How can we compare the size and structuring power of different cleavages over time? Check out @jacobgunderson.bsky.social 's great paper and dataset for scholars working on cleavages at the party system level! The latest from @dpzollinger.bsky.social and I's Special Issue in @wepsocial.bsky.social.

Really pleased to this out as part of special issues on "Cleavage Politics in Western Democracies". Huge thanks to the SI editors, @dpzollinger.bsky.social and @davidattewell6.bsky.social for putting the special together and all of their support during the process.

💥OUT NOW! "Cleavage size and stability in turbulent times: introducing the bloc volatility and fragmentation dataset" by @jacobgunderson.bsky.social Part of SI "Cleavage Politics in Western Democracies", edited by @dpzollinger.bsky.social & @davidattewell6.bsky.social doi.org/10.1080/0140...

It was great to be back at @eui-schuman.bsky.social for a workshop on "The EU between differentiation, disintegration, and enlargement". Find most papers on @wepsocial.bsky.social (tinyurl.com/bdz7arw7) and @jeppjournal.bsky.social (tinyurl.com/4htxs4hk). Thanks to all organisers and participants!

2) "Overlooked de- and realignment? Cohort differences in consideration sets", Single-authored, published @wepsocial.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

🚨 Publication Alert 🚨

💥Online first: "How populist citizens see the people and their place in representative democracy" by Rosa Kindt @robert-a-huber.bsky.social & @kristofjacobs1.bsky.social doi.org/10.1080/0140...

Publication 3, recently in @wepsocial.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

💥Out now: The introduction to the Special Issue "Cleavage Politics in Western Democracies" "Updating cleavage theory for the twenty-first century" by @dpzollinger.bsky.social & @davidattewell6.bsky.social doi.org/10.1080/0140...

Structural unemployment drives support for income redistribution in Europe, while cyclical unemployment shows no general effect. 👉 Discover how welfare state size moderates the effect of cyclical unemployment in the latest study by Ivan Petrúšek & Kristyna Basna doi.org/10.1080/0140...

New Special Issue on 'Cleavage Politics' @wepsocial.bsky.social. Lots of interesting articles, with helpful summary thread below by @davidattewell6.bsky.social

New SI "Cleavage Politics in Western Democracies" @wepsocial.bsky.social! If you're interested in transforming social & political divides in advanced democracies, this is for you. The intro by @davidattewell6.bsky.social & me maps contributions around 3 challenges for contemp. cleavage research.

10/ @annakurella.bsky.social & @milenarapp.bsky.social find party positions follow a 2D structure, but public opinion is far less structured. Voter attitudes on nationalism fit into the longstanding moral conflict dimension, but those on gender and environmentalism do not. bsky.app/profile/weps...

9/ @siljahausermann.bsky.social and co-authors analyze vote preferences within the broader Right electorate, showing the blurring of the divide between preferences for center-right and far-right parties- and the far right’s marked rise among the youngest cohort. bsky.app/profile/silj...

8/ Education anchors contemporary cleavage politics, but what *kind* of education? @nspmartin.bsky.social @ralphscott.bsky.social ‬ and @rolandkappe.bsky.social show the specific subjects British adolescents take in secondary school shape their voting behavior as adults. bsky.app/profile/ralp...

7/ @arminschaefer.bsky.social and @nilssteiner.bsky.social show how gender & generation condition the educational divide in green & radical right voting. Education divides widen among recent cohorts, and – for green voting- especially among younger women. bsky.app/profile/nils...

6/ @mierkezat.bsky.social, @eborbath.bsky.social, and @swenhutter.bsky.social argue that civil society still shapes contemporary cleavage formation, but with a more varied, volatile, and external pressure-based orientation to parties than the membership orgs of old. bsky.app/profile/mier...

5/ @vincenzoemanuele.bsky.social & Bruno Marino test Lipset & Rokkan’s famous freezing hypothesis w fresh data, finding some conditions for freezing L&R hypothesize are *not* associated with cleavage structuring and other societal/institutional factors were overlooked. bsky.app/profile/vinc...

4/How strong is the educational divide in historical context? @liesbethooghe.bsky.social l & Gary Marks find new left and radical right parties are as strongly structured by education as socialist parties in Norway, Germany, and the UK were by class in the 1950s and 60s. bsky.app/profile/lies...

3/ @garritzmannj.bsky.social analyzes the past, present & future of educational conflict, arguing the uniqueness of today’s divide is the breadth of the groups it sets in conflict, its links to group identities, and its spillover into almost all political conflicts. bsky.app/profile/garr...

2/@dpzollinger.bsky.social and I set out 3 puzzles: How does a new cleavage work without strong intermediary orgs? How to reconcile cleavage theory w fragmented party systems? How are structural divides (e.g. ed) mobilized indirectly in political conflict today? www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

@dpzollinger.bsky.social and I are thrilled "Cleavage Politics in Western Democracies" is out as an SI at @wepsocial.bsky.social! Its papers explore the foundations of the cleavage pitting new left against radical right parties, and how it compares to the classic cleavages of Lipset & Rokkan: 🧵⬇️

Online first: "Women’s descriptive representation in multi-level political systems: (almost) no pyramids found" The new research note by @adamgendzwill.bsky.social & Stanislaw Mazur doi.org/10.1080/0140...

What matters more to politicians: the quantity or quality of public opinion signals? Find out in the new article by @bart-maes.bsky.social Stefaan Walgrave Emmi Verleyen Frédéric Varone @annerasmussen.bsky.social & @professormpersson.bsky.social doi.org/10.1080/0140...

What explains the rising turnout in recent EP elections? @filipkostelka.bsky.social & @evakrejcova.bsky.social find that it's the strength of Eurosceptic parties at the national level. The more seats they hold in national parliament, the more mobilizing the EP election is doi.org/10.1080/0140...

Politicians don’t just care how many people hold an opinion — they care how good that opinion is. In our new (open-access) article in West European Politics, based on survey data from 900+ politicians across 11 countries, we show: quality > quantity. Read more: doi.org/10.1080/0140...

💥 Online first: "Easier said than done: the European Parliament’s entrepreneurs in the treaty change discourse" by @karolinaboronska.bsky.social & @krotky.bsky.social 🔗 doi.org/10.1080/0140...

Curious about who in the #EuropeanParliament is driving (or blocking) the EU #Treatychange (reform)? Together with @karolinaboronska.bsky.social, we’ve just published a new open-access article in #WestEuropeanPolitics. tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

New article by @davidevampa.bsky.social 👉 Regional elections across Western Europe are becoming more unstable, often mirroring national turbulence. But the link weakens where regionalist parties are strong, institutions are powerful, or regions are more prosperous. 🔗 doi.org/10.1080/0140...

🎯New publication out in @wepsocial.bsky.social 'Lipset and Rokkan meet data': a 🧵on our study (with Bruno Marino) on the electoral structuring of traditional cleavages (1870–1967) across 17 Western European countries 👇 Read the full article (open access): www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

6/📌 Key takeaway: Electoral volatility is increasingly a multi-level phenomenon. National instability is often reflected in regional arenas - but regional parties, institutional autonomy & economic prosperity can act as buffers Full article (open-access) here ⬇️ www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

🚨 New article out in @wepsocial.bsky.social ! 📄 From nations to regions: electoral volatility in European multi-level politics Open access👉 doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2025.2557768 National politics in Europe is growing more electorally unstable - does this volatility also reach the regions? Thread 🧵

Such a neat paper by @ankuepfer.bsky.social, @pluggedchris.bsky.social & @jocmuel.bsky.social in @wepsocial.bsky.social – really glad to see this published! 🎉

This is an extremely creative paper drawing on extremely unique data on applause patterns in the German Bundestag 👇👇👇

👏Applause offers a revealing lens on party competition! In a recent article @wepsocial.bsky.social (w/@[email protected]), we study how applause reflects party and coalition unity, ideological agreement, political exclusion, issue ownership, and the electoral cycle! (1/6)

New article on parliamentary reactions 👏 (with @jocmuel.bsky.social and @pluggedchris.bsky.social) online first at @wepsocial.bsky.social!

Read about the intricate politics of moving decisions on EU climate policy between the European Council and the Council depending on political circumstances in our @wepsocial.bsky.social piece on the EU core executive and the Green Deal @cterranova.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Super interesting & a really creative approach!

This is a great example of how the use of innovative data can bring us a step further with old research questions

💥Online first: "The sound of party competition: how applause reflects unity, disagreement, and the electoral cycle in parliaments" by @ankuepfer.bsky.social @jocmuel.bsky.social & @pluggedchris.bsky.social doi.org/10.1080/0140...

Why do we assume some people are like us, politically speaking? Why do we assume some people aren't? To find out, take a look at the latest paper from Dr Anthony Kevins (@avkevins.bsky.social), Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Studies in IRPH.

💥OUT NOW! Volume 48, Issue 7 (2025) Lots of superb research on: 👉different parties 👉social democracy 👉support for democracy 👉regional coalitions 👉populism & radical right parties 👉group appeals 👉elections: Belgium 2024 www.tandfonline.com/toc/fwep20/4...

🌟Online first: "Ideological bias in policy implementation: public opinion and policy outcomes in 43 democracies" Research Note by @professormpersson.bsky.social & Anders Sundell doi.org/10.1080/0140...

New paper with Anders Sundell published in West European Politics: Ideological bias in policy implementation: public opinion and policy outcomes in 43 democracies www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

💫Online first: "How we think about the political stances of others: evidence on projection from Canada, Germany, and the UK" by @seonghuilee.bsky.social & @avkevins.bsky.social doi.org/10.1080/0140...

📉 New study by Veronika Patkós & Bendegú Plesz: Political polarisation weakens democratic accountability across 28 European democracies. Both ideological & partisan divides reduce citizens’ ability to hold leaders accountable. 🔗 Read more: doi.org/10.1080/0140...

Neue Evidenz dazu, dass Bundeskanzler:innen in Österreich weniger mächtig sind als in vielen anderen Staaten.

New expert survey on prime ministerial power in 21 parliamentary democracies by @alexmarland.bsky.social Eoin O'Malley & @galapalavicini.bsky.social ‼️Findings challenge assumptions about growing executive centralization and trends toward presidentialism ‼️ doi.org/10.1080/0140...

💥Online first: "Communicating a common front: mainstream party rhetoric and affective polarisation towards the radical right" by @markuskollberg.bsky.social & @ivobantel.bsky.social doi.org/10.1080/0140...