Disappointments we can absorb

“I'm going to miss Angela Merkel. I'm going to have to look for a new favourite leader,” said Prof. Femke van Esch recently in an interview over her appointment as Professor of European Governance and Leadership of the European Union.

Goodbye to Merkel – blog on The Loop

Van Esch said goodbye by writing a blog for The Loop, the political science blog of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR), under the title “The secret of Angela Merkel's extraordinary success: her understanding of the distinctive features of German politics”.

And what is the core of that secret? “Disappointing us at a rate we can absorb.”

Read the blog on 'The Loop'

Leadership in Germany and Europe – Focus Wetenschap podcast

For the night-time NPO 1 Radio show Focus Wetenschap, Mirthe van der Drift spoke with Femke van Esch for an hour this week. She looks back on Merkel's leadership there too, and ahead on Olaf Scholz's, who could become the new Chancellor of Germany.

Besides that, Van Esch also spoke on to which degree our lives in the Netherlands are decided on on a European level. What makes leadership legitimate in civilians' eyes? And who do we trust to make the decisions about our lives? And especially... Why?

Listen to the podcast of Focus Wetenschap here