Alexander Hudson
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aehudson.bsky.social
Alexander Hudson
@aehudson.bsky.social
Political scientist | Assessing democracy @internationalidea.bsky.social | Author of The Veil of Participation (CUP) http://bit.ly/3jHUfYt | 🇨🇦 in 🇸🇪 | Posting in a personal capacity.
Reposted by Alexander Hudson
New symposium issue of Comparative Constitutional Studies: “After the Referendum”. Includes analysis of referendum failures in Ireland (by me), Australia, Chile, and Taiwan, alongside other great papers and book discussion. Open access for a limited time!
www.elgaronline.com/view/journal...
www.elgaronline.com
December 9, 2025 at 11:41 AM
Reposted by Alexander Hudson
#IDEACouncil convened for a session chaired by Swiss Ambassador to Sweden Adrian Junker.

The Council reviewed highlights of the #IDEA30Years anniversary and approved a Strategy update along with the Programme and Budget for 2026.

We look forward to continued cooperation to advance #democracy.
December 4, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Reposted by Alexander Hudson
Thank you to representatives from @internationalidea.bsky.social @idos-research.bsky.social @norad.no & the Advisory Council of International Affairs of the Netherlands for joining us and sharing your perspectives!
We kicked off with a discussion of European leadership in international development in the current context 🌏
December 5, 2025 at 10:43 AM
Reposted by Alexander Hudson
"...in Times of Crisis" is the go to panel title around here, regardless of topic. One of the panelists must claim that something is "a wake-up call" and that something else is "not a panacea". An audience member will ask something about the "global south" and everyone will politely ignore them.
November 26, 2025 at 10:30 AM
Reposted by Alexander Hudson
The new Comparative Constitutions Project website is now live! Developed by yours truly. We're also releasing version 5.0 of our Constitutional Chronology and Constitutional Characteristics datasets, updated through 2023. Explore and download: comparativeconstitutionsproject.org
Comparative Constitutions Project
Producing data about constitutions. Impacting the constitution-making process. Promoting peace, justice, and human development.
comparativeconstitutionsproject.org
November 20, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Reposted by Alexander Hudson
If you'd like to read a better account of the separation of powers—understood as a political architecture rather than a legalistic doctrine—check out @trivesbell.bsky.social's wonderful new book.
November 20, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Reposted by Alexander Hudson
Today is the release date for my new book The Constitution of Conflict, published by @univpressofkansas.bsky.social! The book argues that the separation of powers is better understood as a political architecture than a judicially-enforced legal doctrine.

www.amazon.com/Constitution...
The Constitution of Conflict: How the Supreme Court Undermines the Separation of Powers (Constitutional Thinking)
The Constitution of Conflict: How the Supreme Court Undermines the Separation of Powers (Constitutional Thinking) [Bell, Thomas] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Constitution of Conflict: How the Supreme Court Undermines the Separation of Powers (Constitutional Thinking)
www.amazon.com
November 18, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Reposted by Alexander Hudson
🌍 Between 15-17 Oct, @internationalidea.bsky.social & BIRN Albania hosted “The Future of Democracy in the Western Balkans” foresight workshop in Albania, marking our renewed focus on the region. We explored possible scenarios for #democracy through 2040 and the key factors that may shape its future.
October 21, 2025 at 7:29 AM
Reposted by Alexander Hudson
Migrant Electoral Rights Dataset (1960-2020)

📊 Link to dataset: hdl.handle.net/1814/93661

📕 Link to codebook: cadmus.eui.eu/server/api/c...

💼 Link to 400 page documentation: cadmus.eui.eu/server/api/c...
MER Migrant Electoral Rights dataset
Suffrage is a central element of democracy. Over time, electoral rights have increasingly become available to migrants—both as non-citizen residents and as non-resident citizens. However, existing dat...
hdl.handle.net
October 15, 2025 at 4:41 PM
It was great to be back at Forum2000 this year. There were interesting speeches from María Corina Machado, Salome Zourabichvili, and Petr Pavel. Notably absent from most of the discussions, however, were the small matters of the dramatic degradation of US democracy and climate change.
October 15, 2025 at 8:59 AM
Reposted by Alexander Hudson
We celebrate the decision of the @nobelpeacecenter.bsky.social Committee to award the 2025 #NobelPeacePrize to Venezuelan democracy champion Maria Corina Machado.

It is a timely recognition of the essential relationship between #democracy and #peace.

www.idea.int/news/stateme...
Statement on the award of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to Maria Corina Machado
www.idea.int
October 10, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Reposted by Alexander Hudson
we at the IDEA democracy assessment team have written an explainer on 'democratic resilience': what it means, where it came from, and what it needs to mean if we're to have a democratic future. hope you give it a read!

www.idea.int/blog/democra...
Democracy Notes Explainer: What is democratic resilience?
The term ‘democratic resilience’ is increasingly common in the public lexicon, making prominent appearances in official policy documents, in academic and
www.idea.int
October 3, 2025 at 10:15 AM
If a party narrowly wins an election and then implements a very good (or bad) agenda, how should we evaluate democracy in that country? Measures of democratic performance will certainly be affected, but is that enough of the story? I have some thoughts on the matter. www.idea.int/blog/line-go...
Line goes down: Or, how not to read a democracy report
If you’re reading this blog post, you’re most likely a person who is used to looking at trend lines. Trend lines are everywhere, tracking things like stock prices, sea-surface temperatures, crime rate...
www.idea.int
October 3, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Reposted by Alexander Hudson
Every few months now I re-read this "Who Goes Nazi?" piece from 1941 and am blown away by how it captures the people we are dealing with 80 years later.

harpers.org/archive/1941...
Who Goes Nazi?, by Dorothy Thompson
harpers.org
October 1, 2025 at 11:59 PM
Reposted by Alexander Hudson
🤔 Curious about our new open access dataset on migrant electoral rights?

Join us for the webinar to get an overview. 📊
🚨 Webinar Alert 🚨

Join us for the online launch of the new Migrant Electoral Rights (MER) Dataset, the most comprehensive global dataset on migrant suffrage to date 🌐

📅 Oct 15 | 17:00 CEST
📍 Online
🔗 Register www.eui.eu/events?id=58...
October 1, 2025 at 12:04 PM
At a time like this, we really need more from journalism than this mealy-mouthed non-statement.
Also amazing that this came out the same day as Secretary Hegseth stated his opposition to 'stupid rules of engagement'.
September 30, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Reposted by Alexander Hudson
Something I have been working on is starting to feel real, the proofs of Constitutional Change under Autocracy have arrived. I could not be more excited! Publication is expected in early 2026.
September 22, 2025 at 8:29 AM
Reposted by Alexander Hudson
Yesterday, @internationalidea.bsky.social launched its Global State of Democracy 2025 Report: #DemocracyOnTheMove.

The #GSoD2025 report focuses on the intersection between #migration and #democracy.

(Re)Watch the live recording of the event ➡️ youtube.com/live/fom0bzA...
#DemocracyForAll
September 12, 2025 at 8:56 AM
As you've likely heard, today is the International Day of Democracy. A good day to read a report about the Global State of Democracy? I know that can seem like a herculean labour one would rather walk past.
September 15, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Reposted by Alexander Hudson
Great to see @globalcit.bsky.social’s Rainer Bauböck at the launch of the @internationalidea.bsky.social Global State of Democracy Report 2025. Emphasising the important implications of out-of-country voting in times of democratic recession both in migrant origin countries and destination countries.
September 11, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Reposted by Alexander Hudson
➡️📍📑 New Working Paper
with @sumpierrez.bsky.social and Rainer Bauböck

Work on migrant voting rights often has a state-centric perspective. We propose *migrant franchise constellations* as a migrant-centric approach.

A 🧵 with our argument and new data! 🗳️

preprints.apsanet.org/engage/apsa/...
September 9, 2025 at 10:29 PM
Reposted by Alexander Hudson
The pretty draft is now online.

Link to paper (free): www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10....

Our replication package starts from the raw data and we put real work into making it readable & setting it up so people could poke at it, so please do explore it: dataverse.harvard.edu/dataset.xhtm...
September 10, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Reposted by Alexander Hudson
From Research to Practice
Voices from Our Pilot Areas

The third panel of #LegitimultFinalConference, featuring @internationalidea.bsky.social’s Democracy Assessment experts @aehudson.bsky.social & @gentagola.bsky.social, focuses on lessons learnt and good practices for future activities.
September 3, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Reposted by Alexander Hudson
New, from me:
America is no longer a functioning democracy. It is a competitive authoritarian system, hurtling rapidly toward authoritarianism.
This was a hard piece to write but we can't move forward if we don’t acknowledge where we are.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-author...
The authoritarian checklist
It is time to admit that America is no longer a functioning democracy
donmoynihan.substack.com
August 28, 2025 at 1:19 PM
You'll read the report anyway (right?), so why watch the launch? It's a time-effective way to hear the main messages from the report directly from one of the authors. And, there will be an outstanding panel discussion with a diverse panel of external experts. Sign up to see it live, or watch later.
📅 1 month to go! On 11 Sept, we launch the 2025 Global State of Democracy Report: Democracy on the Move, exploring global democratic performance & how migration shapes democracy, from voting rights to inclusive policies.
🔗 Register: bit.ly/3H2Esky
#GSoD2025 #DemocracyForAll
Launch of The Global State of Democracy Report 2025: ‘Democracy on the Move’ | International IDEA
Can democracy keep pace with a world on the move?
bit.ly
August 28, 2025 at 11:26 AM