Public disillusionment with elite politics is a well-known feature in contemporary democracies. But when policy-makers themselves get disenchanted and even cynical with the workings of the policy process, something seems to be at odds. John Boswell and Jack Corbett argue that unlike ordinary citizens, who are disillusioned with policy processes they do not fathom, policy-makers “are disaffected because they understand all too well how the policy-making ‘game’ is played”. Read their recent article “Stoic Democrats? Anti-politics, élite cynicism and the policy process” published in the Journal of European Public Policy to learn more about the origins of political elites’ cynicism and its challenges to the practices and institutions of democratic governance. Read also their recent blog post on the article published on Democratic Audit UK.