European Journal of Political Research Political Data Yearbook最新文献

The year 2023 was marked by two national elections during the summer months, as well as regional and municipal elections in October. New Democracy dominated electorally in both. Another key political change was the resignation of the head of the Coalition of the Radical Left, Alexis Tsipras, following his party's devastating defeats in national elections. He was replaced in internal elections later that year by Stefanos Kasselakis—a political newcomer with no prior experience. The deadly Tempi train crash, wildfires across the country, hooligan violence, and the devastating floods caused by Storm Daniel in Thessaly raised issues about the effectiveness of the government and added to the general mistrust of politics and politicians. In October, Greece regained investment grade in its credit rating from Standard & Poor's Global Ratings. Inflation, at 3.5 per cent in December, continued to be top of mind for most citizens. The devastating consequences of gender-based violence persisted this year, with a staggering 15 femicides recorded in total.

The year 2023 was a year of substantial change in Aotearoa New Zealand. After the surprise resignation of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern early in the year, new Labour Prime Minister Chris Hipkins struggled with opposition to his policy agenda, ministerial scandals and an acknowledged cost-of-living crisis. At the October 2023 general election, Labour's nationwide vote almost halved relative to its high point in the 2020 elections, and it performed especially poorly in Auckland where there was lingering resentment about the effects of multiple, prolonged COVID-19 lockdowns. After protracted negotiations, a three-way coalition government of the National Party, ACT New Zealand and New Zealand First was formed, with Christopher Luxon as Prime Minister. The shift in policy direction and tone from the Ardern and Hipkins eras was both striking and immediate. Before year's end, the coalition government had repealed several of Labour's flagship policy reforms and priorities, including in areas such as co-governance, public health, environmental regulations, water governance and justice.

In 2023, Israel experienced a year marked by profound civic and security turmoil. The government's proposed judicial reform triggered widespread protests, highlighting deep divisions within the nation. Concurrently, escalating security threats emerged, with Hamas launching an unprecedented attack from the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah targeting Israel's northern border. These events led to the formation of an emergency government and a special war Cabinet. Despite the challenging circumstances, Israel's economic performance remained relatively stable until the onset of conflict, which led to negative economic impacts. The year saw significant amendments to the Israeli Basic Laws, aimed at reducing judicial oversight over government actions, which further intensified civic unrest. This article provides an overview of the political, security, and economic developments of 2023.

Luxembourg politics in 2023 was dominated by the local election in June followed by the national election in October. Local elections were characterized by a limited participation of foreigners and a certain stability of the political forces. Christian-Social People's Party/Chrëschtlech-Sozial Vollekspartei (CSV) remained by far the first party despite a slight drop in seats, and The Greens/Déi Gréng experienced proportionally the most significant drop in seats. As for the local elections, the national elections have been marked by the maintaining of the CSV as the first party, and the massive loss of the Green party. The significant drop of the Green party made the existing three coalition parties (DP-LSAP-Gréng) arithmetically impossible, positioning the leader of the CSV and new Prime Minister, Luc Frieden, in an ideal position to lead a coalition government. As expected, Luc Frieden and his party formed a coalition with the DP, which is closer to its political program and guarantees a comfortable majority in the Parliament.

In the final full year ahead of the 2024 general elections, tensions within the Belgian federal government were as intense as they were since its inception. If the De Croo I large coalition had been able to present a united front in the face of the need to respond to the pandemic and the energy crisis in its first years, its fragile character emerged in 2023, but yet without breaking. No large reform was implemented as if the coalition parties were already more preoccupied with positioning themselves for the 2024 elections than achieving a pension, tax or institutional reform. After years of relative stability in terms of party leaders, several Belgian political parties held leadership elections in 2023 or decided to postpone them until after the general elections.

In 2023, efforts to bridge the island's divide remained stagnant, though there was a notable development: the UN Secretary-General appointed a personal envoy to investigate the potential for restarting negotiations as the year drew to a close. On the domestic front, within the Greek-Cypriot-dominated Republic of Cyprus, the year was characterised by the presidential elections in February 2023 and their aftermath, alongside a persistent influx of migrants and asylum seekers to the island. In the northern part of the island, the de-facto state Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, 2023 became the year of trauma and collective mourning for the Turkish Cypriots who lost 49 souls during the earthquake in Adıyaman, Turkey, in February.

An unusually large number of political scandals left their mark on Norwegian politics in 2023. Most of the scandals involved conflicts of interest for current and former government ministers, and they led to several Cabinet resignations and dismissals. The local elections in September were a big win for the two main parties on the right of Norwegian politics. The two centre-left parties that constitute the national governing coalition fared poorly in the elections.

The year in politics was marked by the exposure of a number of scandals, chief among which concerned the privatisation of three public hospitals. Polls still continued to give the governing Labour Party a strong lead over the opposition Nationalist Party, which showed little sign of recovery. The economy performed well, but inflation hit people's spending power, and sustained growth continued to be reflected in overcrowding and congestion. The abortion debate closed in an anti-climax. A brighter picture emerged in foreign relations as Malta took its place in the UN Security Council and was chosen to chair the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) continued to slide in public opinion polls in 2023, with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's approval ratings never recovering from the scandal over the party's association with the controversial Unification Church that was exposed in the previous year. Kishida survived an assassination attempt in April, and the LDP's subsequent strong performance in by-elections helped to temporarily stabilise his leadership. However, the party faced a fresh scandal in November, when a police investigation into the misreporting and mishandling of ‘slush fund’ money by the LDP's major factions led to the removal of four senior Cabinet ministers and an even sharper decline in support for the Kishida administration. Rising consumer prices, due in part to a weakening of the Yen, were also a major concern throughout 2023, with inflation for the full year reaching 3.1 per cent, its highest level since 1981.

In 2023, Portugal experienced the end of a political cycle of Socialist government rule that had started in 2014. Several scandals affected the executive throughout the year, including traffic of influence. There were also regional elections in Madeira on 24 September, which were won by the Social Democratic Party (Partido Social Democrata). At the end of the year, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa dismissed Prime Minister Antonio Costa. This still allowed the budget for 2024 to be passed in December, with the call for early legislative elections being postponed to the beginning of 2024.