politics

Netherlands adopts tactics used by Netanyahu to delegitimise minorities

The real danger to religious and ethnic minorities comes from politicians inciting populations against each other and enforcing discriminatory practices, says social psychologist Ruthie Pliskin.

Ruthie Pliskin • 18-12-2024

Who can get it across to the voters that life is good in the Netherlands?

Voters seem to be guided by their emotions rather than by the facts, and this can have consequences for democracy, Gert-Jan Lelieveld writes. For once, try focusing on the things that are going well.

Gert-Jan Lelieveld • 06-03-2017

No moderation in tone at Trump's inauguration

The brand-new American President Donald Trump delivered his inaugural speech on 20 January. There was little sign of conciliation, but many signs of strong persuasion technique.

Willem van der Does • 30-01-2017

Trust the polls, just don't trust their sample

Nobody expected what happened on November 8th. In the aftermath of the election there was a lot of criticism of pollsters, since almost all polls had shown Clinton as the big favorite. Almost no pollsters got the election results right. What went wrong?

Wouter Weeda • 19-12-2016

Three reasons to vote

Staying home on election day? There are three scientific reasons why you should really make an effort to vote.

Gert-Jan Lelieveld • 12-12-2016

Campaign slogans: What’s in a name?

Much has been said about Hillary Clinton’s campaign slogans. She started out with the slogan “Love trumps hate”. This one may go down in history as one of the silliest political campaign slogans ever.

Willem van der Does • 07-11-2016

How to set prejudice aside when watching a debate

The last few weeks have seen the long-anticipated debates between the Democrats’ presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and the Republican Donald Trump. The debates were very fierce and both candidates availed of every opportunity to make personal attacks.

Gert-Jan Lelieveld • 19-10-2016

The voter’s mind is already made up

I wrote this analysis several days in advance of the first debate between Clinton and Trump, because the content of the debates really doesn’t make any difference.

Willem van der Does • 13-10-2016

Is Alexander Pechtold the Dutch Michael Dukakis of 2015?

At the close of the pre-election debate, a poll by RTL news showed Alexander Pechtold, leader of the opposition party D66, narrowly in the lead over prime minister Mark Rutte (VVD). But from a psychological point of view Rutte was the clear winner...

Willem van der Does • 16-03-2015

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