Do governing parties strategically time welfare benefit cuts and other austerity policies to help them win elections? Hanna Bäck has, together with med Daniel Strobl, Wolfgang Müller and Mariyana Angelova analyzed this question in a comparative analysis of the Western European countries. You can read about their results in the article “Electoral Cycles in Government Policy Making: Strategic Timing

https://www.svet.lu.se/en/article/back-timing-austerity-reforms - 2025-08-21

Annika Bergman Rosamond and Catia Gregoratti have recently published the article “Neoliberal turns in global humanitarian governance: corporations, celebrities and the construction of the entrepreneurial refugee woman” in the  Journal of Humanitarian Affairs (Manchester University Press) 2:3, 2021. This article seeks to extend recent debates on how the promotion of self-reliance through vocational

https://www.svet.lu.se/en/article/new-article-annika-bergman-rosamond-and-catia-gregoratti - 2025-08-21

Karin Aggestam and Jacqui True have co-authored the article “Political leadership and gendered multilevel games in foreign policy” published Open Access in the journal International Affairs. Link to the article on academic.oup.com Karin Aggestam’s personal page Jacqui True’s homepage

https://www.svet.lu.se/en/article/aggestam-and-true-political-leadership-and-gendered-multilevel-games-foreign-policy - 2025-08-21

"Achieving a Feminist Peace by Blurring Boundaries between Private and Public” The article is published in the book “A Requiem for Peacebuilding?" Link to the publication on springer.com Nina Wilén’s personal page

https://www.svet.lu.se/en/article/new-article-nina-wilen - 2025-08-21

How do party cues influence support for a policy proposal? Does it matter whether information on a policy is presented by an in- or outgroup representative? Hanna Bäck has together with Annika Fredén and Emma Renström analyzed this question in a large-scale survey experiment. You can read about their results in the article “Legalize cannabis? Effects of party cues on attitudes to a controversial p

https://www.svet.lu.se/en/article/back-party-cues-and-political-attitudes - 2025-08-21

'Politicization and EU Development Policy: The Role of External Perceptions. Case of Ukraine' This article highlights the role of external audiences and their perceptions in analysing the politicization of EU development policy. We analyse how EU foreign assistance is understood in two different intermediary arenas of politicization – elites in different societal sectors and media – within Ukraine

https://www.svet.lu.se/en/article/elgstrom-and-chaban-external-perceptions-and-politicization-eu-development-policy - 2025-08-21

Does party system polarization lead to more government crises? Are there institutions that can mitigate such destabilizing effects? Hanna Bäck has together with Henning Bergmann and Thomas Saalfeld analyzed this question in a comparative analysis of 28 European democracies. You can read about their results in the article “Party-system polarisation, legislative institutions and cabinet survival in

https://www.svet.lu.se/en/article/back-polarization-and-government-crises - 2025-08-21

New teaching material by Roger Hildingsson, Ludwig Bengtsson Sonesson och Johannes Stripple Our colleagues Roger Hildingsson, Ludwig Bengtsson Sonesson och Johannes Stripple have recently launched a new teaching material – Beyond the Fossil Society – for high school and upper secondary school. In collaboration with the Swedish Society for Nature Conversation they have developed an online-based mat

https://www.svet.lu.se/en/article/looking-future-world-beyond-fossil-society - 2025-08-21

In his chapter on ‘Normative Power Approach to European Union External Action, Ian Manners demonstrates how the Normative Power Approach (NPA) to the EU sets out a radically different means of studying and changing planetary politics The NPA uses normative theory, theories of explanation and understanding, and practical theories, all at the same time. The chapter clarifies how the NPA’s radical re

https://www.svet.lu.se/en/article/new-chapter-ian-manners-normative-power-approach-eu-external-action - 2025-08-21

Johannes Lindvall has, together with Kerstin Enflo and Alexandra L. Cermeño, published the article “Railroads and Reform: How Trains Strengthened the Nation State” in the journal British Journal of Political Science. The article shows that the coming of the railroad in the middle of the nineteenth century strengthened the nation state vis-à-vis local and parochial interests. The expanding railroad

https://www.svet.lu.se/en/article/lindvall-how-railroad-strengthened-nation-state - 2025-08-21

How can the long-term be considered in urban planning and experimentation? In a new article – "Planning for 1000 years: The Råängen experiment" published in the journal Urban Planning – Roger Hildingsson, Johannes Stripple and Alice Herrström have together with Peter Pelzer, Utrecht University, studied how the Church of Sweden as a landowner has taken on a new role as planner and urban developer i

https://www.svet.lu.se/en/article/hildingsson-and-stripple-long-term-futures-urban-planning - 2025-08-21

Ole Elgström has together with Natalia Chaban (University of Canterbury, New Zeeland) published a chapter on “Theorizing external perceptions of the EU” in the new textbook/handbook The External Action of the European Union. The book is edited by Sieglinde Gstöhl and Simon Schunz and published by Macmillan International. Learn more on macmillanihe.com Ole Elgström’s personal page

https://www.svet.lu.se/en/article/elgstrom-external-perceptions-eu-1 - 2025-08-21

Malena Rosén Sundström, Ekatherina Zhukova and Ole Elgström have co-authored the article “Spreading a norm-based policy? Sweden’s Feminist Foreign Policy in international media”. The article has been published in the journal Contemporary Politics. The article investigates how Sweden’s Feminist Foreign Policy (FFP) is reported in 17 regional powers, based on an analysis of two newspapers per countr

https://www.svet.lu.se/en/article/rosen-sundstrom-zhukova-and-elgstrom-swedens-feminist-foreign-policy - 2025-08-21

Jakob Skovgaard has authored the book “The Economisation of Climate Change –  How the G20, the OECD and the IMF Address Fossil Fuel Subsidies and Climate Finance”. The book investigates how international economic institutions increasingly address climate issues. The international economic institutions’ involvement ranges from then IMF Managing Director Lagarde joining forces with environmentalist

https://www.svet.lu.se/en/article/new-open-access-book-international-economic-institutions-addressing-climate-change - 2025-08-21

After a long economic crisis, Lebanon is on the brink of ruin. The currency has lost much in value and people's savings have been eaten up. The crisis in the country is also taking place at the political and social level. Despite this, the corrupt elite continues to rule the country, without being punished for their wrongdoings. Rola el-Husseini is a researcher at CMES and Department of Political

https://www.svet.lu.se/en/article/will-lebanon-survive-crisis - 2025-08-21

Agustín Goenaga has authored the article “Who cares about the public sphere?”, which will be published in the forthcoming edition of the journal European Journal of Political Research. In this article, Agustín Goenaga examines to what extent citizens consider the public sphere important for democracy. Many of today's most pressing democratic challenges are related to the quality of public debates,

https://www.svet.lu.se/en/article/who-cares-about-public-sphere - 2025-08-21

Annika Björkdahl is one of the authors of the article “Peacebuilding, Structural Violence and Spatial Reparations in Post-Colonial South Africa”, which has been published in Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding. The article shows how peacebuilding cannot address persistent structural, spatial and economic violence in South Africa. More information about the article can be found on Taylor & Fr

https://www.svet.lu.se/en/article/bjorkdahl-peacebuilding-south-africa - 2025-08-21

Maiken Røed’s article “Party goals and interest group influence on parties” has been published in the journal West European Politics. The comparative analysis of interest groups’ influence on political parties in six European democracies shows that ideological proximity between interest groups and parties, as well as parties’ willingness to compromise on policy, affect interest groups’ influence.

https://www.svet.lu.se/en/article/roed-interest-group-influence-political-parties - 2025-08-21

Lisa Justesen and Jakob Strandgaard have defended their dissertations this week. Lisa Justesen Lisa Justesen defended her dissertation "The Emerging Outer Space Order: Professional Orders, Heterarchy, Hypermodernity and Political Reason" on May 20 at 10.15. The external reviewer was Professor Mark Rhinard, Stockholms University. Lisa Justesen’s dissertation aims to make sense of, and to conceptual

https://www.svet.lu.se/en/article/two-dissertations-department-0 - 2025-08-21

Both sides in the Israel-Palestine conflict see the other party as an enemy, which confirms the threat. It is necessary to put the civilians and their suffering in focus, says Lisa Strömbom. Photo: Shutterstock Strong external pressure is needed to stop the violence between Israel and Hamas, which has harvested immense humanitarian suffering on both sides. And it must happen quickly, according to

https://www.svet.lu.se/en/article/israel-palestine-conflict-external-pressure-needed-bring-parties-negotiating-table - 2025-08-21