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Necessary but Hardly Sufficient: Assessing a Century of Women’s Suffrage in Germany and the United States

Long before feminists began lobbying for affirmative action, gender mainstreaming, and quotas, suffragettes around the world presumed that the formula “add women, voting rights, and stir” would quickly transform their …

Where the Truth Lies – News in the Era of Social Media and “the Economy of Attention”

“The more [people] are instructed, the less liable they are to the delusions of enthusiasm and superstition, which, among ignorant nations, frequently occasion the most dreadful disorders.” – Adam Smith …

Tackling Disinformation the European Way

Between May 23 and 26, 2019, more than 300 million voters will take to the ballot boxes across twenty-seven European nations, and, in doing so, will participate in one of …

Strategic Resource Sharing is Essential to Securing Election Infrastructure for the 2020 Election Season

Secure and resilient election infrastructure is the cornerstone of a thriving and reliable democratic system of government. The U.S. is grappling with how to best equip state and local election …

Beyond Elections’ Digital Propaganda: Need for Improvement of Public Debates

Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, we have been increasingly facing non-military threats, including digital disinformation campaigns, which have a world-wide effect. In the context of national and international …

Defending Democratic Institutions and Processes: A Call for a Multi-Stakeholder Response

Running a political campaign was never an easy endeavor. That is not necessarily negative. Few worthwhile endeavors can ever be considered “easy” and it is arguably the struggle against meaningful …

Why We Need to Think about a “Disinformation CERT”

In order to function properly, democracies depend on open deliberations and fact-based discussions. As our public discourses have increasingly moved online, social media platforms have become critical infrastructures for our …

Populists Keep Winning the Messaging War in Europe Over Migration

European leaders gathered twice last year to try and develop an EU-wide approach to the still-divisive issues of migration and the integration of refugees, and both times they failed to reach …

What We Learned about German Politics In 2018 and What It Means for 2019

2018 was a chaotic and transforming year in German politics.  It marked the beginning of the end of the Merkel era’s thirteen-year run.  The graphic below, published in the Politbarometer …

Ovation Diplomacy: The Shortsightedness of President Trump’s Foreign Policy

Speaking in Brussels on December 4, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo gave a name to the philosophy guiding President Trump’s foreign policy: “principled-realism.” Secretary Pompeo likes to think of …

The Radicalization of the Extreme Right: Charlottesville and Chemnitz

As a DAAD/AGI Research Fellow from October to December 2018, Prof. Dr. Hajo Funke looked at the developments of two extreme-right events, in Charlottesville and Chemnitz, including the conditions of …

Negative Campaigning in the U.S Midterm Elections and Implications for Germany

As a DAAD/AGI Research Fellow in November and December 2018, Susanne Thelen examined the differences between German and American campaign strategies, asking: Can U.S. campaign strategies serve as a role …