2 months later, and with a temperature uptick of 20°C, I left Grenoble with plenty of warmth and encouragement. Un grand merci à Sonja Zmerli for being such an example and terrific hostess ♥️ au revoir!

Dr. Silke Goubin@silkegoubin.bsky.social · 3mo ago

My view for the next two months 😍 I'm visiting Sonja Zmerli at @sciencespo-grenoble.fr ! We'll collaborate on inequality concerns, social policy preferences and trust under the framework of her ERC consolidator grant (www.polinequal.eu). If you're passing by, do reach out! ☕

A Grenoble ou dans les environs ? Je présente notre programme de recherche avec @mjjgillissen.bsky.social sur la confiance et la défiance politique le lundi prochain (12h30)! cesice.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr/actualites/s...

📣 PhD vacancy in voting behavior - only 2 weeks left to apply! Will you become our new colleague? 🤗 All info is here 👉 www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jo...

1 doctoraatspositie in kiesgedrag

1 PhD position to research how parties build connections with social groups

kuleuven.be

Last week was another full one for our team as we headed to #EPSS in Belfast. Great talks, sharp discussions, and genuinely valuable feedback all around. Thanks to @epssnet.bsky.social for an excellent first conference. Copenhagen, we’re coming for you next year! 🌟

Musk says not a single person has died due to him axing USAID. Sadly, part of my job involves tracking aid spending. So here’s a thread with just some of the people who lost their lives because of USAID cuts

Leuven will be well represented at the inaugural @epssnet.bsky.social - do join one of our panels or reach out to grab a coffee !

Voting & Democracy Research Group - KU Leuven@vd-researchgroup.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Just days to go until #EPSS2026 We’re excited to have 8 colleagues attending and presenting new research, take a look at the overviews to find out what they will be presenting and where.👁️ We're happy to connect, so feel free to come over and chat!⭐

(Google) AI kills referral traffic to media and journaliste sites. There is a surge in time spent on AI services, but it leads to ZERO clicks. Not just less than regular search, but zero! Result just out in new report from Danish Media Association. #dkmedier #journalism dpcmo.dk/app/uploads/...

Oh the irony, the @ec.europa.eu's webpage on tackling disinformation and the European's Democracy Shield links to... X... (and X as ónly social media platform). The company is not even a signatory of The 2022 Code of Practice on Disinformation...

Prediction (admittedly, an easy one): In the next two weeks, the world will have its first trillionaire. That is, someone who holds at least $ 1,000,000,000,000. What's worse, the guy is power-obsessed and dangerous in many ways. We need to curb the power and tax away the wealth.

This is a great study and (one of?) the first of its kind! A note of caution from a human contributor though: given the slow academic publishing process, the findings should primarily be interpreted as a snapshot of AI capabilities (and the capabilities of researchers using AI) in 2024. (1/4)

Institute for Replication@i4replication.bsky.social · 2mo ago

1/ Can AI help researchers check whether published social science results actually reproduce? In our new PNAS paper, we tested this directly in the AI Replication Games: 288 researchers, 103 teams, and real replication packages from quantitative social science.

In most advanced democracies, newer generations and younger citizens are less likely to vote. In this new paper, Thomas Jocker (@uva.nl) and I ask *why* this is the case. We try to answer this question by analyzing the answers that *non-voters themselves* give to this question 👇

Do They Want, Can They, and Have They Been Asked? Generational Differences in Reasons for Non‐Voting in Switzerland

In many advanced democracies, newer generations and younger citizens are less likely to vote than earlier generations and older individuals. However, despite this being an established empirical matte...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

De oude afkortingen KUL en RUG blijken al een tijdje weer van toepassing: KleuterUniversiteit Leuven en RelUniversiteit Gent. www.standaard.be/natuur-en-we...

#fotovanVlaanderen Over de statistiek is al veel gezegd. Nog één zaak: religieus fundamentalisme eerder dan denominatie (moslim/christen) is een goede voorspeller van conservatievere houdingen bij Vlaamse jeugd. Zie bvb. mooi onderzoek van @lindestals.bsky.social. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

VRT blijkt nu ook cijfers over Maarten Boudry te censureren: interne emails tonen aan dat Boudry in 93% van zijn televisieoptredens geen toegevoegde waarde bracht. De overige 7% bracht enkel toegevoegde waarde aan de Israëlische lobby.

My view for the next two months 😍 I'm visiting Sonja Zmerli at @sciencespo-grenoble.fr ! We'll collaborate on inequality concerns, social policy preferences and trust under the framework of her ERC consolidator grant (www.polinequal.eu). If you're passing by, do reach out! ☕

'T is nekeer iets anders, met je papa presenteren 🎙️ We vulden een uur met inzichten over #vertrouwen in de overheid en hoe je daar als overheid iets aan kunt doen via inclusieve communicatie. Een duetje Goubin & Goubin dankzij @kortomvzw.bsky.socials jaarlijkse congres.

The electoral decline of social democratic parties is a well-studied phenomenon. If you want to understand what is happening to Labour, I recommend this (open access) edited volume by the world's leading scholars on this question. Other countries have elections, too. doi.org/10.1017/9781009496810

Interested in political #distrust? Come join us tomorrow online for the following webinar! @mjjgillissen.bsky.social and I will (try to) summarize 3 years of work on how trust and distrust are empirically distinct, and how this results into different drivers and political consequences!

Is social media dying? How much did Twitter change as it became X? Which party now dominates the conversation? Using nationally representative ANES data from 2020 & 2024, I map how the U.S. social media landscape has changed Here are the key take-aways 🧵 Full paper out now in in JQD:DM!

Looking back on #InequalityConference2026: inspiring keynotes, the In_equality Research Award, engaging talks, fresh insights from the satellite program, and a vibrant social program in Konstanz. Thanks to everyone who joined us-we’re already looking forward to the next conference! @uni-konstanz.de

Throwback to last week's #InequalityConference2026 where @mjjgillissen.bsky.social and I presented ongoing work on how income and wealth inequalities reshape socio-economic disparities in political participation. Thanks @excinequality.bsky.social for the wonderful programme!

Het Parlement stemde zonet de meerwaardebelasting van @vooruit-nu.bsky.social. In deze column in De Gids op Maatschappelijk Gebied, haal ik aan waarom dat maar een druppel op een hete plaat is 👉 visie.net/de-gids-arti...

Waarom we vermogensongelijkheid maar niet aanpakken

De roep om ‘de rijken’ meer te belasten klinkt luid in de Belgische politiek....

visie.net

Wat een blamage! Ministers/staatssecretarissen die de rechtsstaat telkens naast zich neerleggen zijn een bedreiging voor de democratie... www.standaard.be/opinies/open...

Open brief van 477 medewerkers Fedasil aan hun minister, Anneleen Van Bossuyt: “Wij willen de gevolgen van uw beleid niet op ons geweten hebben”

477 medewerkers van Fedasil schrijven een open brief aan hun minister, Anneleen Van Bossuyt (N-VA).

standaard.be

Does public service deprivation boost support for the populist right? New evidence in our paper, conditionally accepted at APSR 🥳, where we study how GP closures shape voting intentions in England. 👇

Zach Dickson@zachdickson.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Thrilled that my paper (w/@sarahobolt.bsky.social,@catherinedevries.bsky.social,@simonecremaschi.bsky.social) was accepted at the American Political Science Review! We find that declining public services fuel support for the populist right — and show why the right benefits more than other parties 🧵

🚨 NEW REPORT! 🚨 What is the state of the UK academic job market in politics, and what does this mean for the field and #highered? In a new @psaecn.bsky.social report, @lawrencemckay.bsky.social @williamlallen.bsky.social and I find worrying trends in job adverts and HESA data from 2012-25 #PSA26

Academic Job Market Trends in Politics and International Relations - Political Studies Association

Academic Job Market Trends in Politics and International Relations: Evidence from the UK, 2012-25 Authored by: Dr Ralph Scott, Dr Lawrence McKay, and Dr William Allen Read the full report here   Execu...

psa.ac.uk

📉 Zeer laag vertrouwen in politieke partijen in Vlaanderen. In @demorgen.be gaf ik duiding met @davesinardet.bsky.social. Burgers zijn niet enkel hun geloof in de betrouwbaarheid van partijen verloren, maar actief wantrouwend/cynisch. Een ideale voedingsbodem voor anti-democratische bewegingen.

🎉Last week, we had the pleasure of welcoming @elinakk.bsky.social and @tomwgvdmeer.bsky.social. Their engaging seminars on child-parent socialisation of political values and critical political trust, along with valuable exchanges with our team, made for two inspiring days. 📸 Some highlights below.

Perhaps the nicest thing in academia is being able to work together and discuss research with terrific colleagues. Many thanks @tomwgvdmeer.bsky.social and @elinakk.bsky.social for visiting us in Leuven this week, and for the many great seminars and discussions! @vd-researchgroup.bsky.social

📈 We often assume citizens only grant institutions their trust when they perform well. 📘 However, based on @ejprjournal.bsky.social research, @lindestals.bsky.social & @cvalebeek.bsky.social reveal that much of this institutional trust is learned, rather than earned. 👉️ bit.ly/47njlnw

Is trust learned or earned? Lessons from adolescents

Democratic legitimacy runs on citizens’ trust in public institutions. We often assume citizens critically monitor their institutions, only granting trust when they perform well. However, Linde Stals a...

bit.ly