Kate McNamara, Professor & author of The Politics of Everyday Europe, treats writing as a way of thinking clearly about power, markets & the ideas that connect them. For her, writing isn’t easy, it’s a struggle, but one worth having! 🪶 New: catherineeunicedevries.substack.com/p/etched-in-... 🧵


📢 Since launching EPSS in June 2025, we’ve been thrilled by the positive feedback from across the political science community. Now that Call for Papers for EPSS Conference in Belfast has closed, we want to share the response has been extraordinary! 🧵

Dit was een heel fijn gesprek, met Pieter van der Wielen. Hier te luisteren en te lezen: www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/...

I am not a lawyer, just a historian, but one fundamental problem with the political debate about the EU, especially in English publications is that the whole principle of the acquis communnitaire is not understood or taken seriously. The EU is a framework of rules, not an alliance.

Maybe we could all “quarantine the morning to read and write” and send non-urgent emails only after lunch? :) "He protects what he calls his “first-thing” hours: the stretch of morning when thought still moves unfiltered. No meetings before eleven if he can help it, and ideally, no email either."

Daniel Ziblatt writes the way he studies democracy: with discipline, patience, and a refusal to look away from complexity. He writes with the conviction that democracy depends on the continuous work of understanding. 🧵 New on Etched in Marble: catherineeunicedevries.substack.com/p/etched-in-...

Don’t forget to apply to EPSS!

Deadline for EPSS 2026 is this Friday!

📊 now in English @fesonline.bsky.social: Gender gap in voting behavior in Germany📊 It's about the “big picture” since 1953 & current trends 2021-2025. The gender gap keeps growing, especially among the young. -> Longer trends are continuing & partly accelerating. library.fes.de/pdf-files/a-...

Please share!: Last week to apply for @epssnet.bsky.social Belfast 2026 really good news is that there's been an amazing response to the call for papers already; now very excited for this meeting ⬇️ We put together a quick FAQ on Qs that have come up on submitting: epssnet.org/conferences/...

De Nederlandse politiek zit al 36 jaar in een slingerbeweging. Lange periodes van brede, richtingloze middencoalities worden afgewisseld door korte oprispingen van instabiel bestuur met radicaalrechts. Maar die slinger zwaait steeds iets minder ver terug. www.groene.nl/artikel/de-p...

My take on what 🇳🇱 elections may mean for 🇪🇺 @ Politico.eu “What is already clear is that the Dutch electorate voted far more pro-European than it did in 2023. […] Euroskepticism that once dominated the political mood has given way to a quiet mandate for cooperation” www.politico.eu/article/neth...

On the 🇳🇱elections and the EU @catherinedevries.bsky.social: "For years now, Dutch politics have been oscillating between pragmatic euro-realism and latent Euroskepticism. But this election may finally signal the pendulum’s slow return toward a more pro-Europe center" www.politico.eu/article/neth...

Very good piece by @catherinedevries.bsky.social on what the Dutch election might mean for Europe www.politico.eu/article/neth...

As the #Netherlands moves to the center, #EU is watching: @catherinedevries.bsky.social www.politico.eu/article/neth... #politics

#OpenAccess from @ejprjournal.bsky.social - Support for liberal democracy in times of crisis: Evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic - https://cup.org/3X0aJ0i - @vinarceneaux.bsky.social, Bert N. Bakker, Sara B. Hobolt & @catherinedevries.bsky.social#OpenAccess #FirstView #COVID19

Profiel | Het politieke midden liep vanaf het begin van deze eeuw langzaam leeg, constateerde de Ierse cult-intellectueel Peter Mair (1951-2010). Kan het zich ook weer vullen? buff.ly/NFm53Dv

VNG: aantijgingen verkiezingsproces zijn 'bedreiging voor de democratie' nos.nl/l/2588839

Better get your paper submissions in for the @epssnet.bsky.social conference in June 2026, as the deadline is 7 November, and we have no intention of extended that (given the submission numbers)! epssnet.org/belfast-2026...

Leestip!

I have just written a Substack piece with some scenarios of what would have happened in the recent Dutch election if there had been 4% electoral threshold (with apologies to my Dutch friends for banging on about this!) substack.com/home/post/p-...

I'd never really thought explicitly about writing, how I do it, and why I do it, til this conversation with @catherinedevries.bsky.social Who makes it sound like I've thought it all through much better than I have... catherineeunicedevries.substack.com/p/etched-in-...

Inzichtelijk stuk van @catherinedevries.bsky.social wat een premierschap van Jetten betekent voor onze positie in Europa. Zij verwacht dat deze wellicht kan verbeteren, al is de liberale invloed in Europa wel tanende www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/...

Brilliant series. So good to hear from others who write so well.

Draad

Uitdagend (om het zacht te zeggen).

Dutch elections can be confusing due to the sheer number of parties involved. Broadly though it was a shift back to the centre and splintering of the far right after the mess the far right VVD made of government. Parties like D66, a centrist and CDA centre-right regained a lot. #speirgorm

Opinie stuk in NRC vandaag: “Nederland schuift naar het midden op, Brussel kijkt mee” Ik bespreek de mogelijke verkiezingsuitslag kan betekenen voor de Nederlandse positie 🇳🇱 in Europa. 🇪🇺 👉🏽 www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/...

Men is in VVD-kringen nu geloof ik in jubelstemming omdat nóg erger is voorkomen maar ter ontnuchtering: in termen van het percentage van de uitgebrachte stemmen boekte Dilan Yesilgöz gisteren het slechtste verkiezingsresultaat van een VVD-lijsttrekker sinds Molly Geertsema in 1971...

Ik mis Nederland vaak. Maar als ik op de NOS zie dat partijen hun verkiezingsoverwinning vieren met slagroomtaart, gaat dat gevoel toch snel over.

Bij het Briefstembureau voor stemmers vanuit het buitenland haalde D66 in 2023 2.863 stemmen meer dan de PVV. Dat gat is nu allicht groter.

Anand Menon has a rare gift: making the hardest political questions feel answerable. As professor at King’s & director of UK in a Changing Europe, he’s done more than almost anyone to make British-EU relations intelligible. 👉🏽 catherineeunicedevries.substack.com/p/etched-in-... 🧵

Fors probleem voor de formatievariant over rechts: de combinatie D66-VVD-CDA-JA21 zou in de Senaat maar 24 zetels hebben, veel te weinig om te kunnen regeren. Zelfs met BBB erbij is het niet genoeg (37), dus het zal ook de SGP nodig hebben. Volkomen onrealistisch dus.

Helemaal eens met @catherinedevries.bsky.social dat wij een kiesdrempel nodig hebben, voor overzichtelijk parlement en effectieve uitvoerende regering! fd.nl/opinie/15748...

Writing for the algorithm? @cfieschi.bsky.social talking to @catherinedevries.bsky.social. Can something be 'shareable' without losing its complexity? What do you think @sbeverts.bsky.social @anthonyzach.be @garethbxl.bsky.social ?

A 3-party coalition would become a possibility. Simplifying assumption: All 23% voters for small parties vote randomly for one of the 6 big parties GL / PvdA: 15 + 23/6 = 19% D66: 13.5 + 23/6 = 17% CDA: 13 + 23/6 = 17% --------------------- Coalition size = 53% > 50%

Zo, ik heb inmiddels begrepen dat er twee dingen zijn die grote delen van online Nederlanders op de kast jagen: 1. Pleidooi voor Eurobonds 2. Pleidooi voor een kiesdrempel (moet er wel bij zeggen dat ik niet weet of er een overlap is tussen beide groepen 😉)

The Netherlands has an extraordinary proportional-representation system where any party that can win 0.66% gets a seat. The result is 15 parties in parliament and high instability. @catherinedevries.bsky.social and @simonhix.bsky.social argue that a German-style lower bound is needed.

Morgen (vandaag al online) in het @fd.nl: samen met @simonhix.bsky.social pleiten we voor een kiesdrempel in Nederland. We vermoeden dat dit niet helemaal onopgemerkt zal blijven. 😉 📝 fd.nl/opinie/15748...

We have just advertised a Full Prof position in the Political and Social Sciences department at the EUI (@eui-sps.bsky.social). Here are the details. Please spread the word, and get in touch if you have any questions. www.eui.eu/Documents/Se...

"Within a seminar series, women are interrupted more than men... Interruptions that are negative in tenor or tone, or cutoff the presenter mid-sentence, increase for women presenters"

Public service decline → more far-right support: I summarize evidence from several coauthored studies in a new post for the @kpolanyisociety.bsky.social series on Fascism and Liberalism.

That’s a wrap! Always an honour to teach at the College of Europe in Bruges. This time a course about populism, political fragmentation & polarisation. Stellar group of students asking great questions. There was lots to debate.

New UN report warns that welfare cuts can fuel far-right support. It features my work on public service deprivation with @paularettl.bsky.social @catherinedevries.bsky.social @marcocappelluti.bsky.social and on climate-related disasters and far-right incumbents with @pstanig.bsky.social

Another interesting “Etched in Marble” by @catherinedevries.bsky.social Very recognizable insights from @cfieschi.bsky.social (who is a much better listener than me though).

Thank you @catherinedevries.bsky.social for a wonderful conversation about writing. We don’t think often enough about what drives us to write, and the nature of the experience. It was a pleasure to do so on a sunny summer morning!

This is great on writing 🧵

New this week: Catherine Fieschi on Curiosity, Multilingualism & the Value of Listening. “Write with curiosity, not certainty.” That’s her answer when I asked what she would etch in marble for future generations. 🔗 Read full version here: catherineeunicedevries.substack.com/p/etched-in-... 🧵