Publications

As the United Kingdom is leaving the European Union all eyes are on the eminent economic effects and future trade negotiations. How the British people feel about the state of their country at this defining moment of their political history has received less attention. In...

On the 16th of July 2019, the European Parliament elected Ursula von der Leyen as the new president of the European Commission, placing in her hands the reins of Europe’s executive institution for the next five years. Von der Leyen, whose candidacy had been marked by...

The year 2019 will be an important one for the European Union (EU), not only because of Brexit or the possibility of an economic downturn, but also because of the upcoming European Parliament (EP) elections in May. For one, the outcome of the EP elections will be important...

The political drama called Brexit leaves observers in London fascinated, appalled or exhausted. Whereas in the UK, the tension seems to intensify with every twist and turn the British take on their way out of the European Union, Europeans on the continent seem to be...

When Emmanuel Macron won the French presidential election with a risky strategy and against all odds in May 2017, spring seemed to break out in Paris. New faces, new dynamics, and the promise to do many things differently and thus better, were in the air and inspired large...

Nostalgia is a powerful political tool. References to a better past are skillfully employed by populist political entrepreneurs to fuel dissatisfaction with present-day politics and anxiety about the future. But we know little about who is most receptive to those messages...

The outcome of the Italian elections remains uncertain. It seems to be a fight between three major political forces, Forza Italia, Lega Nord and the Five Star Movement, all of which score high on populist and Eurosceptic rhetoric. For many years, Italian public opinion was...

The 45th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, has been highly controversial ever since he took office over a year ago. His isolationist message of ‘America First’, his decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement and to move the US embassy to Jerusalem are...

Last year we published the report "Fears Not Values: Public opinion and the populist vote in Europe" in which we presented survey evidence suggesting that supporters of populist parties differ from supporters of mainstream parties in one important respect: they fear...

2017 will most likely become a year of important political vintage in Europe. While it already featured elections in the Netherlands, Great Britain and France, all eyes are now on the outcome of the German elections. While many political systems in Europe are under assault...