In her dissertation, political scientist Alessia Aspide explores how public attitudes toward fiscal policy are formed. Her key finding: fiscal preferences are not shaped in a vacuum, but are deeply embedded in institutional, political, and societal contexts.

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…

Lecture and Exhibition

Film screening and Book Launch

The norms, institutions and power relations that have defined the last decades of international political and economic relations in the European Union are undergoing major transformations. With the return of competition between great and ambitious powers, like the US, China, EU and Russia, the need…

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,…

Many European citizens feel connected to the European Union and place trust in it, Eva Grosfeld found in her PhD research. Yet around a quarter do not identify with the EU at all. How can the EU regain their trust?

Last Thursday the Dutch House of Representatives held a debate on children being put into care when the childcare benefits scandal (toeslagenaffaire) had caused problems for their families. Four Leiden University academics were asked by the House to produce a fact sheet for this debate, bringing together…

Lecture, Food for Thought

LUCIR presentation and discussion

Lecture, Research Seminar

Your toddler refuses to eat vegetables, your child is being bullied at school, or you’re simply overwhelmed by everything on your plate. How can parents manage these situations effectively? During this Week of Parenting, our researchers and lecturers share practical advice for parents.

Matthew DiGiuseppe, Associate Professor at the Institute of Political Science at Leiden University, has been awarded an NWO XS grant for his project ‘Political Polarization and Public Support for AI Governance’. The project examines whether growing political polarisation affects citizens’ willingness…

Contrary to what one might expect, societal actors influence China’s foreign policy. PhD candidate Sabine Mokry investigated how Chinese academics and think tanks impact the authoritarian leadership’s views on what constitutes the country’s national interest in the international arena. On 14 November…

Students for Palestine – a group of students from Leiden and The Hague – are holding a panel discussion in the Leiden University in The Hague Wijnhaven building on Tuesday 24 May entitled ‘Silencing Palestine’.

What is the effect of a certain regime on a country’s migration policy? Political scientist Katharina Natter compared the migration policy of autocratic Morocco with that of democratising Tunisia. Her findings challenge some of the core assumptions.

Leiden University will be conferring three honorary doctorates in its special anniversary year. They will be awarded to Eliot Higgins, truth finder and founder of Bellingcat, Bonnie Honig, expert in feminist theory and legal theory, and Kelly Chibale, professor of organic chemistry, who works on prevention…

PhD defence

PhD defence

Do you know what the capital of St Eustatius is? Or which province Curaçao belongs to? No idea? You are not the only one: the majority of European Dutch people know little about the Caribbean islands within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. This is according to a large-scale opinion survey led by political…

In Poland the commemoration of acts of resistance is being misused to distort the history of the Holocaust. That is what Cleveringa Professor Jan Grabowski said in his inaugural lecture on 26 November. In her lecture, the second Cleveringa Professor, Barbara Engelking, pointed to the often indifferent…

Migration, globalisation, technological developments, climate change: the greatest challenges of our time all affect our labour market. But how exactly? And can we influence this? Professor of Economics Olaf van Vliet regards it as his job to reveal how things really are. ‘That way, we can work on solutions…