The Ballot Box: Elections Around the World

The Netherlands held its general election earlier this week, and as usual we're here to cover who gained and lost, and what the key issues were. This election produced a couple fo surprises and some interesting results, with gains for social-liberal party D66, losses for the classical left parties and a fracturing of the (fairly large) radical right bloc. And at the centre of it all there remains,...

In this episode we're taking a look at three elections (which explains the longer-than-usual running time, sorry!) which have taken place in federal countries last weekend. There's Western Australia, where the governing Labor Party won a larger than landslide victory at the polls, and then two elections in German states- Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate- which have some interesting thing...

We're taking a bit of a break from current electoral coverage to look at some upcoming elections in our own countries. Very soon we'll be releasing  Jonathan and Chris' discussion of the upcoming election bonanza in the UK in May, but for now we're listening to Andres tell us about the midterm elections in Mexico this year, where the Congressional elections and numerous state-level contests a...

A few newsworthy events related to elections we've previously covered have occurred in recent days, so we thought we'd drop back in and Gove a quick explainer. After recounts, the candidates advancing to the second round of Ecuador's presidential elections looks clearer, and Bolivia has been to the polls again in local elections. And in Spain, another regional election in Madrid is unexpectedly on...

This week we're spotlighting the legislative elections that took place in El Salvador on 28th February. This was a remarkable election which saw the New Ideas and GANA parties win an impossible-to-believe landslide majority. These parties are loyal to president Nayib Bukele, a figure who has upended Salvadoran politics and displays authoritarian tendencies that have opened up a concerning new chap...

In the second part of our Valentine's Day election series, we're taking a trip to the heart of the Balkans to discuss Kosovo's parliamentary elections, which saw a historic victory for the left-nationalist and anti-corruption Vetëvendosje (which we can't pronounce, and refer to as 'self-determination throughout this). This was a remarkable election in a small country only recognised by half of UN...

It's the first of our two-part Valentine's Day election extravaganza (Kosovo later this week!). Catalonia held parliamentary elections on the 14th and we're breaking down the results and what they mean for a region that has seen more than its fair share of voting over the past decade. Despite the frequency of elections in Catalonia, this one still brings up a lot of discussion points, including th...

This isn't a pairing of countries you see very often- but both Ecuador and Liechtenstein held their elections on Sunday 7th February. We examine the intricacies of Liechtenstein's small-scale politics, then jump to discussing the main themes of Ecuador's general elections. We cover the main candidates, prospects for the second round and the shadow of Rafael Correa. Coming soon we'll also be releas...

We're back next week with a look at Sunday's contests in Ecuador and Lichtenstein, but in a bit of a quiet electoral period we decided to take a deep dive into the political history of Turkey with returning guest Begum Zorlu and Dr Mark Sinan Winrow. We start right at the beginning electorally with the few elections held near the end of the Ottoman Empire, and then then work our way froward chrono...

Portugal held presidential elections on 24th January. We discuss the highlights and lowlights of that race, including the highly predictable outcome. But it's also a good jumping of point for thinking about semi-presidentialism, a type of institutional design whose basic definition is much disputed by political scientists.  Follow us on Twitter @BallotWorld And please rate and subscribe!

No full episode this week unfortunately- but we have the first podlet, or Little Ballot Box, to keep you going until next week. This is a chat Chris and Andres had about the politics of corruption when we were discussing Peru for our 2021 Preview episode, which we thought was interesting enough to stand on its own! Follow us on Twitter @BallotWorld 

We're joined once again by Michael Bankole to discuss the Ugandan General Election, a contest marked by a charismatic opposition figure and regime repression. We then discuss the health of democracy in Africa in general, and what the main factors are that have made democratic success stories so few and far between on the continent.  Follow us on Twitter at @Ballotworld

We discuss the ramifications of last week's attack on the US Capitol, whether Trump committed autogolpe and what this means for the future of the Republicans, Democrats and American democracy. There's also a deep dive intro the run-off elections for the Georgia Senate seats as well.  Follow us on Twitter @BallotWorld 

We take a look at the upcoming electoral year of 2021, one that's jam packed with interesting elections. We limit ourselves to three though- The Netherlands, Catalonia and Peru- and discuss what those contests are looking like a few months out! Follow us on twitter @Ballotworld

We're taking a look back at the extremely unusual electoral year of 2020 in this episode. We've each chosen to highlight one election from 2020 we think has been particularly symptomatic of 2020, or just very interesting, and along the way find time to discuss the rise of green parties and the politics of COVID-19 responses. We also bite the bullet and talk about the US elections for a bit, so be...

Part two of our look at the elections of December 2020. We're covering the Romanian legislative election in this episode, on which Chris has a lot to say. This was an interesting election with somewhat unexpected results, and we're here to dissect the fortunes of the PSD, PNL and USR-PLUS, as well as examining the return of the far-right to the Romanian parliament.  Come back next week for ou...

In this episode we begin our look at three key elections that have taken place this month. We are joined by Begum Zorlu and Michael Bankole to talk about the elections to the Venezuelan National Assembly and the Ghanaian General Election.  Elections featured in this episode  Venezuela  Ghana  Tune in next week to hear about Romania's legislative elections and please do follow B...

Episode 2 is here! We conclude our look at the November elections with an examination of Puerto Rico, Georgia and Moldova. For the Georgian Parliamentary election we are joined by Ido Vock, international correspondent at the New Statesman.  Elections featured in this episode  Puerto Rican general election  Georgian parliamentary election  Moldovan presidential election  Fo...

Welcome to the Ballot Box! In this episode we begin our look at the November (and some October) 2020 elections, although those expecting to hear about Joe Biden will be disappointed.   Elections featured in this episode:  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines  Belize  Bihar (India)  Burma/Myanmar Chile  Bolivia  US electoral reform referenda  Tune in next we...