Twan Huijsmans
@twanhuijsmans.bsky.social
Postdoctoral researcher | Sociology and Political Science | University of Amsterdam | Geographic political divides | Political trust
New paper w/ @hannohilbig.bsky.social: we examine how local exposure to the Great Recession affected politics over the long run. Counties where unemployment rose more in 2007–09 moved toward Democrats, not the populist right. The shift remained visible in 2022.
🚨 New GERDA update: - Large update of mayoral elections (6 new states) - Landrat elections - Wahlkreis (district)-level results (BW & LW) - Local council seats (Gemeinde/Stadt & Kreis) - 2026 elections: BW state, BY & HE local More info below and here: www.german-elections.com
GERDA: German Election Database
Comprehensive dataset of local, state, federal, European, mayoral, Landrat, and county election results in Germany at the municipality and constituency (Wahlkreis) level, plus subnational public opini...
german-elections.com
#Europe’s political divide has an address: #education explains a small part of the widening #urban–#rural voting gap. @twanhuijsmans.bsky.social, @theresakuhn.bsky.social & @bramlancee.bsky.social show in @ejprjournal.bsky.social that where people live matters politically. doi.org/10.1017/S147...
🚨New Book Alert 🚨 Thrilled to announce the publication of my first book: Rural Pain, Republican Gain by @uchicagopress.bsky.social ‼️ Officially released in one month but at the warehouse and ready to ship to you and yours! press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
Rural Pain, Republican Gain
An eye-opening look at how Republican policies have affected health outcomes in rural communities and why poor, rural white voters are turning to the Republican Party—not despite this harm, but becaus...
press.uchicago.edu
📢 PhD vacancy Are you interested in understanding how families, schools, and neighborhoods *jointly* shape educational outcomes? Eva Jaspers, @glorenz.bsky.social and I are looking for a PhD candidate to work on this topic at @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social. 🔗 More info: www.uu.nl/en/organisat...
PhD: Contextual (dis)advantage and educational inequality
Do you want to understand how families, schools and neighbourhoods jointly produce school outcomes and educational inequality?
uu.nl
#OpenAccess from @ejprjournal.bsky.social - Place, education, and voting along the transnational cleavage in Europe - https://cup.org/4gWZGQD - @twanhuijsmans.bsky.social, @theresakuhn.bsky.social & @bramlancee.bsky.social #FirstView
Place, education and voting 🗺️ 🏫 🗳️ @twanhuijsmans.bsky.social, @theresakuhn.bsky.social & @bramlancee.bsky.social assess the degree of overlap between urban-rural and educational differences in voting for parties at the opposite ends of the transnational cleavage
Place, education, and voting along the transnational cleavage in Europe | European Journal of Political Research | Cambridge Core
Place, education, and voting along the transnational cleavage in Europe
buff.ly
Europe’s growing urban-rural divide in voting along the transnational cleavage is not merely a reflection of underlying educational differences, as @theresakuhn.bsky.social, @bramlancee.bsky.social and I show in this new study in @ejprjournal.bsky.social. A short thread 🔽
‘Polarization’ has become the master concept for diagnosing our current democratic crisis. But this is not polarization. It is the radicalization of the political right. By misdiagnosing it, we risk becoming complicit in the crisis. 🧵 Just out in Perspectives on Politics doi.org/10.1017/S153...
Europe’s growing urban-rural divide in voting along the transnational cleavage is not merely a reflection of underlying educational differences, as @theresakuhn.bsky.social, @bramlancee.bsky.social and I show in this new study in @ejprjournal.bsky.social. A short thread 🔽
🏙️ vs ⛰️: Who gets their policy preferences reflected? 💡@stefanhp.bsky.social shows that urban residents see their policy preferences reflected more often than rural counterparts - even when controlling for education and income 🔗 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
'research in the United Kingdom shows that the proportion of people who have “a lot” of trust in science tends to be lower among politically right-leaning groups than those on the left. “Trust in science is politicized and becoming more so,” says sociologist Gordon Gauchat'. 1/2
Have people stopped trusting science? The data tell a surprising story
Some say there’s a global crisis of trust — but research reveals where the real problems lie.
nature.com
Nu ook beschikbaar in blogvorm: Nederlandse kiezers zien de democratie achteruitgaan (maar ze zijn het niet eens over welke democratie, of waarom) via @stukroodvlees.bsky.social stukroodvlees.nl/kiezers-zien...
Kiezers zien de democratie achteruitgaan (maar ze zijn het niet eens over welke democratie, of waarom) - StukRoodVlees
Onlangs verscheen Veelstemmig, het rapport van het Nationaal Kiezersonderzoek (NKO) over de Tweede Kamerverkiezingen van oktober 2025. Dit blog is gebaseerd op ons hoofdstuk daaruit. Het hele rapport ...
stukroodvlees.nl
Nieuwe blog: Kiezers zien de democratie achteruitgaan (maar ze zijn het niet eens over welke democratie, of waarom) https://stukroodvlees.nl/?p=19226
The first ever #EPSS 2026 football games were a great success! Thanks to @charlottekuberka.bsky.social and @vheddesheimer.bsky.social for organizing.
Super happy to see the last paper from my dissertation published in @polbehavior.bsky.social 🎉🎉🎉 In this paper, I investigate stereotyping along the urban–rural divide using data from a conjoint experiment fielded in nine European countries. The paper is available here: doi.org/10.1007/s111...
The Urban–Rural Divide in People’s Minds: Stereotypes of Urbanites and Ruralites in Nine European Countries - Political Behavior
Recent scholarship increasingly views the reemergence of the urban–rural divide in political behavior through the lens of social identity theory. Given this understanding of political divisions between cities and the countryside, it is crucial to investigate how urban and rural social groups are perceived, specifically, to what extent these groups are associated with entrenched stereotypes. Examining the urban–rural divide in people’s minds through a conjoint experiment, this paper sheds light on stereotypes of urbanites and ruralites in nine European countries. The results indicate that rural residents are typically viewed as Eurosceptic, anti-immigrant, working-class, older, and less educated. By contrast, typical urbanites are perceived as Europhile, pro-immigrant, upper-middle-class, younger, and university-educated. These perceptions are not held uniformly, however. Individuals tend to project their own characteristics onto others, perceiving those similar to themselves as more typical members of their place-based in-group. Likewise, a similar logic emerges regarding the relationship between urban–rural stereotypes and affect. While individuals tend to express warmer feelings toward those they perceive as typical members of their place-based in-group, these affective evaluations critically depend on whether individuals themselves align with the stereotypes in question. Overall, these findings provide systematic evidence on stereotyping along the urban–rural divide. By way of that, they further underscore the importance of a social identity perspective to political divisions between urban and rural residents.
doi.org
A fully funded 2-year postdoc for my ERC project on climate politics, comparative politics and political economy. Deadline: 29 July 2026, 10am CET Starting date: Jan 2027 (flexible) Feel free to reach out next week at EPSS if you’d like to discuss the position www.sciencespo.fr/centre-etude...
Call for Applications - Postdoctoral Position GREENLOSS Project
2 Years - Postdoctoral Position Starting January 2027
sciencespo.fr
🇳🇱 While the Netherlands continues to score highly on international democracy indices such as V-Dem, 40% of respondents in the new Dutch Parliamentary Election Study perceive at least some degree of democratic erosion. A new chapter by @jmvanlit.bsky.social and me explores these perceptions. 1/🧵
De uiterst rechtse kiezer radicaliseert- en drie andere lessen uit het Nationaal Kiezersonderzoek Met @eelcoharteveld.bsky.social en @twanhuijsmans.bsky.social in NRC: www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2026/...
De uiterst rechtse kiezer radicaliseert – en drie andere lessen uit dit ambitieuze kiezersonderzoek
Uitgebreide analyse van het Nationaal Kiezersonderzoek 2025: stemgedrag, partijtrouw, en het groeiende wantrouwen in de Nederlandse politiek.
nrc.nl
Het NKO streeft naar open data. De data zijn beschikbaar voor iedereen om verder te analyseren, en te vinden via DANS. doi.org/10.17026/SS/...
Dutch Parliamentary Election Study 2025 (DPES/NKO 2025)
The Dutch Parliamentary Election Study 2025 has been conducted by the Foundation of Electoral Studies in The Netherlands (Stichting Kiezeronderzoek...
doi.org
Het rapport 'Veelstemmig' vindt u hier: Het bevat analyses van 35 onderzoekers over uiteenlopende onderwerpen als kiezersstromen, de campagne, de invloed van demografie, de rol van influencers, de culturalisering van de politiek, polarisatie, democratisch verval en democratische hervorming.
De Nederlandse kiezer: beweeglijk, maar niet willekeurig
Op het eerste gezicht leek de verkiezingsuitslag van 2025 vooral grillig. Maar onder die onrust schuilt veel structuur. Dat blijkt uit het rapport ‘Veelstemmig: De Tweede Kamerverkiezingen van 2025’. ...
uva.nl
Vandaag verschijnt het Nationaal Kiezersonderzoek 2025! Eelco en ik spraken met @guusvalk.bsky.social @nrc.nl over enkele bevindingen. Het rapport wordt vanochtend aangeboden in de TK, en is dan in te zien via dpes.nl Met @eelcoharteveld.bsky.social @tomwgvdmeer.bsky.social en Floris Vermeulen
De uiterst rechtse kiezer radicaliseert – en drie andere lessen uit dit ambitieuze kiezersonderzoek
Uitgebreide analyse van het Nationaal Kiezersonderzoek 2025: stemgedrag, partijtrouw, en het groeiende wantrouwen in de Nederlandse politiek.
nrc.nl
@charlottekuberka.bsky.social and I are organizing a football match during EPSS in Belfast! ⚽️ If you are interested please fill out the form by Friday: forms.gle/PwYoedqu7NzF... All skill levels are welcome! Email/DM us if you have any questions. And please spread the word!
EPSS 2026 football sign-up
A football (soccer) match for EPSS 2026 attendees on a 3G pitch at Queen's Sport PEC, 10 min bike ride or 30 min walk from the ICC. All skill levels are welcome! Sign up by Friday 29 May so we can ...
forms.gle
EPSS@epssnet.bsky.social · 2mo ago⚽ EPSS 2026 Football Match We're organising a football match on Friday 19 June at Queen's Sport PEC! All skill levels welcome. Up to 3 five-a-side pitches, balls & bibs provided. Sign up by Friday 29 May 👇 forms.gle/PwYoedqu7NzF... #EPSS2026
Published last year: T. Huijsmans and W. van der Brug. “Place-Based Resentment and Party Support in Multiparty Systems: A Study of Three Consecutive Elections in the Netherlands”. In: Electoral Studies 96 (2025), p. 102963. dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2025.102963.
🚨 Last day for paper proposals! 🚨
Lawrence McKay@lawrencemckay.bsky.social · 3mo ago⏰ CALL FOR PAPERS - EPSS PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP ON PLACE, POLITICS AND EVIDENCE-BASED POLICY ⏰ Submit by Weds 20 May! For all those interested in politics of geographic divides and keen to explore impact potential of their work. More info/submit here: shorturl.at/xS0iS @twanhuijsmans.bsky.social
🎉 NEW PUBLICATION🎉 Happy to see my new article out in the Journal of European Public Policy @jeppjournal.bsky.social! As the green transition produces new lines of conflict in Europe, I provide an account of how place shapes discontent with climate policies. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... 🧵
🚨 8 days left to apply! @svenhegewald.bsky.social and I a are happy to answer questions of prospective applicants.
Arndt Leininger@aleininger.bsky.social · 3mo ago📢 We're hiring for my project RESPOL on residential mobility & electoral realignment 📍 University of Hamburg 📅 4y, 75% FTE 🔍 pol behavior, comp politics, regional inequalities 📊 quant, administrative & survey data Please share with talented MA students! 🔗 www.uni-hamburg.de/en/stellenan...
Don't forget to register for our @epssnet.bsky.social pre-conference on Place and Politics. Either just as an audience member, or as a presenter or discussing. Deadline May 20th. Please reach our to @lawrencemckay.bsky.social or me with any questions! And don't hesitate to share with others
Lawrence McKay@lawrencemckay.bsky.social · 3mo ago⏰ CALL FOR PAPERS - EPSS PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP ON PLACE, POLITICS AND EVIDENCE-BASED POLICY ⏰ Submit by Weds 20 May! For all those interested in politics of geographic divides and keen to explore impact potential of their work. More info/submit here: shorturl.at/xS0iS @twanhuijsmans.bsky.social
For those at @epssnet.bsky.social in Belfast this June: If you're interested in Place & Politics and want to join our discussions on the (potential) impact of the research in this field, make sure to register for the pre-conference that @lawrencemckay.bsky.social and I are organizing! 👇
Lawrence McKay@lawrencemckay.bsky.social · 3mo ago⏰ CALL FOR PAPERS - EPSS PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP ON PLACE, POLITICS AND EVIDENCE-BASED POLICY ⏰ Submit by Weds 20 May! For all those interested in politics of geographic divides and keen to explore impact potential of their work. More info/submit here: shorturl.at/xS0iS @twanhuijsmans.bsky.social
For those at @epssnet.bsky.social in Belfast this June: If you're interested in Place & Politics and want to join our discussions on the (potential) impact of the research in this field, make sure to register for the pre-conference that @lawrencemckay.bsky.social and I are organizing! 👇
Lawrence McKay@lawrencemckay.bsky.social · 3mo ago⏰ CALL FOR PAPERS - EPSS PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP ON PLACE, POLITICS AND EVIDENCE-BASED POLICY ⏰ Submit by Weds 20 May! For all those interested in politics of geographic divides and keen to explore impact potential of their work. More info/submit here: shorturl.at/xS0iS @twanhuijsmans.bsky.social