May 10, 2024 – Holesch, Adam, Piotr Zagórski, and Luis Ramiro. “European radical left foreign policy after the invasion of Ukraine: shifts in assertiveness towards Russia.” Political Research Exchange 6, no. 1.
The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine has prompted a closer examination of parties’ attitudes towards the Putin regime. While research has examined the connections of the EU’s far-right with Russia, less attention has been given to the stances of Radical Left Parties (RLPs). We close this gap by analysing Roll Call Votes (RCVs) in the European Parliament. Our findings indicate that RLPs displayed the lowest levels of assertiveness towards Russia before 2022, being even less assertive than other Eurosceptic groups. RLPs significantly increased their assertiveness after the invasion, bringing them closer to the EP mainstream. However, some divergence in assertiveness towards Russia existed within the RLPs before 2022 and remains relevant after the invasion, with the Traditional/Communist parties standing closer to Russia than radical New Left/Democratic Socialist parties.
May 15, 2024 – Marchetti, Rita, and Anna Stanziano. “Politicizing corruption on social media.” European Journal of Communication.
Although various studies have investigated the link between corruption and politicization, there is still a lack of comprehensive reflection in the literature on both this topic and the idea of politicization itself. Analyzing the politicization of an issue necessarily implies considering the public sphere and then the role of the media. Considering its penetration and its role as a news source for citizens, social media today is a particularly intriguing object of research. Our study shows that while social media may assist in raising awareness about and curbing corruption, it can also become dysfunctional in some circumstances. The multiplicity of the actors who intervene in corruption and the diversity of interests that characterizes their actions make online discussion complex and adaptable to different objectives. Discussions on corruption in Italy are highly polarized, favoring the political instrumentalization of the issue for different goals.
January 1, 2024 – Mungiu-Pippidi, Alina. “Seven Arguments in Favour of Rethinking Corruption.” Eucrim.
The act of “rethinking” corruption is necessary due to a global stagnation after more than two decades of international anticorruption efforts. The issue of corruption is being reframed as a security issue, rather than a developmental one, but the role international agency play in changing a country is still prominent. This article sums up the lessons learned from theoretical and practical advances outlined in the author’s book on “Rethinking Corruption.” It makes a clear argument in favour of rethinking corruption outside the traditional framework and offers a forecasting method, alongside state-of-the-art analytical, fact-based tools to map, assess, and predict corruption risks. The author argues that corruption is a policy issue frequently overriding individual choice, and can only be tackled by strong policy interventions. She explains the limits of international intervention and demonstrates how much unfinished business was left behind by the developmental approach to anticorruption – business that can only be tackled domestically by pro-change coalitions. Evidence is shown that corruption has not decreased despite unprecedented efforts. This is the case because the international context presently creates far more opportunities for corruption than it poses constraints. Few countries and international organisations have proven able to solve the social dilemma of corruption. The instruments to collect evidence for action have been as poor as conceptualisation, but progress has been made and can be used by domestic coalitions seeking to challenge a corrupt status quo.
The article outlines that “Rethinking Corruption” is a non-orthodox, yet state-of-the-art guidebook for policy makers, administrators, and practitioners looking to identify an effective way of approaching corruption, engaging in corruption issue policy analysis, designing actionable measurement, and building successful coalitions against systemic corruption.