Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) continued to slide in public opinion polls in 2023, with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's approval ratings never recovering from the scandal over the party's association with the controversial Unification Church that was exposed in the previous year. Kishida survived an assassination attempt in April, and the LDP's subsequent strong performance in by-elections helped to temporarily stabilise his leadership. However, the party faced a fresh scandal in November, when a police investigation into the misreporting and mishandling of ‘slush fund’ money by the LDP's major factions led to the removal of four senior Cabinet ministers and an even sharper decline in support for the Kishida administration. Rising consumer prices, due in part to a weakening of the Yen, were also a major concern throughout 2023, with inflation for the full year reaching 3.1 per cent, its highest level since 1981.

The elections of the state president by the Latvian Parliament brought about not only a new Cabinet and a new prime minister but also a new coalition and an advancement of the social liberal agenda, including the legal regulation of same-sex partnership. The new Cabinet continued a strongly supportive Ukraine policy aided by de-Russification efforts at the grassroots level. The left-leaning Progressives became part of the governing coalition for the first time, but their impact on government policies remains to be seen.

In 2023, the NATO Vilnius Summit was the major political event in Lithuania that attracted significant global media attention. In addition, Lithuania underwent local elections and faced a municipal expenses scandal that nearly brought down the government. Nevertheless, the Cabinet remained stable with only one minister being replaced.

Luxembourg politics in 2023 was dominated by the local election in June followed by the national election in October. Local elections were characterized by a limited participation of foreigners and a certain stability of the political forces. Christian-Social People's Party/Chrëschtlech-Sozial Vollekspartei (CSV) remained by far the first party despite a slight drop in seats, and The Greens/Déi Gréng experienced proportionally the most significant drop in seats. As for the local elections, the national elections have been marked by the maintaining of the CSV as the first party, and the massive loss of the Green party. The significant drop of the Green party made the existing three coalition parties (DP-LSAP-Gréng) arithmetically impossible, positioning the leader of the CSV and new Prime Minister, Luc Frieden, in an ideal position to lead a coalition government. As expected, Luc Frieden and his party formed a coalition with the DP, which is closer to its political program and guarantees a comfortable majority in the Parliament.

The year in politics was marked by the exposure of a number of scandals, chief among which concerned the privatisation of three public hospitals. Polls still continued to give the governing Labour Party a strong lead over the opposition Nationalist Party, which showed little sign of recovery. The economy performed well, but inflation hit people's spending power, and sustained growth continued to be reflected in overcrowding and congestion. The abortion debate closed in an anti-climax. A brighter picture emerged in foreign relations as Malta took its place in the UN Security Council and was chosen to chair the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

The Dutch political landscape is notoriously unpredictable; yet, 2023 was the most turbulent year in Dutch politics in at least two decades. The year featured two elections—provincial and national—within nine months, each dominated by two distinct issues: agriculture and migration. These elections saw two different populist parties triumph with significant margins: the FarmerCitizenMovement/BoerBurgerBeweging won the provincial elections, while the radical right-wing populist Party for Freedom/Partij voor de Vrijheid secured a landslide victory in the parliamentary elections. Moreover, the year witnessed the collapse of the centre-right cabinet and leadership changes in more than half of the parties represented in parliament.

The year 2023 was a year of substantial change in Aotearoa New Zealand. After the surprise resignation of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern early in the year, new Labour Prime Minister Chris Hipkins struggled with opposition to his policy agenda, ministerial scandals and an acknowledged cost-of-living crisis. At the October 2023 general election, Labour's nationwide vote almost halved relative to its high point in the 2020 elections, and it performed especially poorly in Auckland where there was lingering resentment about the effects of multiple, prolonged COVID-19 lockdowns. After protracted negotiations, a three-way coalition government of the National Party, ACT New Zealand and New Zealand First was formed, with Christopher Luxon as Prime Minister. The shift in policy direction and tone from the Ardern and Hipkins eras was both striking and immediate. Before year's end, the coalition government had repealed several of Labour's flagship policy reforms and priorities, including in areas such as co-governance, public health, environmental regulations, water governance and justice.

An unusually large number of political scandals left their mark on Norwegian politics in 2023. Most of the scandals involved conflicts of interest for current and former government ministers, and they led to several Cabinet resignations and dismissals. The local elections in September were a big win for the two main parties on the right of Norwegian politics. The two centre-left parties that constitute the national governing coalition fared poorly in the elections.

After a lengthy and intense electoral campaign, which culminated in two opposition-led mass protest marches in Warsaw in June and October, Polish citizens cast their votes in a parliamentary election on 15 October. The ruling Law and Justice (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość, PiS) party faced in the election a broad alliance of the so-called democratic opposition parties. The latter contested the election in three blocs, the liberal Civic Coalition (Koalicja Obywatelska), the moderately conservative Third Way, composed of the Polish Peasant Party (Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe) and Poland 2050, and the New Left coalition. The parties of this alliance won together a majority of seats in both chambers of the legislature and formed a coalition government. This seemingly ended the process of democratic backsliding that had been progressing over the eight-year-long period of the PiS rule. However, the controversies regarding control over the public broadcasting media that erupted in December exposed the difficulties in reversing past departures from the rule of law.

In 2023, Portugal experienced the end of a political cycle of Socialist government rule that had started in 2014. Several scandals affected the executive throughout the year, including traffic of influence. There were also regional elections in Madeira on 24 September, which were won by the Social Democratic Party (Partido Social Democrata). At the end of the year, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa dismissed Prime Minister Antonio Costa. This still allowed the budget for 2024 to be passed in December, with the call for early legislative elections being postponed to the beginning of 2024.

In 2023, the National Liberal Party prime minister was replaced with a Social Democratic Party prime minister, pursuant to an understanding drafted by the two ruling parties in 2021. As elections were scheduled for 2024, the government adopted populist measures benefiting selected voters. Opinion polls suggested the rise of right-wing parties. Prominent politicians and government officials were involved in corruption scandals.

Two interim cabinets extended the legitimacy crisis that began in December 2022, after the Heger II Cabinet lost a no-confidence vote. The early parliamentary election in September 2023 underscored public dissatisfaction with the coalition's management of domestic and global challenges, propelling Robert Fico's Direction-Social Democracy (SMER–Sociálna demokracia) back into power for the fourth time.

The political arena was lively in Slovenia, even though no elections or referendums were held in 2023. Both the government and all three governmental parties, especially the biggest one, the Freedom Movement, as a new party, experienced considerable turbulence—such as changes in the parliamentary party group and changes in the four ministerial positions falling within that party's quota. Having previously been the successful manager of an energy company, the Prime Minister encountered a multitude of challenges in the political arena. While the government announced many reforms, it managed to deliver substantially less. It also faced many (threats of) strikes and protests, particularly by public sector employees and farmers. Even though in the first year of its term the government enjoyed high public support, by November 2023, the situation was very different, with just 18 per cent of voters assessing its work as (very) positive. Parallel to this, two opposition parties were facing their own challenges.

The year 2023 was marked by a dense and turbulent political period. The country faced local and regional elections, snap elections and the reformulation of the left-wing coalition government. Spain also chaired the Council of the European Union during the second semester. The victory of the right (the Partido Popular and Vox) in the local and regional elections held in May in 12 regions (Autonomous Communities), precipitated the call for general elections in July 2023. This process culminated in the renewal of the Sánchez coalition government with support from the Basque and Catalan pro-independence parties and the exclusion of Podemos leaders from the new governing coalition. The decline of Podemos, the emergence of Sumar and the disappearance of Ciudadanos characterise the new Parliament. The reform of the law on sexual consent and the start of negotiations on a controversial amnesty law dominated the political agenda. In terms of the Spanish economy, the negotiation of an addendum to the National Recovery and Resilience Plan also stands out.

Abstract in second language

El año 2023 estuvo marcado por una agenda política densa y turbulenta. El país celebró elecciones locales y regionales, elecciones anticipadas y la reedición del gobierno de coalición de izquierdas. Además, España presidió el Consejo de la Unión Europea durante el segundo semestre. La victoria de la derecha (PP y Vox) en las elecciones locales y autonómicas, celebradas en mayo en doce Comunidades Autónomas, precipitó la convocatoria de elecciones generales en julio de 2023. Este proceso culminó con la renovación del Gobierno de coalición de Sánchez con el apoyo de los partidos independentistas vascos y catalanes y el descarte de los líderes de Podemos de la nueva coalición de gobierno. El ocaso de Podemos, la irrupción de Sumar y la desaparición de Ciudadanos caracterizan el nuevo Parlamento. la reforma de la ley sobre consentimiento sexual y el inicio de las negociaciones de una controvertida ley de amnistía dominaron la agenda política. En el plano económico también destaca la negociación de una adenda al Plan Nacional de Recuperación y Resiliencia.

After several years of turbulence and instability, the political year of 2023 was comparatively quiet. The three-party right-of-centre government, relying on support from the Sweden Democrats through the Tidö Agreement, stayed in office and its ministerial composition remained completely unchanged. Sweden chaired the presidency of the EU council for the first half of the year, without controversy or notable events. The process for membership of NATO proved more difficult than expected and was not completed at the end of the year due to resistance from Turkey and Hungary. The economy slowed down but showed signs of recovery towards the end of the year.

In 2023, Switzerland's profound integration into the globalized world was particularly evident, fundamentally challenging the notion of political sovereignty. Yet, this interconnectedness also means that Swiss domestic rules strongly reverberate around the world, such as in the case of policy failure regarding financial regulation. This article explores how global developments shape Swiss politics, from campaign dynamics ahead of the 2023 federal elections to externally imposed legislative agendas. Even the notorious “Swiss” direct democracy no longer solely reflects citizen-initiated proposals as further evidenced that year. The article also underscores the inertia of Swiss-style consensus democracy in gearing up its institutional design for polycrisis. It concludes with a discussion of two major political issues: the collapse of Credit Suisse, one of Switzerland's two leading banks, which marks the most far-reaching shake-up of the global banking sector since the 2008 financial crisis, and a potential break-through in the longstanding stalemate in Swiss–EU relations.

The year 2023 saw more stability in British politics, with new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak seeking to make his mark on the policy agenda with the announcement of five key policy pledges in January. As part of seeking to address these, the government placed an increased emphasis on immigration over the year, particularly in tackling illegal crossings over the English Channel. The government also moved away from its net zero agenda. Despite this, the party's poll position did not improve. New peers were introduced by departing Prime Ministers Johnson and Truss. Boris Johnson also stepped down as a Member of Parliament, and a November Cabinet reshuffle saw former Prime Minister David Cameron re-enter politics as Foreign Secretary.

The 2023 political year in the United States was dominated by three major themes: the legal problems of former President Donald Trump, particularly in light of his campaign to regain the White House in 2024; the near-total dysfunctionality of the Republican majority in the House of Representatives; and the state of the economy, especially inflation, but also employment. Lurking in the background, and in large measure captive to these concerns, were the issues of immigration and aid to Israel and Ukraine.