📄 And another working paper: **Pretty much all citizens say they support democracy.** But what do they mean by that? We ask whether voters from different partisan camps mean the same thing when they talk about "democracy." Paper: osf.io/preprints/so...

New public pre-print with @aarslew.bsky.social and Martin Bisgaard 🧵 We introduce a perspective on democratic erosion that focuses on quiet anticipation among political elites: what do they think happens to those who cross a strongman that challenges democracy? www.researchgate.net/publication/...

(PDF) The Imagined Strongman: How Elites Anticipate the Cost of Opposing Trump

PDF | What happens to politicians who speak up against a strongman that challenges democracy? Political scientists typically answer this question using... | Find, read and cite all the research you ne...

researchgate.net

Great @epssnet.bsky.social so far! Today, I am presenting ongoing work w. @elenaleuschner.bsky.social, @timallinger.bsky.social, @danbischof.bsky.social, @kristianvsf.bsky.social, and @morganlcj.bsky.social on citizen's conceptualisations of democracy. 📍 CP09, Lagan B (Hilton) ⏰ 15:20

We're hiring 2 postdocs at @uio.no on my ERC-Cog project on how authoritarian regimes shape scientific knowledge. 3–4 years, U. of Oslo. Deadline: 10 Sept 2026. Great dept., terms, well funded, bustling & green Scandi capital. Apply! 👉 jobbnorge.no/en/available-jobs/job/303060/postdoctoral-fello

Postdoctoral Fellow  (303060) | University of Oslo

Job title: Postdoctoral Fellow  (303060), Employer: University of Oslo, Deadline: Thursday, September 10, 2026

jobbnorge.no

Americans say they want less inequality. Why don’t they support policies to reduce it? New paper: across 31 nationally representative survey waves (N=384,248) and a preregistered experiment (N=1,009), Americans favor PREdistributive over REdistributive policies 🧵 osf.io/preprints/so...

New book on democracy. #OpenAccess Seven Myths about Democracy by Jørgen Møller & Svend-Erik Skaaning, Routledge taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-mon.... Challenges (full or partial) misunderstandings about the meaning, trajectory, causes, and consequences of democracy.

Seven Myths about Democracy | Jørgen Møller, Svend-Erik Skaaning | Tay

This timely book challenges seven widespread misconceptions about democracy that continue to shape public and academic debates about its past, present, and

taylorfrancis.com

Just in past 24 hours: -Criminal investigation of E. Jean Carroll -Subpoenas seeking info of ICE critics -Former judges demand inquiry into IRS "deal" -White House intervention leads to $600+M deal to family-linked firm -Monuments, pictures on currency Turning us into a tinpot authoritarian state

Why I don't expect liberal democracy to go away any time soon: My article on the resilience of liberal democracy, published in @jeppjournal.bsky.social. Perfectly timed to the day after Orbáns defeat and a small spike in "democracy-optimism". There are, I argue, good reasons for such optimism.

New Bright Line Watch report! -Expert ratings of U.S. democracy largely stable at lowest levels measured (since 2017) -Record partisan divide in public ratings of democracy driven by Republicans whose evaluations are highest since 2017 -Experts near-unanimous on many threats to democracy 🧵 below

Von Budapest bis Washington: Die Wiederherstellung der Demokratie kann gelingen, sofern die siegreiche pro-demokrati. Allianz Mass hält. Kurz vor der Wahl in Ungarn, bietet Polen wichtige Learnings, zeigt die super Studie v @kristianvsf.bsky.social, @robbwiller.bsky.social @m-b-petersen.bsky.social

Rahel Freiburghaus@rfrbrghs.bsky.social · 5mo ago

#POLITKOLUMNE: How to restore democracy? Elections alone won’t do. What matters is what comes next. An aggressive “fight fire with fire” strategy by pro-democratic elites may jeopardize the pro-dem. voters' restraint toward supporters of the former authoritarian govt www.derbund.ch/ungarn-wie-s...

Much research concludes that partisans tolerate anti-democratic behavior, such as electoral subversion, because they rarely punish it at the ballot box. But refusing to vote against your party and actively supporting democratic subversion are not the same thing. My new paper in @bjpols.bsky.social:

📢 New article 🌟 👥 @anjaneundorf.bsky.social , @sirianned.bsky.social (ISV), @kristianvsf.bsky.social, @aykutozturk.bsky.social 👉 Elections Without Constraints? The Appeal of Electoral Autocracy Across the World 📗 Open Access in British Journal of Political Science 🔗 doi.org/10.1017/S000...

Dagens #FT26 Valg-Vitaminer (Hot take #2 fra forskerkontoret) Hvilket parti har egentlig mest glæde af, at valgkampen so far har handlet meget om formueskat? Vi har ikke tal på formueskat specifikt, men på skat mere generelt. Se nedenstående figur. /n

Men hvad så med udlændinge i valgkampen til folketingsvalget 24. marts 2026? Lidt ekstra #FT26 Popcorn (Hot take #3 fra forskerkontoret) Prøv lige at se den skæve fordeling i nedenstående figure! /n

Effects of Accurate Data on Firm Decision-Making: Evidence from AI Hallucinations (QJE 2029)

Former Pingu Child Actor (BANISHED)@cursedpingu.bsky.social · 6mo ago

lol this is gonna burst so fucking hard

Thrilled about our first DEMNORM paper and that it has been conditionally accepted at @thejop.bsky.social!

Danbischof@danbischof.bsky.social · 6mo ago

🚨📄 New paper (conditional accepted at @thejop.bsky.social): We test whether social desirability bias actually distorts answers in online surveys. Short version: It mostly doesn’t. w. @timallinger.bsky.social @kristianvsf.bsky.social @morganlcj.bsky.social URL: osf.io/preprints/os...

🚨New WP: Can an AI voter guide (grounded in information from a nonpartisan, fact-checked source) help voters’ decision making? 🚨 We built and evaluated an LLM-based chatbot that provided voting info in CA & TX (N=2,474) right before the 2024 election. 🧵👇

Great to see "The Way Back After Backsliding: Public Opinion and the Restoration of Democracy" with @robbwiller.bsky.social and @m-b-petersen.bsky.social out in @cpsjournal.bsky.social journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...

The Way Back After Backsliding: Public Opinion and the Restoration of Democracy - Kristian Frederiksen, Robb Willer, Michael Bang Petersen, 2026

Abundant prior research has analyzed the mass public’s role in democratic backsliding. Comparatively little research has studied democratic restoration, the reh...

journals.sagepub.com

I still remember vividly reading this NYT headline in October 2024, sitting in a coffee shop in Boston, a fortnight before the presidential election #Minneapolis

Extremely happy and relieved to share that I've been hired as an Associate Professor in Political Science in Aarhus from February 1. Time to go get these ba⭐ds trying to undermine democracy and/or the sovereignty principle. And teach a whole lot of course. I will keep you posted!

Joint work with the brilliant @kristianvsf.bsky.social @sirianned.bsky.social @aykutozturk.bsky.social Open access article here 👇 www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Our 32-country conjoint study on which societal characteristics citizens prioritize is now published at @bjpols.bsky.social w. excellent @anjaneundorf.bsky.social @sirianned.bsky.social @aykutozturk.bsky.social

British Journal of Political Science@bjpols.bsky.social · 8mo ago

NEW - Elections Without Constraints? The Appeal of Electoral Autocracy Across the World - https://cup.org/49auQPf - @anjaneundorf.bsky.social, @sirianned.bsky.social, Kristian Vrede Skaaning Frederiksen & @aykutozturk.bsky.social #OpenAccess

From October 2025 - Interstate Conflict Increases the Appeal of Undemocratic Candidates - https://cup.org/3Lx7bjx "undemocratic candidates are evaluated more positively under conflict compared to peace" - @kristianvsf.bsky.social & Lasse Laustsen #OpenAccess

I mean, this is an execution

Jason "Red5" Lyall@jaylyall.bsky.social · 8mo ago

This is straight-up murder

Experimental evidence that *randomly varying the severity of democratic norm violations* is 1) as good as incrementally increasing severity (re subversion by stealth), and 2) better than incrementally decreasing severity (re reference point theory) for would-be authoritarians

British Journal of Political Science@bjpols.bsky.social · 9mo ago

NEW - Dynamic Democratic Backsliding - https://cup.org/3X48Yzq "I formulate and test predictions about how different sequences of backsliding shape accountability." - Eddy S. F. Yeung #OpenAccess

Does ethnopolitical exclusion cause civil war onset via grievances? In a new article, @lleipziger.bsky.social, Lasse Lykke Rørbæk, and I reassess this relationship based on 15 case studies. Six of the cases followed the grievance/mobilization/rejection pathway proposed by the general theory.

Cambridge University Press Political Science & IR@cambup-polsci.cambridge.org · 9mo ago

#OpenAccess from @poppublicsphere.bsky.social - Does Ethnopolitical Exclusion Cause Civil War Onset via Grievances? Evidence from 15 Case Studies - https://cup.org/4ozgHkU - @lleipziger.bsky.social, Lasse Lykke Rørbæk & @skaaning.bsky.social #FirstView

An expert survey I was contacted by exposed its recipient list and now I'm in a "remove me too please" snowball. Don't people ever learn not to "reply all"?

Fascinating paper by @grattonecon.bsky.social, @bartonelee2.bsky.social, and Hasin Yousaf! The paper addresses a fundamental question: Why do some democracies chronically avoid ambitious, long-term reforms even when they have decent institutions? They argue that what matters is not only

🚨 EPSS Belfast 2026 Call for Papers - One week to go! 🚨 Don't forget to submit your paper or panel proposal to the European Political Science Society @epssnet.bsky.social 2026 conference - just one week to go before the deadline: epssnet.org/belfast-2026...