Three 2-year full-time postdoctoral positions in autocratic politics at the Department of Political Science at Aarhus University (in connection to projects headed by Jakob Tolstrup and Alexander Baturo). Flexible start date. Application deadline: June 1, 2026. international.au.dk/about/profil...

At #STOA’s High-Level Conference on #EP4AcademicFreedom on 4/3, policymakers, researchers et al. discussed measures to safeguard scientific independence & #democracy With @president.europarl.europa.eu, Commissioner Zaharieva, MEP Ehler & Prof @skaaning.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Zr2...

A 🧵on how the @vdeminstitute.bsky.social accountability indices help us understand how democratic backsliding is occurring in the United States. tl;dr: in principle, vertical constraints on the president remain strong; in practice, horizontal and diagonal constraints have been greatly weakened.

This post raises a several important questions about the @vdeminstitute.bsky.social indices that I'll try to discuss broadly, then specifically in the case of Mongolia. Important caveat: I am not a Mongolia expert, so can't speak substantively about the case; I can discuss the V-Dem methodology.

📢 Out Now! V-Dem Dataset v16 & the V-Dem Institute Democracy Report 2026 💾 The V-Dem Dataset: v-dem.net/data/the-v-d... 📰 The Report "Unraveling The Democratic Era?”: v-dem.net/publications... 📈 Explore the new data with the V-Dem Graphing tools: v-dem.net/graphing/gra... #PoliSky #PoliSciSky 1/3

The V-Dem Steering Committee's release statement for v.16 of the dataset (link in the post below):

In the run-up to Wednesday's high-level #EP4AcademicFreedom conference: 👉Interview with academic keynote speaker Prof @skaaning.bsky.social of @aarhusuniint.bsky.social on #Democracy & #AcademicFreedom: wp.me/panTdn-4vZ #ESMH @ep-eprs.bsky.social @linagalvez.eu @eua.eu @guildeu.bsky.social

How do different forms of state capacity protect democracy? D Andersen, @chknutsen.bsky.social & @skaaning.bsky.social argue coercive & administrative capacity affect stability in distinct ways depending on threat: buff.ly/6lpO8S3 @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social @uoypolitics.bsky.social @sagepub.com

Joint work with the brilliant @kristianvsf.bsky.social @sirianned.bsky.social @aykutozturk.bsky.social Open access article here 👇 www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Our 32-country conjoint study on which societal characteristics citizens prioritize is now published at @bjpols.bsky.social w. excellent @anjaneundorf.bsky.social @sirianned.bsky.social @aykutozturk.bsky.social

🚨 3-Year Postdoc in Political Science at Aarhus University 🚨 I’m seeking to recruit a postdoc for my @erc.europa.eu research project 𝑬𝑸𝑼𝑰𝑳𝑰𝑩𝑹𝑰𝑼𝑴 on state-citizen interactions. Link and more information in second post. Position Start: Fall 2026 Application Deadline: ‼️ February 5, 2026, 23:59 CET ‼️

Does ethnopolitical exclusion cause civil war onset via grievances? In a new article, @lleipziger.bsky.social, Lasse Lykke Rørbæk, and I reassess this relationship based on 15 case studies. Six of the cases followed the grievance/mobilization/rejection pathway proposed by the general theory.

so well put

Fascinating paper by @grattonecon.bsky.social, @bartonelee2.bsky.social, and Hasin Yousaf! The paper addresses a fundamental question: Why do some democracies chronically avoid ambitious, long-term reforms even when they have decent institutions? They argue that what matters is not only

Happy to announce that I, together with @kristianvsf.bsky.social, have received DKK 3,167,689 from Independent Research Fund Denmark to pursue the project Democratic Tradeoff Perceptions (DEMTRAP). We will explore citizen perceptions of possible tradeoffs between democracy and effective governance.

New article out on the relationship between different dimensions of state capacity and modes of democratic breakdown.

New version (0.6.0) of my #rstats package {democracyData} xmarquez.github.io/democracyData/ with @freedomhouse.bsky.social data to 2024, as well as several other sources, plus minor improvements all around

And another great potential read for graduate students on the measurement of "waves" of democratization and autocratization by @skaaning.bsky.social especially helpful for students thinking about periodization (including thinking about the contemporary "moment"). doi.org/10.1080/1351...

🚨 Are you interested in Historical Political Economy? 🚨 At the Virtual Workshop in HPE (VWHPE)—organized jointly with @dkofanov.bsky.social & @tinepaulsen.bsky.social—we discuss state-of-the-art research on a regular basis. ‼️ We have just issued a new call for papers. ‼️ Link & info in post #2.

How do different forms of state capacity protect democracy? Andersen, @chknutsen.bsky.social & @skaaning.bsky.social argue coercive & administrative capacity affect stability in distinct ways depending on the threat: buff.ly/Q4HDylB @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social @uoypolitics.bsky.social @sagepub.com

How do different forms of state capacity protect democracy? D Andersen, @chknutsen.bsky.social & @skaaning.bsky.social argue coercive & administrative capacity affect stability in distinct ways depending on threat: buff.ly/Q4HDylB @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social @uoypolitics.bsky.social @sagepub.com

Happy to have been part this new publication on the relationship between different dimensions of state capacity and modes of democratic breakdown!

Min bog - Dansk demokrati i perspektiv - skrevet med David Andersen og udarbejdet i forbindelse med Magtudredningen 2.0 er netop udgivet! Gratis E-bog og gratis lydbog er tilgængelige her: unipress.dk/udgiv.../d/d...

📣 Jobs, jobs, jobs! Aarhus University’s Department of Political Science is hiring: 🔹 Assistant Professor 🗓 Deadline: 25 August 🔗 international.au.dk/about/profil... 🔹 Associate Professor 🗓 Deadline: 8 September 🔗 international.au.dk/about/profil...

After 10 years of doing research in Historical Political Economy, this fall I’ll finally get a chance to teach a survey course on the field & I’m really looking forward to it! 😊 I thought this would be an opportunity to create a syllabus with many essential contributions to this growing field.

What a pleasure to direct this amazing @ecpr.bsky.social Joint sessions workshop on citizens democratic commitment with Hannah Werner - thanks to all participants for the exciting papers and stimulating discussions!

🛎️New WP with @morganlcj.bsky.social @timallinger.bsky.social and @danbischof.bsky.social Against the surge of conjoints and other hypothetical experiments in relation to democratic backsliding, we study the consequences of using hypotheticals versus real-world scenarios. osf.io/preprints/os...

🚨 working paper (w. @morganlcj.bsky.social @markuswagner.bsky.social): Protesters are not judged equally - even if tactics of groups are similar. We ran an experiment in 🇩🇪 testing how people react to farmers vs. climate activists blocking roads. What we find is disturbing: osf.io/preprints/os...

My paper, A Global, Historical Rule of Law Index, offering a description and evaluation of the V-Dem Rule of Law Index, has now been published: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

🚨 We're hiring! Join us at @LMU_Muenchen for the DFG-funded project "Democratic Persuasion: How to Make the Case for Democracy." Interested in making scholarly & societal impact? We’re looking for: 🔹 1 Postdoc (100%) 🔹 1 PhD researcher (70%) Starting: Oct 2025 | Apply by: July 8 More info ⬇️ (1/7)

Interested in debates about how to measure democracy and/or the use of observable and judgmental indicators? Then check out this piece.

Ever felt uneasy about how concepts & measures of "grey zone" autocracies are used interchangeably across the literature? Then check out my 🚨new paper🚨 in @democratization.bsky.social and get some substance to back up your gut feeling: tinyurl.com/ypdm2kna Or at least read the main points below ⬇️

Who supports free speech, and how consistent is the support? Together with @suthank.bsky.social, I’ve conducted a survey of citizens in 33 countries for The Future of Free Speech. A lot of interesting findings (see 🧵 + link): futurefreespeech.org/wp-content/u...

📢 Out Now! V-Dem Dataset v15 and the V-dem Institute Democracy Report 2025 The Dataset: v-dem.net/data/the-v-d... DR25: "25 Years of Autocratization - Democracy Trumped?": v-dem.net/publications... #DR25 #DemocracyReport2025 #VDemDatasetV15 #polisky #PoliticalScienceData #PoliSciSky 🧵1(3)

📢Applications Open for New Director of the V-Dem Institute V-Dem Institute and the Dept. of Political Science, University of Gothenburg is looking for a Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor in Political Science & Director of the V-Dem Institute. To application: shorturl.at/9rvmx 📆 March 27, 2025.

This week's post is on America's New Gilded Age. Inequality in the US is the highest it's been in a century. Why does that matter and what can be done about it? 🧵 1/N

Deadline Feb 3. Open position and research and teaching excellence are main criteria (regardless of research background/topic/methods). But for equally well qualified candidates, it is an advantage if you can teach in one of the areas where the department currently has teaching needs: (1/2)

🚨New Bright Line Watch report showing restored public confidence in elections driven by an upsurge among Rs. Experts perceive numerous threats to democracy in a second Trump term, whose probability we estimate correcting for bias toward pessimism. Report brightlinewatch.org/america-look... 🧵

We are hiring at the PolSci department at @unioslo-svfak.bsky.social. Tenure, open to all subfields, can apply for professor promotion immediately (on merits). Top international department, green and buzzing capital city of Oslo, high quality of life, great for families! www.finn.no/job/fulltime...

Attractive postdoc positions with a great researcher heading a cool project on democratic commitments

Remember the good old days in 2012? In just 12 years, the Democrats have lost ground among key demographic groups. Here’s a quick, numbers-driven dive into the US 2024 election—unpacked in 7 posts! 🧵👇🏽 #Polisky #Polsci #AcademicSky #USelection2024

Looking for the perfect Christmas gift? 🎁 Or perhaps something for Black Friday? ⚫ Why not a new book on today’s most critical topic: the crisis of Western democracies? 📚 Here are 7 impactful must-reads 🧵 👇🏽

I’ve had many interesting conversations about the election & what the next Trump administration will bring. Is the US set to slide into authoritarianism? Will we wall ourselves off from the world? Is it a new dawn of American prosperity? Might Trump remake the whole political landscape? 🧵 1/N

Do you think Europeans are getting increasingly fed up with their democracies? Not really! New 2024 Eurobarometer data reveals 50 years of democratic resilience. Top-3 in 2024: 🥇 Denmark 🥈 Luxembourg 🥉 Sweden Here are the numbers you usually don’t see.

The victory march of democracy has ended What can we as researchers do? In the Scandinavian countries, a particular tool is available: Democracy & Power Studies. The Danish government appointed me as director of such a study. We started our work this year. A 🧵 on what we do & how we do it 1/8

Looking for an updated textbook on democratization and autocratization for teaching or just interested in the conceptualization of democracy, historical and contemporary trends in regime types, and their potential causes and consequences? Then check this out: www.routledge.com/Democratizat...

Nominations are now open for the 2024 Stein Rokkan Prize, honouring a substantial and original contribution to comparative social science research ecpr.eu/Prizes/Prize...

Join us! 👉 Associate Professor, open to all fields & methodological approaches in comparative politics 🌟 Permanent position, 50/50 research/teaching 🇳🇴 Department of Comparative Politics, University of Bergen ♀️ Female candidates especially encouraged to apply ⏳ 28 February 🔗 tinyurl.com/2f8v5sh3

Very happy to have worked on this PS article with @chknutsen.bsky.social, @acrowinghen.bsky.social, @medzihorsky.bsky.social, @danpemstein.bsky.social, @silindberg.bsky.social and four other colleagues! 1/6 doi.org/10.1017/S104... polisky poldatasky openaccess

Happy to see this paper out! Using an instrumental variable approach, we find no evidence that the number of parties affects a battery of indicators of democratic quality. The paper is open access! Polisky