What a way to start a new semester! Yesterday we kicked off the new term with a Workshop on Survey Designs and Survey Experiments. Thanks to my amazing colleague @timallinger.bsky.social for co-organising this with me, and to the @ipz.bsky.social for their financial support.

We usually ask whether LLMs give the correct answer. But what if there is no correct answer? In our new @pnas.org paper, Gustavo Umbelino and I benchmark LLMs against human collective reasoning. #AI, #LLM @zdaarau.bsky.social @ipz.bsky.social , @uzh-ch.bsky.social www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Plausible nonsense and deliberative reasoning: Benchmarking LLMs against human judgment | PNAS

Large Language Models (LLMs) are entering democratic contexts as instruments of governance, where the challenges at hand are ill-structured, marked...

pnas.org

Together with @sarahgomm.bsky.social, we’ve wrapped up the workshop “Asking the right questions: harmonizing measures of climate policy support” at @ethz.ch. Two days of great discussion with 17 participants on measuring climate policy preferences in surveys. Thanks all! #ClimatePolicy

Can readers tell AI news from human news? In our new study (599 people, Switzerland), they couldn't. AI and human articles were rated equally credible and expert. Disclosing AI sparked curiosity but didn't shift broader attitudes. Open access in Scientific Reports: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🌍 #Geopolitik verändert die #Wissenschaft - und verschiebt die Balance zwischen Offenheit und #Sicherheit. @stefwalter.bsky.social ( @ipz.bsky.social ) spricht an unserer Veranstaltung am 29. Mai. Jetzt anmelden 👉 scnat.ch/de/id/jdijk

🚨 New WP w/ @leonardocarella.bsky.social on OSF doi.org/10.31235/osf... We usually think that social identities precede preferences We show the reverse is also true: people update their social identities to match their immigration preferences Focus: class identity in 🇬🇧 + Christian identity in 🇮🇹

Early-career researchers: we offer a Peace Research Fellowship at @ipz.bsky.social University of Zurich - fully funded, 2-week research visit with the Decades of Peace team. Deadline: March 20 Application details: www.decadesofpeace.com/fellowship August in Zurich may include a swim in the river.

🚨Job alert 🚨 I have an opening for a postdoc in my team at @ipz.bsky.social in the area of digital democracy starting Sep 1, 2026. If you are working on the impact of the digital transformation on politics, please apply by 🗓️ Mar 1, 2026. 📤 Please share widely! www.ipz.uzh.ch/de/ueber-uns...

Offene Stellen / Open Positions

ipz.uzh.ch

At his year's annual CIS Colloquium, researchers from @ipz.bsky.social and @ciseth.bsky.social presented their latest work, showcasing the vital role of political science in developing multidisciplinary responses to today's complex global challenges.

#OpenAccess from @ejprjournal.bsky.social - Voices of the party base: How supporters want established parties to respond to new parties - https://cup.org/4q1M0ET - Dominik Duell, @dielea.bsky.social, @sopro.bsky.social, Jonathan B. Slapin & @chriswratil.bsky.social #FirstView

💻 Who actually wants “digitalisation”? Alexander Kuo, @retobuergisser.bsky.social, @ainagallego.bsky.social, @siljahausermann.bsky.social survey five EU countries and find a clear mainstream-populist divide in support for digitalisation policies 👇 🔗 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

🚨Happy to finally see this out in the @ejprjournal.bsky.social (with @leonardocarella.bsky.social) ⁉️ Does growing up when immigration is salient make people vote for parties they agree with on immigration *for the rest of their lives*? doi.org/10.1017/S147...

Great way to kick off this year‘s #SPSA conference in Zurich: a keynote by the great @catherinedevries.bsky.social. Thanks also to @jbslapin.bsky.social for running the conference and the fantastic @ipz.bsky.social admin team for an excellent organization.

Today the IPZ opens its doors to the annual congress of the Swiss Political Science Association. We wish all the participants two insightful days. May you enjoy many interesting talks with old and new friends on the topic of emotional politics! #WePZ #IPZ #UZH #polisci #politikwissenschaft

Grüezi mitenand! One of the “real ones” will be presenting a new project on the crumbling of Germany’s cordon sanitaire and its consequences for progressive voting behavior tomorrow (early) morning.

Reto Mitteregger@indubioproreto.bsky.social · 9mo ago

The real ones know: there is only one SPSA conference today! 🇨🇭 Looking forward to present two brand-new paper projects ((Paper 1) co-authored with @hannaschwander.bsky.social and @franziskaveit.bsky.social & (Paper 2) co-authored with @juliusk.bsky.social) in Zurich today and tomorrow!

The real ones know: there is only one SPSA conference today! 🇨🇭 Looking forward to present two brand-new paper projects ((Paper 1) co-authored with @hannaschwander.bsky.social and @franziskaveit.bsky.social & (Paper 2) co-authored with @juliusk.bsky.social) in Zurich today and tomorrow!

Southern Political Science Association@spsanews.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Welcome to SPSA 2026! Participants arriving at the conference can pick up their badges and register on-site at the SPSA Registration Desk, located in the 3rd Floor Lobby of the Hilton New Orleans Riverside, today from 12 pm to 5 pm. Scholarly panels and receptions begin tomorrow!

I'm delighted to announce that my paper "How terrorism affects support for democracy" doi.org/10.1007/s111... is now published in Public Choice. Thanks to all my dear colleagues and friends who supported this project in whatever way over the years.😍🥳🍀

In a new paper, we show that "opportunity moves" foster political integration and shift political preferences to the left. Please have a look at @valentinaconsiglio.bsky.social's excellent summary for some more details. 👉 tinyurl.com/46utjj65

Valentina Consiglio@valentinaconsiglio.bsky.social · 11mo ago

💡 How does moving to opportunity reshape political behavior? 🗞️ In our new BJPolS paper, @thmskrr.bsky.social and I show that residential relocations that increase access to opportunity foster political integration and shift political preferences to the left. 👉 tinyurl.com/46utjj65

Very proud of our @ipz.bsky.social students who celebrated their graduation tonight. Congratulations to all, especially our prize winners! The prizes for best dissertation go to @reidingerve.bsky.social and @indubioproreto.bsky.social - Congrats! 🎉🥂🍾

New publication made in @ipz.bsky.social. Congrats, Verena!

Verena Reidinger@reidingerve.bsky.social · last yr.

Do men see gender parity in representation as detrimental to their interests? What about when women’s representation exceeds parity? And how do such shifts affect men’s fairness perceptions? I address these questions in my article, now published in PRQ. 1/9 
doi.org/10.1177/1065...

📢 In a new online field experiment, we find that #counterspeech with perspective-based messages can reduce online hate speech, and its 🌟amplification🌟 with a large research team across #ETHZurich @ipz.bsky.social @uclspp.bsky.social and beyond www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Counterspeech encouraging users to adopt the perspective of minority groups reduces hate speech and its amplification on social media - Scientific Reports

Scientific Reports - Counterspeech encouraging users to adopt the perspective of minority groups reduces hate speech and its amplification on social media

nature.com

🚨 Newest Comparative Political Data Set released!🚨 Updated until 2023 Available here 👉cpds-data.org/data @leuphana.bsky.social @uniluzern.bsky.social @ipz.bsky.social

❗The segmentation of the right field is eroding, especially among young voters❗ New article out by @simonbornschier.bsky.social @dpzollinger.bsky.social @mrsteenbergen.bsky.social and myself @ipz.bsky.social ‬ @wepsocial.bsky.social tinyurl.com/ycxfx2aj A short 🧵 1/7

How much competition within the right field? ❗Segmentation is eroding, especially among young voters❗ New article out by @siljahausermann.bsky.social ‪@dpzollinger.bsky.social @mrsteenbergen.bsky.social and myself @ipz.bsky.social @wepsocial.bsky.social tinyurl.com/ycxfx2aj A short 🧵 1/7

New @ipz.bsky.social PhD!

Maël Kubli@maelkubli.bsky.social · last yr.

After 4½ years, I’m thrilled to announce that I have successfully defended my PhD dissertation titled “Framing Artificial Intelligence: Understanding How AI Is Framed in EU Political and Media Discourse Using Large Language Models.” PhDone! 🎓

Let's see whether the tariffs are actually implemented as threatened, but this graph shows just how much the trade regime has changed since January.

Joey Politano🏳️‍🌈@josephpolitano.bsky.social · last yr.

Modeling Trump's tariff announcements from this morning (raising tariffs on the EU to 50% and putting a 25% tariff on smartphones), they'd hit more than $370B in imports and raise overall US tariff rates by 4 percentage points to nearly 9x pre-Trump levels

Last day of my research stay at IPZ (@ipz.bsky.social). It’s been such a welcoming and intellectually generous environment. Many thanks to everyone who made this such a rewarding and inspiring experience. Next stop: my Alma Mater in Vienna (@stawi-univie.bsky.social).

Just spent time discussing my career and research with our cool @ipz.bsky.social polito students for their newest project PoliTea, a podcast series featuring interviews with different IPZ members. Already online: interviews with Hannah Werner and @enzonussio.bsky.social – check it out!

PoliTea

Podcast · Institut für Politikwissenschaft UZH | Fachverein Polito · 🎙 Willkommen bei PoliTea – Politik, aber nicht langweilig! Wir bringen euch die spannendsten politischen Themen direkt aufs Ohr! 🧠...

open.spotify.com

Do you work on issues related to digital public administration? We are hiring! We are a department that prizes both excellence in research and teaching and a collegial and supportive work environment and would love to hear from you. (Zurich is also a great place to live)

European Consortium for Political Research@ecpr.bsky.social · last yr.

Senior Lecturer in Digital Public Administration #ECPRMemberJobs 🎓 PhD in political science, public administration, or closely related field 🏫 @ipz.bsky.social ⌛ Thursday 15 May buff.ly/og0q6AL #PolSciJobs #PoliSky #AcademicSky

PhD opportunity in my team! 📢 Fully funded PhD position (3+1 years) 🏫 University of Zurich / Zurich University of Applied Sciences 📅 Start of the position: September 1, 2025 ⏳ Application deadline: May 31, 2025 Job ad: www.ipz.uzh.ch/de/ueber-uns... Project Info: www.dizh.uzh.ch/en/2025/04/1...