Max Heermann
@maxheermann.bsky.social
Political Scientist at ETH Zürich. Previously University of Konstanz. Digital policy, European integration, International solidarity.
Great piece on the power of framing (posted by Paul Novosad on X in case you did not see it). I might use it in office hours / class. jasonmfletcher.substack.com/p/how-to-wri...
How to Write a Top 5 Paper: A Case Study
Two teams, nearly the same question, nearly the same data—and a revealing difference in what the papers ask the evidence to do
jasonmfletcher.substack.com
The #UniKonstanz Senate and University Council elected @leuffen.bsky.social, a political scientist and current Vice Rector for Research, Innovation and Impact at the University of Konstanz, to succeed Katharina Holzinger. Details: t1p.de/udjt4
@maxheermann.bsky.social, Sharon Baute & @leuffen.bsky.social: Democratic backsliding and support for public good provision in the European Union 🔗 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Safe and sound arrived in Dublin 🇮🇪 Getting ready for #CES2026 with a great company! Yes, some glasses of Guinness were involved! 🍺
Max Heermann@maxheermann.bsky.social · 2mo agoAnd @giadapasquettaz.bsky.social will present our joint paper on the mainstreaming of populist rhetoric and support for international solidarity and WHO policies. #EPSS2026 #CES2026
No search engine liability privileges for Google's AI overviews? Potentially far-reaching judgement if this holds after appeals. the-decoder.com/landmark-ger...
Landmark German ruling declares Google's AI Overviews are Google's own words and makes it liable for false answers
A German regional court has ruled that Google is directly liable for the content of its AI search overviews. According to the court, previous limited liability protections for search engine operators ...
the-decoder.com
Very happy to see this article on ideological gaps in citizens’ deservingness perceptions written with @iguinaudeau.bsky.social & @theresmatthiess.bsky.social published first view by the @epsrjournal.bsky.social ✨ 🔗 Read the article here: shorturl.at/XGMk8
Who deserves? Ideological gaps in citizens’ deservingness perceptions | European Political Science Review | Cambridge Core
Who deserves? Ideological gaps in citizens’ deservingness perceptions
cambridge.org
Theres Matthieß @theresmatthiess.bsky.social · 3mo ago🚨 Our article “Who deserves? Ideological gaps in citizens’ deservingness perceptions?” is out in @epsrjournal.bsky.social. Joint work with @elisadeisshelbig.bsky.social and @iguinaudeau.bsky.social from the 🇫🇷🇩🇪 UNEQUALMAND project. 👉🏻 shorturl.at/qoBDU%F0%9F%... 1/3
"Wir haben eine übergriffige Kommentarkultur, die alles kommentiert, aber selbst nicht liefern muss. Erst wird lautstark Handeln gefordert, und sobald etwas passiert, kommt reflexhaft das Urteil: zu wenig, zu spät, am Ziel vorbei." 2/2
New piece in Science: Sudden elimination of USAID grants triggered waves of violence in affected regions in Africa, undermining civic governance and fueling civic unrest. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Aiding peace or conflict? The impact of USAID cuts on violence
Less than a week after its inauguration, the second Trump administration issued a blanket stop-work order for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the largest national human...
science.org
Out in Climatic Change: I show that major emitters defecting from their Paris obligations lowers citizens' support for ratcheting up climate policy - especially when citizens fear economic Green Transition costs. Likely, Trump's withdrawal matters beyond the US. link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Climate change policy preferences and foreign state behavior – survey experimental evidence on reciprocal defection - Climatic Change
The Paris Agreement emphasizes transparency over individual country targets and achievements as a coordination instrument for ‘ratcheting up’ global climate policy. Does free-riding of third countries...
link.springer.com
The Council and European Parliament have agreed on the AI Omnibus last night. That negotiations concluded so quickly shows the immense political pressure to act, but it remains questionable whether the AI Omnibus can really fulfil the expectations of fostering growth and innovation pinned on it 1/
UPDATE 🇨🇭🇪🇺: After the Swiss federal govt adopted the Switzerland–EU package in April 2026, parliament is now deciding which majority rules will apply in the likely 2028 referendum. Today, after a 6:6 tie, the committee chair cast the deciding vote in favor of a supermajority requirement #Ständemehr
🚨 Now out in @bjpols.bsky.social w @busbyj2.bsky.social @jordantama.bsky.social @ckafura.bsky.social: Do American foreign policy elites know what the public wants? Partnering with @global-affairs.bsky.social, we show that elites systematically misread the room 🧵 www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Delighted to share a short blog post on the dark logic of visual "strongman" propaganda — drawing on survey experiments in Venezuela, Türkiye and the US!
The Loop@ecprtheloop.bsky.social · 4mo ago🌊 #Illiberal Wave No.46 💪 @plutscher.bsky.social, @draege.bsky.social, @karstendonnay.bsky.social & @chknutsen.bsky.social draw on 3 experiments across Venezuela, Türkiye + the US to show that visual strongman #Propaganda can deter opposition movements + mobilise supporters. 👉️ bit.ly/48vkRV3
Public support has often been treated as a backdrop to global governance. But in a review article with @the-peio.bsky.social, @jonastallberg.bsky.social and I argue that what the public thinks matters for how (well) international organisations operate: link.springer.com/article/10.1... #poliscisky
Public opinion and international organizations - The Review of International Organizations
Public opinion has become an increasingly important issue for international organizations (IOs) in the wake of growing politicization and contestation of global governance. This special issue aims to ...
link.springer.com
ENSURED@ensured.bsky.social · 4mo ago🆕📝 | Does public opinion impact international organisations? Turns out: More than you might think. In our latest ENSURED blog, @lisadellmuth.bsky.social unpacks her research on how citizens’ attitudes can both enable and constrain multilateral cooperation. @stockholm-uni.bsky.social
Thrilled to announce my paper with @dianamejordan.bsky.social & sky-less Trent Ollerenshaw is now published open-access at @apsrjournal.bsky.social. In a (very) large replication & extension, we show that design effects of repeated measure experiments are nonzero but typically small. Thread:
Cambridge University Press Political Science & IR@cambup-polsci.cambridge.org · 4mo ago#OpenAccess from @apsrjournal.bsky.social - New Evidence and Design Considerations for Repeated Measure Experiments in Survey Research - https://cup.org/4sVtFLj - @dianamejordan.bsky.social, TRENT OLLERENSHAW & @atrexler.com #FirstView
Wir suchen Verstärkung am @bidt.bsky.social in München. Thomas Hess und ich starten ein neues Projekt „Digitale Staatlichkeit gestalten“! Lust auf quantitative empirische Sozialwissenschaft und Digitalpolitik? Hier geht es zur Bewerbung: bidt.jobs.personio.de/job/2578559
Many middle powers are fast diversifying trade ties away from the US • In May-Dec 2025 trade among UK, Canada, EU, Japan, South Korea and Switzerland rose by 12% • EU leads the way, as recent burst of free-trade deals with Mercosur, India and Australia illustrates www.economist.com/finance-and-...
This is quite extraordinary- scientists set a kind of trap for AI chat bots by inventing a fake disease. AI told people it was real and… the deliberately bogus preprints started being cited in peer reviewed literature 🫣 🧪 #MedSky www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Scientists invented a fake disease. AI told people it was real
Bixonimania doesn’t exist except in a clutch of obviously bogus academic papers. So why did AI chatbots warn people about this fictional illness?
nature.com
Anymore views on this? Thanks to everyone engaging 🙏
Peter Luca Versteegen@versteegenluca.bsky.social · 4mo ago🤓 @chriswratil.bsky.social and I just discussed survey experiment design. Which option is better? A: treatment -> mechanism -> DV B: treatment -> DV -> mechanism I.e. measure mechanisms before or after the DV? We recently heard conflicting takes... What do you think is better? And why? thanks!
Always good to see scientists replicating previous famous findings.
Das Flanieren, als eine keiner Zweckhaftigkeit folgenden Tätigkeit, wird zum Verdachtsfall.
Überwachung in Berlin: Wenn die KI das „Umhergehen ohne Anlass“ meldet
Der Berliner Senat weitet die Videoüberwachung aus und setzt auf automatisierte Verhaltensanalyse vor dem Abgeordnetenhaus und an Kriminalitätsschwerpunkten.
heise.de
🚨 TADA Speaker Series Spring 2026 schedule is here! 🚨 We've assembled a fantastic lineup of researchers exploring the future of survey research in the age of LLMs. Mar 18 - May 27, online at 17:00 CEST. Join us! More info & signup: tada.cool
MAGA's war on European civil society is escalating. Visa bans for NGO leaders and former EU officials, plus congressional demands for documents - it's all about undermining the Digital Services Act to protect Big Tech. If Europe doesn't push back hard, "the law is dead." www.ftm.eu/articles/tru...
Trump allies target European NGOs in battle over Big Tech rules
Trump allies have waged an aggressive campaign against civil society and academics in the United States. Now, they're setting their sights across the Atlantic, threatening Europe's efforts to rein in ...
ftm.eu
Come work with me! Two postdoc positions open in @erc.europa.eu project PROTECT, examining how local change shapes public support for protectionist policies in areas like trade and finance. @stockholmuni.bsky.social su.varbi.com/en/what:job/... su.varbi.com/en/what:job/... #polisky #academicsky
Carney to Europeans + other middle powers: “When we only negotiate bilaterally with a hegemon, we negotiate from weakness. We accept what’s offered. We compete with each other to be the most accommodating. This is not sovereignty. It’s the performance of sovereignty while accepting subordination.”
Mick Ryan@warinthefuture.bsky.social · 7mo ago“We are taking the sign out of the window. The old order is not coming back. We should not mourn it. Nostalgia is not a strategy. But from the fracture, we can build something better, stronger, and more just. This is the task of the middle powers.” globalnews.ca/news/1162087...
This is dangerous for many reasons, not least the information suppression that this causes. Lots of pressure on the EU to continue defending the torch of cooperation and, frankly, collecting data for the world now
Withdrawing the United States from International Organizations, Conventions, and Treaties that Are Contrary to the Interests of the United States
MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United
whitehouse.gov
The EU CBAM "has prompted China to expand its own emissions trading system, since the levy will be reduced if a carbon price has already been paid at source." Brazil, Mexico, Japan, Colombia and Turkey may follow. via @alicemhancock.bsky.social. www.ft.com/content/9e4a...
EU to launch carbon border tax despite opposition from trade partners
Levy on steel, electricity and other imports aims to shield bloc’s industry from higher-emission competitors
ft.com
