Are some political systems inherently more unstable than others? Yes! Countries with high government turnover fifty years ago tend to still have high turnover today. But it's not destiny. Some countries got more stable (Argentina, Turkey) and others more volatile (Tunisia, Romania).

Do you teach about authoritarian regimes? Check out this new book! I snuck my way in it and shared my coup game you can play with your students.

Edward Goldring@edwardgoldring.bsky.social · last wk.

“Teaching Autocracy and Autocratic Politics” is now out. To my knowledge, this is the first book that considers how instructors can teach about autocracy in a university setting. www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/tea...

The WhoGov Project has a new webpage 🎉 It brings our datasets, publications, team, and news together in one home. We have big plans for expanding the dataset and building the project, and we'll keep it updated. Take a look (and join our mailing list): whogov.net

WhoGov — Data on governing elites

Mapping the people who govern us — worldwide and across centuries. WhoGov provides open, global data on the members of government, from 1966 to today. Hosted at the University of Oslo.

whogov.net

And how do they see it? 👑 Tiphaine Le Corre, @profjanegreen.bsky.social & Alexander Yeandle review evidence to examine how elite discourse impacts #PublicOpinion about #Immigration

To what extent do political elites influence public opinion about immigration? | European Journal of Political Research | Cambridge Core

To what extent do political elites influence public opinion about immigration?

buff.ly

🤝 Do parties reward allies or recruit rivals for cabinet? ➡️ Alexander Herzog and David Schmuck show that rather than favoring moderates, parties prefer loyal MPs: strong government defenders and fierce opposition critics are more likely to become ministers www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

In the 1960s the average US cabinet member was in the early fifties. Yet, we have seen a gradual increase, and today they're over 60.

Which generation dominates governments around the world? In most countries (102), Generation X now runs the cabinet. Boomers cling to power in 59, while Millennials dominates the government in just ten. Data from July 2025.

You won't find many millennials in most European governments; instead they are dominated by Gen X and boomers. The exceptions are Scandinavia, Ukraine, Moldova, Montenegro, and Malta.

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

Until the middle of the 20th century, few countries had political leaders that were women. These were monarchs, who rose to their positions because of their royal lineage.

Do you struggle to remember who is in government? Be glad you're not Japanese. Japan has the world's highest cabinet turnover: a dizzying 72% of cabinet members are replaced from one year to the next. Nepal (62%), South Korea (58%), and Peru (58%) come next.

There are clear gender patterns in which type of government portfolios women are put in charge of. Women are far more likely than men to head ministries like women's affairs and family. Defence or natural resources almost never go to a woman.

The preliminary program for our mini-conference on political elites on the 20th and 21st of August is out. You can find it here: bit.ly/whogov2026_p.... If you are in Oslo and want to drop by for a panel or five, you are more than welcome.

From our FirstView: Vetting for Virtue: Democracy’s Challenge in Excluding Criminals from Office by SIGURD S. ARNTZEN, @fiva.no and RUNE J. SØRENSEN. doi.org/10.1017/S000...

A major milestone for #DemocracyResearch. 🏛️ MEDem has been included in the ESFRI Roadmap, recognizing its role in advancing the empirical study of Democracy in Europe. 🇪🇺 Thank you to everyone who helped bring us to this point! 🙏 #ResearchInfrastructure⚙️

Holzleitner, Schütze: Austria set to become a centre for European democracy research

European research infrastructure MEDem included in the ESFRI Roadmap 2026 – headquarters at the University of Vienna

univie.ac.at

Happy to share that this paper with @jacobnyrup.bsky.social has been accepted for publication, subject to minor revisions, in AJPS @ajpseditor.bsky.social 🚨 Couldn't be more proud! Watch this space for the final version of the paper! 🚣 (a tiny viking row for us) tinyurl.com/ynk7epa5 👆

𝙅𝙖𝙘🍩𝙗 𝙉𝙮𝙧𝙪𝙥@jacobnyrup.bsky.social · 10mo ago

We use the new PtP dataset to compare cabinet members on background characteristics. Overall, politicians look pretty similar across genders. But women in the most prestigious positions conform closer to the typical politician than men, indicating that women must conform to make it to the top.

Governments around most of the world are, on average, getting older. The trend is starkest in Africa, but it is also clear in the Americas and Asia. The exception is Europe, where we saw a drop after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and then stabilization at just above 50 years of age.

And a big thank you of course to the @erc.europa.eu for financing the GETGOV project and all our new team members!

The WhoGov Project@whogov.bsky.social · 2mo ago

We are happy to announce that our team has been strengthened by four new members who will code many, many ministers with us in the years to come! Welcome to our new PhD @gelonn99.bsky.social and our new Postdocs @javierpadilla.bsky.social, @andreinathoma.bsky.social & @jonaswschmid.bsky.social!

We are happy to announce that our team has been strengthened by four new members who will code many, many ministers with us in the years to come! Welcome to our new PhD @gelonn99.bsky.social and our new Postdocs @javierpadilla.bsky.social, @andreinathoma.bsky.social & @jonaswschmid.bsky.social!

Super excited to see this paper - with the all-time great Alex Baturo - published in World Politics. We conceptualized dictators as human resource managers to provide a unified theoretical explanation on how vertical (i.e. dismissals) and horizontal (i.e. reshuffles)... dx.doi.org/10.1353/wp.2...

We have created a Bluesky account for the WhoGov project, which we will use for updates, sharing research on political elites, & data visualizations. We are working on many new projects, including a new webpage (will be launched in July), gathering more data, a R-package, and we even got a new logo

The WhoGov Project@whogov.bsky.social · 2mo ago

We are happy to release Version 4 of WhoGov, which expands WhoGov to 2025. It now contains data on cabinet members from 1966-2025. The update is supported by UiO:Democracy and can be downloaded through GETGOV's page or through Nuffield College: politicscentre.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/whogov-datas.... 1/2

We are happy to release Version 4 of WhoGov, which expands WhoGov to 2025. It now contains data on cabinet members from 1966-2025. The update is supported by UiO:Democracy and can be downloaded through GETGOV's page or through Nuffield College: politicscentre.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/whogov-datas.... 1/2

Governing elites since the dawn of modern democracy (GETGOV) - Department of Political Science

Ever since humans settled into communities, there have been political classes. A small elite governs, while the majority are governed. Yet, who are the people in the governing elite? GETGOV will answe...

sv.uio.no

Thrilled to share that this August I'll be joining the Clements Center for National Security at UT Austin as an Associate Professor. Returning home to teach security studies, strategy, and statecraft has been a goal of mine since starting graduate school. Grateful to everyone who helped me get here.

New publication! "Governing for Growth? Economic Performance and Finance Minister Survival in Democracies and Autocracies" by @jonaswschmid.bsky.social and @jacobnyrup.bsky.social now out in Political Research Quarterly. doi.org/10.1177/1065...

Are top public officials rewarded for good performance? In our new paper "Governing for growth?" (doi.org/10.1177/1065...). @jacobnyrup.bsky.social and I study how economic performance affects the political survival of finance ministers to show that this depends on the regime they work in. Thread ⬇️

Three days left to apply for our mini-conference on political elites - deadline is April 1st! It will be held August 20-21st, 2026 in Oslo. We promise good food (maybe brown cheese), beautiful scenery, & great work on political elites Call for papers w. submission link here: bit.ly/whogovminico...

Two weeks left to apply!

𝙅𝙖𝙘🍩𝙗 𝙉𝙮𝙧𝙪𝙥@jacobnyrup.bsky.social · 7mo ago

We are happy to announce the call for papers for the third WhoGov Mini-Conference on Political Elites! It will be held on August 20-21st, 2026 in Oslo. We welcome research on political elites broadly understood and not just papers using WhoGov. You can find the call here: bit.ly/whogovminico...

We are happy to announce the call for papers for the third WhoGov Mini-Conference on Political Elites! It will be held on August 20-21st, 2026 in Oslo. We welcome research on political elites broadly understood and not just papers using WhoGov. You can find the call here: bit.ly/whogovminico...