EU leaders "are not being honest with us, and we are all paying the price. If Democracy Shield cannot accurately describe the threat we are facing, then there is no way it can defend us from the forces in America that are spreading disinformation on this continent with the goal of regime change"

Really good thread 👇 sifting out the good, the bad, the symbolic and the perverse in the European Democracy Shield

Are you conducting research combining qualitative cross-case methods (comparative case studies or QCA) with process tracing? ➡️ ** We are looking to show-case your work** ⬅️ 🧵 1/

This 👇 is why public service media are critical, and require increasing (rather than decreasing) public investment

🚨 Job Alert! Postdoc in POLITICAL TEXT ANALYSIS in the MULTIREP project You do quant text analysis? You are interested in political representation? Enjoy working in teams? Would like to live in a great city? Consider joining us in Vienna! ⏱️ Apply by 15/12/2025 wratil.eu/files/MULTIR... 1/4 🧵

Read @robin.berjon.com on cloud infrastructure Europe must embrace a “break-and-build” strategy: “break” entrenched monopolies and “build” its own digital infrastructure and addressing on a sector-by-sector basis @projectsyndicate.bsky.social prosyn.org/5baiDt6?refe...

How the Netherlands engineered its asylum crisis — and turned it into a business

We're hiring a Lecturer in Political Science @vuamsterdam.bsky.social (deadline Nov 24): 👉 werkenbij.vu.nl/vacatures/le...

On the day of General Elections in the Netherlands, my article on last year's EP elections has found a home "Party Dynamics in the 2024 European Parliament Elections" can be found in the Annual Review Issue (S1) of @jcms-eu.bsky.social, page 80-90 Also other great articles doi.org/10.1111/jcms...

You think your elections are nail biters? In the last poll of the polls, the @peilingwijzer.bsky.social produced by @tomlouwerse.nl, before election day in the Netherlands tomorrow, three parties are tied for first place peilingwijzer.tomlouwerse.nl

Tomorrow general elections in The Netherlands! I'm preparing a short talk 'what to watch' A couple of 'records' (since 1956) may be challenged: - Smallest biggest party: 31/150 seats for VVD in 2010 - Most parties under 5 seats in parliament: 8 parties in 1982 1/3

In short, the problem here is not that Signal ‘chose’ to run on AWS. The problem is the concentration of power in the infrastructure space that means there isn’t really another choice: the entire stack, practically speaking, is owned by 3-4 players. 11/

OpenAI, xAI & Mistral may have just received their first EU AI Act warning shot. Dutch regulator AP found ChatGPT, Grok & le Chat gave biased voting advice ahead of elections — a potential breach of new GPAI rules. www.mlex.com/mlex/article...

Wilders, reus op lemen voeten. Door het effect van imiteren & isoleren verliest hij. VVD, JA21, FvD & BBB bieden de kiezer grosso modo dezelfde migratierestricties. Tegelijk wijst iedereen erop dat Wilders buitenspel staat. In de laatste peiling staat hij op 34, lijkt me sterk dat hij dat haalt.

Dit is hét onderwerp van de 21e eeuw: digitale zaken. Verslavende algoritmes, de macht van techreuzen, de veiligheid van informatie bij de overheid 👇

@ckreudersonnen.bsky.social and I are happy to announce two open research positions in our joint DFG-funded project VARICRIS (👉 bit.ly/varicris). We are recruiting a #PostDoc and a #PhD candidate 🧵: #PoliSky #PoliSkyJobs #polsci 🌐

Applications for our flagship Visiting Scholars Program are now open and close Dec 14, 2025. Scholars who are European citizens can also apply for our 4 fellowships. Please share widely! @dziblatt.bsky.social 🔗https://ces.fas.harvard.edu/opportunities/visiting-scholars-overview/visiting-scholars

Hier haben wir unsere Stellenausschreibung vielleicht noch nicht gepostet: Das @hiigberlin.bsky.social sucht eine*n interessierte*n und motivierte*n postdoc, die/der mit uns zusammen einen neuen Forschungsbereich zum Thema Demokratischer Wandel und Wissen aufbaut. www.hiig.de/stellenaussc...

Striking that the figure below has provoked much less response than @simonhix.bsky.social's preceding call for an electoral threshold in NL It raises the genuine question how much fragmentation a party system can afford The response can't just be: this is how we do things in NL a few more thoughts:

At @foederalist.eu, I have a tradition of publishing a way-too-early piece about potential next EP lead candidates shortly after the mid-term reshuffle (www.foederalist.eu/2017/02/spit..., www.foederalist.eu/2022/02/euro...). But this time, it seems I'll be a latecomer to the speculation party.

Interesting exchange between the 2 Simons👇 I am torn on an electoral threshold in NL I know very well why we don't have one, and why it would be v difficult to introduce But I also feel that we are sometimes too wedded to the supposed 'integrity' of the system as it is New equilibriums are possible

Really big if confirmed: @danielfreund.bsky.social suspects Hungarian government of undertaking spyware attacks on European parliamentarians danielfreund.eu/after-spywar...

Belangrijk onderzoek van @ipsosnl.bsky.social @maartjevdkoppel.bsky.social @sjoerdvanheck.bsky.social Meerderheid rechts-conservatieve kiezers vindt: "besluiten die de meerderheid wil moeten worden uitgevoerd, zelfs als ze de rechtsstaat uitdagen of aanpassen” www.ipsos-publiek.nl/actueel/link...

Oh wow! What a beautiful cover! So proud to be part of this forthcoming book! 🤩

This has taken some time, but the cover alone makes it worth the wait: 'The Promise of EU Democracy' is due to come out at OUP this spring It collects the very best on EU democracy - promises and disillusions - from the H2000 RECONNECT-project global.oup.com/academic/pro...

Is het in overeenstemming met democratische waarden om van immigranten te eisen dat ze trouw beloven aan normen die niet van burgers worden verwacht en gehandhaafd? www.socialevraagstukken.nl/migratiesame... @s-manser-egli.bsky.social @vuamsterdam.bsky.social

This is exciting: a new book coming out by Steven Lukes I guess I'll be doing some close reading under the Christmas tree press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...

Many are concerned about the return of Babiš to the top of Czech politics. While the results of this weekend's Czech legislative election poses its concerns, I am an optimist. I think Babiš's victory is rather Pyrrhic. Here are some thoughts: blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2...

“If negotiations between EU member states and MEPs don’t begin in the coming months, there will be no chance of having European lists in 2029. That would mean missing, once again, a historic opportunity to finally give European elections a truly European dimension” euobserver.com/eu-political...

This was a very good listen. Alan’s two-referendum approach (I’d add a citizen deliberation process in the middle) is a good way of getting around the 1-bit problem (yes or no) of the information that referendums give on public preferences.

Herausragender Wissenschaftler, bewunderter Autor, befreundeter Kollege, kluger Ratgeber: Claus Offe ist gestorben!

Fascinating account of AI policy in Vietnam by @digitaldang.bsky.social "Most countries will not build an AI stack from scratch; they will adopt, adapt and hybridize — assembling intelligence from components that are not entirely their own" www.noemamag.com/a-third-path...

Yesterday I presented my draft report on the Hungarian rule of law. My message: the Hungarian RoL has worsened significantly. Therefore, the EU must freeze more funds and take away Orbán's veto. I look forward to working with my pro-democratic colleagues on this resolution.

"The problem is no longer confined to specific policy areas or individual member states such as Hungary or Slovakia. From German local authorities attempting to oppress pro-Palestinian demonstrations, Italy’s prime minister discrediting the judiciary .. a dangerous pattern is emerging across the EU"

Call for Proposals for Special Issues of the Journal of European Integration to be published in 2027 Deadline for Submissions: 31/10/25 www.tandfonline.com/journals/geu... Feel free to contact us at [email protected] with any questions about the procedure or informal enquiries you may have.

Dutch comedian Arjen Lubach has a nice bit about Disney cancelling Kimmel. www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vRX...

Where the separate divisions of ANTIFA landed on the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944:

Join us for the VICES workshop on the Externalities of EU's digital transition for (semi)peripheral countries! From lithium mining in Serbia to Hungary's contested battery bet and data extractivism and neo-colonialism in the Global South. The bad examples are many. But maybe also the alternatives?

You have a great idea for a special issue in EU studies? Check out our call 👇

Great quote 👇 from @dmugge.bsky.social

Finally! 🤩 Our position piece: Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia: doi.org/10.5281/zeno... We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity. 1/n

Check out the Book of Abstracts👇 of June's conference @weizenbauminstitut.bsky.social It offers a perfect overview of the breadth of research that's being done on the digital society Happy to be included with a short take on how EU legislation on DSA/DMA has been (de-)politicised in newspapers

If you're an author and haven't yet signed up for the Anthropic settlement, do yourself a favor (and strike a blow against AI) by checking to see if any of your books were involved. www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

Interesting signalling from Ribera — there may be hope! A little extra hope because she's one of the better Commissioners. 🤞

New paper on a new topic in @policyr.bsky.social I analyse the EU’s AI Act and its place in the global governance of the AI. Examining the economy of AI + the contents of the Act, I conclude that expecting a ‘Brussels effect’ is neither apt nor useful. …. policyreview.info/articles/ana...

Super excited to share that I got the ERC Starting Grant! 🎉 Over the next five years, I’ll be studying how AI is reshaping the politics of the welfare state. A huge thank you to all the friends and colleagues who supported me along the way. vu.nl/en/news/2025... #ERCStG