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The latest issue of the International Political Science Review (IPSR) for November 2022 (Volume 43, Number 5) includes eight original research articles on the themes of democracy, autocracy and electoral politics. 

To highlight two contributions in the field of autocracy, Korkut et al. consider how humour is deployed through digital media during protest actions. Using the Gezi Park protests in Turkey as a case study, the authors argue that humour allows protestors to assert humanity and sincerity against dehumanizing political manipulation frameworks. Qin and He explore the politics of ‘authoritarian empowerment’ in China, which they argue combines partial empowerment and sophisticated control, and separates psychological empowerment from political empowerment.

Turning to electoral politics, in a global study of negative campaigning, Valli and Nai demonstrate that negativity is more likely for challengers, extreme candidates, and right-wing candidates. They also show that women are not more (or less) likely to go negative on their rivals than their male counterparts. Turning to the barriers to contesting electoral office faced by people with disabilities, Evans and Reher identify three essential obstacles: a lack of accessibility, a lack of resources and ableism.

The politics of authoritarian empowerment: Participatory pricing in China
Xuan Qin and Baogang He

Looking for truth in absurdity: Humour as community-building and  dissidence against authoritarianism
Umut Korkut, Aidan McGarry, Itir Erhart, Hande Eslen-Ziya and Olu Jenzen

Democracy in the prison of political science
Felipe Antunes de Oliveira

Education, democratic governance, and satisfaction with democracy: Multilevel evidence from Latin America
Alejandro Monsiváis-Carrillo and Gabriela Cantú Ramos

Attack politics from Albania to Zimbabwe: A large-scale comparative study on the drivers of negative campaigning
Chiara Valli and Alessandro Nai

Disability and political representation: Analysing the obstacles to elected office in the UK
Elizabeth Evans and Stefanie Reher

Parliamentary rules, party norms, and legislative speech
Eduardo Alemán and Juan Pablo Micozzi

Nationalism and the strength of secessionism in Western Europe: Static  and dynamic autonomy
André Lecours