5 Election Stories You Should Catch Up On

As always, the world's many elections always provide for some interesting reading.

Here are 5 articles you might want to catch up on, covering the effects of populism on evidence-based decision-making in the Netherlands, French Presidential candidate François Fillon's continuing political and polling woes, the difficulty of predicting elections in the world's largest sub-national entity, Uttar Pradesh, and an interesting land use referendum in Los Angeles.

Netherlands: In an interview with former Dutch minister Rick van der Ploeg, the populist nature of the upcoming March 15 Dutch election is explored, with an interesting discussion of how three parties (on both the left and right) have refused to submit their platforms to the government's economic planning bureau, who traditionally release analysis of the effect of each party's plans on the economy. Is populism in the Netherlands leading to a rejection of evidence-based policy?

France: A new poll measuring candidate support in this year's French presidential election has shown independent centrist (and former Socialist Party member) Emmanuel Macron drawing nearly even with the National Front's Marine Le Pen. Recent polls have shown Macron over-taking Republican candidate François Fillon in recent days, with Fillon in a scandal involving allegedly hiring family members in exchange for no work.

France: Fillon's scandals have recently led to calls for him to step aside as a candidate, though the pressure on this was temporarily lifted when former Prime Minister Alain Juppé declined to enter the race.

India: Elections in the most populous state in the world's second-most populous country, Uttar Pradesh, are wrapping up this week, but despite confidence from the national ruling party, the BJP, its outcome still remains very difficult to predict.

United States: The relatively dull mayoral election in Los Angeles, where incumbent Eric Garcetti is facing little in the way of serious challenge, is, on the same day, having an interesting and contentious referendum about the one issue that city politics always boils down to: land use.

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