Corruption, integrity (or a lack thereof…) and public values are near omnipresent elements in public administration and politics of all times. Cases of corrupt public officials and politicians continuously emerge. Strangely enough, however, it often remains unknown what actually occurred, how something…

The database is created by the Centre for Public Values and Ethics of the Institute of Public Administration. Its aim is to collect and describe scandals involving (supposed) corruption and lacking integrity of public officials in the Netherlands between 1945 and the present.

This book provides a long-term historical analysis, exploring the roots of the low levels of corruption existing in Chile, going back to the 16th century and examining Chile’s institutional evolution until today.

This commentary on the United Nations Convention Against Corruption discusses each provision of the treaty, traces the provisions’ drafting history, and explores their implementation in domestic legal systems.

This project aims to provide evidence-based knowledge on the conditions for successful anti-corruption activism in Ukraine.

A History of Dutch Corruption and Morality showcases 300 years of change, continuity, and diversity in the history of Dutch political corruption and public morality. It analyses a series of corruption scandals and shows how the following debates were connected to the big changes of that time: from the…

Toon Kerkhoff, Assistant Professor of Public Administration, discusses the recent corruption scandal in The Hague and the future of these suspects’ political careers.

Max Bader has been awarded a € 300,000 grant by the WOTRO Science for Global Development of NWO for a project about the role of civil society in fighting corruption in Ukraine. The project will be implemented jointly with the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Kyiv.

The smallness of Suriname, according to political scientist Wouter Veenendaal (Leiden University), strongly affects and shapes the nature of democracy in the country. On the one hand, clientelism ensures that members of each ethnic group included in power-sharing arrangements have access to state resources…

Antoaneta Dimitrova, Professor Comparative Governance, spoke in an interview with Euronews about the hurdles ahead for Borrisov, the current prime minister of Bulgaria, despite winning the elections.

Political scientist Wouter Veenendaal (Leiden University) provides an in-depth case study of clientelism in Malta, the smallest member state of the European Union. He reveals that not only that patron–client linkages are a ubiquitous feature of political life in Malta, but also that the smallness of…

The Centre for Public Values & Ethics (CPVE) is an interdisciplinary, academic centre of expertise aiming to conduct and disseminate scientific research on normative issues in the public sector, in particular the fulfillment of public office and the planning, making and executing of public policy, both…

On 13 October, Assistant Professors Public Administration Toon Kerkhoff and Gerrit Dijkstra discussed whether leaking secret government conversations is a punishable offence.

This research cluster is a part of the Institute of Political Science’s research programme ‘Institutions, Decisions and Collective Behaviour’. Its members study phenomena such as migration, immigration, citizenship, integration, ethnic parties, minority and caste-based politics, borders and migration,…

Democratic citizenship refers to the capacity and willingness of citizens to actively influence the functioning of state institutions. While considered a vital correlate of democratization and the rule of law, its largely western-oriented literature rarely studies the forms of democratic citizenship…

Making choices is part of life. You make larger or smaller choices in everything you do, and you progress from one choice/decision to the next. All decision-making processes involve three aspects: making a choice, experiencing that choice and reflecting on it.

Law and legal institutions play an important role in the organisation of society. They can be used to address and regulate social problems ranging from migration and terrorism to corruption, and from pollution and climate change to social and gender equality. But laws and institutions, and the way in…

This book expands on the existing literature on the international dimension of democratization by introducing the concept of democracy projection. Democracy projection is defined as the projection of (democratic) norms through the every-day practice of interactions-beyond any donor-recipient relationship-between…

Circulating in Brazil's social media today are many vicious attacks against presidential candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known simply as Lula. Widely and enthusiastically shared memes humiliate Lula by depicting him as a poor, uneducated drunkard who deserves to be in jail, thus criminalizing his…

In developing cooperation with Indonesia, Leiden University focuses on projects that benefit culture, nature, society and economy, in Indonesia as well as in the Netherlands.

The Role and Effectiveness of the G20. In this article, published in The Changing Global Order part of the United Nations University Series on Regionalism book series, author Jaroslaw Kantorowicz discusses the evolution of the G20.

Law and legal institutions play an important role in the organisation of society. They can be used to address and regulate social problems ranging from migration and terrorism to corruption, and from pollution and climate change to social and gender equality. But laws and institutions, and the way in…

Gibbs processes, g-measures, fuzzy Gibbs states

On the 11th of June, Umberto Selva successfully defended his doctoral thesis and graduated. The Leiden University Centre for Linguistics congratulates Umberto on this great result.

Research at the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies is primarily carried out under its Research Programme ‘Exploring the Frontiers of International Law’.

In this research group, headed by Prof. Erik Danen, the aim is to unravel cellular signaling mechanisms in normal and diseased cells, with a long-standing interest in cell adhesion signaling. In complex multicellular organisms such as ourselves, a division of labor emerges where different tissues and…

What is the impact of Indonesia’s democratization process on everyday state-citizen relations?

Twelve researchers of our Law School have been awarded an ILS seed money grant. This grant enables researchers to create space for preparing a grant proposal for NWO, ERC or otherwise.

Indonesia’s labour law regime has changed profoundly since 1998, reflecting the sweeping social and political developments that followed Soeharto’s fall from power.

How can the legal and socio-legal research skills of Indonesian jurists be increased in order to promote legal certainty and to strengthen the capacity of the judicial training in the country?

How has democracy’s decline affected law making processes, enabling powerful stakeholders’ influence while minimalizing the protection of public interest and the environment?

This project looks at the ways in which youth in southern Nigeria navigate their lives in a context of experiencing long-term socioeconomic uncertainty and political insecurity (duress).

The research programme History and International Studies 1900-Present addresses the interconnections and interdependence of contemporary global political, economic and cultural affairs from a multidisciplinary perspective rooted in the humanities.

On July 8 and 9, 2022, Leiden University hosted the second conference of the research group on Institutions for Conflict Resolution, in collaboration with Radboud University Nijmegen and Utrecht University.

MSc Law and Society brings together students from law and social sciences to examine the dynamic relationship between legal norms and social reality. Its global orientation, interdisciplinary approach, and focus on social justice make this master’s programme unique in its field.

COI@Leiden organises activities and events throughout the year. These include a monthly seminar series on topics relating to conflict resolution and PhD labs to assist COI students in developing their research skills.

The democratic rule of law is under pressure due to a series of scandals and integrity issues, as seen in the recent parliamentary inquiries. Professor Ronald Kroeze explains: 'Public office holders are expected to show complete dedication, but that norm is quite absolute, and what we mean by it is…

Over the past 40 days people in Bulgaria been demonstrating against the deep-rooted corruption in the country. The anger of the protesters is directed predominantly at the government of Prime Minister Borisov. But not all arrows are aimed at their own leaders, some are also pointing towards Brussels.…

Together with colleagues from VU University Amsterdam and the Hague University of Applied Sciences, Toon Kerkhoff is writing a book in English about corruption and public morality in the Netherlands during the period 1650-1950.

The Grotius Centre Working Paper Series is an occasional series through which researchers in the Grotius Centre can publish the unedited versions of manuscripts that have been accepted for publication by journals and books.

Law firms play a dubious role in important land disputes in Indonesia. They act as fixers and settle conflicts to the advantage of large companies. PhD candidate Santy Kouwagam studied their modus operandi. PhD defence on 23 June.

The most densely populated country in Africa, Nigeria, is fighting a war on two fronts. Not only is Nigeria being confronted with violence on a national level by terror group Boko Haram, on a regional level there are conflicts between shepherds and farmers.

Natalia Sobrino-Saeb, third-year student at LUC, won the competition by the Ignitor Fellowship Program held by the Nobel Peace Center for her essay on the threats to journalism in Mexico. An article about Natalia and her prize appeared in the Mexican newspaper El Heraldo de México.

Many Asian countries are in a process of democratisation. The expectation was that citizens would gradually gain more control over the functioning of their elites. Experts from Leiden have concluded that this process often fails to improve the quality of the administration. They researched the nature…

How did free agents oppose the monopolies held by the VOC and WIC in court?

In countries with complex domestic situations, citizens have little opportunity to exercise influence on governance and policy. Leiden academics research these situations and share their insights with the public, such as in Nigeria for instance. This enables the people and their communities to improve…