Dr. Sara Brandellero and Dr. Kamila Krakowska Rodrigues from Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society will lead a collaborative research project funded by Horizon Europe Work Programme on Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society. #DemocracyinAction studies arts and culture-based grassroots…

Antoaneta Dimitrova, Professor Comparative Governance, spoke in an interview with Euronews about the hurdles ahead for Borrisov, the current prime minister of Bulgaria, despite winning the elections.

The NORFACE-funded DEEPEN project on the democratic governance of funded occupational pension schemes that is located at the Institute of Public Administration of Leiden University, Linz university, University College Dublin, and University Carlos III of Madrid will be presenting first research results…

In a time of growing polarisation and declining trust, the rule of law is under pressure. The system as we know it today only took shape 177 years ago, with the constitutional reform of 1848. Carla Hoetink emphasises: ‘The democratic rule of law was originally designed to prevent violence and revolu…

As both old and new democracies experience increasing democratic backsliding, there is a critical societal need to rethink the design and effectiveness of democratic checks and balances. In this conference on Friday 9 June, the aim is to explore multidisciplinary insights about what makes the checks…

Anthropologist Anouk de Koning about the tottering welfare state and the dilemmas of a government operating as a nearby, friendly partner.

Brian Shaev recently joined the Institute for History as a lecturer in International Studies. He introduces himself.

Two research projects focused on democracy and citizen collectives have been awarded grants through the 2024 round of the National Science Agenda’s (NWA) ‘Onderzoek op Routes door Consortia (ORC)’. Each project will receive around €6.8 million to get started immediately.

In a new Transforming Society article, Salvador Santino Regilme, Associate Professor and Chair of the International Relations Program at Leiden University, critiques the Trump administration’s US–China tariff war as a covert instrument of domestic class warfare.

In March 2021, Prof. dr. Jan Aart Scholte, Professor Global Transformations and Governance Challenges at Leiden University, co-edited with Dr. Blayne Haggart and Dr. Natasha Tusikov the volume Power and Authority in Internet Governance.

In a recent article for the magazine Public Seminar, Santino Regilme argues that democracy across continents is being quietly usurped by a transnational billionaire class.

Researcher Yung Lin received the Young Scholar Award at the annual conference of the European Association for Taiwan Studies (EATS). She obtained her PhD in 2025 on Taiwan’s public diplomacy.

After four successful editions, the Academy for the Rule of Law (Dutch) course, a collaboration between Leiden University and the Montesquieu Institute, has evolved into its final form.

The Dutch polder model has provided stability and administrative calm for many years, but is it still resilient enough to withstand the dynamics of today, or is it ‘too rigid’?

Yung Lin’s research explores how citizens in Taiwan and Southeast Asia actively shape public diplomacy, build trust across cultures, and address identity-based conflicts, highlighting the shift from government-led to citizen-centred diplomacy.

Should criminal law have a greater role in protecting this democracy? In his inaugural lecture, Professor Jeroen ten Voorde urges caution.

The French political theorist Hélène Landemore has been appointed as the new Cleveringa Professor. She will deliver her inaugural lecture on 26 November.

A team of researchers has dated a prehistoric painting in Indonesia to at least 51.200 years ago, they have proposed in a study that this painting is the oldest known example of “figurative” art.

During the second Arthur Docters van Leeuwen Lecture on 2 December, AIVD Director Erik Akerboom underlined how the changing threat landscape demands reflective leadership, transparency where possible and close cooperation to protect the democratic legal order.

Turkish politics was shaken by the arrest of Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, along with dozens of others from the main opposition party.

Level Up is a non-profit project led by a multi-disciplinary team of doctoral researchers in the framework of the Europaeum Network was founded by the University of Oxford University. Sophie Veriter explains the importance of Level Up, the development of the ‘Level Up Toolkit’, and why this project…

From 16 to 23 October 2025, the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs (FGGA) will host the second edition of Cyber Week. Following last year’s success, we will once again shine a daily spotlight on our teaching and research in the field of cybersecurity through LinkedIn and Instagram. Today’s societal…

Did you know that research and education in the field of digital innovation are key pillars of the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs? Over the next seven days, we are organising Cyberweek on our social media channels to showcase what we have to offer.

On 16 May, three researchers from Leiden University will present their findings on the democratic consequences of decentralisation at a workshop in Leiden. Their research project, Downsize My Democracy?, shows that decentralisation does not automatically lead to a stronger democracy. On the contrary,…

The Crafting Resilience Kick Off on 30 March seeks to inspire conversations around new state-citizen relations in the social domain. At this conference, international researchers discuss core questions at the heart of the new NWA Crafting Resilience project.

The results of the 2025 university elections are in. Who will represent us in the participation organs?

JSixty researchers have received a grant of approximately 50,000 Euros during round 3 of the NWO Open Competition SSH-XS pilot programme. Two of them are working at FGGA: Jolien van Breen and Honorata Mazepus. The sixty researchers received the grant to start working on a promising concept or an innovative…

As a Leiden University’s master’s student in Political Science you conduct independent research and report your findings to fellow academics and, who knows, to a larger audience. Your thesis is a showcase of your academic skills and personal interest, and perhaps even passion. Easier said than done,…

A flood of news reports, push notifications and even extra news broadcasts: on Wednesday, the world was shocked by the storming of the Capitol in Washington. Americanist Sara Polak discusses the events.

Safety and security risks ranging from cybercrime to terrorism threats are a growing concern worldwide. Technological developments have made security issues increasingly complex. This is typically a topic for the multidisciplinary Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Universities (LDE) curriculum.

University lecturer Andrew Gawthorpe is quoted in a Financial Times article on the Republican primaries.

Last Saturday, Reijer Passchier was a guest on one of his favourite radio programmes: Dr. Kelder en Co.

Can politicians say whatever they want? What is the limit and when can the Public Prosecution Service act? PhD candidate Jip Stam examined the limits of free speech in criminal law. 'Intervening too soon can threaten democracy and the rule of law,' he warns.

It was challenging to get civil servants from the first Trump administration to speak about their work experiences, but sociologist Jaime Lee Kucinskas succeeded. The picture that emerged from her findings, she says, is far from positive. 'The more I spoke with them, the more emotions I saw. They were…

During the second Arthur Docters van Leeuwen Lecture on 2 December, AIVD Director Erik Akerboom underlined how the changing threat landscape demands reflective leadership, transparency where possible and close cooperation to protect the democratic legal order.

Leiden University researchers will be working more closely with colleagues at Una Europa partner universities this year. Three research projects have been awarded up to €40,000 in Una Europa seed funding to explore questions related to democracy and AI, web tracking technologies and clean energy.

Digital journalism is transforming the way in which information and communication technologies are used by media workers. With this change journalist practices, norms and values are also being reshaped. This is the conclusion of Tomás Dodds PhD research.

Major developments worldwide are creating new challenges for society. The pandemic has hit us hard, for example, and we are already feeling the effects of global warming. How can society and politics deal with the urgent problems of our time? That is the theme of the Global Transformations and Governance…

Relations within the Kingdom of the Netherlands are imbalanced, says Professor by Special Appointment Wouter Veenendaal. The Caribbean autonomous countries and special municipalities do not have enough of a say and have administrative problems to contend with.

We are pleased to invite paper proposals for the 1.5-day interdisciplinary workshop: “Who rules over migrants? Autocratic elements in migration policies”, that will take place at the University of Leiden on 14 and 15 November 2024.

In a lecture for the University of the Netherlands, Reijer Passchier, assistant professor in constitutional and administrative law, speaks about the state of our democracy. ‘Is it not time to upgrade our democracy?’

The Economist published an article about a working paper about the effects of democratic elections on satisfaction with democracy. The paper was written by Dimiter Koshkov, Associate Professor at the Institute of Public Administration and Honorata Mazepus, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Security…

These are turbulent times in the UK. The cost of living is high, leaving many people struggling to make ends meet, and these past few months have been tumultuous in terms of politics. University lecturer Anne Heyer explains what impact this can have on people's political perceptions and participatio…

Political scientist Kevin Köhler (Leiden University) has been awarded a Consolidator Grant by the European Research Council (ERC). This prestigious grant enables him to set up a research group in the coming five years. Köhler and his team will examine how elite conflict affects processes of regime change…

Met haar spannende onderzoek naar strafrechtelijke waarheidsvinding in Europa sleept Linda Geven dit jaar de Gratama Wetenschapsprijs voor jonge talentvolle wetenschappers in de wacht.

On 8 and 9 July 2022, Leiden Law School hosted the second conference of the Research Group on Institutions for Conflict Resolution (COI).

New university elections are coming up! Do you want to do more than just vote? Represent the interests of students and staff in the coming year and register as a candidate on 14 or 15 April, for example for the FSW Faculty Council. Student member Selin Asenova shares how she chose to make a differen…