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Report – Executive Committee Elections 2023–24


Hawks and Doves: The Flawed Microfoundations of Democratic Peace Theory

Report – Executive Committee Elections 2023–24

From 16 October 2023 to 23 February 2024, the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) conducted a three-stage process to elect new members to its Executive Committee.

For more information about the electoral process, please contact our Membership team. 

About 

The elections followed the online procedures established by the Executive Committee in 2014 and the provisions outlined in ECPR's Constitution adopted in 2016 (clause 14). Electronic voting occurred through the My ECPR section of the website, using OpenSTV version 2.0.0 software.

The oversight of the election was ensured by the Speaker of the ECPR Council, Thomas Poguntke, in accordance with the Constitution.

The election was to fill six seats on the twelve-member Executive Committee, all resulting from the following members completing their full statutory term of office: Giliberto Capano, David Farrell, Hana Kubátová, Petra Meier, Thomas Saalfeld, Sabine Saurugger.

As set out in the Gender Equality Plan 2019 and in line with the ECPR’s broader mission to improve diversity and inclusivity within the profession, this election was designed to continue gender parity on the Committee. To achieve this, simultaneous elections were held for female and male candidates.

Nominations

The first phase of the election, candidate nominations, took place from 16 October – 17 November 2023. The call for nominations was broadly publicised throughout the ECPR networks and community in advance of the stage opening and throughout the period.

At the conclusion of this period, seven nominations were received for the female election and seven for the male election. One nomination was received from a candidate from a non-ECPR member institution and was withdrawn prior to the endorsement phase. All other candidates met the eligibility criteria set out in both the ECPR’s Constitution and as required by the UK Charity Commission.

Female candidates

  • Nayara Albrecht, Newcastle University
  • Anukriti Dixit, Universität Bern
  • Petra Guasti, Charles University
  • Boglarka Koller, Ludovika University of Public Service
  • Luana Russo, Maastricht Universiteit
  • Licínia Simão, Centro de Estudos Sociais, University of Coimbra
  • Sofia Vasilopoulou, Kings College London

Male candidates

  • Gianfranco Baldini, Università di Bologna
  • Alasdair Blair, De Montfort University
  • Jean-Michel Eymeri-Douzans, Institut d'Études Politiques de Toulouse
  • Shane Martin, University of Essex
  • Jonathan Polk, Lunds Universitet
  • Hubert Zimmermann, Philipps-Universität Marburg

A total of thirteen candidates were therefore progressed to the next stage of the election.

Endorsements

The second phase of the election, endorsements, took place from 4 December 2023 – 5 January 2024. Official Representatives (ORs) of Full Member institutions were invited to endorse up to three nominees.

Of the 294 Official Representatives eligible to participate in this phase of the election, a total of 137 participated. 359 endorsements were received in total, 187 in the female category and 172 in the male category. According to the election guidelines, all endorsements were visible to ORs and candidates (if they were not also ORs) during this period of the election.

At the conclusion of the endorsement period, eleven candidates had received the required number of endorsements to move forward to the next stage. The two candidates who did not receive sufficient endorsements were:

  • Nayara Albrecht, Newcastle University
  • Anukriti Dixit, Universität Bern

Following the endorsement stage, Hubert Zimmermann withdrew from the election. As a result, ten candidates moved forward to the voting stage. The final ballot comprised:

Female candidates

  • Petra Guasti, Charles University
  • Boglarka Koller, Ludovika University of Public Service
  • Luana Russo, Maastricht Universiteit
  • Licínia Simão, Centro de Estudos Sociais, University of Coimbra
  • Sofia Vasilopoulou, Kings College London

Male candidates

  • Gianfranco Baldini, Università di Bologna
  • Alasdair Blair, De Montfort University
  • Jean-Michel Eymeri-Douzans, Institut d'Études Politiques de Toulouse
  • Shane Martin, University of Essex
  • Jonathan Polk, Lunds Universitet

Voting

The final voting phase of the election took place from 22 January – 23 February 2024. 294 eligible Official Representatives were invited to cast votes in both the female ballot and male ballot but were not obliged to vote in both. In total, 176 ORs voted in the election; 164 ballots were cast in the female election and 165 ballots were cast in the male election. All the votes were declared valid.

At the conclusion of this period the votes as recorded on the ECPR website were calculated using the programme OpenSTV and processed according to the Scottish variant of STV.

Those elected to the Executive Committee (in alphabetical order) are:

  • Gianfranco Baldini, Università di Bologna
  • Petra Guasti, Charles University
  • Shane Martin, University of Essex
  • Jonathan Polk, Lunds Universitet
  • Luana Russo, Maastricht Universiteit
  • Sofia Vasilopoulou, Kings College London

Not elected are:

  • Alasdair Blair, De Montfort University
  • Jean-Michel Eymeri-Douzans, Institut d'Études Politiques de Toulouse
  • Boglarka Koller, Ludovika University of Public Service
  • Licínia Simão, Centro de Estudos Sociais, University of Coimbra

Results

Candidates were notified on 26 February 2024, with a week provided for acceptance; by 4 March, all candidates had accepted the results.

At all three stages of the election, the results were certified by the Speaker of the ECPR Council, Thomas Poguntke, as correct.