Category: Politics

The Polish drift: from Europeanization to Autocracy

1989. Poles vote in their first since World War II, clearing the path for the Eastern Bloc states to abolish communism and join the free world.

2015. Less than two months after the parliamentary election and barely six months after the presidential one, tens of thousands flood the streets of major Polish cities. All chanting with one voice: “Freedom, equality, democracy!”

Poland leaves the Western world wondering: How could this have happened? What went wrong?
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Why do some countries have low levels of corruption?

There is much evidence supporting the idea that certain countries, which today can be called ‘clean of corruption’, had widespread and systemic corruption in the past. If we take corruption to be one of the main barriers impeding economic development and redistribution of wealth, we may start by asking ourselves how some countries like Norway, Australia or Singapore managed to reduce their levels of corruption so significantly, to the extent that corruption is now a rare occurrence. What can be done to reduce corruption levels?
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Greece, what now?

In 1986, we started talking about the common market, later known as the single market. In 1999, we started talking about the common currency, later single currency too. The fact that the Eurozone did not meet any of the Optimal Currency Area criteria was no secret back then and is no secret now. That Greece
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