Tomorrow I’ll outline a new project on electoral malfeasance in Norwegian history, arguing that fraud was widespread—especially amid heightened polarization and certain electoral rules—despite the “high trust, low corruption” narrative.
Happy to head to bed after getting an acceptance from @worldpolitics.bsky.social .
In what is sadly still a relevant and timely piece, @drjennings.bsky.social, Gerry Stoker and I spoke to those who have served at the ehart of UK governments to understand how they reconcile with low political trust, depressingly finding little motivation to take action to remedy it
Only in Norway m.
Abstract: The transition from political rivalry between loosely organized individuals to competition between political parties is a hallmark of modern democratic politics. We concentrate on a neglected aspect of this development: how national programmatic parties entered local politics—what we label “partiaization.” In our argument, parties seek to enter local politics to achieve local policy gains and mobilize voters. Their opportunities for partiaization, however, hinge on the local electoral system. A proportional representation system’s weight on pre-arranged lists, rather than personalities, gives national parties the advantage of collective organization and party brand. We test our argument using a Norwegian 1919 electoral reform requiring municipalities to switch from plurality to PR, and previously lost data on Norwegian local elections. Difference-in-difference estimates show that introducing PR in local elections led national parties to gain representation in new municipalities. Our study helps to explain how national parties became a central feature of local
Our paper "Partiaization: How National Programmatic Parties Took Hold of Local Politics" using our reconstructed local election dataset (1904-1937) is finally out in draft form in a link below! (with @oskorge.bsky.social )
Abstract: The transition from political rivalry between loosely organized individuals to competition between political parties is a hallmark of modern democratic politics. We concentrate on a neglected aspect of this development: how national programmatic parties entered local politics—what we label “partiaization.” In our argument, parties seek to enter local politics to achieve local policy gains and mobilize voters. Their opportunities for partiaization, however, hinge on the local electoral system. A proportional representation system’s weight on pre-arranged lists, rather than personalities, gives national parties the advantage of collective organization and party brand. We test our argument using a Norwegian 1919 electoral reform requiring municipalities to switch from plurality to PR, and previously lost data on Norwegian local elections. Difference-in-difference estimates show that introducing PR in local elections led national parties to gain representation in new municipalities. Our study helps to explain how national parties became a central feature of local
Our paper "Partiaization: How National Programmatic Parties Took Hold of Local Politics" using our reconstructed local election dataset (1904-1937) is finally out in draft form in a link below! (with @oskorge.bsky.social )
Gratulerer til deg og ikke minst til ISF!
Det er dejligt at være præsident. Trump vil overføre prisen for en Femern forbindelse til sig selv. Og han er derudover igang med at sagsøge det amerikanske skattevæsen for prisen for en til Femern forbindelse.
Er du middelalderhistoriker og har lyst til å bli kollegaen min?
www.finn.no/job/ad/45151...
We have a vacant position as Associate Professor in Political Science (International Relations). Deadline April 29. Please apply or distribute. www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...
Do open lists increase turnout? Probably not, but they increase rates of voter error: New evidence from Spain Leonardo Carella Abstract This article challenges the claim that open-list systems are beneficial for electoral participation, by reassessing and extending the analysis in a notable empirical paper that advances this argument. The paper (Carlos Sanz, “The effect of electoral systems on voter turnout: Evidence from a natural experiment”, PSRM, 2017) leverages a population-based discontinuity in Spanish municipal elections (1979–2011), where towns with fewer than 250 residents employ open lists whereas larger towns employ closed lists. Through a series of statistical tests and the inspection of alternative data sources, I show that the positive effect of open lists on turnout estimated in the paper is dubious, for two reasons: (1) non-random missing data, due to inconsistencies in how non-valid votes were recorded above and below the threshold, and (2) compound treatment issues, due to changes in list-length requirements at the threshold. I then proceed to show that, rather than improving turnout, the more complex open-list ballot actually hinders voters’ ability to express their preferences, by increasing the incidence of voter errors relative to closed lists (reflected in higher rates of ‘null’ voting). To support a causal interpretation of this relationship, I present evidence from the analysis of heterogeneous treatment effects, and show that a similar pattern obtains in Spanish general elections, where open and closed lists are used concurrently for the election of the country’s bicameral parliament. I conclude by discussing the implications of the analysis for implementing population-based regression discontinuities and evaluating electoral system effects.
New paper out at @electoralstudies.bsky.social.
I show that - contrary to claims that personalised electoral systems are good for participation - Open Lists have no effect on turnout relative to Closed Lists; in fact, they increase rates of voter error. 🗳️
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Norwegian special forces ready for deployment to the Greenland front.
Here's a short write-up of our recently published study:
📰"What People Really Think About Taxing the Rich – the surprising beliefs behind progressive taxation"
TLDR: Most believe taxing the rich brings equality & growth! Elite fears are not shared.
www.cambridge.org/core/blog/20...
Fully funded Ph.D. position in economics open - please apply and/or inform your promising students! Application deadline 28 February.
www.oslomet.no/en/work/job-...
This is an open-topic fellowship, with research proposals aligned with the economics group's research interests being given priority.
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...
🚨Job alert! 🚨
I'm advertising a PhD position (66%) in Comparative Politics at HU Berlin. Ideal candidates combine a research interest in autocratic politics, conflict, and/or political violence with strong quantitative methods skills.
⏳ 4 (+2) years | 🗓 DL 16.01; Start March/April 26
More info:
Can state-building disrupt rather than stabilize society? In a new @apsrjournal.bsky.social article, @victorgayeco.bsky.social and I show that the expansion of state communication networks spurred rebellion for decades in France before the Revolution
👉 Article: doi.org/10.1017/S000...
🧵1/X
Coffee roasted at soon to be Trump or Putin occupied Svalbard.
Interesting to see how economics as a discipline has now fully embraced papers that are _exclusively_ political science (not some or other variation on “political economy”), but squarely political science.
Now the question becomes, should we expect a pay rise, or should they expect a pay cut?
Senior Researcher Positions – NTNU, Norway 🇳🇴
Full-time research roles in Historical Sciences & Cultural History.
Eligibility: PhD in History, Economics or related discipline.
Deadline: 15 March 2026.
Apply: higherjobz.com/senior-resea...
#AcademicJobs #HistoryJobs #NorwayJobs #postdoc
There is growing interest in HPE about social conflict in the run-up to the French Revolution.
In a new article at Data & Corpus, I describe the Jean Nicolas Database, a database of 8,516 rebellions in France (1661-1789)
👉Article: doi.org/10.46298/dc....
👉Database: doi.org/10.7910/DVN/...
🧵1/6
Photo of Trinity College Dublin taken by Stefan Müller
Our neighbours at @tcdpoliticalsci.bsky.social are hiring 3 (!) tenure-track faculty members:
– Assistant Professor in Political Economy
– Assistant Professor in International Politics
– Assistant Professor in Political Science
Deadline: 15 Jan 2026
More details: jobs.tcd.ie
@tcddublin.bsky.social
📢 New article
👥 Francesca R. Jensenius @fr-jensenius.bsky.social (ISV) and 3 others
👉 Indian election data for polling stations and villages: National elections 2009–2019
📗 Open Access in Scientific Data
🔗 doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Today - 15 December - is your last chance to apply for our amazing course Advanced Qualitative Methods in Conflict Studies.
I can strongly recommend it!
www.peaceconflictresearch.org/courses/77?f...
🚨 3-Year Postdoc in Political Science at Aarhus University 🚨
I’m seeking to recruit a postdoc for my @erc.europa.eu research project 𝑬𝑸𝑼𝑰𝑳𝑰𝑩𝑹𝑰𝑼𝑴 on state-citizen interactions.
Link and more information in second post.
Position Start: Fall 2026
Application Deadline: ‼️ February 5, 2026, 23:59 CET ‼️
We’re trying to raise $1 million for desperately poor people in Rwanda to beat last year’s mark and do more good.
www.slowboring.com/p/one-millio...
📢 📢 Call for Papers
IV Yale–UB Historical Political Economy Workshop
Organized by @Didacqueralt.bsky.social & @Cescamat.bsky.social
🎤 Keynote: Lisa Blaydes (Stanford)
📍 University of Barcelona
🗓 June 29–30, 2026
Submit your papers by Jan 21, 2026:
shorturl.at/oZTNy
#pleaseRT
Kjære alle,
USN lyser nå ut en 100 % fast stilling som førsteamanuensis.
Spre gjerne utlysningen til alle dere tenker kan være aktuelle. Dersom dere har spørsmål om stillingen eller om USN, er det bare å ta kontakt med meg.
Norwegian indie startup @lugngames.bsky.social are doing a kickstarter for their game, and super close to reaching their goal! Have a look and see if this could be something for you 😊
www.kickstarter.com/projects/517...
