Some professional news as I took my oath of office today: On September 1st, I joined the University of Hamburg as a full professor of democratic political decision making👋 I'm very excited about this job & the chance to continue researching democracy, party competition and digitalization here 1/2

Out now @socmovstudies.bsky.social: we introduce the concept of a "protest script" & demonstrate how video-enhanced protest event analysis (vPEA) helps trace a common script of the Italian and German anti-containment protests. doi.org/10.1080/1474...

Congratulations! 🏆 Penny Goldberg receives the A.SK Social Science Award 2025. The WZB honors the economist @yalejackson.bsky.social for her research on global trade linkages and inequality. www.wzb.eu/en/press-rel... 📅This year's award ceremony will take place on Wednesday, November 5, 2025.

As I am fairly new to Bluesky, this comes a bit late, but it is still worth checking out: Our #oa introduction to the @jeppjournal.bsky.social special issue on "Europe’s Changing Protest Landscape" with @sophiahunger.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/toc/rjpp20/3...

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

💥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...

I am beyond excited to announce that ggplot2 4.0.0 has just landed on CRAN. It's not every day we have a new major #ggplot2 release but it is a fitting 18 year birthday present for the package. Get an overview of the release in this blog post and be on the lookout for more in-depth posts #rstats

Very excited to be at APSA in Vancouver this week! I am looking forward to the conference and to many interesting presentations. #apsa2025 Let me know if you would like to grab a coffee and discuss any of the topics that I'll be talking about ⬇️

Please consider signing this petition and supporting the great political science research and teaching at the University of Cologne!

The University of Cologne plans drastic cuts to its Political Science department, potentially abolishing the MSc in Political Science and eliminating the professorships in IR and Comparative Politics. This would severely weaken the social sciences at @unicologne.bsky.social. Petition (de/en) ⤵️

@wzb.bsky.social is looking for a new director Two weeks left to apply; these are really great permanent senior positions with resources to support an ambitious research agenda hugely important topic www.wzb.eu/en/jobs/dire... please share with people not on here

📢 Launching this fall: PolCom Classics! A monthly online webinar where leading scholars revisit “classic” themes in political communication - mis/disinfo, framing, digitalization & more. 🗓 Every last Thu, 12–13 CET First session: Sept 25 w/ @rensvliegenthart.bsky.social. @nefca.bsky.social

One of the several reasons why a bunch of senior officials in the GWB administration needed to go to jail was precisely so that we did not arrive at the point we are now with 👇, & disappearances/renditions, & all the other things, happening daily, totally divorced from both domestic & int'l law.

📢 Call for papers: "Political Identities in Europe" workshop, Nov 13-14, 2025 @uvahumanities.bsky.social @theresakuhn.bsky.social How are political identities constructed across Europe? Deadline: Sept 26, 2025. 🔗 Info & submission: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

I’m very excited to share that my paper “Cleavage theory meets civil society: A framework and research agenda” with @eborbath.bsky.social & Swen Hutter has now been published online in ‪@wepsocial.bsky.social‬ (w/ open access funding thanks to @wzb.bsky.social‬!) www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Es ist ermüdend. Die immer gleichen abgedroschenen und unfundierten Narrative über die Linke und den Aufstieg der radikalen Rechten. Was macht man aber wenn Leitmedien unbeirrt von Kritik und journalistischen Standards den Unsinn reproduzieren? Der immer gleiche Tanz aus Provokation und Empörung...

On Thursday at 8:30: I'll be presenting joint work with @dasalgon.bsky.social on how parties react to political violence and contribute to political polarisation. @kanol.bsky.social , Gary LaFree and I organised a panel with excellent cotributions by @britdavidson.bsky.social and Leoni Heyn

Tomorrow 10:45: I'll be presenting a working paper with @lennartschuermann.bsky.social which shows that effective state action against the far right increases public support for democracy. This is part of the great panel by @larboe.bsky.social , @javidibad.bsky.social & @sldelange.bsky.social

@deeesharp.bsky.social & I are looking for a collaborator on a project w/ @offenegesellschaft.bsky.social on empathy-based interventions against affective polarization @uni-hamburg.de j0b.de/veca 75% PhD position, 1st yr project funded & can be converted to a position w/ teaching afterwards 📆31/08

Vicente Valentim, Elias Dinas, & I came together to do this paper because we have all long shared an intution: mainstream center-right rhetoric shapes democratic norms. The hard part? Showing it empirically. We make some headway in this new paper. Grateful to @bjpols.bsky.social for publishing.

Trying to put together a list of restaurant & bar recs for friends coming to Vancouver (my hometown) for #APSA2025 has evolved into a ... slightly different project #polisky

Feels like a good time to share this call for papers. Can't wait for EPSS 2026!

The Call for Papers for the 2026 EPSS annual conference in Belfast is now live! Looking forward to your submissions!! Check out all details in this thread 👇

The European Political Science Society is now accepting paper & panel proposals for its annual conference! 📢 Call for Papers: EPSS 2026 – Belfast
 🗓️ June 18–20, 2026
 📍 ICC Belfast
 📬 Deadline: Nov 7, 2025 🧵

Edgar Grande and @dasalgon.bsky.social examine the role of political trust in protests 🔗 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

📫 Latest special issue: Europe's Changing Protest Landscape, edited by ‪@sophiahunger.bsky.social and Swen Hutter. In their introductory article, they sketch Europe's ‘new contentious politics’ landscape and preview the issue's articles 👇 🔗 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

New article out at the American Journal of Political Science: "The Troubles and Beyond: The impact of a museum exhibit on a post‐conflict society." With Dr. Elsa Voytas. Open access here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

🚨New article w/ @eborbath.bsky.social & Swen Hutter Protest and the rise of left-nationalist challengers: evidence from Germany 📔 Social Movement Studies 🔗 doi.org/10.1080/1474... In 2022, Germany faced a cost-of-living crisis. Many expected a “Hot Autumn” of mass protest—but it never happened. Why?

🚨 New article out in Journal of Civil Society with Swen Hutter! We explore how civil society organizations (CSOs) mobilized volunteers during the COVID-19 pandemic, a moment of both rising need and shrinking organizational capacity. 📖 Open access link: doi.org/10.1080/1744...

🚧 Schaden radikale Klimaproteste der Bewegung? @dasalgon.bsky.social & Swen Hutter (@wzb.bsky.social) zeigen: Straßenblockaden polarisieren, aber die Unterstützung für Klimapolitik bleibt stabil. Einblicke & Implikationen für Strategien der Klimabewegung in Teil 4 der #PPRnet Series.

How do populists define “the people”? @tiondelisa.bsky.social examines how right-wing populists construct ingroup identity through opposition. Read OPEN ACCESS: buff.ly/GEvXWhB @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social @uoypolitics.bsky.social @sagepub.com #polsky #polsci #ECRs

Viel ist darüber debattiert worden, ob radikale Proteste wie etwa von @letztegeneration.bsky.social der Klimabewegung schaden. @dasalgon.bsky.social & Swen Hutter (beide @wzb.bsky.social) zeigen empirisch: Straßenblockaden polarisieren, doch die Unterstützung für Klimapolitik bleibt stabil. #PPRNet

🚨 Big News for European Political Science 🚨 We’re thrilled to announce the launch of the European Political Science Society (EPSS): a new, member-led, not-for-profit association built to support our scholarly community. 🔗 epssnet.org Here’s a thread with everything you need to know. 🧵

Interesting insights 👇🏼

🚨 Big news from our last business meeting in #ICA25! We’re launching the Political Communication Teaching Database, a shared space where educators can upload and download course materials on #polcomm. 👉 Submit your materials here: tally.so/r/mDMGb5 #TeachingResources #ICA #APSA

Life hack: when reviewers say that your contribution is "not big enough"... ...Increase the font size of your manuscript.

❗ The 𝘞𝘡𝘉 𝘉𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘯 (@wzb.bsky.social‬) establishes a 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 for the 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐲 and is looking for its future 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 ❗ 📣 Let all the excellent democracy researchers out there know! ⁣ ⁣ wzb.eu/en/jobs/dire... ⁣ #Polisky @epsanet.bsky.social @ecpr.bsky.social @apsa.bsky.social

Die deutsche Zivilgesellschaft diskutiert permanent über Strategie - zum Beispiel gegen die extreme Rechte. In unserem Forschungsprojekt haben wir 192 Handreichungen und Leitfäden von zivilgesellschaftlichen Organisationen - darunter sicherlich einige die sich als "links" verstehen - gesammelt.

Kind reminder about this event on Friday at 2 pm @wzb.bsky.social "Contentious Politics in Catalonia" - Info & registration (on site/Zoom): www.wzb.eu/de/veranstal... Book launch with @hajogu.bsky.social and discussion by @laiabalcells.bsky.social More info 👇

@heikogiebler.bsky.social, Johannes Giesecke, @macartan.bsky.social, Swen Hutter & @heikekluever.bsky.social investigate support for petitions on migration and climate change across the EU-27 in the context of the 2024 European Parliament elections 👇 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

🚨 NEW PUBLICATION! Who belongs to “the people” – and who does not? What a great way to start the week. I’m really happy that my article on populist in- and outgroup references is now out in @polstudies.bsky.social #openaccess 🔓 doi.org/10.1177/0032... 🧵 1/10

A huge congratulations to @nicolaiberk.bsky.social for winning this year's 2025 Kaid Sanders @polcomm.bsky.social article of the year award! #ica25 Having known Nico for a long time, I have seen the gigantic effort that went into this paper and can say it is incredibly well deserved!

Ex-Verfsssungsrichter Vosskuhle 👇 "Hat eine Entscheidung, die formal keine Bindungskraft für andere Entscheidungen entfaltet, nicht gleichwohl eine Bedeutung für den politischen Prozess? Da wird man sagen müssen: das hat sie."

Können Bürgerräte die repräsentative Demokratie stärken? Wir diskutieren Ergebnisse aus vier praxisnahen Forschungsprojekten auf einem Roundtable mit @polenz.bsky.social, @kliesenberg.bsky.social, Felix Arndt, Stabstelle Bürgerräte @bundestag.de und @heikekluever.bsky.social 1/4

Heftig, wie verfestigt die Erzählung schon ist, dass die Eskalation nicht von der Regierung, die ICE Agenten schickt, um in militarisiertem Aufzug nicht-Weiße Menschen von ihren Arbeitsplätzen & Communities weg, teils auf Verdacht, ohne Haftbefehl, festzunehmen, sondern von Demonstranten ausgeht

🤩I'm extremely excited to have @laiabalcells.bsky.social at the WZB to discuss secessionism, protest, and affective polarization in Catalonia on June 20 - including findings from her research and my very own book. 📖 The event will be hybrid at the WZB and on Zoom - more info how to register below!👇

📣 "Contentious Politics in Catalonia" Join us June 20, 2pm @wzb.bsky.social Book launch "Organizing for Independence" by @hajogu.bsky.social (WZB) Discussion: @laiabalcells.bsky.social (Georgetown) on aff. polariz. & nat. conflicts Info & registration (on site/Zoom) www.wzb.eu/de/veranstal...

Sharing a similar struggle as the Italian media keeps labelling Italian far-right parties as ‘centre-right’ and their partners abroad as ‘sovereigntist’, ‘conservative’, ‘nationalist’, or ‘populist’—doing everyone a huge disservice. Why so difficult to call the far right ‘far right’? 🤔

You don’t need more ideas. You need a better question. A thread on clarity, chaos, & what a Nobel Prize winner, a mosquito net & a PhD meltdown taught me about writing (+ thinking) better. 🪨 Here’s my new Respect the Marble post: catherineeunicedevries.substack.com/p/you-dont-n... 🧵