NEW 🇮🇩 "What [the protesters] really stand for, above all, is rejection of the entire ruling elite. And the entire ruling elite, more or less, stands united against them." @edwardaspinall.bsky.social on last week's protests and the limits of comparisons with 1998 www.newmandala.org/mass-protest...

My take on the recent protests in Indonesia www.newmandala.org/mass-protest...

There's been a lot of speculation recently that Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra could resign before the Constitutional Court issues a ruling on her ethics case. Will she stay or will she go? www.coffeeparliament.com/p/will-she-s...

For all Southeast Asianist scholars, please consider submitting a paper proposal for SEAREG at UC-San Diego in December. dcid.sanford.duke.edu/seareg-thema...

Crazy events occasionally compel me to venture out of my usual cozy niche in comparative politics and into foreign policy ... And few recent events (at least in my world) have been quite so crazy as this nomination. theconversation.com/malaysia-con...

Finally wrote something about the Taiwan People's Party. Read to the end to find out why the TPP is the biggest reason most KMT legislators are going to face recall votes on July 26: www.kharistempleman.com/blog/the-cur...

Scholars from Southeast Asia have until July 20 to submit proposals for the #AAS2026 Rising Voices panel, “Against the Tide: Agency in Volatile Times for Southeast Asia.” Check out the full CFP at #AsiaNow! buff.ly/vsyo0nO

'Global Challenges to Democracy: Comparative Perspectives on Backsliding, Autocracy, and Resilience' by Bunce, @tompepinsky.com, @beattyriedl.bsky.social & Roberts is now available using our #BISA2025 30% discount. cup.org/3STKoPB Add your selection to your basket and use code 102385 at check out.

New working paper, with @a2hicken.bsky.social and @edwardaspinall.bsky.social: "New Patterns of Urban Political Reform in SE Asia." What can 18 SE Asian cities tell us about the likelihood and character of urban reform? We dive in here. Thanks to our fab research team and GLD! tinyurl.com/3eur93v5

Happy to announce that I have a new publication in Comparative Political Studies co-authored with @a2hicken.bsky.social We show that the type of authoritarian parties that survive democratization affect party building differently journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

From March 2025 - Party Systems, Democratic Positions, and Regime Changes: Introducing the Party-System Democracy Index - cup.org/4iPyIIn - @fabioangiolillo.bsky.social, @felixwiebrecht.bsky.social & @silindberg.bsky.social #OpenAccess

"Why Nations Fail" has been getting a lot of attention in Thailand. But getting Thailand out of the middle income trap will need us to build a national conversation that goes beyond what AJR offers. www.coffeeparliament.com/p/looking-be...

The first comprehensive, cross-regional comparative study of democratic backsliding and resiliency around the world. Global Challenges to Democracy eds. Valerie J. Bunce, @tompepinsky.com, @beattyriedl.bsky.social, & Kenneth M. Roberts Out Now #Politics #BookSky cup.org/3F5YRV7

Accepted (conditional on uploading replication files) for publication @bjpols.bsky.social my paper with Miguel Rueda and Shuning Ge "Do More Disaggregated Electoral Results Deter Aggregation Fraud?" Updated draft can be found at: osf.io/preprints/os...

Please, submit nominations to the 2025 CES Carolina de Miguel Award: councilforeuropeanstudies.org/membership/g....

Super happy to see this finally out! Coauthored with a dream team! @gustavodiaz.org Rebecca Weitz-Shapiro & Matthew S. Winters Check it out! 👇🏼 *long thread with a summary of the argument may be coming soon

New piece with Napon Jatusripitak! We analyze voter attitudes in Thailand in the wake of the grand compromise between Pheu Thai and the conservatives and how partisan allegiances may shift. www.iseas.edu.sg/articles-com...

This piece draws on original survey data (conducted with @a2hicken.bsky.social and Chitchaya Chimtanoo), including a mapping of how voters in our sample shifted in their party choices between the 2019 and 2023 general elections.

The Bhumjaithai Party has proven willing to frequently act as an internal opposition party within the Pheu Thai coalition. And with the "dark blue Senate," they've thrown their weight behind protecting the constitutional status quo. coffeeparliament.substack.com/p/dark-blue-...

We are now accepting nominators for the CES 2025 Carolina de Miguel Moyer Young Scholar Award. Nominations for the 2025 Award are due May 2, 2025: councilforeuropeanstudies.org/membership/g...

Candidates for local offices in Thailand have usually been reluctant to run with a national party. So why have partisan labels become more common in the recent elections? I explore this phenomenon here: coffeeparliament.substack.com/p/party-in-t... #Thailand #SoutheastAsia

New paper in @pspolisci.bsky.social by Kirk Hawkins and I discussing the future of scholarship on populism and its effect on democratic contestation, participation, and representation. We give special attention to how we measure populism, as many current measurses are inadequate for future research.

NEW: Weak party infrastructures, lack of access to state resources, and the distractions of bans and harassment haunt counter-establishment political movements in Thailand—even as public demand for democratic change mounts, writes Akanit Horatanakun. www.newmandala.org/thailands-de...

One PM ousted, while a would-be PM was banned from politics. A former PM demonstrated his influence over the country, as his daughter, the titular PM, took the reins. A lot happened in Thai politics this year. My review of 2024: www.thaienquirer.com/53565/thaila...

🚨 New article alert! polisky dictatorsky In @ajpseditor.bsky.social @osamet.bsky.social examines how opposition coalitions shape electoral performance in authoritarian regimes—and why near-victories can sometimes backfire. Read it here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

My piece on key takeaways from the weekend's local election results in Thailand. Pheu Thai survived a challenge from the People's Party in Udon Thani, while a Democrat-aligned candidate lost in Nakhon Si Thammarat. www.thaienquirer.com/53417/opinio...

This semester's public opinion class put together a fun little survey. If you have a moment, please help out my students and take it! virginia.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

Political scientists: 2025 award nominations from the APSA Political Psychology section are open! Please consider nominating a colleague (or yourself!) for a dissertation, book, paper, junior scholar, or career achievement award. connect.apsanet.org/s28/nominati...

A bit of a belated analysis, but here's some thoughts on Thaksin Shinawatra's attacks on the People's Party. #Thailand kenlmathis.com/2024/11/20/t...

In 2022 & 2023 DSP collaborated with various scholars to collect data about candidates for national legislative (and sometimes subnational) elections in Australia, Brazil, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Nepal, Philippines, Tunisia, and the USA. #polisky 1/4

Also, would love to see some Bluesky content in Indonesian, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Thai, etc...

Still looking for Southeast Asia watchers to add to my SEA Starter Pack! bsky.app/starter-pack...

This is what the strongest parties in the world do. They have permanent, repeatable, and durable links to their voters. They don't just come around to visit at election time.