Screenshots of the conference program

We are already looking forward to the 2026 "AK Wahlen" @dvpw.bsky.social conference at JGU Mainz on 7–8 May and to welcoming many of you there for an exciting program.

The conference is open to non-presenters.

Registration deadline: 24 April 2026.

More information: www.dvpw.de/gliederung/a...

And on the topic of the "Mainzer Republik" (see 2nd picture): Exactly 233 years ago today, the first democratic republic on German land was declared in Mainz! It only lasted for 125 days, but it's one of the reasons why we are celebrating the first ever Day of Democratic History in Germany today

Thank you @rikkidean.bsky.social @crowdermeyer.bsky.social @pcmagalhaes.bsky.social @danbischof.bsky.social @saengler.bsky.social @peterenns.bsky.social @kstrump.bsky.social @christopherojeda.bsky.social @nilssteiner.bsky.social @arminschaefer.bsky.social @elinesevers.bsky.social and Hannah Werner!!

Last week, we (@clandwehr.bsky.social, my colleague Leonard and I) had the joy of welcoming some great colleagues working on the topic of democracy to Mainz, for the concluding workshop of our project "Conceptions of Democracy among Citizens and Political Elites". Thank you for three wonderful days!

Landtagswahl Rheinland-Pfalz 2026 | bpb.de Zur Landtagswahl in Rheinland-Pfalz 2026 am 22. März 2026 treten 12 Parteien an. Hier finden Sie zu jeder ein Kurz-Profil.

🗓Am 22. März 2026 ist in #Rheinland-Pfalz #Landtagswahl. Wir in der Abteilung Innenpolitik/Politische Soziologie des @powimz.bsky.social haben im Auftrag der Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung Profile für alle zur #Wahl stehenden #Parteien verfasst. ⬇️ www.bpb.de/themen/parte...

New #OpenAccess -

"People-centred or Elite-centred Democrats? Legislators’ Process Preferences in the United States and Germany" - cup.org/4tGsbpP

by @crowdermeyer.bsky.social, Leonard Häfner, @clandwehr.bsky.social & @stallbaum.bsky.social

Thank you Marta :)

In our new paper in G&O, we show that US legislators have more people-centred process preferences, while German legislators are more balanced between people-centred and elite-centred preferences overall - but party affiliation matters.

Link to the paper:

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

🎧 JETZT REINHÖREN: #Forschungspodcast #MindsOfMainz – #DerGutenbergTalk | Folge 28: Demokratie im Fokus: Warum Politische Theorie heute die Gesellschaft bewegt | mit Prof. Claudia Landwehr 👉 www.magazin.uni-mainz.de/minds-of-main…

#Demokratie #Politikwissenschaft #PolitischeTheorie

“When participants used ChatGPT to draft essays, brain scans revealed a 47% drop in neural connectivity across regions associated with memory, language, & critical reasoning.

Their brains worked less, but they felt just as engaged—a kind of metacognitive mirage.”🧪

Join us! Die Abteilung für Innenpolitik & Politische Soziologie sucht zum 01.04. eine*n neue*n Kollegin*en. Wir bieten: volle Promotionsstelle (EG13) für drei Jahre (Verlängerung um 3 Jahre möglich), flexible Arbeitszeitregelungen, kollegiales & forschungsstarkes Team. Mehr Informationen hier👇

Now with page numbers, and a follow-up paper already in the works! 🤫

Instead of looking at singular preferences for how a democracy can be organized, @clandwehr.bsky.social, Christopher Ojeda and I use a survey experiment to study which democratic designs US and German citizens actually prefer:

Vor 34 Jahren begannen die rassistischen Pogrome in Hoyerswerda. Umfangreiche Webdoku dazu unter hoyerswerda-1991.de

The @powimz.bsky.social crowd enjoys the sunset cruise at the @ecpr.bsky.social conference in Thessaloniki. 😎
Together with @clandwehr.bsky.social, @arminschaefer.bsky.social, @stallbaum.bsky.social, @lionmert.bsky.social & @kwalz.bsky.social.

@powimz.bsky.social at #ECPRGC25 in Thessaloniki

The WZB Transformations of Democracy unit hosted a great workshop on how ideas of Democracy evolve over time . A great group & lots of scholarly progress.

Opinion | No One Has Ever Defeated Autocracy From the Sidelines

Appeasement, as Churchill warned, is like feeding a crocodile and hoping to be the last one eaten.

Levitsky, Way, and me today in New York Times

www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/o...

How do institutional parameters affect citizens’ evaluations of a political system as democratic? @clandwehr.bsky.social, C Ojeda & @stallbaum.bsky.social compare citizens’ design preferences in #Germany & #US. Read more: https://buff.ly/3Wx9YMl

@polstudiesassoc.bsky.social @uoypolitics.bsky.social

Very happy to start 2025 with a new paper just out in @polstudies.bsky.social 🎉 Christopher Ojeda, @stallbaum.bsky.social and I use a factorial survey to explore citizens' institutional design preferences.

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...