Last week (for those that missed it), I published a paper on party systems in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia, together with @adeagafuri.bsky.social and @jacobgunderson.bsky.social. Here is a short summary: journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

Party systems at the European union’s doorstep: Party system structuration and dimensionality in the Western Balkans - Adea Gafuri, Jacob R. Gunderson, Jesper Lindqvist, 2026

Although consisting of EU (potential) candidate countries, the Western Balkan Six (WB6: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and...

journals.sagepub.com

Aid might not make poor countries rich - but it can strengthen civil society and democracy 📢 In our new open-access study with Marike Blanken & @FelixWiebrecht we show how earmarked democracy aid via CSOs empowers CSOs and improves democracy. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

From Aid to Empowerment: The Impact of Democracy Assistance on Civil Society

A growing body of research indicates that democracy aid improves levels of democracy in recipient countries. However, the precise mechanisms behind this relationship are understudied. Contributing ...

tandfonline.com

Last week @nicholasaylott.bsky.social Johanna Mannergren & I did something very cool! We hosted the first workshop on 'Contemporary Politics in the Western Balkans, 10–11 April 2025.' We welcomed 20 distinguished scholars who focus on the Western Balkans at @uisweden.bsky.social

The latest #protests in #Serbia and the resignation of prime minister, over the failed Novi Sad train station renovation by Chinese firms confirm my findings in @SCID__journal: Serbian citizens prefer democratic donors over autocratic ones, they see them as less corrupt & more responsive

Serbia's Prime Minister Resigns as Mass Protests Rock Country

Amid growing public discontent over the handling of the Novi Sad railway station tragedy, Milos Vucevic announced on Tuesday that he was stepping down as prime minister.

balkaninsight.com

🚨New Publication! 🚨 This is a special one for me because it’s in @chinaquarterly.bsky.social but also because it looks at the key question that motivated me to do a PhD in the first place! What’s the point of having authoritarian institutions that by design cannot constrain? A short 🧵

The China Quarterly@chinaquarterly.bsky.social · 2y ago

New (OA) @felixwiebrecht.bsky.social analyses how government departments respond to suggestions from provincial People's Political Consultative Conferences, finding that inclusive institutions in #China can provide a forum for expertise to inform policy-making. doi.org/10.1017/S030...

📅 Save the Dates: #Demscore Conference 2025, June 9-10 in Gothenburg. 📢 Call for Papers and Panels open now, learn more at www.demscore.se/events/demsc... @ucdp.bsky.social @vdeminstitute.bsky.social @medem.bsky.social @digitalsocietyproject.org @sampol.bsky.social @prioresearch.bsky.social

‪Grateful for the opportunity to talk about potential divides between young men and women with @mdressler.bsky.social at FEPS. Truly appreciate the thoughtful questions and time to elaborate on our argument. Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/4E2Z...

Right turns and left leans: A new gender divide in young voters? with Gefjon Off

FEPS Talks · Episode

open.spotify.com

Matteo Dressler@mdressler.bsky.social · 2y ago

1️⃣ Recent media coverage in prominent English-speaking outlets suggests a growing divide between young women and men in political attitudes and voting behaviour. The simplified narrative is that young men drift right while young women lean left. But is this the case? open.spotify.com/episode/4E2Z...

🚨new pub 🚨 Does it matter to citizens where #foreignaid comes from? Survey experiment with citizens in #Serbia (N=2500) now on @SCID__journal : link.springer.com/article/10.1... I find that donors' regime and practices impact citizens' views of their local politicians and donors