Join us in Hannover, Oct 1-2, for the annual meeting of the @dvpw.bsky.social Analytical Political Theory Group!

Call for papers: www.dvpw.de/fileadmin/us...

Bulgaria's former president tops parliamentary vote | Euractiv Projections from polling agencies put Rumen Radev's Progressive Bulgaria grouping at around 44%

Ivan Krastev made the point the other night that Bulgarian politics is trapped in a loop in which the only salient issue is anti-corruption, which means every government doomed to fail when they inevitability fail to tackle corruption, ousted by the next force that pledges to tackle corruption.

DLF Headline: Zahl der Asylanträge in D auf Rekordtief

Umfrage FGW mit AfD auf erstem Platz

Vielleicht hat die Stärke der AfD ja gar nichts mit der Zahl der Geflüchteten zu tun? Vielleicht war es falsch zu versuchen AfD Wähler:innen mit immer restriktiveren Maßnahmen zurückzugewinnen? Vielleicht hat man so die AfD normalisiert und ihr zu einer neuen Kernwählerschaft verholfen? Vielleicht.

Friendly reminder! We already have a lot of participants (thanks to everyone who did!) but every single one strengthens our findings, so if you haven't participated yet please consider 😊

So glad to share my latest publication @ecprtheloop.bsky.social 👇

First ladies are unelected, yet influential, and as long as we treat them as ceremonial figures, we will misread how executive power actually works.
theloop.ecpr.eu/the-politica...

@geealacip.bsky.social @redpolitologas.bsky.social

Peter Duncan obituary Other lives: Lecturer at UCL who wrote books on Russian politics and advised the House of Commons

A wonderful obituary to an excellent scholar, great teacher and, most importantly, a good person www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...

Yes, please!

It goes too far to conclude that the reform would have pushed Italy in a direction similar to Hungary’s.

The Italian electorate rejected a judicial reform, leading to key resignations.

GIUSEPPE MARTINICO and UMBERTO LATTANZI place the reform in Italy’s broader political context – a system in poor health, yet far from the undemocratic Hungarian example.

verfassungsblog.de/nor-what-it-...

A primer on Hungary’s electoral system.

Hungary has a mixed-member pseudo proportional electoral system.

106 elected in first past the post constituencies

93 by proportional representation in closed lists

1/

With Hungary’s crucial election a few days away, its National Election Office has published a list of accredited international observers (n. 859). Having spent nearly a decade researching the behavior of international observers, I decided to take a closer look 😊

www.valasztas.hu/en/internati...

My new Focus on Latin American legislatures, co-authored with @magna-inacio.bsky.social and @milagroscampos.bsky.social

I am very honoured! I was humbled to read the kind words of the Prize Jury, who highlighted the credibility of my findings on technocracy and the absence of alternatives explaining the resilience of the EMU paradigm.
A big thanks to my interviewees & supervisors @teivo.bsky.social & Heikki Patomäki!

Congratulations 🥳 Welcome to the club of Blondel Prize Winners!! 😉

Is France Shifting Rightward? The far right failed to win big in France’s municipal elections. But that’s not good news for the country’s left wing, which remained disunited while the broader right consolidated its momentum ahead ...

The far right failed to win big in France’s municipal elections. But that’s not good news for the country’s left wing.

Despite the lack of showy results, the right consolidated its momentum ahead of the 2027 presidential race, argues @cfieschi.bsky.social.
carnegieendowment.org/europe/strat...

Slide with recommendations available in chapter

I had to mention Theroux's documentary in a lecture on the role of the media in the mainstreaming of reactionary politics

In particular, it struck me how it goes exactly against the recommendations @k8ebrown.bsky.social and I made in a recent chapter (in link)

aurelmondon.com/2026/01/28/t...

‘Assault on justice’: how far-right attacks are threatening rule of law in Europe Judicial independence is under threat as populist politicians target judges and authoritarian governments attempt constitutional reforms

‘Assault on justice’: how far-right attacks are threatening rule of law in Europe

Event poster for 'All Tomorrow’s Parties: What Central and Eastern Europe Teaches Us About Party Politics'. In person event.

We are delighted to invite you to Prof. @allansikk.bsky.social's Inaugural Lecture 'All Tomorrow’s Parties: What Central and Eastern Europe Teaches Us About Party Politics'.

🗓️ 13 May at 6pm BST
📍 Gustave Tuck
🗓️ Free and open to all: www.ucl.ac.uk/arts-humanit...

Der Eingriff des BMI stellt noch einmal eindrucksvoll unter Beweis, warum die BpB dringend (!) unabhängiger und resilienter aufgestellt werden muss!

Wie sich das umsetzen ließe, haben Anna-Mira Brandau & ich vor einem Jahr auf dem @verfassungsblog.de untersucht.

verfassungsblog.de/bundeszentra...

tagesschau.de - die erste Adresse für Nachrichten und Information tagesschau.de - die erste Adresse für Nachrichten und Information: An 365 Tagen im Jahr, rund um die Uhr aktualisiert - die wichtigsten News des Tages

Anlässlich des Weltfrauentags wurde ich vom SWR zu meiner Forschung zur Sichtbarkeit weiblicher Forschender interviewt. Der Beitrag ist inzwischen auf tagesschau.de zu finden. 📻
Bei Interesse hört gerne mal rein. 👂
www.tagesschau.de/multimedia/a...

Are you a policymaker, teacher, practitioner, academic in political science, psychology, education or related field? We’re inviting experts to complete a short survey on youth political participation: tinyurl.com/ywnseae3

For every completion, we’ll donate €1.20 to UNICEF. Please share!

🚨Reminder that the nomination deadline for the inaugural
@epssnet.bsky.social
Best Book Award is March 31, details below👇

Congratulations!!! 🥳🥳🥳

Neck‑and‑neck vote: What comes next for Slovenia? | Philipp Köker YouTube video by TALKING WITH TVP WORLD

What comes next for #Slovenia 🇸🇮 after yesterday's legislative #elections and the razor-thin victory of incumbent PM Robert #Golob? This morning I was live on @tvpworld.bsky.social – my 💯th TV interview!! – to discuss the challenges facing the country in the next weeks www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnNX...

Robert Golob Wins Second Election In A Row | SLEEPING WITH PENGOVSKY Robert Golob and Gibanje Svoboda won the 2026 election in Slovenia. But this time the victory is less clear cut and Janez Janša will play a big role.

Slovenia’s centrist PM Robert Golob has eked out a narrow election win over Orbán-aligned illiberal populist Slovene Democrats but will struggle to patch together a coalitio www.pengovsky.com/2026/03/23/r...

Eslovenia: parlamento sin mayorías claras Las elecciones legislativas en Eslovenia han dejado un panorama político extremadamente equilibrado, según el exit pollelaborado por Mediana. Los datos reflejan una competición muy reñida entre…

‼️#Slovenia 🇸🇮 - EXIT POLL 🗳️ (Mediana): very tight blocs

🔵 GS (liberal): 29.9%
🟡 SDS (right): 27.5%
🟢 NSi–SLS–Fokus (centre-right): 9.4%
🔴 SD (social-dem): 6.7%
🟢 Levica–Vesna (left): 6.3%
🔵 DEM (centre): 5.9%
🟣 RES (populist): 5.2%

👇

Illiberalizing social democracy? Conservative ideological innovation on the Czech and Slovak center-left 2004–2021 While prevailing accounts portray social democratic parties as liberal-democratic bulwarks eroded by rising illiberal populism, this article highlights the emergence of anti-liberal ideological pro...

Social democracy often seen as archetypal victim of illiberal populism and radicalising mainstream right—but in CEE story always more complicated.
Strands of soc dem left developed their own anti-liberal projects. 🇨🇿 🇸🇰

Open access.
#SocialDemocracy #CEE #Illiberalism

doi.org/10.1080/1356...

"Unter allen Umständen – darauf drängt Dobrindts Haus ausdrücklich – soll vor „Förderempfängern“ verheimlicht werden, dass es eine Abfrage beim Verfassungsschutz gab."

Poland's opposition PiS party names hardline conservative as prime ministerial candidate

The national-conservative opposition PiS party has named Przemysław Czarnek as its candidate to be prime minister if it wins next year’s parliamentary elections.

Czarnek is known as a hardline conservative who played a prominent role in PiS's campaign against "LGBT ideology" when it was in power.

A portrait of Helen Sharman. Credit: Thomas Angus, Imperial College Text below: In 1989 though the Berlin Wall was down, the USSR was still shut. Gorbachev decided to offer astronaut training for hard currency to Western countries. Helen applied to the British company set up to manage the mission. There were around 5,500 qualified applicants and the final two were selected live on British TV, and given 4 days' notice to go to Zvezdnyi gorodok, then a military facility with 3,500 inhabitants. Helen spent 8 days in space in May 1991 conducting a range of experiments.

💡 Did you know the first Briton in space, Dr Helen Sharman, studied at SSEES? Helen did her MA in Central and South-East European Studies, which allowed her to develop her interest in the East European languages she had encountered in the USSR.

#InternationalWomensDay #IWD2026 #WomensHistoryMonth

Bild einer Justitia-Statue mit dem Text “Bedrohte Justiz. Politisierung als Gefahr für den Rechtsstaat”

Power Point Folie mit dem Text: Von den Rändern in den Mainstream Delegitimierung als Bedrohung für die Justiz in Europa PD Dr. Philipp Köker Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg

Heute auf dem Weg zur Tagung “Bedrohte Justiz” an der @apbtutzing.bsky.social organisiert mit @verfassungsblog.de - freue mich sehr auf den Austausch und dass ich einen Impulsvortrag beisteuern darf! www.apb-tutzing.de/news/2026-02...