Public Policy

The European Public Choice Society aims at promoting scientific research on the economic and interdisciplinary analysis of non-market decision making processes and institutions, and to facilitate the exchange of work and ideas about it.

Its 2017 Annual Conference will take place at CEU's School of Public Policy on April 19-22, 2017.

Facebook’s decision in 2014 to shut down pages devoted to the Syrian uprising raised important concerns about the social networking giant’s adjudication of content, but it also highlighted the difficulty involved in ascertaining the truth of claims circulating in Syria’s “media wars” since the uprising began in March 2011.

A wave of deadly riots hit jails across Brazil in January 2017 in a power struggle between rival gangs that left scores dead. The riots are characteristic of a broader problem of violence that affects the Latin American region where murder rates are among the highest in the world. Rising prison populations, increased militarization of public security, and the involvement of state actors in extra judicial ‘cleansing’ signal a distinctly punitive tone to both official and unofficial criminal justice responses.

Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines are worried about a rise in pro-ISIS cells and plots as ISIS comes under increasing attack in the Middle East. They are also increasingly anxious about the potential impact of returning fighters with the skills, credibility, and international networks that could significantly improve the capacity of would-be terrorists in the region. Indonesia was jolted by the arrest near Jakarta in December 2016 of two women planning to be suicide bombers and the discovery of radical cells among migrant maids working in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

In May 2015, Ireland became the first country in the world to approve gay marriage in a popular vote. How did this once conservative, catholic country become such a liberal society?

Eamon Gilmore traces the progressive changes which were won over the decades and recalls his own experiences of the campaigns, and the challenges which remain, including abortion. The lecture explores parallels elsewhere, identifies denials of and risks to personal freedoms in different parts of the world, and suggests how modern politics can address them.