Dieter Stiers
@dieterstiers.bsky.social
Post-doctoral researcher in political science at KU Leuven (Belgium). Studying voters, parties, and public opinion.
Compulsory voting creates robust democratic citizens — or does it? In POQ, Stiers & Singh looked to Belgium following a partial abolition of compulsory voting. Once abolished, voter turnout declined, but attitudes and engagement were unchanged. Read now: doi.org/10.1093/poq/...
Just published. Amber Voets @dieterstiers.bsky.social @marchooghe.bsky.social "Does electoral volatility imply short-term voting motives? A comparative analysis of long- & short-term voting motives in Flanders & Wallonia (Belgium)" with @cses.bsky.social data. link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Does electoral volatility imply short-term voting motives? - Comparative European Politics
Recent research suggests that long-term determinants of vote choice have weakened, while short-term considerations have become increasingly influential, contributing to rising electoral volatility. Bu...
link.springer.com
This article on PsyPost provides a nice summary of our study: www.psypost.org/forcing-peop...
Forcing people to vote doesn't make them more engaged citizens, study finds
A new study of Belgian elections reveals that while compulsory voting drastically increases turnout, it does not automatically make citizens more interested in politics, knowledgeable about government...
psypost.org
Dieter Stiers@dieterstiers.bsky.social · 3mo ago🚨New publication (with Shane Singh) in @poqjournal.bsky.social! Proponents of compulsory voting often claim that obligatory turnout will increase citizens' political involvement, equalising levels of democratic attitudes and political engagement in the electorate. But does it? 👇
There is concern that increasing electoral volatility would indicate more short-term voting motives. Using @cses.bsky.social data for Belgium, Amber Voets and @dieterstiers.bsky.social show this is not the case: ideology remains important as always. Now in CEP. link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Does electoral volatility imply short-term voting motives? - Comparative European Politics
Recent research suggests that long-term determinants of vote choice have weakened, while short-term considerations have become increasingly influential, contributing to rising electoral volatility. Bu...
link.springer.com
Een vaak gebruikt argument van voorstanders van de opkomsplicht is dat het de algemene betrokkenheid bij de politiek verhoogt omdat alle kiezers zich meer zullen informeren. In ons onderzoek rond de Belgische lokale verkiezingen van 2024, vinden we geen steun voor dit argument!
Does Compulsory Voting Improve Democratic Attitudes and Engagement? Quasi-Experimental Evidence from Belgium
Abstract. For over a century, scholars, policymakers, and advocates have argued that compulsory voting not only boosts turnout but also promotes prodemocra
academic.oup.com
🚨New publication (with Shane Singh) in @poqjournal.bsky.social! Proponents of compulsory voting often claim that obligatory turnout will increase citizens' political involvement, equalising levels of democratic attitudes and political engagement in the electorate. But does it? 👇
Does Compulsory Voting Improve Democratic Attitudes and Engagement? Quasi-Experimental Evidence from Belgium
Abstract. For over a century, scholars, policymakers, and advocates have argued that compulsory voting not only boosts turnout but also promotes prodemocra
academic.oup.com
Voters for extreme right protest parties have lower levels of subjective well-being, @stevendekeyser.bsky.social, @dieterstiers.bsky.social and I show in a new article in Journal of Happiness Studies @isqols.bsky.social . The effect, however, is almost fully mediated by anti-immigrant sentimens.
🚨 I'm recruiting a PhD student for a new project on Parties' social group ownership, based in the @vd-researchgroup.bsky.social research group at KU Leuven! Deadline for applying is 26 June, estimated starting date is 1 Oct 2026. All info is here 👉 www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jo... Share widely!
1 doctoraatspositie in kiesgedrag
1 PhD position to research how parties build connections with social groups
kuleuven.be
🆕 Avoidance is spreading 🫣 @marchooghe.bsky.social & @dieterstiers.bsky.social use BelREP panel data to ask what influence news avoidance has on congruent #Voting among those with lower levels of political understanding buff.ly/5WeB9RD
News avoidance and congruent voting. Results of an electoral panel study in Belgium | European Political Science Review | Cambridge Core
News avoidance and congruent voting. Results of an electoral panel study in Belgium
cambridge.org
www.cambridge.org/core/journal... 'News avoidance' is spreading quickly among younger generations. Is this just a media preference, or does it have democratic consequences? @dieterstiers.bsky.social and I show that it leads to less correct voting, thus underming representative democracy.
News avoidance and congruent voting. Results of an electoral panel study in Belgium | European Political Science Review | Cambridge Core
News avoidance and congruent voting. Results of an electoral panel study in Belgium
cambridge.org
Happy to be on the committee for the new David Howell Award. Looking forward to reading your submissions!
Ruth Dassonneville@rdassonneville.bsky.social · 6mo ago‼️ There are not 1 but 2 CSES Awards now! Have you used CSES data in recent work or seen great work using the data? Nominate published work for the GESIS Klingemann Prize and conference papers for the brand new David Howell Award! And don't be shy to self-nominate!!
Ik kijk heel erg uit naar deze lezing van @tomwgvdmeer.bsky.social ! Ben je op 26 maart in Leuven of in de buurt, schrijf dan zeker in! 👇
Voting & Democracy Research Group - KU Leuven@vd-researchgroup.bsky.social · 6mo agoDe @vd-researchgroup.bsky.social ontvangt prof. @tomwgvdmeer.bsky.social (UvA) voor een publiekslezing rond over ‘Waardenloze politiek: hoe politici de democratie klem zetten tussen technocratie en populisme’! 🗓️ Donderdag 26 maart om 16u30 📍Parkstraat 47 3000 Leuven 📝Registreer: lnkd.in/eeazeQyX
New publication out (with Chloé De Grauwe) in @eupthejournal.bsky.social! In it, we study economic voting in European Parliamentary Elections. What do we find?👇
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📣 SAVE THE DATE 📣 Prof. Dr. Richard Katz (Johns Hopkins) will deliver a lecture at Ghent University on 19 March 2026 on the occasion of receiving an honorary doctorate. 📍 Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 41, Ghent (Room 3.1) 🕑 2:00–3:00 PM Open to all (registration required): tinyurl.com/3w95646v
Very nice collaboration with @rafreuse.bsky.social out now in @electoralstudies.bsky.social. See his thread below for more details!
Raf Reuse@rafreuse.bsky.social · 8mo ago📢 New publication out in Electoral Studies! Do voters care about ideology in local elections? Studying the 2012 & 2018 Flemish local elections, @dieterstiers.bsky.social and I find they do. A little thread 🧵
Looking forward to presenting my ongoing work on the consequences of (abolishing) compulsory voting. Feel free to join!
GASPAR UGent@gasparugent.bsky.social · 9mo ago📣 Save the date It's already time for the last Gaspar Guest Lecture of this year. @dieterstiers.bsky.social will give a presentation about his research on the effects of (abolishing) compulsory voting. 🗓️ December 10th, Registration is free! 👇
In summer 2024 @dieterstiers.bsky.social and I made a (publicly available) forecast on the consequences of abolishing turnout for the October 2024 elections in Belgium. Our forecasting model correctly predicted the effect of gender and political interest. Now out in Int. Journal of Forecasting.
Er is nog tijd om in te schrijven voor de lezing van Francqui Chair @bramwauters.bsky.social op dinsdag 2 december. Inschrijven kan via deze link: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... Niet te missen!
Francqui leerstoel Bram WAUTERS
Inaugurale les op dinsdag 2 december 2025
docs.google.com
Ruth Dassonneville@rdassonneville.bsky.social · 10mo ago‼️ Onze onderzoeksgroep @vd-researchgroup.bsky.social verwelkomt dit academiejaar @bramwauters.bsky.social als Francqui leerstoelhouder! 📆 Het openingscollege gaat door op 2 dec om 17u30 Voor meer info en om in te schrijven voor dit *niet te missen* college, zie hier soc.kuleuven.be/afdeling-pol...
‼️ Onze onderzoeksgroep @vd-researchgroup.bsky.social verwelkomt dit academiejaar @bramwauters.bsky.social als Francqui leerstoelhouder! 📆 Het openingscollege gaat door op 2 dec om 17u30 Voor meer info en om in te schrijven voor dit *niet te missen* college, zie hier soc.kuleuven.be/afdeling-pol...
🚨 NEW in @bjpols.bsky.social : When Partygate hit Westminster, trust in Scottish politicians increased. Our experiments reveal a "contrast effect" - scandals at one level can make the other look better by comparison. Who lost most trust in Westminster? Scottish unionists. Read now #OpenAccess 👇
British Journal of Political Science@bjpols.bsky.social · 10mo agoNEW - Political Scandals and Vertical Contagion in Multilevel Systems - cup.org/47wHeJB - @jaclarner.bsky.social, Robert Johns, @ailsahenderson.bsky.social, @frasmcm.bsky.social & @cjcarman.bsky.social #OpenAccess
Today I celebrate my 10th academic birthday (since start PhD) and it's nice to be able to do that with a little milestone of itself!
With the start of the new academic year, we're planning more talks at @vd-researchgroup.bsky.social! Looking forward to welcoming @bjornhoyland.bsky.social in Leuven on Monday 20 October. If you're around and would like to attend, more info is here 👇 soc.kuleuven.be/afdeling-pol...
Seminar Bjørn Høyland
soc.kuleuven.be
The first, but definitely not the last, publication of @stevendekeyser.bsky.social! Be sure to follow him to stay up-to-date about his work on federalism, regionalist parties, and voting behaviour in divided societies!
Steven De Keyser@stevendekeyser.bsky.social · 11mo agoHappy to announce the publication of my first article in @plc-journal.bsky.social! 👀 Interested in reading more about sibling parties and electoral behaviour in Belgium? Check out the post below 👇 Thank you to my supervisors @marchooghe.bsky.social and @dieterstiers.bsky.social for their guidance
📢 Call for Papers for EPSS 2026 conference in Belfast is out: epssnet.org/belfast-2026... Starting today, we'll feature two sections each week to provide more information about the conference. 🔝 This week: Electoral + Voting Behaviour & Climate Politics ▶️ Electoral + Voting Behaviour 🧵
Call for Papers | EPSS Belfast 2026 Conference
Submit your abstract or full paper for EPSS Belfast 2026. Share cutting‑edge political science research, network with peers & contribute to academic impact.
epssnet.org
🚨📢 We’re hiring a Postdoc in Computational Political Science at the University of Antwerp! 💻 Focus: NLP + ML + political text analysis 🗳️ Project: ERC DEMO-LIES (disinformation in democracies) 🌍 Location: Antwerp, 🇧🇪 📅 Deadline: 16 Oct 2025 www.uantwerpen.be/en/jobs/vaca...
Postdoctoral scholarship holder in computational political science | University of Antwerp
YUFE vacancies
uantwerpen.be
For a data collection we want to launch soon, we're looking for a German speaker who could translate our survey instrument to German. This should only take a few hours of work. Of course we are remunerating! Interested? Please reach out to @alexjabbour.bsky.social !
Do generous welfare policies foster political trust? Matthijs Gillissen, @silkegoubin.bsky.social & Anna Ruelens examine the long-term effects of welfare generosity on trust in political institutions. Read more: buff.ly/tBe6gLG @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social @uoypolitics.bsky.social @sagepub.com
Can elections foster political legitimacy? In my new study @wepsocial.bsky.social I show that they can, depending on the level of participation, the congruence between the electorate and the parliament and government, and the reactiveness of the electoral result to past incumbent performance.
Electoral input and political legitimacy
Political legitimacy is of fundamental importance for democratic systems, as it ensures that citizens adhere to political rules and decisions peacefully and voluntarily. Recent research indicates a...
tandfonline.com
Net als bij volwassen kiezers, is een laag vertrouwen in de politiek een belangrijke reden om op radicale partijen te stemmen. Jongeren hebben, op dat vlak, dus best gelijkaardige stemmotieven als volwassen kiezers.
Linde Stals@lindestals.bsky.social · last yr.📢 New publication: we draw on unique data from 16- and 17-year-old Belgian adolescents who were eligible to vote in the 2024 European elections, and show that low trust in order and representative institutions is linked to protest and radical voting. @dieterstiers.bsky.social @annakern.bsky.social
‼️ There are a few more days left to apply for the PhD positions in my group at KU Leuven. Make sure to send in applications by July 4! 👇
Ruth Dassonneville@rdassonneville.bsky.social · last yr.I'm recruiting 2 PhD researchers to work with me on a project studying how social groups influence vote choices! Info on the position and how to apply 👉 www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jo... Please share with interested students who would like to move to beautiful Leuven!