Snap legislative elections were held in Israel on 17 September 2019 to elect the 120 members of the twenty-second Knesset. Following the previous elections in April, incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a governing coalition, the first such failure in Israeli history. Prof. Liron Lavi breaks down the Israeli political and election system and gives us a bonus update on what happened after the votes were tabulated!

Liron Lavi is a Research Fellow at the Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies. She received her PhD in Political Science in 2017 from Tel-Aviv University, where she studied the role of time in elections and democracy in Israel. During her doctoral research, Liron was also a Visiting Graduate Researcher at the Y&S Nazarian Center and UCLA's Department of Political Science from 2015 to 2017. Her doctoral work earned her the Best Dissertation Award from the Israeli Political Science Association in May 2018.

Liron's research interests include political communication; elections and democracy; Israeli politics; philosophy of time; and national identity. Her current work focuses on the 2015 and 2019 Israeli elections and the 2016 U.S. elections as she studies the effect of new media on democracy and its legitimacy. Liron is the recipient of the 2013 Warren E. Miller Scholarship and the Faculty of Social Science Dean Excellence Award in 2007, 2010, and 2013. Her research has been presented in international meetings including the Israeli, the Western and the American Political Science Associations and published in top academic journals, including Nations and Nationalism and Political Studies.

On September 9, Sweden goes to the polls and votes for local, national and regional elections. Prof. Sofie Blombäck of Mid Sweden University breaks down the political and electoral systems in Sweden, and how Sweden administers a large-scale election with small parties and women in mind.

South Carolina is in great hands! Thad Hall, Deputy Director of Voter Registration and Elections in Richland County, describes the financial planning, material, human and financial resources, contract negotiation, public relations and office automation, required to do his job.

My first podcast in French! Philippe Poirier is Professor in Political Science at the University of Luxembourg. He holds a Chair in Legislative Studies from the Luxembourg Parliament and is heading the European governance research program at the University of Luxembourg. Since 2005, his research projects have been financing by the European Commission, the European Parliament, the European Science Foundation, the Council of Europe, the Luxembourg National Research Agency and the National Parliament for an amount of € 2.9 million. He has been appointed permanent honorary visiting professor at the University of Paris Sorbonne (Celsa), University of the Agean (Greece ) and Collège des Bernadins. He is Scientific Advisor for the Council of Europe Group of States against Corruption and for the European Parliament Committee on Constitutional Affairs. He's Executive Director of Etudes Parlementaires Series, Publishers Larcier.

Professor Theresa Reidy of the University College Cork in Cork, Ireland discusses the upcoming presidential elections and referendum on blasphemy. Grab a Guinness and have a listen!

When did municipal elections get so exciting? Toronto has always had animated politicians and 2018 is no exception. We break down Ontario's municipal election code with lawyer John Mascarin and he shares his expertise and legal analysis of the Better Local Government Act.

Prof. Mascarin is a member of the Municipal and Land Use Planning Group. He practises in the areas of local government and municipal law, development, land use and planning law, and building and construction regulation. John provides advice, counsel and representation to both private and public sector clients on all matters relating to municipal law as well as land use planning and development matters, including development charges, building regulatory matters and various contractual arrangements.

He also appears regularly before municipal councils, committees, public authorities and boards, administrative tribunals (particularly the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal, formerly the Ontario Municipal Board) and the Ontario Courts. An acknowledged expert on the Municipal Act, 2001 and on matters pertaining to municipal powers, authorities and jurisdiction, clients often seek out John for his opinions, advisement and representation and comments with respect to municipal law.

John Mascarin is a lecturer at Osgoode Hall Law School where he teaches courses in both the JD & LLM programs. John serves as Integrity Commissioner for several Ontario municipalities and a member of the Municipal and Land Use Planning Group. He practises in the areas of local government and municipal law, development, land use and planning law, and building and construction regulation. John provides advice, counsel and representation to both private and public sector clients on all matters relating to municipal law as well as land use planning and development matters, including development charges, building regulatory matters and various contractual arrangements.

Thanks for appearing on our show, John!

In this podcast we revisit the 2014 Scottish Referendum with Scotland's former Chief Counting Officer Mary Pitcaithly. Pitcaithly was responsible for successfully running the national count collation process as chief counting officer for Scotland’s independence referendum and announcing the final result. She is now on the Board of the Scottish Police Authority.

Mary's biography: http://www.spa.police.uk/about-us/the-board/460083/

Mary Pitcaithly announcing the 2014 referendum results: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yv5DlU9skhI

UK Election Commission: https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/

2014 Scottish Referendum results: https://www.parliament.scot/ResearchBriefingsAndFactsheets/Scottish_Independence_Referendum_2014_Results.pdf

Professors Nic Cheeserman and Brian Klass state at the beginning of their book that ‘there are more elections than ever before, and yet the world is becoming less democratic’. This podcast discusses their 2018 book, "How to Rig An Election" which has just been released in paperback form.

Contrary to what is commonly believed, authoritarian leaders who agree to hold elections are generally able to remain in power longer than autocrats who refuse to allow the populace to vote. In this engaging and provocative book, Cheeseman and Klaas expose the limitations of national elections as a means of promoting democratization, and reveal the six essential strategies that dictators use to undermine the electoral process in order to guarantee victory for themselves. Based on their firsthand experiences as election watchers and their hundreds of interviews with presidents, prime ministers, diplomats, election officials, and conspirators, this podcasts discusses their documented instances of election rigging while suggesting new solutions for protecting democracy from authoritarian subversion.

Nic Cheeseman is professor of democracy at the University of Birmingham and founding editor of the Oxford Encyclopedia of African Politics. Brian Klaas is assistant professor of global politics at University College London and a weekly columnist for the Washington Post.

How to Rig and Election: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300204438/how-rig-election

Brian Klass' podcast Power Corrupts: https://www.powercorruptspodcast.com/