Colloquium

Solidarity can unify and divide. It unifies by creating obligations to share across social cleavages. It divides by limiting sharing obligations to particularistic groups. I investigate when and why high-level policy makers call for global solidarity, i.e. for an universal obligation to share that includes everybody and excludes nobody. We expect that the demand for solidarity varies in three factors. First, the depth of pre-existing divisions: deep divisions privilege particularistic at the expense of global solidarity.

Solidarity can unify and divide. It unifies by creating obligations to share across social cleavages. It divides by limiting sharing obligations to particularistic groups. I investigate when and why high-level policy makers call for global solidarity, i.e. for an universal obligation to share that includes everybody and excludes nobody. We expect that the demand for solidarity varies in three factors. First, the depth of pre-existing divisions: deep divisions privilege particularistic at the expense of global solidarity.

Arguments for decentralization of local public goods often rely on potential productivity gains. However, such reforms may also affect social cohesion, especially in diverse communities. Focusing on the irrigation decentralization experience of India, we study this issue in a staggered difference-in-difference framework exploiting variations across space and time.

Across various socio-political contexts, political parties have increasingly engaged in protest politics to achieve electoral success. However, the interaction between party-sponsored protests and political polarization in non-democratic regimes remains underexplored. We ask to what extent the politicization of protest events is associated with higher levels of participation. Theoretically, we bridge the literature on party presence in protests and the effects of polarization on political participation.

Coalition cabinets are the dominant form of government in multi-party parliamentary democracies. An alliance of parties implies latent conflict potential. About a third of all coalitions terminate early due to conflict. This paper examines how the power asymmetries among coalition parties affect conflictious government turnover. One main factor, we argue, is the PM party's credible options to exit the current government and to form an alternative one. The higher the probability leading to an alternative government, the lower the costs of replacing ``trouble makers''.

Immigration policy is of increasing electoral salience, and it often generates strategic dilemmas for legislators as positions on cross-border cooperation may clash with positions on the immigration liberalisation-restrictiveness dimension. How do legislators deal with policies where their immigration positions clashes with their positions on international cooperation (in this case European integration)?

In the past three decades, remarkable progress has been made in numerous countries for the rights of individuals marginalized due to their sexual orientation and gender identity. The advancements in LGBTI rights in a variety of diverse countries can largely be attributed to the tireless efforts of the transnational LGBTI-rights movement, forward-thinking governments in pioneering nations, and the evolving human rights frameworks of international organizations. However, this journey towards equality has been met with formidable opposition.