As the far Right Front National make gains in French local elections here are some recommended resources on the far right in France at the recent election results.
The main FN party website has news interviews and manifestos from the party. But for more detailed local election news they created a special municipales website
Marine Le Pen has a twitter account where she sent messages of congratulation.
Newspaper and news service coverage.
Look at the following for news, analysis and polls
Le Monde
Le Figaro has a detailed website with a map of results . It also has information on parties, candidates and many online videos.
Le Parisien
Nouvel Observateur.
L'Express
Humanite
Academic discussion
Sciences Po televised forum on the municipales.
Cevipol analysis
The International Migration Institute has a paper on the impact of immigration on extreme right voting in France
MeLextra This blog, the third journalism translation project by students of the MéLexTra JET master’s degree in English-French translation at Lille 3 University it translating stories about the rise of the far right from the French media.
Chatham House think tank has some analysis and discussion of far right politics in Europe,
The Conversation has academic discussion on whether youth in Europe are swinging to the right.
Tuesday, 25 March 2014
Thursday, 13 March 2014
North Korea- an election where the winner gets 100% of the votes
In the recent North Korean elections all the seats are won by the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland.
The Economist magazine provides a good explanation of how the electoral system operated
Background reports and results can be found on the website of the IPU Parline database.
and the IFES election guide.
For background information on the state of democracy and human right sin the region some recommended starting points are
Freedom House rankings
US Department of State annual human rights reports
Network for North Korean Democracy and human rights. has news and reports.
The International Coalition to Stop Crimes against Humanity in North Korea (ICNK), an alliance of over 40 human rights groups from around the world its website has reports on international action plus links to full text reports.
The Economist magazine provides a good explanation of how the electoral system operated
Background reports and results can be found on the website of the IPU Parline database.
and the IFES election guide.
For background information on the state of democracy and human right sin the region some recommended starting points are
Freedom House rankings
US Department of State annual human rights reports
Network for North Korean Democracy and human rights. has news and reports.
The International Coalition to Stop Crimes against Humanity in North Korea (ICNK), an alliance of over 40 human rights groups from around the world its website has reports on international action plus links to full text reports.
Monday, 10 February 2014
Switzerland - referendum on immigration see our quick links
This week Switzerland has been voting in a series of referendums. One of which covers proposals relating to immigration.
Here are some receommended starting points for some quick academic research.
The IFES website has a brief guide in English to what the referendum was about.
Detailed materials, legislation and statements from the Swiss Government can be found on the official website.
why are the Swiss worried about immigration? See the Swiss Federal office for Migration which has official policies and data
The Office fédéral de la statistique also has a useful page with statistics on numbers of immigrants where you can trace trends. Interestingly Martin Grand Jean has mapped the results of the referendum at a local level with statistics the local population. so you can see if votes for quotas coincided with areas of high immigrant population.
For further news coverage, discussion and comment.
Try Swiss Info (English)
24 heures.ch (French) has a special dossier with photographs, images of Swiss front pages and graphs showing results
Le Temps has coverage of immigration issues in Switzerland (in France) and their relationship to the vote.
Popular newspaper le Matin - has a 6 point guide in French to the impact of the vote on immigration.
Tuesday, 4 February 2014
Thailand elections - who are the protestors?
Elections in Thailand have been marred by violence.
Asian Correspondent had a blog on its website called SIAM Voices which recorded events live.
our previous posting has some suggestions on academic sites where you can keep up to date with news and think tank coverage
For further information on one of the main organisers of the protests -
Suthep Thaugsuban see these suggestions.
There is an official facebook site and the website Reform Thailand (thai language)
but for those seeking saomething more basic.
Radio Australia had a basic introduction which asked who is Suthep Thaugsuban
which was aided in December 2013. It is introduced by Dr Nicholas Farrelly, Research Fellow at the Australian National University and there is a transcript on the website.
The Washington Post has a collection of articles about him and the unfolding Thailand protests.
As does the Bangkok Post.
and the Nation.
Asian Correspondent had a blog on its website called SIAM Voices which recorded events live.
our previous posting has some suggestions on academic sites where you can keep up to date with news and think tank coverage
For further information on one of the main organisers of the protests -
Suthep Thaugsuban see these suggestions.
There is an official facebook site and the website Reform Thailand (thai language)
but for those seeking saomething more basic.
Radio Australia had a basic introduction which asked who is Suthep Thaugsuban
which was aided in December 2013. It is introduced by Dr Nicholas Farrelly, Research Fellow at the Australian National University and there is a transcript on the website.
The Washington Post has a collection of articles about him and the unfolding Thailand protests.
As does the Bangkok Post.
and the Nation.
Wednesday, 29 January 2014
Costa Rica elections - free academic resources which we recommend
On the 2nd Feb 2014 elections will be taking place in Costa Rica.
here are some resources we recommend for researchers.
IFES Election guide has basic data on the electoral system and voter turnout from previous elections.
The Political Database of the Americas also has basic electoral system and elections data from previous elections.
Vanderbilt University LAPOP has previous surveys of voter opinion and attitudes to democracy in Costa Rica.
the Electoral Tribunal has official information from the government in Spanish. See documents.
Newspaper coverage
Try La Nacion which has a special section.
La Republica.net
Ojo al voto launched by the University of Costa Rica (the weekly newspaper Semanario Universidad, Canal UCR - Channel UCR - and three radio broadcasters) and the University’s research centers, to create an election news platform
For coverage from political commentators see.
Global voices has discussion of new online platforms for young voters as well as comment from bloggers in the region.
The Americas Society/ Council of the Americas blog is covering events.
here are some resources we recommend for researchers.
IFES Election guide has basic data on the electoral system and voter turnout from previous elections.
The Political Database of the Americas also has basic electoral system and elections data from previous elections.
Vanderbilt University LAPOP has previous surveys of voter opinion and attitudes to democracy in Costa Rica.
the Electoral Tribunal has official information from the government in Spanish. See documents.
Newspaper coverage
Try La Nacion which has a special section.
La Republica.net
Ojo al voto launched by the University of Costa Rica (the weekly newspaper Semanario Universidad, Canal UCR - Channel UCR - and three radio broadcasters) and the University’s research centers, to create an election news platform
For coverage from political commentators see.
Global voices has discussion of new online platforms for young voters as well as comment from bloggers in the region.
The Americas Society/ Council of the Americas blog is covering events.
Election analysis is being undertaken by the OAS there are some recent press releases on the website.
Panoramas from University of Pittsburgh also has some analysis.
Wednesday, 22 January 2014
Thailand elections and violence - recommended research resources.
Despite protests elections are going ahead in Thailand.
Here are our recommended links for students.
The BBC has an introductory guide to the protests
IFES has basic information on the electoral system
The Office of the Electoral Commission has official statements and laws in Thai
The Thai government website has official statements in English about the protests
For newspaper coverage try
the Economist
Asian Correspondent.
Prachatai independent site has reports and interviews.
Bangkok Post
For Think tank and academic analysis try
Council on Foreign Relations blog
Thai politics@Leeds from Leeds university. This has an image archive and the thai politics bibliography
The Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG) is an independent research and media organization based in Montreal. has some useful articles
Human rights groups coverage can be found on the website of the Asian Human Rights Commission
Human Rights Watch
Amnesty International
International Crisis Group
The National Library of Australia has archived websites relating to human rights and protests from the mid 2000-2011
Tuesday, 14 January 2014
Egypt Constitutional Referendum - get some academic resources free
Egyptians have been voting in a referendum to change the constitution. Here are some recommended sites for geting the facts.
IFES has some basic details about the system and previous Egyptian referendums.
the Egyptian government website has recent notices and reports.
Some good basic guides to the content of the new constitution can be found in
Atlantic Council website which has an excellent section called Egypt Source which has news and analysis on the politics of the region.
al Ahrams guide.
For more detailed analysis cross comparing with earlier constitutions see the Comparative Constitutions Project. which looks at 1971, 2012 and 2013.
The EU has some observations from its observer mision
Background information plus news coverage can be read on the websites of these leading think tanks
Washington Institute.
Council on Foreign Relations.
Carnegie Endowment.
Rand.
Brookings Institution.
Useful blogs covering events are
Egyptian streets blog.
OpenDemocracy
aswatmasriya.com has a useful collection of news stories plus links to postings from the region.
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