A monthly feature with brief reports on recent electoral news. Today, Western Australia, the Netherlands, Tanzania and the Republic of the Congo.
Author: Charles Richardson
A Parisian anniversary
Marking the 150th anniversary of the Paris Commune, and wondering if it still carries lessons for today.
Election preview: Netherlands
Tonight's election in the Netherlands looks like mostly reaffirming the status quo. The days when it was seen as the hot prospect of the far right seem to have passed.
A bad day for Ms Merkel
Two state elections in Germany send a message of stability, but the Greens set a new record while centre-right and far right both lose ground.
A landslide out west
The unbelievable opinion polls in Western Australia were right, and its opposition parties were almost wiped out.
Election preview: Western Australia
Western Australia's Labor government is a shoo-in for re-election tomorrow, but that doesn't mean the result will be lacking in interest.
Updating freedom and democracy
A new report from Freedom House sounds urgent alarm bells about the decline of democracy.
Does turnout matter?
Increased turnout in last year's US election probably didn't have much to do with the expansion of postal voting. Nor does it seem to have made much difference to the result.
Swiss ban the burqa
Two out of three referendum questions are approved in Switzerland: one of them a ban on face coverings promoted by the anti-Muslim lobby.
Liberal history revisited
A further volume of David Kemp's history of Australian liberalism casts more doubt on the Liberal Party's pedigree.
The World is Not Enough 