Publications

In 2020 and 2021, Malta had to deal with a period of extensive upheaval, which included the coronavirus pandemic, the election of a new prime minister and extensive constitutional reform. As elsewhere, the pandemic impacted economic performance, healthcare resources and...

Democracy functions well, and governance is credible and transparent in Denmark. Public trust in government and public administration is high. Comparatively, Denmark stands out for its ability to combine strong economic performance (as measured by per capita income) with a...

Considering Mexico’s experience with military and corporatist autocratic rule, the country has made significant progress over the last three decades with regard to electoral competition and its overall regulatory environment, including market-oriented reforms. Economic and...

In many respects, Estonia has successfully established a sustainable democracy. Among the 41 countries in the SGI, Estonia ranks seventh for democracy, eighth for policy performance and 11th for governance. These positions remain the same as in 2019. As in 2019, performance...

The years 2020-2021 were the last of the Rutte III government that came to power in March 2017. This was an uneasy four-party coalition between centerright parties (the conservative-liberal People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and the largely ideology-free...

Bulgaria was witness to several unprecedented developments in 2021. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Bulgaria held one presidential election in November 2021 and three parliamentary elections (in April, July and November of the same year). The country failed, twice, to elect a...

Between July 2018 and December 2021, Czechia was governed by a minority coalition, including Prime Minister Andrej Babiš’s Movement of Dissatisfied Citizens (ANO) and the Social Democrats (ČSSD), and backed by the Communist Party (KSČM) until April 2021.

Hungary was badly prepared for the COVID-19 pandemic. The country’s crisis management system, healthcare system and education system were already in bad shape, and the Hungarian economy proved vulnerable to the pandemic as a result of its strong dependence on the car...

The report focuses on the COVID-19 situation in the United States during the year 2020, which was also the last of the Trump presidency. That year, the country entered the COVID-19 crisis with a specific mix of strengths and weaknesses. As one of the world’s wealthiest and...

The Irish government introduced coronavirus-related restrictions relatively early on 12 March 2020, the day after the WHO declared a global pandemic. This entailed the closure of schools, limitations on economic and social activity, and the interdiction of large gatherings....