MCC Votes & Seats Podcast – Election insight

Mathias Corvinus Collegium
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Az MCC Politikatudományi Műhelyének beszélgetéssorozatában szakértők és politikusok segítségével azt elemezzük, hogy a különböző európai országokban aktuálisan zajló parlamenti és önkormányzati választásoknak mely szereplők a valódi nyertesei és mi tekinthető igazi győzelemnek a szavazások után.------------------------------With the help of local guest experts, in the podcast series of the MCC Center for Political Science, we endeavor to analyze which actors are the real winners of the parliamentary elections taking place throughout Europe, and what exactly can be considered an ultimate victory after the ballot counts.

  1. Dutch Early General Election: The Race of the Smallest “Big Parties”

    11/13/2025

    Dutch Early General Election: The Race of the Smallest “Big Parties”

    For the first time in decades, the Netherlands faces a virtual tie at the top: the social-liberal Democrats 66 and the right-wing populist Party for Freedom are both projected to secure 26 mandates each in the House of Representatives. It’s the best-ever election performance for the former party, while for the latter one, it’s a bitter reminder of their voter base’s volatility. The former coalition parties all saw their influence wane, while several traditional formations made surprising comebacks. The margin between the two leading actors is the narrowest since 1956. However, as our guest expert, Dr. Jaap van Slageren from Utrecht University pointed out: the biggest players have never been so small in Dutch politics, due to the electoral system based on fully proportional representation. What were the key factors that ultimately led to the Schoof cabinet’s failure? Which issues are currently most pressing for Dutch society, and how have the political parties responded to these challenges? What do the geographic and demographic trends reveal about the historical, economic, or cultural factors shaping Dutch politics today? In our latest episode, we sought answers to these and other interesting questions. With the help of guest experts and politicians, in the podcast series of MCC’s Centre for Political Science we endeavor to analyze which actors are the real winners of the parliamentary and municipal elections taking place this year in different European countries and what exactly can be considered a real victory after the ballot counts.

    34 min
  2. Babiš Is Back: What Czechia’s 2025 Legislative Election Reveals

    10/10/2025

    Babiš Is Back: What Czechia’s 2025 Legislative Election Reveals

    Former PM Andrej Babiš’s ANO emerged as the largest party in the Czech Parliament’s Lower House, marking a major comeback with strong electoral support. According to political scientist Ladislav Cabada, a key factor in the victory was that Babiš positioned himself as the leader of the opposition, formed a visible shadow government, and maintained effective communication. Our guest expert stresses that ANO outperformed other, rather radical opposition parties and consolidated support from voters leaning toward these groups, presenting himself as a unifying character. ANO focused primarily on domestic economic and social issues, resonating with voters, while the governing parties prioritized foreign policy, which many perceived as disconnected from their everyday concerns. If you’d like to learn more about the background of the 2025 Czech election — including the contesting parties, the campaign themes, as well as the electoral system and geography — be sure to check out the latest episode of the Votes &  Seats podcast. With the help of guest experts and politicians, in the podcast series of MCC’s Centre for Political Science we endeavor to analyze which actors are the real winners of the parliamentary and municipal elections taking place this year in different European countries and what exactly can be considered a real victory after the ballot counts.

    43 min
  3. 2025 Moldovan Parliamentary Election – Staying on the Path to EU Membership

    10/08/2025

    2025 Moldovan Parliamentary Election – Staying on the Path to EU Membership

    A scheduled parliamentary election was held in Moldova on September 28, 2025, a political event closely followed by the international press and western political leaders. Indeed, the stakes were high, centered around the country's future path towards EU membership or the building of closer ties to Moscow. The result reflects the electorate's western orientation as the pro-European party of president Maia Sandu (PAS) secured an absolute majority in the legislature, obtaining more than half of the total votes (50.20%). What was the campaign like? How did the parties perform compared to last year's presidential election and referendum? Why were two smaller parties excluded from the election? Did Russia interfere in the election? What might be the geopolitical consequences of the election? How will the new cabinet deliver on its promises? Szabolcs Janik, senior researcher of the Center for Political Science at MCC had the chance to discuss these and similar questions with Nicolae Panfil, program director and head of the Promo-LEX Parliamentary Election Observation Mission. Nicolae Panfil - Program Director and Head of Promo-LEX Szabolcs Janik (host) - Senior Researcher, Center for Political Science, MCC With the help of guest experts and politicians, in the podcast series of MCC’s Centre for Political Science we endeavor to analyze which actors are the real winners of the parliamentary and municipal elections taking place this year in different European countries and what exactly can be considered a real victory after the ballot counts.

    42 min
  4. The Labour Holds On, the Opposition Field Transforms: Norway’s 2025 Legislative Election

    09/17/2025

    The Labour Holds On, the Opposition Field Transforms: Norway’s 2025 Legislative Election

    The episode analyzes Norway's September 2025 parliamentary election with expert Dr. Herman Smith-Sivertsen. The Labor Party won 28% of votes, securing government leadership in a minority. The Conservatives dropped to third place, while the conservative-libertarian Progress Party became the largest opposition force. Amid debates over electricity pricing, taxation, climate policies, immigration, and crime, the Progress Party successfully reached younger voters notably using TikTok. Regional voting patterns in the Nordic state still show a historical divide, with southern-southwestern areas favoring conservative forces and central-northern regions leaning left. As for political debates, the expert notes a trend toward more superficial, show-like communication. Overall, the election reflects a slowly but surely shifting Norwegian political landscape. With the help of guest experts and politicians, in the podcast series of MCC’s Centre for Political Science we endeavor to analyze which actors are the real winners of the parliamentary and municipal elections taking place this year in different European countries and what exactly can be considered a real victory after the ballot counts.

    23 min
  5. 2025 Polish Presidential Election – A Referendum on the Tusk Cabinet?

    07/07/2025

    2025 Polish Presidential Election – A Referendum on the Tusk Cabinet?

    The second round of the Polish presidential election was held on 1 June 2025 with Rafał Trzaskowski and Karol Nawrocki as the two leading candidates standing after the first round. The head-to-head battle resulted in the narrow victory of the PiS-backed conservative Nawrocki, which is a challenging development and a huge blow for Donald Tusk’s government, already struggling advancing its agenda in symbolic and substantive issues. At the same time, the result well demonstrated how polarised and divided the Polish society is between at least two visions on the country’s future. The election has far-reaching implications for the dynamic of Polish domestic politics both on the left and the right, but the activism and agenda of the president-elect will most likely be detectable also in international politics. What happened at the polls, what motivated the Poles to vote in such a large number? What role perception will Nawrocki have, how actively will he use his veto right? What dynamics can unfold on the left and on the right? Will anything change in the presidential position on Ukraine after Duda? How will Nawrocki navigate regional cooperation platforms, will he prefer the Three Seas Initiative, and/or will attempt to revive the Visegrad Four? These and similar questions are discussed in detail in the new episode of the Votes & Seats podcast series of the Centre for Political Science (MCC), where Szabolcs Janik had the honour to talk with professor Aleks Szczerbiak, head of department at the University of Sussex. With the help of guest experts and politicians, in the podcast series of MCC’s Centre for Political Science we endeavor to analyze which actors are the real winners of the parliamentary and municipal elections taking place this year in different European countries and what exactly can be considered a real victory after the ballot counts.

    45 min
  6. 2025 Portuguese Snap Legislative Election – Falling into the Same Trap?

    06/04/2025

    2025 Portuguese Snap Legislative Election – Falling into the Same Trap?

    Portuguese politics has gone through a turbulent period recently, the latest development being a snap legislative election held on 18 May 2025, the third one in a row in the past three years. Therefore, we have good reason to believe that government stability is at least problematic in the Iberian country, where political competition traditionally took place between two large parties (right-wing social democrats and left-wing socialists) and some minor powers for many decades until the 2024 legislative election. What led to an early election this time? What were the key campaign topics? What was the stake of this election for the voters, what motivated them to go to the ballots? Are we witnessing a structural change of the Portuguese party system? When will Portugal have a new government? In the latest episode of the Votes & Seats podcast series, Szabolcs Janik, senior researcher of the Center for Political Science at MCC had the honor to discuss these and similar exciting questions with Susana Coroado, affiliated fellow of the Institute for Social Sciences at the University of Lisbon and Alexandre de Sousa Carvalho, researcher of the Center for Social Studies at the University of Coimbra. With the help of guest experts and politicians, in the podcast series of MCC’s Centre for Political Science we endeavor to analyze which actors are the real winners of the parliamentary and municipal elections taking place this year in different European countries and what exactly can be considered a real victory after the ballot counts.

    50 min
  7. Mathematician vs. Football Hooligan: The clash of Centrism and Nationalism in the Romanian Presidential Election's Rerun

    06/02/2025

    Mathematician vs. Football Hooligan: The clash of Centrism and Nationalism in the Romanian Presidential Election's Rerun

    In May 2025, the presidential election in Romania, which was annulled last December, was repeated amid considerable social and political tensions. Mathematician and independent Bucharest mayor Nicușor Dan faced former football hooligan George Simion, the leader of the far-right AUR party in the second round. Our guest expert, Prof. Alexandra A. Iancu claims that the invalidation of the original election consolidated the sovereigntist camp, however, the end result of the re-run showed that the majority of Romanian voters see their country’s future within the Euro-Atlantic cooperation. The political scientist sees no doubt shifts in party preferences, inasmuch as the historical moderate parties are loosing ground, while anti-system and anti-corruption political formations are becoming more and more popular. Can Nicușor Dan’s inauguration put an end to the years-long political instability in the country?Will there be a reorganization in the party system of Romania, or the status-quo survives the turmoil?What can be said about the voting preferences of the different layers of society?Will there be any political gesture towards ethnic Hungarians and Moldovan–Romanian dual citizens, whose votes made Dan’s victory possible?Among many other thought-provoking issues, these are the topics we addressed in this episode of the Votes and Seats podcast. Alexandra A. IancuProfessor, University of Bucharest Bálint L. TóthResearcher-lecturer, MCC Center for Political Science With the help of guest experts and politicians, in the podcast series of MCC’s Centre for Political Science we endeavor to analyze which actors are the real winners of the parliamentary and municipal elections taking place this year in different European countries and what exactly can be considered a real victory after the ballot counts.

    35 min
  8. Special Edition: By divine inspiration - Election in the Holy See

    05/27/2025

    Special Edition: By divine inspiration - Election in the Holy See

    Chosen by God, elected by the cardinals In May 2025, the Conclave has elected the American Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost as the 267th Bishop of Rome, the new pope of the Roman Catholic Church, and the head of Vatican City State, the Holy See. Our guest expert, Mr. Marco Malaguti from Centro Studi Machiavelli claims that Pope Leo XIV is a compromise between the Latin American and the European cardinals, because, with his pragmatism, the first US-born pontiff can restore a “Catholic way of thinking” in the West. The analyst considers the election of Pope Leo XIV an “oxygen mask” for Catholicism in contemporary western societies. In the SPECIAL EDITION of the Votes&Seats podcast, we assess the balance of power and the advocacy potential of the different platforms within the Conclavewhat is the differentiate between “politician” and “spiritual” popes?what do progressivism and conservativism mean in ecclesiastical terms?and finally, what religious, political, and cultural legacy did late Pope Francis leave us?With the help of guest experts and politicians, in the podcast series of MCC’s Centre for Political Science we endeavor to analyze which actors are the real winners of the parliamentary and municipal elections taking place this year in different European countries and what exactly can be considered a real victory after the ballot counts.

    28 min
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Az MCC Politikatudományi Műhelyének beszélgetéssorozatában szakértők és politikusok segítségével azt elemezzük, hogy a különböző európai országokban aktuálisan zajló parlamenti és önkormányzati választásoknak mely szereplők a valódi nyertesei és mi tekinthető igazi győzelemnek a szavazások után.------------------------------With the help of local guest experts, in the podcast series of the MCC Center for Political Science, we endeavor to analyze which actors are the real winners of the parliamentary elections taking place throughout Europe, and what exactly can be considered an ultimate victory after the ballot counts.

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