I’m very happy to share that the first paper of my PhD, «From the streets to the ballots: Protests, polls and Polarization in Hong Kong» has been published online in @democratization.bsky.social It is open access, and you can read it here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

“Diffusion of Digital Authoritarian Practices in China’s Neighbourhood: The Cases of Iran and Pakistan.” by Galib Bashirov, Shahram Akbarzadeh, @ihsanylmz.bsky.social and Zahid Shahab Ahmed in @democratization.bsky.social (2025) #AutumnReading

"China’s Active Defence Against Democracy Promotion: A Conceptual Analysis" by Sungmin Cho in @democratization.bsky.social ‪‪‬(2025) #AutumnReading

📄 🚨 New Research on Polarization, Fragmentation, and Democracy in @democratization.bsky.social Nils-Christian Bormann and I explore the impact of ideological polarization and fragmentation on the democratic systems of interwar Europe: lnkd.in/erjJr9qF #polarization #democracy #data #history (1/4)

We have page numbers 🥳 Independent #judiciaries around the world are under threat from authoritarian #populists - but the threat starts long before these actors enter office! More on the dangers of "populists before power" 👉👉👉 doi.org/10.1080/1351... #OpenAccess @democratization.bsky.social

Excited to share my latest co-authored article with @toygarsinanbaykan.bsky.social in @democratization.bsky.social “The Frenemy Within: Populism’s Dual Role in Democratization” We explore how populism can both revive and erode democracy. 🔗 tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... @lse-ei.bsky.social

Mehr Informationen auch in unserem Aufsatz zu “Populists before power” in @democratization.bsky.social 👉 doi.org/10.1080/1351... und meinem Beitrag im @verfassungsblog.de 👉 verfassungsblog.de/delegitimier...

📈 Larry Diamond’s “Democratic regression in comparative perspective” just hit T&F’s top Altmetric scores last week! 📖 Free to access through August: doi.org/10.1080/1351... 📊 Score details: www.altmetric.com/details/9064...

Concerned with conflicts over political liberties & the regime in federal states? Just out in @democratization.bsky.social - A new, regime-change driven „genotype of secession“. - How it mattered in the breakup of the Soviet Union & Yugoslavia. Is California next? www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

🇹🇳Me complace compartir nuestro nuevo artículo con @mhlarramendi.bsky.social y Antonio Alfonso: “Voting with dissatisfaction: An analysis of the 2019 parliamentart election in Tunisia” t.co/Y0CXK79EHf en @democratization.bsky.social #Túnez @pablodeolavide.upo.es @humanidadesto.bsky.social

Now with page number! This article contends that women’s issues change as democracy deepens, and yet the relationship is not always linear but dynamic. We show it with 80 years of legislative debates in SK doi.org/10.1080/1351...

How do authoritarian regimes wield tech? ‪‪@daraconduit.bsky.social‬ shows Iran’s digital authoritarianism isn’t just repression—it’s a state-building tool shaped by domestic political economy. Essential reading on authoritarian innovation. doi.org/10.1080/1351...

@williamhatu.bsky.social examines predictors for support for military rule. Perceived executive violation of the law, corruption in the president’s office + president’s underperformance influence support for military rule with trust in military as underlying factor. doi.org/10.1080/1351...

Think contested leadership races turn voters away? Think again. Competitive primaries aren't just democratic—they can also be an electoral asset. Javier Astudillo & @tonirodon.bsky.social @upf.edu doi.org/10.1080/1351...

What is a #regime? The answer is not as straightforward as it might seem, but is crucial for understanding how regimes operate and transform. Identifying procedural, actor-centred, and sociological approaches to regimes. @catherineowen.bsky.social #CEDARhttps://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2025.2483418

How vulnerable are democracies to authoritarian influence? T Kobayashi, @yuanzhouir.bsky.social et al. find that illiberal narratives from China & Russia shape public opinion more strongly than mainstream democratic narratives—even when both are presented together. doi.org/10.1080/1351...

Bobi Wine’s rise in Uganda isn’t a break from liberal norms—it’s a reassertion. This article by Luke Melchiorre shows how People Power draws from liberalism despite its revolutionary tone, challenging assumptions about African populism. doi.org/10.1080/1351...

New paper with Tilko Swalve, Merle Huber, Christoph Hönnige & @donyhu.bsky.social now out in @democratization.bsky.social 🥳 We argue that we need to look more closely at the threats to liberal democracy posed by authoritarian “populists before power” 🚨 doi.org/10.1080/1351...

Just read a new article in @democratization.bsky.social that I think offers an important insight for how pro-democracy actors should think about responding to Trump/Rubio's unlawful abductions of pro-Palestine activists: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... 1/

Delighted to share my latest article, entitled "What is a Regime? Three Definitions and their Implications for the Future of Regime Studies", co-authored with Licia Cianetti and Gianni Del Panta, published open access today in @democratization.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

This is a nice @democratization.bsky.social piece co-authored by @cais-exeter.bsky.social @catherineowen.bsky.social. I think my work is at the intersection of actor-centred & sociological approaches to regimes. The actors & their social context are transnational. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

🚀 Thrilled to see The Will of the People sparking debate! 📢 A thoughtful review by @adrianbua.bsky.social explores how the book tackles democracy’s paradoxes—from participation’s promises to perversions. @democratization.bsky.social 🔗 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

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 ⬇️

New Publication! 📣 Did you ever think that all these measures for "hybrid" autocracies out there are kinda the same? Read "Electoral autocracies, hybrid regimes, and multiparty autocracies: same, same but different?" by @jonaswschmid.bsky.social in @democratization.bsky.social tinyurl.com/2vmyrw8e

The article presents a summary of a substantive study conducted by @angelovpanaro.bsky.social and published recently on @democratization.bsky.social. You can read the full article here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

When do governments enshrine digital rights restrictions into law? Our Centre PhD candidate Maurice Schumann @realmps.bsky.social, explores this in his first solo article in @democratization.bsky.social. Read more here: www.hertie-school.org/en/news/deta...

My new article is out in Democratization! I show how opposition parties in authoritarian regimes use local electoral wins as stepping stones for national-level victories. Free access: t.co/tgxrZ2rCJe @democratization.bsky.social @gcpolisci.bsky.social

Waging an endless war is Netanyahu's "blood gambit". He'll gladly watch the world burn if that's what it takes to stay in power. @yusufsarfati.bsky.social and I wrote about it recently for @democratization.bsky.social. Link: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... DM for full text.

Die Attacken der #noAfD und anderer autoritärer Populisten gegen Richter:innen und Gerichte nehmen zu! Auf Basis unseres Aufsatzes in @democratization.bsky.social (doi.org/10.1080/1351...) erkläre ich hier, welche Strategie dahintersteckt und wie dadurch die Unabhängigkeit der Justiz gefährdet wird.

New Publication! 📣 When do governments limit digital rights through law? Read "Legalizing Control: The Rise of Restrictive Internet Regulation in Sub-Saharan Africa" by @realmps.bsky.social in @democratization.bsky.social doi.org/10.1080/1351... For a quick overview, read the 1-pager below.

This article by @brunofeuerheerd.bsky.social demonstrates how open social media applications allow loyalists to perform public opinion and police critical views in authoritarian systems, using original data from Saudi Arabia. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

How do counterrevolutions shape collective memory? In their latest article, @ernugent.bsky.social and Michael T. Hoffman explore disappointment & demobilization in Egypt. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

@danschindler.bsky.social explores how party-based recall mechanisms can serve autocratic leaders in maintaining control under the guise of legality. Argues for extending recall typologies to include party-based rules and investigates their "democraticness." www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

With my colleague @thaddaea.bsky.social, I reviewed @magedmandour.bsky.social's new book "Egypt under El-Sisi" for @democratization.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

And also, a publication in Democratization @democratization.bsky.social doi.org/10.1080/1351...

I was lucky enough that Valentina Petrović @sociology-uzh.bsky.social invited me to a book talk on "Structural origins of post-Yugoslav regimes". Here I wrote down for @democratization.bsky.social @felixschulte.bsky.social why you should read the book: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Voting technologies aren’t neutral, esp in the contexts of high political polarisation and electoral manipulation. In the new article, @faburkhardt.bsky.social & Jan Matti Dollbaum analyse surveys from Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine on internet voting & public perceptions @democratization.bsky.social

An incredibly important contribution to understanding the 2020 mass protests in #Belarus: Eleanor Bindman & Tatsiana Chulitskaya explore the role of civil society organisations & informal community initiatives based on the data from interviews with exiled Belarusians ⤵️ @democratization.bsky.social

When democracy-enhancing recalls turn into means of autocratic consolidation. My case study on 🇿🇼 in @democratization.bsky.social shows how recalls served as post-electoral mechanism to disrupt the opposition and weaken the legislature as institution of contestation. 👉 t1p.de/2uneh

@hannefjelde.bsky.social and me have a new open access article out in @democratization.bsky.social! doi.org/10.1080/1351... We study how militarized elections shape citizens’ support for democratic rights – and present evidence from a vignette experiment in India 🪖🗳️ Thread follows ⬇️

Great to see this paper co-authored with Laure Bokobza out with an issue number in @democratization.bsky.social (albeit it has been online first for a while). In the article we argue and show that dictatorships increasingly include multiple parties in the governing coalition to co-opt outsiders.

Why did the ruling party choose not to vote for impeachment in SK? Lessons can be drawn from the previous impeachment in 2016. My article in @democratization.bsky.social shows how the party and the far-right forces aligned since the impeachment. www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...

🚨 New article alert in @democratization.bsky.social: Why do authoritarian regimes maintain access to open U.S.-owned social media platforms like Twitter - despite their subversive potential - and how do pro-government supporters use them? 👇 OA link: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... Menasky

Things will have to change? Analysing the Spanish transition to democracy from an elite perspective www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... Paper in @democratization.bsky.social co-authored by Nuffield Student Inés Echevarría #PoliSky #NuffSky

"Exporting Autocrat’s Playbook? Diverging Impacts of China and Russia on Contemporary Democratic Backsliding" by @woojeongjang.bsky.social & Dain Yoo via @democratization.bsky.social (2024) #WinterReading

📢 Do you work on illiberalism? Are you interested in sharing your reflections or making your publications visible? 🔭 Write a blog post for the illiberalism series of *The Loop* (@ecprtheloop.bsky.social) the pol sci blog of ECPR (@ecpr.bsky.social) theloop.ecpr.eu

1. Thrilled to announce the publication of my new article in @democratization.bsky.social " How Security Shaped Libya's Transition?" @uofgsocsci.bsky.social @uofgsps.bsky.social

Looking forward to seeing you all.

Hello everyone. Tell your friends and colleagues that Democratization is here. #Polisky #Dictatorsky #CivMilSky #Comparativesky #behavioursky

How has President Obiang of Equatorial Guinea 🇬🇶 evolved his elite strategy over 40yrs in power? Exploiting individual elite data @austinsmatthews & Ana Lúcia Sá (@CEI_Iscte) find that co-regionality with Obiang is key to elite political survival....