special voting bins on campus yet? Send us your suggestions for challenging, non-scientific questions and who knows? Your burning question might just be the next butt-kicker!

Political scientists Tom Louwerse, Simon Otjes & Cynthia van Vonno introduce the Dutch Parliamentary Behaviour Dataset, a record of parliamentary (voting) behaviour in the Dutch Tweede Kamer (Second Chamber, House of Representatives) since 1945.

Political scientists Tom van der Meer, Lisa Janssen (University of Amsterdam) and Tom Louwerse (Leiden University) analyse polls presented by the main polling agencies in the Netherlands, as well as micro-level panel data. They reach three main conclusions. First, vote intention polls in the Netherlands…

In this paper, Kantorowicz argues that reverse party favoritism exists. He exploits the fact that during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic crisis, the Polish government was keen to launch postal voting in the presidential elections scheduled for May 2020.

The project examines the political conflict in the Red River Valley of Louisiana between the majority-black Republican Party and the overwhelmingly white Democratic Party by studying the composition and actions of each party.

The main objectives of this project are to measure and explain government-opposition distinctiveness and to study its consequences for democratic legitimacy and vote choice.

The 80,000 visitors to the Liberation Day Festival in The Hague on 5 May can learn about 444-year-old Leiden University at a range of interactive events on Malieveld and in the Dutch Parliament.

Madeleine Hosli, Professor of International Relations at Leiden University, together with two other authors, wrote a chapter in Group Politics in UN Multilateralism. This chapter assesses the composition and functioning of the African Union (AU) within the United Nations.

The CCLS Logo Competition is now closed. We have a winner!

How do processes of coalition-formation influence patterns of decision-making in the European Union?

This research cluster is a part of the Institute of Political Science’s research programme ‘Institutions, Decisions and Collective Behaviour’. Its members study the design and functioning of Dutch political institutions as well as attitudes and behaviour of political elites and citizens.

Political scientist Cynthia van Vonno’s (Leiden University) 2016 dissertation has been shortlisted for the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) Jean Blondel PhD Prize. Her study of party group unity in parliamentary voting was chosen from an exceptionally high number of nominations.

In February 2014, the Swiss voting population accepted a constitutional initiative that aims at limiting migration through quota and, in the field of employment, national preference.

This study investigates how the tenure of security (proxied by both inter- and intra-party electoral advantage) affects the engagement and political performance of members of parliament.

Lecture

Many Asian countries are in a process of democratisation. The expectation was that citizens would gradually gain more control over the functioning of their elites. Experts from Leiden have concluded that this process often fails to improve the quality of the administration. They researched the nature…

Lecture, Lunch Research Seminar

Our project focuses on the analysis of decision-making processes in the European Union (EU) and explores how approaches and tools to understand decision-making found in both the Natural and the Social Sciences can be linked, knowledge between these traditions exchanged and synergies utilized. To explore…

Some MPs are very active, while others are not. The number of proposals and questions that MPs in the Netherlands put forward is determined in part by the level of activity of their fellow committee members rather than by electoral incentive, which is the case in other countries.

Bob van Grieken and Jaroslaw Kantorowicz published an article in the journal Geopolitics which explores the determinants of China's official financing of Pacific Island states.

This dissertation explores the relationship among creditors in sovereign debt restructuring and specifically focuses on the issue of inter-creditor equity.

This study investigates how two social and political developments, in the UK and Germany, impacted on the experiences of minorities and the attitudes of majorities vis-à-vis tolerance in those two countries. The results provide a thought-provoking picture of the views of minority and majority groups…

This report examines the questions

Prior to the 2020 presidential election, historians considered the disputed 1876 contest—which pitted Republican Rutherford B. Hayes against Democrat Samuel J. Tilden—the most controversial in American history.

How do governments distribute resources across economic sectors during a crisis? And why do some sectors receive more than others? The recent COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the urgency of these questions. In this paper, we explore the extent to which a political economy…

Argumentation and rhetorics is the study of how we convince people verbally. In other words, what do people say and how do they say it?

The place of women in Leiden University was not steadily established for a very long time. Their roles spanned beyond the realms of academics and students. Seeking equality with men, they fought to obtain the right to work, to study and teach at university, to attain high-level jobs and to vote.

This article examines how immigration from Central and Eastern Europe influences political support for Eurosceptic parties.

Lecture, Leiden University Nationalism Network

On this page you can learn more about the history of our Faculty Awards and view the previous winners.

The first photo of a black hole and measuring anxiety in the brain... From 13 until 22 May we're serving a free slice of science with your pizza.

What happens if a Member State decides to withdraw from the European Union? The “Brexit Charts” aim to provide information on the withdrawal procedure under Art. 50 TEU, on the legal consequences of leaving the EU and on the future relationship of the withdrawing state with the European Union.

Are you a British citizen currently studying or working at Leiden University? Or are you a Leiden University student (thinking of) studying abroad in the UK? Find out about the effects of Brexit.

Madeleine O. Hosli & Jaroslaw Kantorowicz analyze EU states' foreign policy divergence at the UN General Debate, assessing if Lisbon Treaty reforms increased EU cohesion or if states maintain distinct positions.

The Oxford Handbook of Dutch Politics provides a comprehensive longitudinal overview of the state of the art of academic research on the Dutch political system: its origins and historical development, its key institutions, main fault lines, pivotal processes, and key public policy dynamics. In each…

Geert Wilders and his PVV party have won the 2023 elections. What was the deciding factor for this victory?

China is a one-party regime, yet elections are held for the local congresses. PhD candidate Wang Zhongyuan investigated how the Communist Party uses this democratic instrument to strengthen the authoritarian regime. PhD defence 31 January.

Below are resources which provide a short primer on the subject of active learning.

This research cluster aims to analyse and interpret the formation and transmission of Graeco-Roman culture by exploring the relationships between cultural products (texts, objects, practices) and their societal and historical contexts.

Research in Leiden University’s Institute of Political Science focuses on the dynamics and the interaction of political institutions, individual decision-making, and collective behaviour.

Indonesia’s labour law regime has changed profoundly since 1998, reflecting the sweeping social and political developments that followed Soeharto’s fall from power.

This research cluster aims to analyse and interpret the formation and transmission of Graeco-Roman culture by exploring the relationships between cultural products (texts, objects, practices) and their societal and historical contexts.

The European Parliament is set to vote on the approval of the new Commission, and some Parliament members have already expressed concern over the controversial appointment of Olivér Várhelyi to the role of commissioner. Armin Cuyvers, Professor of European Law, discusses this issue in Dutch financial…