The Ballot Box: Elections Around the World

We're diving into the murky world of semi-authoritarianism, where there are still somewhat competitive elections but where the system is heavily slanted in one direction. We discuss what's behind the rise of this unlikely (and now rather common) regime type, and why authoritarians who hold elections can actually be quite stable and long-lived. Filled with examples from Hungary to Mexico and from M...

On 12th August Zambians went to the polls in an election which was surrounded by concerns around creeping authoritarianism and the actions of President Lungu to skew the vote in his favour. A knife edge contest was predicted. Instead opposition candidate Hakainde Hichilema won a landslide victory and his UPND party won a parliamentary majority, reversing Zambia's course towards authoritarianism. W...

Nova Scotia held provincial elections on the 17th August, which were won in a shock victory by the opposition Progressive Conservatives. We dig into the runners and riders and the main issues in the election. But with a snap federal election upcoming in September, it wouldn't make much sense to leave Canada without previewing events at the national level, where Justin Trudeau is hoping to turn his...

This week we're looking at ways you can twist elections to your advantage. We're covering Gerrymandering, biased electoral laws, voter suppression, electoral registration and misinformation- and we've tried not to just talk about the US all episode. If you've ever wanted to learn more about the 'Tullymander' now's your chance! As always please rate and subscribe wherever you're listening and follo...

On 1st August Mexicans went to the polls for the first exercise of direct democracy in the modern history of the country. It was a weird, ultimately vacuous exercise that asked a nearly incomprehensible question. The referendum, asking voters if they approved the prosecution of former presidents, was also useless, considering this is already the law. We break down exactly why this weird vote happe...

In September Germany will hold one of the most consequential elections in its recent history, with huge ramifications for the direction of that country and Europe as a whole. We're breaking down where the parties are standing at the moment and what the likely outcomes of September's contest are. And as usual we'll also fill you in on some of the background of the German party system and the countr...

The United Kingdom is an oddity in Europe for many reasons, but not least through its use of the majoritarian first-past-the-post voting system. We discuss why efforts to change the UK's electoral system have failed, from the end of the first world war, to the New Labour era to the AV referendum. We also ruminate if and how such efforts could ever succeed in the future, and break down what effects...

Our first return elections and they both happened on the same day! In this election we're returning to Bulgaria, which we last explored in April and which held its second parliamentary election this year on the 11th June. While the parties shifted a little, the overall result remains inconclusive. And in Moldova, which we covered on our very first episode last November, new president Maia Sandu's...

Following a referendum in 2019 preferential voting came to New York City this month, with all eyes focused on the all important Democratic primary and how its dynamics would change under the new system. We discuss what exactly is 'ranked choice voting'- as it was referred to here- what its political effects are, just who uses preferential systems (Irish and Australian listeners, get ready to hear...

On the Mediterranean island of Corsica nationalist parties have achieved a hitherto undreamt of hegemony over island politics. Regional elections over last week confirmed this dominance, and we're breaking down how this has been achieved and the history of Corsican nationalism. While we're there, we survey the results of the rest of the French regional elections, which saw surprisingly good result...

Three elections for the price one one! This week we're covering the Mongolian presidential election, which saw a landslide victory for the candidate of the governing party and a potential restructuring of this surprising democracy's party system. But we're also examining Iran's unique brand of authoritarianism in its presidential elections, and heading over to Armenia, where Prime Minister Nikol P...

We're back in Latin America! We first tackle Peru's incredibly close run-off result, where leftist candidate Pedro Castillo edged out right-winger Keiko Fujimori to claim the presidency. Next we head north to Andres' homeland of Mexico, where a bumper set of federal, state and local elections have been taking place. While president Andrés Manuel López Obrador's alliance retained its congressional...

DISY, AKEL, DIKO, EDEK...if its all (Cypriot) Greek to you then we're here to decode Cyprus' recent legislative elections, which saw something of a shakeup to its unique but long-lived party system. New parties made some waves in this election- and the old parties suffered some setbacks- in an election that featured surprisingly little mention of the Cyprus dispute but plenty of talk about corrupt...

In a break form our regular election coverage, we're talking through some of our favourite strange conditional choices and weird electoral laws. Covered in this episode- Chile's binomial system, Israeli prime ministerial elections, Italy's ever-changing electoral laws, Serbia's turnout debacle, Alberta senate nominee elections, Mexico's 1977 electoral reform, Hereditary Peer by-elections, the Sean...

Last week Chileans voted in the second stage of a process to rewrite the Pinochet-era constitution which has ensured significant parts of the dictators' antidemocratic and neoliberal agenda have remained in place and constrained governments ever since he left office. Last year, following a turbulent periods of protests and repressive government response, Chileans voted in a referendum to call a co...

In the second part of our UK coverage, we're tackling the largest component of the union, England. Home to 56 million people and a truly bizarre system of local government, the country held local elections on the 6th which revealed a changing party system. We explain the intricacies of local government in England, plus what the results mean for the Conservatives, Labour, the Greens and the Liberal...

It's part one of our big UK elections bonanza coverage. This episode we're diving into the parliamentary elections that took place in Scotland and Wales. For both of these countries this can credibly claim to be one of the most important contests since the advent of devolution. For Scotland it will play a key role in determining the shape of the country's independence debate for years to come, and...

Don't worry, UK election coverage is inbound, but for now we're analysing the regional elections in the Madrid Community that took place last week. While Madrid's elections are normally pretty dull, this was the region's first early election and saw dramatic changes in the vote from 2019 when the last election took place. We dissect what these elections- which saw a troubling rise of rightwing pop...

Albania went to the polls on 25th April and re-elected the incumbent Socialist Party to a record third term in office. We dive into the political dynamics of this unique country which both conforms and deviates from regional trends. Religiously diverse but without religiously orientated politics, Albania maintains a stable two-party system which has alluded its neighbours. Key themes in this elect...

We're setting sail to two island nations with healthy democracies which held elections in the last few weeks. Cabo Verde stands as a democratic beacon off the west African coast, with a stable two-and-a-half party system and robust institutions for the last three decades. Its incumbent party scored a second term in office in this election. Samoa lies in a different ocean and has unusual governing...

Two elections with shocking and unexpected outcomes took place last week in the Andean countries of South America. In Peru, an incredibly fractured first round of presidential elections will lead to an unforeseen runoff between leftist Pedro Castillo and the ultra-neoliberal Keiko Fujimori, while congressional elections produced a legislature that will provide no President with a comfortable gover...

It's a battle of old and new parties in Bulgaria as the country's three largest historic, and very corrupt, parties head off against three new parties of varying hues that have emerged from the country's anticorruption movement. New parties made major gains in this election, but failed to overturn the political scene completely. With all possible coalition formations looking fraught with complicat...

Greenland went to the polls this week for a historic election which had environmental concerns at its heart. Disputes over a new mining project polarised the arctic nation, with the largest party in this election- the leftist Inuit Ataqatigiit- profiting from its opposition. Despite happening in a tiny country (population wise), which hasn't yet achieved full sovereignty, this was an election of g...

We're covering two elections this week- one is very much our bread and butter and the other one is a bit of a departure. Firstly, we're taking a look at the Newfoundland and Labrador general election, which took place on 25th March and was Canada's first postal-only election. Then there's the unionisation ballot that took place in the Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, a city in the US state of Alabama...

Israel held its fourth election in three years last week, which offered up a result that looks likely to pave the way for a fifth contest. It was an election dominated by a growing secular-religious divide, divisions in the Arab-Israeli community, a successful vaccine rollout and of course Benjamin Netanyahu, a figure a who has contrived to polarise the entire Israeli party system around him. We'r...