Over six million voters were eligible to select 17 members of the European Parliament (EP) in Bulgaria under a proportional representation system with preferential voting in a single nation-wide constituency. 318 candidates were nominated by thirteen political parties, eight coalitions and six initiative committees. Voting in the EP elections is mandatory in Bulgaria, but there is no penalty for not turning out to vote. Furthermore, voting can take place only in person in polling districts and there is no postal voting. These voting arrangements, combined with the lack of any new political formations to mobilize habitual non-voters and the...

Few days before the general election in Spain, some surprising evidence emerges from the ICCP (Issue Competition Comparative Project) pre-electoral survey: what we could call a return of ideological polarization; and along classic lines of conflict that have characterized the Spanish party system in past decades. In a nutshell, this is due to the relevance of relatively new parties such as Podemos and Vox, whose constituencies appear ideologically consistent in terms of left-wing or right-wing stances across multiple issues. This sets these Spanish parties apart from other recent challenger parties in other European countries, which mix and match both...

The decision by Theresa May to call a snap election has gone against her. Despite remaining the largest party in Westminster, the Conservatives have fallen short of an absolute majority of seats, and a hung Parliament is the outcome of this election. Jeremy Corbyn has brought the Labour Party to 40% of the votes, the largest result since 2001. In a context characterised by the highest turnout since 1997 (69%), a massive shift back towards a two-party system has occurred: the UKIP has collapsed, the SNP has stepped back, and the Liberal Democrats have not bounced back after the...

Dr. Alistair Clark, Newcastle University E: Alistair.clark@ncl.ac.uk T: @ClarkAlistairJ In my earlier blog for CISE on the UK’s 2015 general election, I noted how uncertain the polls were, with none of the two main British parties – Conservative or Labour - able to make a decisive break prior to polling day. I ended by suggesting that there was likely to be an investigation into the polling industry after election day. One of those predictions came true. Unfortunately for the reputation of political science predictions, it was that there will be an inquiry into the performance of the polling industry. Expectations were of a hung...

Riproduciamo qui tradotto un articolo apparso oggi sul blog EUROPP della London School of Economics(traduzione di Federico Trastulli) Le elezioni presidenziali americane del 3 novembre saranno seguite dall'Europa con grande intersse. Basandosi su recenti dati di sondaggio originali, Davide Angelucci, Lorenzo De Sio, Morris P. Fiorina e Mark N. Franklin illustrano la sfida che attende Donald Trump nel suo tentativo di rielezione. Al momento non ci sono temi divisivi su cui Trump si trova a ottenere più sostegno da indipendenti e democratici di quanto non possa perdere dalla sua stessa base elettorale; mentre...