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News

Matthieu Debief will be convening a panel on the Philosophy of the Nonprofit Sector at the MANCEPT Workshops in Political Theory (Manchester, 2–4 September 2026).

The panel explores the conceptual foundations and normative status of the nonprofit sector in contemporary democracies. Among the questions it seeks to address: What sets the nonprofit sector apart from for-profit and governmental activities? What role should it play in democratic societies? What ethical responsibilities do nonprofit organizations bear towards their stakeholders and the broader public? How should we think about nonprofit activity at the global scale?

If you are working on related themes and would like to contribute, write to matthieu.debief(at)unige.ch by May 18th

For more information: https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/activities/the-philosophy-of-the-non-profit-sector/ 

Wednesday 1 April, 14:00 – 15:00 BST / 15:00 – 16:00 CEST

Political corruption as accountability deficit: A theory-probing study of Hungary

Registration is available here: https://ecpr.eu/Events/365 

Abstract

This article advances an empirically informed approach to political theory through conceptual traveling across regime types. It examines whether the ethics of office accountability theory, primarily tailored to democratic settings, retains its analytical power in analysing political corruption in a hybrid regime. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with Hungarian officeholders, the article explores how public servants themselves interpret the corruption of institutional actions. Confirming the broader applicability of the ethics of office accountability, the findings demonstrate that political corruption is understood as a deficit of office accountability in a hybrid regime in which institutional normativity has been gradually hollowed out. The study also identifies case-specific peculiarities to hybrid regimes. It shows that political corruption emerges as a systemic failure in a hybrid regime rather than individual misconduct. The research calls for further theory-driven normative and empirical inquiry for more cross-fertilisation between normative theorising and empirical analysis that may pave the way for a more integrated framework across regime types.

Emanuela Ceva will join the panel “Trustworthy Institutions? Critical Perspectives” and will deliver a talk entitled “What Makes Democratic Institutions Trustworthy? An Accountability-Based Framework.”

The panel will take place on Friday, 13 March 2026, from 10:45 to 12:15, at the Kultur- und Kongresshaus Aarau.

Aarau Democracy Days 2026:
How is trust created in politics, administration and media?
What happens when trust is lost?
Can democracy work without trust?
🗓 12. –13. March 2026
📍 Aarau | Kultur- und Kongresshaus
🎟 Free admission
🎤 Public evening event - without registration
📚 Scientific conference - free, with registration
👉 View the program now & register:

Institutional Accountability
19 Jan 2026 - 12:30 / 13:30
Viale Romania
Meeting room: Toti
Speaker
Emanuela Ceva, University of Geneva

 

Chair: Prof.ssa Valentina Gentile (Luiss Guido Carli)

Abstract:

Institutional accountability is central to democratic governance, yet philosophical inquiry still lacks a conceptually refined map of its agents, modes, and implications. This article supplies such a map through a three-tier taxonomy. First, it distinguishes the agents of institutional accountability—individual officeholders or institutional collectives—showing how this axis intersects, without collapsing, into vertical individual-to-instiitution and horizontal inter-institutional relations. Second, it delineates two different but possibly integrated modes of institutional accountability: accountability as “answerability,” grounded in principal-agent oversight, outcome-based performance assessment, transparency and potential sanctions; and accountability as “addressability,” grounded in reciprocal reason-giving, shared commitments, mutuality, and co-authorship of joint projects. Third, it identifies the implications of accountability for institutional functioning, distinguishing between practices of sanction-based correction of institutional failures versus those that cultivate trust-based cooperation among agents. Integrating these dimensions, the taxonomy is useful to clarify how specific configurations of accountability can uphold institutional action, and why deficits along any dimension destabilises it. The resulting framework provides a common analytical vocabulary for accountability studies and normative desiderata for theories of accountable institutions.

What is political corruption in Donald Trump’s age?

Alina Mungiu-Pippidi (LUISS Guido Carli) in conversation with Emanuela Ceva (University of Geneva) and Maria Paola Ferretti (Gutenberg University of Mainz) from the Geneva Research Center for Corruption Studies

When: 2 October – 14.30 CET 

Where: Online. Please register here

Independent Expert Report for the European Commission by Emanuela Ceva.

This report presents research findings on and recommendations for addressing core points of democratic fragility in the EU. Drawing on the results of a varied portfolio of EU-funded Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe projects, this report discusses various forms of democratic fragility that undermine a democracy’s core commitment to accountability. Two main forms of accountability, central to the theory and practice of democracy, are analyzed and discussed.

The Margins of Corruption PI, Emanuela Ceva, will give a talk titled “What can be gained by engineering the concept of “corruption” on April 14 2025 at 1 PM (CET). This open seminar will be held both online and in person at Aula Jemolo, Palazzo Hercolani, at the University of Bologna. More information is available at this link.

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The Margins of Corruption PI, Prof. Emanuela Ceva, will be joining the Global Ethics Forum (GEF) 2024 session titled "Foresight Panel: what are our visions for 2050?" on 4 September from 14:00-15:15. The Forum will be hybrid, and participants can register in person and online here:

https://globalethicsforum2024.eventify.io/q/#/overview

 

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Project member Serkan Seker and Anna Sebestyén (interpreter and translator) have successfully concluded the project fieldwork in Hungary, focusing on the relationship between accountability practices and institutional dysfunctions in hybrid regimes. Interviews included members of the Hungarian Parliament, where this picture was taken.

The Margins of Corruption PI, Emanuela Ceva, will be giving a talk on "Engineering Political Concepts" on Wednesday 21 February at 13:30 CET Online on Zoom.

Event Info & Registration: https://bit.ly/4bFV4JR

The Margins of Corruption PI, Emanuela Ceva, and Maria Paola Ferretti (Goethe-University Frankfurt) have signed a contract with the publisher Carocci for a book on The Ethics of Anticorruption. Central to the book is the idea that anticorruption should be conceived as a way to uphold the well-functioning of institutions, protect and facilitate the officeholders’ action, and should not be interpreted simply as a surveillance and legalistic system.

 

The Margins of Corruption PI, Prof. Emanuela Ceva, has been appointed member of AcademiaNet, The Portal of Excellent Women Academics. Nominated by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). (February 2023)