So pleased to share that I passed my viva yesterday 🎓✨ What a journey these past years have been! I’m happy, proud, and undeniably also quite relieved to have wrapped this up now. Now on to discovering what new challenges the world of political science has in store! 📚📊

📢 Out Now! V-Dem Dataset v16 & the V-Dem Institute Democracy Report 2026 💾 The V-Dem Dataset: v-dem.net/data/the-v-d... 📰 The Report "Unraveling The Democratic Era?”: v-dem.net/publications... 📈 Explore the new data with the V-Dem Graphing tools: v-dem.net/graphing/gra... #PoliSky #PoliSciSky 1/3

The new V-Dem report was released today. There are dramatic declines in democracy in the US. Much worse than during Trump I.

Join us tomorrow for this exciting talk by @ankuepfer.bsky.social in the MZES Social Science Data Lab! Details and Zoom link ⬇️

🚨 Content alert 🚨 New recording and workshop materials published! ➡️ When Events Change Samples: Disentangling Causal Effects from Compositional Bias in Quasi-Experimental Designs 👤 @klaramueller.bsky.social (Uni Mannheim) 📺 youtu.be/kYdDGgaI95w 🗒️ github.com/SocialScienc...

🗳️ Neue Prognose: Landtagswahlen in Baden-Württemberg (8. März) und Rheinland-Pfalz (22. März) BW: Kopf-an-Kopf CDU vs. Grüne. RP: CDU und SPD fast gleichauf. Unsere Modellvorhersage mit 5/6-Kredibilitätsintervallen und Szenario-Wahrscheinlichkeiten 👇 zweitstimme.org/posts/blog/f...

Join us tomorrow for this exciting talk by @klaramueller.bsky.social in the MZES Social Science Data Lab! Details and Zoom link ⬇️

New paper out in the @thejop.bsky.social with @rafaelahlskog.bsky.social & @grahn.bsky.social Your neighbours shape your politics — but can living near people like *cause* higher turnout? We studied 20,000+ queer individuals across the entire Swedish population to find out doi.org/10.1086/740816

Excited to kick off the @mzes-ssdl.bsky.social Spring series 🙌 I’ll talk about different threats to causal inference in quasi-experimental designs and share hands-on tools to tackle common biases. Hybrid event, so happy to see non-Mannheim folks joining on Zoom as well! 🗓️ Feb 25th, 1.45pm CET

We‘re very excited for the next edition of the Summer School for Women* in Political Methodology in Mannheim! ✨ Join us and apply until 1 March! More info in @melinscribe.bsky.social‘s thread below and here: summerschoolwpm.org Application form: sosci.sowi.uni-mannheim.de/wpm/

🚨 Join us for the next edition Summer School for Women* in Political Methodology in Mannheim 🚨 7 days of hands-on advanced methods + networking for PhDs, postdocs & early-career researchers. Free of charge (limited travel support). Deadline 1 March 2026: summerschoolwpm.org #methodsky #polisky

Why did antisemitism rise in Germany during the Covid pandemic? And why was this increase concentrated among political centrists, rather than on the fringes? doi.org/10.1017/S153... @kanol.bsky.social @wzb.bsky.social @uni-hamburg.de @politikuhh.bsky.social @socfub.bsky.social

Which factors affect how Americans react to political violence? Our paper in @polbehavior.bsky.social addressing this question just got a volume and issue number! link.springer.com/article/10.1...

NEW - Elections Without Constraints? The Appeal of Electoral Autocracy Across the World - https://cup.org/49auQPf - @anjaneundorf.bsky.social, @sirianned.bsky.social, Kristian Vrede Skaaning Frederiksen & @aykutozturk.bsky.social #OpenAccess

This is a fantastic dataset for studying the evolution of political attitudes and party preferences in Germany. Here's a mosaic plot of vote choices in 2025 by vote choices in 2021 (as reported back then). One striking observation is the high volatility behind the overall gains of the Left Party.

Great to present yesterday in Barcelona the latest version (and hopefully last!) of joint work with @klaramueller.bsky.social. Now looking forward to expanding the project further! It was also in some way my official debut for UAB 🙂 PS: You may want to follow @bcnpolisci.bsky.social too!

Happy to share that the German Research Foundation DFG funds my new project: “Countering Polarization: The Borda count as a basis for proportional representation”. I am recruiting 2 PhD candidates to join me in Hannover as of March 2026 or later! Feel free to reach out!

Personal news! 📣 I'm very happy to share that today I've joined @dec-gr.bsky.social as a postdoc to work on the @tact-forsed.bsky.social project, studying conspiracy beliefs and democratic backsliding across Europe. Grateful to @galais.bsky.social and @mguinjoan.bsky.social for the opportunity!

⏰ One week left to apply for SekMethoden 2026 — the annual meeting of the DVPW Section "Methods of Political Science". Submit your abstract by Sunday! ⬇️ See below for the CfP and link to the application portal. @gessler.bsky.social @lukrudolph.bsky.social @donyhu.bsky.social @dvpw.bsky.social

Thrilled to share my new article in Political Psychology: “The psychology of political attitudinal volatility.” In it, I attempt to answer why do some people change their political views more than others? Open access at: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.... @ispp-pops.bsky.social

🎉 New publication 🎉 Why do #youngpeople vote for the #AfD? This question has kept our research project busy for quite some time, so I'm beyond excited that our first article - co-authored with @timonscheuer.bsky.social - is now out in #GermanPolitics! 🤩 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Spot on, @ainagallego.bsky.social. Esto es realmente importante… y un problema que desde luego no se limita a España.

📣 New op-ed in Süddeutsche Zeitung: What the data say about the “Brandmauer” I summarize key findings from a study with @anninahermes.bsky.social across 57 democracies ➡️ Far-right parties don’t get weaker in government, they get stronger (~6 points by the next election) tinyurl.com/4j6jaud2

This leaves me fascinated and uneasy at the same time…🤯 In any case, new (?) survey challenges unlocked!

For those who didn’t catch it:🚨 We’ve released 3 additional panel waves via @GESIS, bringing the total to 71 waves of survey data. Spanning Sep 2012–May 2024, the GIP dataset is fully accessible for researchers studying trends, attitudes, and social changes over more than a decade.

There's still time to register - looking forward to seeing you around!

After a great first session today, our @psapolpsychology.bsky.social autumn seminar series continues next week with what promises to be a fascinating talk by @klaramueller.bsky.social! Sign up here: events.teams.microsoft.com/event/5edb84...

Every academic career is built on rejection, but we don’t show it. 
CVs list publications, grants & awards, not rejected manuscripts, unfunded proposals, or failures. 
But those invisible rejections shape us more than our successes ever do. 👉 catherineeunicedevries.substack.com/p/fail-bette... 🧵

My monthly reminder ☝️

Excellent work from my SU colleague Einar Bäckström on the temporal dynamics of the winner loser gap in democracy satisfaction using a regression discontinuity in time design across 21 European countries. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Very pleased to say my new article is out @polstudies.bsky.social ! In it I compare single individuals to those with partners with different past vote choices/party identifications and demonstrate that this is associated with an individual's own vote choice. doi.org/10.1177/0032...

Honoured to be part of the @psapolpsychology.bsky.social seminar and to present some *still-steaming* findings. See you there (registration link below), looking forward to a great discussion! And don't miss the other fascinating talks in the autumn seminar series! ➡️ www.psa.ac.uk/specialist-g...

Following the success of our spring seminar series earlier this year, we @psapolpsychology.bsky.social are running an autumn/winter series, with four online presentations by great scholars. Please do register and come along to hear about some really fascinating research!

Happy to publish today in the @ejprjournal.bsky.social Pop culture (think Netflix's Sex Education) make us think that emerging cohorts are happy to socially incorporate partners with sexually modern backgrounds and experiences 🏳️‍🌈 But is this really the case? doi.org/10.1017/S147...

📣 Attention, postdoctoral researchers! ❗ Apply now for our MZES Visiting Fellowships 😊 💡 Spend 2-4 weeks at the MZES to share ideas 💰 Funding for accommodation, travel, daily allowance 📆 Deadline: 28 November Full information: 👉 www.mzes.uni-mannheim.de/en/news/deta...

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It's striking how engaging in democratic processes can, ironically, lead to democratic discontent when the results feel personally or politically unfavorable. Even in strong democracies!

This deviation is certainly striking (and, given the known influence of polling on political behavior, also somehwat concerning). Spilling the tea on @aleferna.bsky.social's and my research into CIS’ house effects and their shifts over time: this discrepancy is systematic, not just a one-off.

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) ⤵️

Full circle moment ⭕: @psaepop.bsky.social was the first ever conference I presented at, and now I'm thrilled to wrap up my PhD conference cycle at #EPOP2025 in Exeter. Enthusiatic to present joint work with @aleferna.bsky.social and to be part of this promising panel. Curious to hear your thoughts!

Join us tomorrow, we’re super curious about your feedback! 🙌🏻

Interesting paper on non-response bias, and the role of the response propensity distribution onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

#Call #GESISPanel Collect Your Own Linked #WebTracking and #SurveyData with the GESIS Panel.dbd Digital Behavioral Data Sample Panelists participate in repeated surveys and digital behavioral data collections such as web tracking, where participants' web browsing behavior is recorded.

EPSA have announced that they will hold a conference in July 2026. 😵‍💫 We understand that there might be some confusion about EPSS and EPSA. 👉🏽 So we thought we would clarify some things. A short 🧵

Just out at @polbehavior.bsky.social w/Carey Stapleton: Voting by mail has the upside of boosting correct voting. When people vote by mail rather than in-person, they are more likely to choose the presidential candidate best aligned with their preferences. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

I have a new article out at @polstudies.bsky.social. In "Electoral Hope", I make the case that supposedly irrational "wishful thinking" is actually a crucial part of how voters make rational sense of their role in democracies. OA link: doi.org/10.1177/0032...

Striking to see just *how* much the impact of losing an election increases with populist attitudes. This is a great demonstration of how populist voters may perceive election results as a test of democratic legitimacy rather than 'only' an outcome of electoral competition. Really interesting paper!

New WP w/ @riazsascha.bsky.social: via >42 million placebo tests, we show type I error inflation in Unexpected Event during Survey Designs (UESD), propose an adjustment, implement via new R package uesdRobust, and demonstrate utility by replicating two top UESD studies. osf.io/preprints/os... 1/9

Leaving #EPSA25 running high on research drive and low on social energy. Super stimulating input, and great to (re)connect with so many colleagues and friends. ¡Gracias, Madrid! See you in Belfast (?) @epssnet.bsky.social