Sam van der Staak is the Director of International IDEA’s Regional Europe Programme. His work focuses on responding to democratic developments in Europe, with a special emphasis on the topics of political parties, money in politics, and ICT in democracy.

Van der Staak leads International IDEA’s representation to the European Union in Brussels. He has been involved in International IDEA publications on cybersecurity in elections, citizen movements, money in politics, and political party dialogue. He makes regular media contributions to national and international media.

Engage with Sam van der Staak on Twitter at @samvanderstaak.

Recent Op-Eds:

• Voter Turnout Will Decide Europe’s Fate, Project Syndicate, 20 May 2019
• What populists get right, Politico (Europe Edition), 25 June 2018
• Don’t believe the hype. The Dutch election will be a vote for business as usual., The Washington Post (DemocracyPost),14 March 2017
• Active citizenship and political movements in Europe, Hurriyet Daily News, 31 October 2016
• Active Citizenship & Political Movements in Europe: The Evolution of Political Representation, Turkish Policy Quarterly, 23 September 2016
• Nederlandse partijen worden steeds hipper,  De Volkskrant, 20 September 2016
• Swedish politics not immune to grassroots movements, The Local, 13 September 2016