Out of Sample

Changing the rules of the game

Do parties gain from the electoral laws they write? What comparative research says, and what Italy's 2026 reform adds

Posted on October 23, 2026

On 8 October 2026 the Italian Chamber of Deputies gave final approval to a new electoral law for both chambers of Parliament, by 227 votes to 164 in a secret ballot. The law, informally referred to as the Stabilicum, replaces the system in force since 2017 and will govern the... [Read More]

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Yeasayers, naysayers and non-voters

Italians justifications for their vote in the 2026 referendum on the judiciary

Posted on September 24, 2026

On 22 and 23 March 2026, Italian voters rejected the constitutional reform of the judiciary that the Meloni government had steered through Parliament in October 2025. The reform would have separated the careers of judges and prosecutors, split the Consiglio Superiore della Magistratura in two, introduced random selection (sorteggio) of... [Read More]

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Do democracies do better at the World Cup?

Ninety-six years of football, one political science question, and a lot of caveats

Posted on September 14, 2026

Spain lifted the trophy in New Jersey this July, beating Argentina 1–0 in extra time. Four years earlier the tournament had been played in Qatar — a country that, in the years leading up to the event, was regularly described in the press as buying reputational cover through sport. Before... [Read More]

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What kind of energy transition do Europeans actually want?

Posted on September 7, 2026

In December 2022, gas prices across the European Union were the highest ever recorded. Between the second half of 2021 and the second half of 2022 they rose by an average of 70% across all 27 member states. Inflation in the EU had gone from 2.5% at the end of... [Read More]

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The other side of the migration coin

Who worries about the people leaving, and what happens at the ballot box when they do

Posted on September 1, 2026

We know a great deal about what immigration does to European elections. Two decades of research have established that attitudes towards newcomers predict vote choice, welfare preferences and Euroscepticism, and that radical-right parties have built much of their success on the issue. [Read More]

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