Despite Donald Trump's claims about free-riding in NATO, new research finds little evidence that NATO accession causes states to reduce their defence spending. ✍ Ringailė Kuokštytė @denisivanov.bsky.social, Vainius Indilas & Vytautas Kuokštis blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2...

WG3 held a packed programme advancing EUPopLink’s work on the overlap between Euroscepticism and populism: ● Expert Survey Questionnaire (Leads: @denisivanov.bsky.social & @piotrsula.bsky.social): overview of purpose and structure, followed by a completion exercise and structured feedback.

Definitely didn't expect an invasion from a FIFA Peace Prize winner first thing in 2026

My wish for 2026 is that Europeans will be as critical and vigilant about authoritarianism and racism in their own country as they are about them in the U.S. and that Americans will be as critical and vigilant about authoritarianism and racism in the U.S. as Europeans are.

May Ukraine regain its peace in the new year, preserve its freedom and independence, and hopefully the Kremlin rulers will receive a just verdict.

My university, Kyiv School of Economics, is hiring postdocs & professors of all levels! Join the best economics department in Ukraine, with excellent colleagues, modern campus and make an impact teaching the new generation of Ukrainians! Link: www.aeaweb.org/joe/listing.... #EconSky #econjobmarket

Political scientists love their survey experiments.

Happy that this is finally out! I contributed with a chapter on economic populism in the 21st century 😎

We have my co-author and friend Gaygysyz Ashyrov presenting at our department seminar at Corvinus in Budapest this Friday, come over if interested, this should be cool! www.uni-corvinus.hu/post/event/i...

🇭🇺 @denisivanov.bsky.social presented Hungary’s Country Report on Populism and Euroscepticism. Discussion of dominant narratives and their impact on Hungarian democracy.

A new study that compares the happiness levels of commuters with those who work from home has been published by @elsevierconnect.bsky.social. Eric Morris (Clemson University 🇺🇸), Fariba Siddiq and Evelyn Blumenberg (UCLA 🇺🇸) assessed data collected in Round 2 (2004/05) of our survey.

Mine is: many people have long been xenophobic / had a tendency to scapegoat minorities. This used to be socially frowned upon but the current political climate has made it seem more acceptable.

Fascinating survey data on the missing Biden voters by Lake Research. The voters who sat out in '24 weren't looking for a centrist or turned off by trans rights. They want a genuine economic populist agenda: take on corporate greed, lower costs, and make the wealthy pay their fair share.

❓Why do the Nordics & Dutch speak English so much better than the Germans, Italians & French? ➡️ New Working Paper: Out-of-School Learning: Subtitling vs. Dubbing and the Acquisition of Foreign-Language Skills w/ F. Baumeister & E. Hanushek www.nber.org/papers/w33984 A 🧵 1/12

Does democratic satisfaction drive voter turnout, or does voting increase dem. satisfaction? Using 7 election panels, Lukas Linek, @jrovny.bsky.social, @skvrnami.bsky.social, and I find that—unlike in the West—both mechanisms may operate in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). 1/n @eui-sps.bsky.social

Amazing photos from Budapest, it looks like record high attendance. Reports say streets are full of people between Astoria and the University of Technology (~2.5 km on wide avenues and a bridge). A major embarrassment for Orbán and yet another unforced error.

The ceasefire between Iran and Israel could prove durable or it could be over tomorrow. But I know one thing for sure: it would be a bad strategic mistake for democracies to let their attention on Ukraine slip. Read more on VoxUkraine. voxukraine.org/en/democraci...

We were lucky enough to have our YouGov/The Economist poll in field when the US bombed Iranian nuclear facilities. You can see the partisan realignment in real time

Most literature reviews miss the point.
 Not because they’re sloppy. 
But because they treat the literature like a box to tick. In my latest Respect the Marble Post, I carve out a 6-step process to writing a meaningful lit review: catherineeunicedevries.substack.com/p/most-liter... 🧵

A great event indeed! Super happy to be able to present the results of our survey experiment

📢 #INEQUALITY GRAPH OF THE WEEK (No.8) ❌ With high #inequality, democracy is undermined as the influence of the very rich grows. ✅ Greater #equality is protective of democracy. Source: Profs Wilkinson & Pickett and The Equality Trust ♥️. For full details ➡️ equalitytrust.org.uk/evidence-bas...

1/ 📉 Multinational companies in the EU are paying less tax now than they did a decade ago. But why? Our new policy note reveals that the average effective tax rate of MNEs in the EU dropped 2.7 percentage points from 2014 to 2022. 🔎 For more insights: www.taxobservatory.eu/publication/...

What the south side of the Oval Office used to look like (left) and what it looks like now (right) after Trump ordered gaudy gold paint and gold-colored appliqués for the mouldings, multiple gold-framed paintings of past presidents, and golden baubles for the shelves and fireplace mantel. Tacky.

🎓 New working paper: "Communism in the Classroom: Long-Run Effects of an Experiment" (with Matti Mitrunen)

Just published in @eeps My article explores how populist governance and economic factors impact civic culture in Central and Eastern Europe. Findings show populists weaken civil society over time, while economic development boosts civic engagement

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 ⬇️

1️⃣ ‼️New WP! @zuchowskidavid.bsky.social & I study what two waves of 🇺🇦 migration did to Polish elections. Spoiler: migrants don’t boost the far right—they shrink it. Full paper 👉 bit.ly/3Y9HQ2J #EconSky #UkrainianView #AcademicSky

A helpful guide to the current state of US trade policy:

After being an editor for 6.5 years (4 REStud; 2.5 JEEA), I have accumulated a few suggestions that can help you avoid unnecessary rejections.

Amen

Does Mainstream Populism Work❓ I answer this question in a new paper officially out at @psrm.bsky.social❗ Check out the paper here: doi.org/10.1017/psrm... Key take-aways in the thread below 🧵⬇️:

💡Now temporarily #FREE: 'Elite defection and opposition realignment in #Hungary: Respect and Freedom Party (TISZA) in the 2024 European Parliamentary elections' by @kovarek.bsky.social - @eui-schuman.bsky.social - doi.org/10.1080/2159... - @adamfagan.bsky.social @andreapirro.it

The real consequence of the time zone difference is that, for the past few weeks, Friday nights in Europe have been mood killers, ruined by international news

Somehow, the Trump administration's thaw in relations with Russia feels more like a partition of Russia over minerals and natural resources, in competition with China, rather than anything related to Ukraine

Once again we made it to The Guardian. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/f...

Happy to be spending some of the winter term at the London School of Economics www.lse.ac.uk/canada-blanc...

🚨🚨 I think this quite extraordinary announcement before Christmas went slightly off the radar: "Iceland's incoming government says it will put EU membership to referendum by 2027". via @euronews.com www.euronews.com/my-europe/20...

It's funny that 1) Factorization machines, 2) Interactive Fixed Effects, and 3) Generalized Linear Latent Variable Models are the same model: yᵢⱼ = f(μᵢⱼ) μᵢⱼ = α + xᵢ βⱼ + uᵢ λⱼ where xᵢ βⱼ are dummies; uᵢ & λⱼ are I × K and K × J latent vars These were all developed independently, afaik #stats

Comparing salary data with faculty experience and measures such as publications, the professors are paid 7 percent below the value they bring the universities. Female professors experience nearly 20 percent higher levels of this effect. Presentation Saturday at #ASSA2025 https://buff.ly/4iPKEL1

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

We've written a blogpost about one of our academic articles. Check it out!

Sevenans et al. in EJPR: "our study shows that – whenever there is a significant preference gap between lower- and higher-income groups – politicians’ perceptions of what citizens want are skewed towards the preferences of higher-income voters on socio-economic issues." doi.org/10.1111/1475...

Hot take: politicians should not be able to pardon anybody

Published online (not yet OA) New work with Luca Andriani and Gaygysyz Ashyrov We show that people who jointly value personal achievements and are not strongly embedded in narrow social group express more support for public good provision onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

We're hiring an assistant professor at our department. Experience in teaching needed. Young department, beautiful city, get in touch for more info!

A super recommended course for you and your students from an insightful instructor!

Live right now: World Inequality Database 2024 Updates 🚨 Webinar: zoom.us/webinar/regi... Regional inequality insights: wid.world/news-article... 10 key facts based on this year's update: wid.world/news-article... Below a selection of a few basic facts.

🚨 New paper alert! 🚨 How has the war in Ukraine 🇺🇦 affected sentiments in Russia 🇷🇺? In a new WP with Mikael Elinder and Oscar Erixson (Uppsala U), we study the effects of the invasion and two other war events on the support for Putin and other sentiments in Russia. 🧵👇

Do governments respond to public opinion? Why does inequality keep rising? Amazing new volume just dropped with so many new insights on these and other questions (I was part of two of the chapters). Best part: The whole book is Open Access! www.cambridge.org/core/books/u...

My book is here! Such a wonderful feeling to see it in print. While the book covers a group of parties that is very successful in the volatile party systems of Centr.&Eastern Europe, I learned a lot from studying these parties for party system change in general. A thread 1/10