Yesterday, we held the 1st Annual Leiden University Workshop on Immigration & Democracy. A full day of discussion on new research covering migration, identity, and democratic attitudes. Excellent presentations and constructive feedback across all panels.

📢Early view What do welfare preferences in #DividedSocieties teach us about #NationalIdentity ❓ Peter Ward & @stevendenney86.bsky.social find that candidates orginally from Eastern Germany or North Korea are less preferred by Western Germans and South Koreans 👇 doi.org/10.1093/pols...

New in Policy & Society (OA): “Welfare Chauvinism in Divided Societies: The Role of National Identity in Social Policy Preferences”, with @rpcward89. academic.oup.com/policyandsoc... What can we learn about national identity through welfare preferences in divided societies?

More than a third of Lucid (now Cint) respondents in 2019 were "professional" respondents according to a new article in @polanalysis.bsky.social , and that's the conservative estimate www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

35 years ago, on October 3, 1990, Germany was reunified. Just two months later, voters in the former GDR went to the polls in the first free federal election since the Weimar era. Despite decades of socialist dictatorship, East German voting behavior displayed marked regional differences. Thread🧵

🚨 New paper in @thejop.bsky.social Why do politicians often misperceive what citizens' policy positions are? @simonotjes.bsky.social and I study ~10,000 estimates of public opinion by politicians in Denmark & the Netherlands to uncover the sources of these (mis)perceptions Thread 🧵1/10

Now on FirstView! This study examines how Japan’s graying influences immigration attitudes–offering insight the country’s unique stance on immigration and the political future of aging Western democracies. #polisky #immigration #academisky doi.org/10.1017/S104...

This is a really cool paper on the socialisation effects of studying at University. Surprisingly, the effects (moving in a leftward, liberal direction) are biggest for STEM students and those who move away from home to study, attend a single campus uni, and who live in ‘university towns’ and London.

🚨 New working paper! 🚨 @grattonecon.bsky.social and I just completed the first draft of "The Rise and Fall of Technocratic Democracies". Excited to present it in Munich this week—thanks to Laura Seelkopf, Christoph Knill & others for hosting us! 🧵👇 ▶️ Motivation Many democracies have undergone a

I’m happy to share this paper in @cpsjournal.bsky.social on democracy and national narratives, with insights from South Korea and Taiwan. It is part of a special issue on postcolonial narratives with @paulschuler.bsky.social, @deandulay.bsky.social, + others. journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

My comprehensive overview of Lee Jae-myung's return to power, focusing on domestic political considerations. Some key takeaways and additional considerations given Lee's victory. 👇

The most comprehensive account yet of how South Korea’s progressive bloc has evolved in the foreign policy domain -- and what Lee Jae-myung’s election victory tells us about changes to its foreign policy tradition. A must-read. The key takeaways, as I see them. 👇

My new article shows that high-speed internet access worsens adolescent mental health, especially for girls. It increases screen time, reduces sleep, studying, and socializing, and encourages online coping with emotional distress. @wuvienna.bsky.social Available at the Journal of Health Economics 👇

I am presenting and participating today at the 8th Annual Meeting of the Social Science Korean Studies Network in Europe (SoKEN), hosted by @hannes-mosler.bsky.social at the University of Duisburg-Essen. My presentation explores support for 'guardianship democracy' in East and Southeast Asia.

How do voters behave in democracies with unstable parties? In a newly published article in Party Politics, @pward89.bsky.social and I examine South Korea, a textbook case of an “ephemeral party system.” The article is Open Access. journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

The Supreme Court overturned Lee Jae-myung’s acquittal in an election law case, ordering a retrial. The final outcome and the impact on the public's view of Lee are to be seen. General disarray at the highest levels of governance in South Korea at present. www.reuters.com/world/asia-p...

With Yoon Suk-yeol's impeachment upheld, South Korea heads to snap elections. Lee Jae-myung is the strong favorite for next president. My cover article for The Diplomat examines Lee's return to center stage since his razor thin defeat to Yoon in 2022. More 👇 magazine.thediplomat.com/2025-04/will...

BREAKING NEWS - South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol REMOVED from office by the court's unanimous decision www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

If we take opposition to Yoon's impeachment as a measure of authoritarian political attitudes, there are some observations we can make and hypotheses, some competing, that we can consider. 👇

With Yoon's impeachment ruling due this Friday, here's Gallup Korea polling data from the 4th week of March. Support/oppose impeachment-ALL: 60/34 (+26) -progressives: 93/5 (+88) -conservatives: 27/69 (-42) -18-29: 62/26 (+36) -70+: 35/58 (-23) -18-29 males: 52/36 (+16) -18-29 females: 72/15 (+57)

Seoul High Court overturned Lee Jae-myung's conviction for election law violations, clearing a major obstacle for the Democratic leader’s potential presidential bid. However, the prosecution intends to appeal Lee's acquittal to the Supreme Court. www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR2025...

between 1995 and 2014,∼20 percent of the apparent decline in global inequality can be explained by the overstatement of GDP growth in less democratic countries academic.oup.com/sf/advance-a...

Join us for our 17th Asia Academy! South Korea is facing significant political turbulence after President Yoon Seok-yeol’s unexpected declaration of martial law, leading to his impeachment and arrest. What are the implications for South Korea? More info: leidenasiacentre.nl/event/asia-a...

I will present new research on South Korean immigration attitudes tomorrow at the conference "Recalibrating ‘Skill’ in Changing Immigration Regimes", hosted by the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore. A snippet of the main findings 🧵🔻.

People don't really think any of this! Overestimates of small proportions are a quirk of general innumeracy, not genuine misperceptions. See research by @brianguay.bsky.social et al: —PNAS forthcoming: www.brianguay.com/files/guay_2... —Psychonomic Bulletin 2017: link.springer.com/article/10.3...

As per Gallup Korea, support for the country's two main parties—left-leaning Minjoo Party (blue) and right-leaning People Power Party (red)—has reverted to pre-martial law levels. This follows a brief high for Minjoo at the time of President Yoon's impeachment. www.gallup.co.kr/gallupdb/rep...

Fascinating paper by Claudia Goldin on drivers of low fertility in advanced economies. Countries where economic progress outstrips social progress (in particular, gender equality in household division of labour) see the most rapid falls in fertility.. www.nber.org/papers/w33311

Taking a step back from the fray of politics and political scandal in South Korea, data show that attitudes toward political rule are changing. Compared to its peer group of liberal democracies, support for democracy is in modest decline, but the story is much more complicated. 📊🧵

Regarding the "what can be done to address backsliding" - institutional reforms that addressing core issues (lack of representativeness, etc.). journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

This is what I get for satisfaction with democracy with the Eurobarometer, from the EU25 in 2004-2023. Not much of a downward trend here.

Working with WVS longitudinal data for another task, I reproduced the generational analysis using a different var: support for democracy. In electoral and liberal democracies, I find that young adults are not "rapidly losing faith in democracy". Attitudes are holding steady in support.

Much to unpack in the OG piece. But, here, “satisfaction” and “faith” aren’t the same. Also that y-axis is unjustifiably truncated. And we have got to stop using arrows.

Glad to see this study w @jbpilet.bsky.social out in Party Politics: via an experiment in Belgium, we show that claims by a mainstream party (N-VA) to rule with the radical right (VB) legitimizes the latter, while not electorally benefitting the former journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

In this short reflection article for the Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, I focus on the impact of the New Right and election conspiracies among the Korean far right on Yoon's decision to declare martial law. 1/ apjjf.org/2024/12/engel

Han argues that appointing the three Constitutional Court candidates nominated by the National Assembly belongs exclusively to an elected president. There is a political logic to this, but it does not seem legally justified.

With majority support from the National Assembly (192/300 votes), South Korea's National Assembly impeaches acting President Han Duck-soo. Han’s refusal to appoint constitutional judges triggered this impeachment. The ruling PPP did not participate in the vote. www.joongang.co.kr/article/2530...

Academics from poorer socio-economic backgrounds are more likely to - not publish - have outstanding publication records - introduce more novel scientific concepts - less likely to receive recognition, as measured by citations, Nobel Prize nominations, and awards. www.nber.org/papers/w33289

I am increasingly convinced that comparative politics (including especially me) has fundamentally misunderstood contemporary democratic backsliding. We are attending to elections and the rule of law, when the politics is more fundamental, about a vision for the state and society within it 1/x

The more I dig, the more I reach the conclusion that the party’s alignment with the far-right was strategic (disturbing!), but Yoon has become a true believer in far-right rhetoric (scary!).

With a vote of 204 for, 85 against, 3 abstentions, and 8 spoiled ballots, President Yoon Seok-yeol is the second (conservative) president in three administrations to be impeached in South Korea.

Gallup Korea's new numbers are out, just 24 hours ahead of the 2nd impeachment vote. Thread incoming.

🚨Why is ethnic & racial homogeneity correlated with higher trust & social cohesion?🚨 Using new historical data from Brazil, our paper shows how cohesive & homogenous communities are both more likely to develop under stronger state institutions: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

The pro-Han Dong-hoon "line"/faction (친한계) and pro-Yoon line (친윤계) shows clearly in a presser during the congress to elect a new party floor leader. Han, the party leader, speaks out against Yoon and now calls for his party to support impeachment. www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVjU...

The South Korean mediascape is quite overwhelming right now, but it shows a democracy in crisis after the martial law decree. Reports reveal that the Yoon administration was serious about thwarting democracy and establishing military rule. The fallout is severe, but the next steps are unclear.

Expressing my solidarity with political scientists worldwide calling for the immediate impeachment of President Yoon. 윤석열 대통령의 즉각적인 탄핵을 촉구하며 전 세계 정치학자들과 연대합니다. ysgrad.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

“What makes these paintings so recognizable is that their ordinary is our ordinary too.” New online, @matthewblongo.bsky.social on last year’s Vermeer exhibition at the Rijksmuseum, and the world the Dutch Golden Age made:

Apropos of current events, a new study asks if South Korean voters overcome partisanship to reject undemocratic leaders. Findings show partisan loyalty weakens accountability, although violations of electoral integrity provoke strong backlash regardless. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

South Korea’s 707th Special Mission Group and the 1st Airborne Brigade, trained for things like anti-terrorism operations, found themselves deployed against unarmed civilians at the Nat. Assembly. Chosun Ilbo has published anonymized interviews with some deployed. www.chosun.com/national/nat...

4) warned by precedent. I imagine political fallout from 2017 is on their mind. Calls to be "strategic" = prevent party from splintering into pro-/anti-Yoon camps and handing progressives (esp. Lee) too much power 5) to by time. For what exactly, we don't know.