New Bright Line Watch report! -Expert ratings of U.S. democracy largely stable at lowest levels measured (since 2017) -Record partisan divide in public ratings of democracy driven by Republicans whose evaluations are highest since 2017 -Experts near-unanimous on many threats to democracy 🧵 below

Von Budapest bis Washington: Die Wiederherstellung der Demokratie kann gelingen, sofern die siegreiche pro-demokrati. Allianz Mass hält. Kurz vor der Wahl in Ungarn, bietet Polen wichtige Learnings, zeigt die super Studie v @kristianvsf.bsky.social, @robbwiller.bsky.social @m-b-petersen.bsky.social

Much research concludes that partisans tolerate anti-democratic behavior, such as electoral subversion, because they rarely punish it at the ballot box. But refusing to vote against your party and actively supporting democratic subversion are not the same thing. My new paper in @bjpols.bsky.social:

📢 New article 🌟 👥 @anjaneundorf.bsky.social , @sirianned.bsky.social (ISV), @kristianvsf.bsky.social, @aykutozturk.bsky.social 👉 Elections Without Constraints? The Appeal of Electoral Autocracy Across the World 📗 Open Access in British Journal of Political Science 🔗 doi.org/10.1017/S000...

Dagens #FT26 Valg-Vitaminer (Hot take #2 fra forskerkontoret) Hvilket parti har egentlig mest glæde af, at valgkampen so far har handlet meget om formueskat? Vi har ikke tal på formueskat specifikt, men på skat mere generelt. Se nedenstående figur. /n

Men hvad så med udlændinge i valgkampen til folketingsvalget 24. marts 2026? Lidt ekstra #FT26 Popcorn (Hot take #3 fra forskerkontoret) Prøv lige at se den skæve fordeling i nedenstående figure! /n

Effects of Accurate Data on Firm Decision-Making: Evidence from AI Hallucinations (QJE 2029)

Thrilled about our first DEMNORM paper and that it has been conditionally accepted at @thejop.bsky.social!

🚨New WP: Can an AI voter guide (grounded in information from a nonpartisan, fact-checked source) help voters’ decision making? 🚨 We built and evaluated an LLM-based chatbot that provided voting info in CA & TX (N=2,474) right before the 2024 election. 🧵👇

Great to see "The Way Back After Backsliding: Public Opinion and the Restoration of Democracy" with @robbwiller.bsky.social and @m-b-petersen.bsky.social out in @cpsjournal.bsky.social journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...

I still remember vividly reading this NYT headline in October 2024, sitting in a coffee shop in Boston, a fortnight before the presidential election #Minneapolis

Extremely happy and relieved to share that I've been hired as an Associate Professor in Political Science in Aarhus from February 1. Time to go get these ba⭐ds trying to undermine democracy and/or the sovereignty principle. And teach a whole lot of course. I will keep you posted!

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

From October 2025 - Interstate Conflict Increases the Appeal of Undemocratic Candidates - https://cup.org/3Lx7bjx "undemocratic candidates are evaluated more positively under conflict compared to peace" - @kristianvsf.bsky.social & Lasse Laustsen #OpenAccess

I mean, this is an execution

Experimental evidence that *randomly varying the severity of democratic norm violations* is 1) as good as incrementally increasing severity (re subversion by stealth), and 2) better than incrementally decreasing severity (re reference point theory) for would-be authoritarians

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.

An expert survey I was contacted by exposed its recipient list and now I'm in a "remove me too please" snowball. Don't people ever learn not to "reply all"?

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

🚨 EPSS Belfast 2026 Call for Papers - One week to go! 🚨 Don't forget to submit your paper or panel proposal to the European Political Science Society @epssnet.bsky.social 2026 conference - just one week to go before the deadline: epssnet.org/belfast-2026...

"the increase in appeal of an undemocratic presidential candidate during interstate conflict is strongest among Republicans. Republicans’ preferences for a democratically compliant candidate are completely eroded during threats of interstate conflict."

How do contemporary challenges of backsliding and war interact? We show that interstate conflict boosts support for undemocratic candidates, especially among Republicans who *do not prefer democratic Rs over undemocratic Rs* during interstate conflict. Out in @bjpols.bsky.social with Lasse Laustsen

Super excited to get started with this research!

When authoritarians tell you they like authoritarianism, over and over and over and over and over again, believe them

Arrived and all set for #APSA2025 with two papers: Public Opinion and the Restoration of Democracy with @robbwiller.bsky.social and @m-b-petersen.bsky.social (Thur at 12) What Elites Believe About Opposing Trump with @aarslew.bsky.social and Martin Bisgaard (Sun at 8) See you at the conference!

I am honored to have been awarded an ERC Starting Grant towards my project "Governing elites since the dawn of modern democracy" (GETGOV). It allows me to continue to advance this research agenda; the goal is to build a database on governing elites from 1789 and up to today + much more. #ERCStG

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this year's WhoGov workshop on Political Elites! It is amazing to see so much great research presented on political elites and meet so many great people. And thank you to @inalkristiansen.bsky.social and @jonaswschmid.bsky.social for co-organizing the event

Can banning political ideologies protect democracy? 🛡️🆚🗣️ Our (w. @valentimvicente.bsky.social) paper finds: punishing individuals might backfire. We study a West German policy banning "extreme left" individuals from working for the state. #Democracy #PoliticalScience 🧵 url: osf.io/usqdb_v2

Do campaigns make voters less vulnerable to framing? Our study of Denmark’s 2022 EU referendum suggests they can. Framing effects declined as voters became more informed and drew on their own EU attitudes. Happy to share it's now accepted in the EJPR! Pre-print: osf.io/preprints/os...

Emphasizing that democracy itself is at risk is quite ineffective in reducing support for undemocratic behavior - experimental evidence from 10 countries now open access in @polbehavior.bsky.social AND this adds a satisfying *The End* to my dissertation. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

🚨 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...

Our new paper with team DEMNORM! We show that while using hypothetical scenarios helps us isolate causal effects, this may have led us to underestimate real world support for democratic transgressions, but also the efficiency of interventions against it! ▶️Check out Kristian's summary thread 👇👇

🛎️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...

From February 2025 - Educating for Democracy? Going to College Increases Political Participation - cup.org/4iapbva - @andreasvijensen.bsky.social #OpenAccess

This is the most incredible commentary on what is happening in the US, by one of the most eminent political scientists on the planet. You have to read this. open.substack.com/pub/adamprze...

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...

En route to @ispsyale.bsky.social to present "The Power of Spectacle: What Political Elites Believe About Breaking with Donald J. Trump", which is joint work with Martin Bisgaard and @aarslew.bsky.social. Honored to be invited to present at this workshop on America's Contested Democratic Creed!

🛎️WP with @robbwiller.bsky.social and @m-b-petersen.bsky.social While US democracy burns, we study public opinion dynamics during democratic restoration led by @donald-tusk.bsky.social in Poland with lessons for current (e.g Poland) & future (US, hopefully) democratic forces. osf.io/preprints/os...

Thrilled that my article has just been published at @apsrjournal.bsky.social! 🎉 The article argues that low statistical power is a major impediment to acquiring cumulative knowledge on questions concerning cross-national differences: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

🚨 PUBLICATION ALERT 🚨 Excited to share that my article has just been published at @apsrjournal.bsky.social! It examines voter responses to mainstream party legitimization of (former) pariah parties. A thread 👇1/n... doi.org/10.1017/S000...

Political Science Starter Pack Collection! Many have shared excellent starter packs lately, but finding the most relevant ones can be tricky. This 🧵 gathers many of them in one place 👇🏽 #PoliticalScience #StarterPack

Election denial claims were rampant among Republicans until it was clear that Trump won. After that, election concerns emerged among some Democrat groups. This pattern is completely normal in highly polarized elections. Below are data from an ongoing project on last years election in Poland. 1/3

Happy to see that "Do two-party systems hamper defection from undemocratic candidates?" is now out in Party Politics. I examine the notion that two-party systems may make life easier for undemocratic candidates - and reject it. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

#OpenAccess from our latest issue - Young People Punish Undemocratic Behaviour Less Than Older People - cup.org/3zJNMGl - @kristianvsf.bsky.social

Thanks @kristianvsf.bsky.social for presenting at our lab's workshop on how interstate conflict affects support for undemocratic candidates! @robbwiller.bsky.social

Really happy to see that my piece on age and punishment of undemocratic behavior is now published with *open access* in @bjpols.bsky.social cambridge.org/core/journal...