Out in the latest issue of @politicsgenderj.bsky.social: @rainbowmurray.bsky.social examines substantive representation of women in French parliamentary debates. Open access. 📄 doi.org/10.1017/S174... GenderSky PoliSky

"The male ‘norm’ is an essential but under-tapped part of the puzzle of understanding gender inequality within political representation." Such a great agenda-setting piece by @rainbowmurray.bsky.social & @elinbja.bsky.social 👏 "we also need to start interviewing male politicians as men"

It is a funny old day when there is more than one correct answer to the question: "Which far-right politician, touted as the next leader of a G7 country, today deflected attention away from financial corruption scandals by declaring themselves a candidate in a forthcoming election?"

Masculinities missing from political science? This manifesto by @rainbowmurray.bsky.social and @elinbja.bsky.social demands centering men and gender hierarchies to decode power, not just add women to the margins. doi.org/10.1332/2515... @ejpgjournal.bsky.social

Bringing men and masculinities into political science

Most politicians are men, yet there is a surprising lack of focus within political science on the causes and consequences of male dominance. This article outlines how political science could benefit f...

doi.org

Latest Daily on Monocle Radio. @rainbowmurray.bsky.social and Somnath Batabyal on where, if anywhere, we are vis-a-vis an Iran deal, and Geoffrey Robertson KC on his new book outlining a possible fresh approach to policing war crimes. monocle.com/radio/shows/...

Is the war in Iran creating a rift between Trump and Netanyahu?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly admitted he is losing sway over President Trump in how to handle the...

monocle.com

There's a fine line between brave and foolhardy and Streeting might just have crossed it. And note, this survey was conducted before his resignation. Anyone who remembers how badly Sunak's supposed backstabbing of Johnson went down with the grassroots shouldn't expect those numbers to improve much.

After a couple of relatively peaceful years I'd got out of the habit of checking the headlines every couple of hours to see if the prime minister had resigned/ been ousted, but now rejoining the armchair fans of British political drama 🍿👀

I just completed a full first draft of ch. 6 of my book. I have been working on this chapter for... 🥁... 16 years! To say I'm excited & relieved is quite the understatement. I analyse nearly 400000 parliamentary questions, hand coded, & find gender gaps in issue focus that persist over time 1/

This paper was a long time in the making. I'm super excited to see it published. Using a feminist institutionalist framework and the French case study, I show how gendered expectations of behaviour shape parliamentary debate, especially when the cameras are on, and how this endures over time.

West European Politics@wepsocial.bsky.social · 3mo ago

💬 Did gender quotas change French parliamentary debates? @rainbowmurray.bsky.social analyses 20 years and finds women still raise different topics, men dominate "masculine" conduct like attacks and interruptions, and gaps are wider in more public settings. 🔗 doi.org/10.1080/0140...

“One report (found) that only 8 percent of users actually double checked an AI’s answer. Another experiment found that users still listened to AI when it gave them the wrong answer nearly 80 percent of the time — a grim trend the researchers dubbed “cognitive surrender.”

Futurism@futurism.com · 4mo ago

This is catastrophic.

This show was a blast. @andrewmueller.bsky.social was on absolutely cracking form, and it is always a pleasure to hang out with the brilliant @anandmenon.bsky.social

Andrew Mueller@andrewmueller.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Latest Daily on Monocle Radio. @rainbowmurray.bsky.social and @anandmenon.bsky.social on Mark Carney's UK visit and the day's other stuff, plus @rcl25th.bsky.social on her new book on the 25th Amendment and US nuclear command and control. monocle.com/radio/shows/...

There is a special place in hell for reviewers who ask for more revisions after you've done everything they originally asked of you #Reviewer2 #academia #polisky

For anyone trying to make sense of the attempted erosion of democracy in the USA, this paper offers a very interesting, historically-derived framework: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

I think I speak for most of Northern Europe when I scream "I CAN'T BLOODY WAIT FOR WINTER TO END!!!!!!!" 🥶🥶🌧️😬

I have a new article just published in Political Studies: What is Centrism? Open access here: doi.org/10.1177/0032...

What Is Centrism? - Karl Pike, 2026

Centrism, an ambiguous political term, requires greater analytical scrutiny. After summarising conceptualisations of centrism – and of a centre in politics – th...

doi.org

Quite aside the shocking moral disregard for women's lives, the report cited here v dramatically underestimates the economic contribution of women's unpaid labour, leading to a deeply fallacious conclusion about women's monetary value. It's what happens when men make decisions without women present

Philip Cowley@philipjcowley.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Latest piece for @thehousemag.bsky.social, on the 1954 British government report estimating that the deaths of women in road traffic accidents had benefited the UK to the tune of just over £1.2m. Yes, benefitted. www.politicshome.com/opinion/arti...

Netflix is suggesting I want to watch "Witty Mid-Life-Crisis Comedy Series" 🤨

📣 Out on #FirstView 📣 In "Complex, Conditional, and Contested", @rainbowmurray.bsky.social analyzes representative claims to explore the relationship between descriptive and substantive representation of women in France 🇫🇷 🌟 Available #OpenAccess 🌟 buff.ly/oWpVWw6

Behold: a genuinely useful flowchart #AcademicChatter

📢 New publication! www.cambridge.org/core/journal... In this article, just published in @politicsgenderj.bsky.social, I look at representative claims made on behalf of women in French parliamentary debates. 1/

BTW, any UK outlets that want a British based Chilean (party and electoral) politics expert, need look no further than our fab @qmulsse.bsky.social colleague @sajuria.com

Tom Phillips@tomphillips.bsky.social · 9mo ago

“An iron fist! That’s what we need! Like a Bukele!”: the ultra-conservative politician José Antonio Kast closes in on the presidency in Chile with a Trumpian pitch on crime & immigration www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...

Re-reading @colmpm.bsky.social’s marvellous “Futures of Socialism”. A very different experience to reading the proof in 2023 and having a horrible feeling of dread, as opposed to now where you go “well, yeah, my worst fears have been realised and exceeded”.

If you are interested in Dutch politics and/or the rise of the far-right in politics then you should follow @stijntvankessel.bsky.social because he really knows what he's talking about AND he has great plants

Stijn van Kessel@stijntvankessel.bsky.social · 9mo ago

One observation re. the Dutch election is the enduring strength of the far right (I am not fully subscribing to the 'shift back to the centre' narrative). I should be on ABC Australia News channel at around 11 CET to talk about this and to show my plants (again). www.youtube.com/live/vOTiJkg...

"‘Whatever It Takes?’ The Policy Implications of Supporting Ukraine". What does supporting Ukraine mean in practice? What are the implications for national security, tax policy, EU relations, energy security & more? 28 Oct 12:00 at @mileendinstitute.bsky.social. us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

The co-optation of the themes of the far-right by mainstream parties, in the Netherlands as elsewhere, only serves to normalise the far-right's agenda and strengthen far-right parties electorally. You cannot defeat the far-right by becoming more like them.

Stijn van Kessel@stijntvankessel.bsky.social · 10mo ago

I wrote a pre-election briefing / commentary ahead of the Dutch parliamentary election next week (October 29th). The main focus is on the enduring relevance of the far right, the salience of the immigration issue, and how mainstream parties contribute to its politicisation.

Latest Daily on Monocle Radio. @rainbowmurray.bsky.social and Nik Gowing on the day's stuff, plus regular panellist Julie Norman on the new book she has co-written on Gaza. monocle.com/radio/shows/...

Will the proposed Trump-Putin summit in Budapest do any good? - Monocle

As reports emerge of a “shouting match” between Zelensky and Trump during their latest meeting, we discuss what lies ahead...

monocle.com

Great to speak to @greenmirandahere.bsky.social for today's FT Inside Politics about the latest finding from our politics of (im)patience project, w/ @karlpike.bsky.social and @philipjcowley.bsky.social. www.ft.com/content/e984...

Labour sheds support from impatient Britons

Research shows party losing voters who want results now, with women more likely to prioritise short-term gains

ft.com

If you think this proposed organisational model will work (or, indeed, last very long in reality rather than appearance), then you might want to google 'Robert Michels and "iron law of oligarchy"'.

Voters' voices are being shut out of British politics. Your Party has a radical plan to change that | Jeremy Corbyn

At our conference in November we will use a jury service-type model to allow members to discuss and decide policy, strategy and even the name of our party, says Your Party co-founder Jeremy Corbyn

theguardian.com

There's a French saying that perfectly captures this week in French politics: "plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose" (the more things change, the more they stay the same). On Sunday night, PM Lecornu appointed a government that was almost identical to the govt that had fallen weeks earlier 1/

I'll be on @france24.com (in English) at 21h30 UK time to laugh hysterically at the fact that, after nearly five days of deliberations, false promises and calls for compromise, Macron has nominated as the new French PM... the same guy who resigned on Monday 🤣🤣😦