Chris Claassen

@chrisclaassen.bsky.social

Professor of political behaviour at the University of Glasgow

This is a really cool paper on the socialisation effects of studying at University. Surprisingly, the effects (moving in a leftward, liberal direction) are biggest for STEM students and those who move away from home to study, attend a single campus uni, and who live in ‘university towns’ and London.

Elizabeth Simon@elizabethsim0n.bsky.social · last yr.

New paper out in @electoralstudies.bsky.social w/ @danjdevine.bsky.social & @jwfurlong.bsky.social What drives the link between university study and attitudinal change? www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

How do autocrats stay in power? Our new research dives into the strategies of political control—repression, co-optation, and indoctrination—used across 229 autocracies from 1946 to 2010. What we found will change the way you think about authoritarian resilience. 🧵👇

Bild

Big implications here for age-based polarisation if we continue to see rural and coastal areas grow older, while city populations get younger. No easy answers, but incentivising new work from home jobs could help to spread more opportunities for young people further outside big cities

Resolution Foundation@resolutionfoundation.org · 2y ago

There are big differences in the age of local populations across the country. The oldest parts of the country are generally rural and coastal areas, while cities, particularly those with large universities, are significantly younger. Read more➡️ https://buff.ly/4h3zaSB

Map showing the median age in UK Local Authorities 2022 with older populations in rural areas while cities are younger.

Are you interested in political trust but think 'actually, it's a bit more complicated than that'? You'd be right! In a draft paper, we use original data from 13 surveys across 11 countries & 52 focus groups w/ 311 participants in 8 countries, arguing that trust, mistrust, & distrust are distinct:

Bild

So happy to share an article co-written with @joaoc.bsky.social now out in Political Geography, a journal I always liked a lot. It's called "Political neglect and support for the radical right: The case of rural Portugal". It's open access. I hope you like it. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Political neglect and support for the radical right: The case of rural Portugal

Why are rural voters more likely to support radical right parties? This paper examines the mechanisms behind the relationship between living in a rura…

sciencedirect.com

I've been wanting someone to do this kind of analysis: merging personal experience with climate change events with public attitudes toward climate change. This 2022 paper is, as my 13yo would say, busin'. Not surprised Piero Stanig is on this author list. Polisky

Climate change experiences raise environmental concerns and promote Green voting - Nature Climate Ch...

Exposure to extreme weather events could increase environmental concerns and support for Green parties. With high-resolution data across European countries, the authors demonstrate the existence of su...

nature.com

Public support for democracy is crucial to prevent backsliding. But existing survey questions focusing on “democracy” may not measure the concept well, as the term “democracy” varies in meaning and may prompt social desirability. polisky 1/3

Bild