News archive for Department of Comparative Politics

Mobilized Islam and state-society relations in Muslim majority countries with a special focus on Syria, Tunisia and Turkey are Dutch Teije Hidde Donker’s research interests.

Judicial politics, democracy, political institutions in Latin America are Argentinian Andrea Castagnola’s research interests.

Professor Stein Kuhnle and co-editors Pauli Kettunen og Yuan Ren presented the new Chinese-language book «Reshaping Welfare Institutions in China and the Nordic Countries» at the Nordic Centre, Fudan, on June 6th.

Associate Professor Elisabeth Ivarsflaten says to newspaper Klassekampen that EU sceptics of all hues did well in the EU elections, with a few exceptions.

Professor Jonas Linde says to local newspaper Sunnhordaland that politicians often underestimate the importance of having the right contacts. A recent survey done by the newspaper shows that less than half of the elected politicians in the municipality of Stord believes knowing the right people matters for influencing political outcomes there.

Associate Professor Elisabeth Ivarsflaten of the Department of Comparative Politics represents the University of Bergen in a new international research project on populist communication. The project is supported by the prestigious COST Action EU program.

Professor Gunnar Grendstad argues in an op-ed in Klassekampen that the government’s and the Supreme Court’s involvement in the selection of justices could be problematic with respect to the separation of powers and democracy. He notes that some therefore have favored involving the Norwegian parliament more in the selection process.

According to Professor Tor Midtbø of the Department of Comparative Politics, journalists have become more interested in the political game and what happens offstage, and this leads to more political scandals. Midtbø was recently interviewed by newspaper Mandag Morgen about a new Nordic research project on political scandals in which he is engaged.