🎉 A new Q1 record for WEP: articles published in the journal were downloaded more than 190,000 times in January–March 2026. That's up from ~150,000 in Q1 2025, a ~30% jump year-on-year.
Thanks to our authors and readers!
First page of the article "The 2025 Norwegian election" by Johannes Bergh and Bernt Aardal, published online first in West European Politics. Shows the title, authors, and abstract.
Line chart showing the poll of polls for major Norwegian parties in the year leading up to the September 2025 election, with party support in percent on the y-axis and dates from late 2024 through 2025 on the x-axis.
Line chart of the Gallagher least squares disproportionality index from 1977 to 2025, comparing Norway with other Nordic countries and other West European countries (Germany, Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Ireland) across 13 elections.
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December 2024: Norway's Labour polled at 17.3%, near their 1903 historic low. September 2025: formed new government.
Bergh and Aardal credit Centre Party quitting over EU, Stoltenberg back from NATO as finance minister, and a new electricity subsidy.
🔗 doi.org/10.1080/0140...
First page of the article "Measuring issue salience for political parties using LLMs" by Kenneth Benoit and Michael Laver, published online first in West European Politics. Shows the title, authors, and abstract.
Box plots showing the distribution of 'budgeted' issue salience scores across six policy dimensions (economic, social, environment, EU, decentralization, immigration), comparing expert surveys, Manifesto Project codings, and LLM-based estimates.
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LLMs estimate party positions well. How about issue salience?
@kenbenoit.bsky.social and Michael Laver show its harder: salience is inherently relative and more implicit. LLM's salience estimates are usable but track experts less closely than positions.
🔗 doi.org/10.1080/0140...
First-page screenshot of the article "Addition preferences among policymakers as driver of policy growth" by Alexa Lenz, Christoph Knill, and Yves Steinebach, published online first in West European Politics. Shows the title, authors, and abstract summarising a survey experiment with 1,454 elected policymakers in Norway.
Coefficient plot (Figure 2) showing odds ratios for policy responses across three policy scenarios — emissions, full, and parking — in two panels: addition vs. all else (top) and subtraction vs. all else (bottom). Each row plots a predictor (age, capacity, conflict, party positioning, problem salience) with point estimates and 95 percent confidence intervals.
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Why do policies keep piling up?
In a survey experiment with 1,454 Norwegian policymakers, @alexalenz.bsky.social, @cknill.bsky.social and Yves Steinebach find a bias toward adding new rules rather than subtracting. An info treatment slightly reduces it.
🔗 doi.org/10.1080/0140...
Abstract of the article "A party's pledge fulfillment and procedural transparency affect voters' trust" by Ann-Kristin Kölln, published online first in West European Politics. Shows the title, author, and abstract summarising a survey experiment on how party performance cues shape trust.
Figure 2: point estimates of voters' trust in the party (scale 0–1) under three experimental conditions — control, good pledge fulfilment, and bad pledge fulfilment — with 95 percent confidence intervals. Trust is highest under good fulfilment (~0.52), intermediate under control (~0.48), and markedly lower under bad fulfilment (~0.36).
Figure 6: two line plots showing predicted effects of perceptions of a party's pledge fulfilment (left) and law compliance (right) on voters' trust (0–1), both measured on a 1–7 scale with 95 percent confidence ribbons. Trust rises steadily with perceived pledge fulfilment and law-compliance.
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What moves voters' trust in a political party?
@annkristinkolln.bsky.social's new study shows that a party's pledge record and its procedural transparency shift trust by 7–26 points — read by voters as signals of ability and integrity.
🔗 doi.org/10.1080/0140...
Abstract of "Dutch parliamentary elections of October 2025" by Joop J. M. van Holsteyn and Galen A. Irwin, published in West European Politics.
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The Netherlands' first true minority cabinet - how did it come to that?
In the 2025 election, D66 surged, PVV was reduced, and NSC lost all its seats. In this article, Van Holsteyn & Irwin report on the campaign and the historic coalition formation. 🇳🇱
🔗 doi.org/10.1080/0140...
📖 New issue out!
West European Politics 49(4) 🎉
👉 EU policy congruence, interest groups, cloud computing, nationalism, political support, government alternation, elite ideology, plus the 2025 German and Portuguese elections.
🔗 www.tandfonline.com/toc/fwep20/4...
Abstract of the research note "Street mobilisation during election campaigns in multilevel systems: a supply–demand analysis" by Lennart Schürmann and Leonhard Schmidt, published online first in West European Politics.
Conceptual diagram showing the supply and demand sides of street mobilisation. On the supply side, institutional political actors (politicians) and civil society actors (activists) interact and use protest to mobilise voters or issues. On the demand side, citizens participate. Politicians receive institutional authorisation; activists receive informal authorisation from citizens.
Dot plot showing predicted effects of election campaigns on protest sponsorship and participation. Politicians are most likely to sponsor protests during national campaigns; activists dominate during subnational campaigns. Predicted number of citizen participants peaks during national campaigns.
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How do election campaigns shape street protests?
@lennartschuermann.bsky.social & @leonhardschmidt.bsky.social find street protests spike during national elections. Politicians sponsor more national protests, while activists dominate subnationally.
🔗 doi.org/10.1080/0140...
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Does disliking the other side shape what you believe?
@alexanderryan124.bsky.social, @roycecarroll.bsky.social, Hanna Bäck & Emma Renström find that affectively polarised Europeans align their policy views more — especially around immigration.
🔗 doi.org/10.1080/0140...
5/6 🧵In @wepsocial.bsky.social @mhaslberger.bsky.social @madselk.bsky.social & @benansell.bsky.social: homeownership is tied to political efficacy. While young renters may still expect to buy, older may won’t reach the property ladder & feel less politically included. Read here: doi.org/qqjx
Really excited to see my final dissertation paper out 🎉
Do parties shift their issue priorities when polls decline?
Looking at press releases from 68 parties in 9 countries, we find little evidence that they do.
Abstract of the article "Parties' issue responsiveness between elections" by Cornelius Erfort, Heike Klüver, and Lukas F. Stoetzer, published online first in West European Politics.
Marginal effects plot showing the relationship between changes in polls and subsequent party issue attention in press releases, split by party issue ownership, issue salience, and being the main issue of a successful competitor.
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Do parties shift their issue priorities when polls drop?
Examining press releases across 68 parties in 9 countries, @cornelius-erfort.bsky.social , @heikekluever.bsky.social & @lstoetze.bsky.social find little evidence that they do.
🔗 doi.org/10.1080/0140...
Abstract of "When does accommodation fail? The electoral consequences of intra-party divisions and mainstream party strategies" by Felix Lehmann, published in West European Politics.
The marginal effect of Δ EU position on mainstream party vote over increasing levels of EU intra-party divisions (N = 393). The histogram plots the distri- bution of EU intra-party divisions.
The Marginal effect of Δ immigration position on dyadic mainstream party voter gains over increasing levels of immigration intra-party divisions (N=134). The histogram plots the distribution of immigration intra-party divisions.
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Can shifting to the Eurosceptic right backfire?
@felixlehmann.bsky.social points to an overlooked reason for why accommodation may fail: intra-party division. When the party disagrees, policy shifts become less credible and can cost votes.
🔗 doi.org/10.1080/0140...
New research with Lawrence Ezrow and Werner Krause in @wepsocial.bsky.social
We show that more extreme governments are more likely to deliver policy solely to their supporters
Why does mainstream accommodation of far-right and Eurosceptic parties often electorally backfire? In my 3rd dissertation paper, just published in @wepsocial.bsky.social, I argue that voters specifically punish internally divided parties for accommodation: doi.org/10.1080/0140...
1/13 🧵
Our @wepsocial.bsky.social paper (with @nspmartin.bsky.social and @rolandkappe.bsky.social) on the effects of school subjects on political party support is the focus of @jkirkup.bsky.social's @thetimes.com piece today
Abstract of "Do impartial inquiries help voters hold the government accountable for political misconduct?" by Jannik Fenger, published in West European Politics.
Media coverage of the scandal spiked around the inquiry commission report. Weekly amount of media reporting of the misconduct (solid dark grey line) and the amount of that reporting mentioning the inquiry (dashed light grey line) from four major Danish newspapers. Both lines display a kernel-weighted local polynomial smoothing.
Voters’ sanctioning inclinations rose after the inquiry report. The figure shows changes over time on four different outcomes measuring whether citizens sanction the government for the scandal by all voters (black dots, n = 2,829), supporters of the government or supporting parties (grey dots, n=1,329), and supporters of opposition parties (white dots, n=1,065) controlling for relevant imbalances between the two pre-waves.
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Do impartial inquiries make voters punish governments for misconduct?
In this new study, Jannik Fenger shows that an independent inquiry in Denmark made even government supporters more likely to acknowledge wrongdoing and sanction incumbents.
🔗 doi.org/10.1080/0140...
Thanks to everyone who contributes to the journal as authors, reviewers, editors, and readers. Looking forward to another strong year of research on European politics.
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The journal's readership remains truly international, with the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany being the top three download locations in 2025 🇺🇸🇬🇧🇩🇪
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Exciting news:
West European Politics reached a new milestone in 2025: over 640,000 article downloads 🎉
That is a roughly 30% increase from 2024 and the highest annual readership in the journal's history!
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Abstract of "Homeownership and political efficacy: how housing wealth shapes whether people feel heard" by Matthias Haslberger and Mads Andreas Elkjær, published in West European Politics.
Predicted levels of external efficacy by housing tenure and age, with 95% confidence intervals. Covariates fixed at: Married male Conservative voter without university degree living in Southeast England, full-time employed with average income.
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How does owning a home change how people feel about politics?
In this article, @mhaslberger.bsky.social and @madselk.bsky.social find that owning a home is linked to feeling more politically included, especially for older people.
🔗 doi.org/10.1080/0140...
In this @wepsocial.bsky.social article, @Karin Leijon analyzes the role of national courts in EU legal integration. The findings suggest that national courts regularly strike a balance between EU integration and member state autonomy.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
The last paper of @dpzollinger.bsky.social and I's Special Issue 'Cleavage Politics in Western Democracies' is now out at @wepsocial.bsky.social.
Florent Gougou & @simonpersico.bsky.social's paper analyzes ecological conflict in the longue durée through a Lipset-Rokkanian lens.
Abstract of "Dimension-specific party and public opinion responsiveness in the EU immigration acquis" by Miriam Sorace and Natascha Zaun, published in West European Politics.
Wordscores results – increasing immigration restrictiveness in EU legislation over time, Loess Line.
Marginal effects plot of the marginal effect of dossier responsiveness on "yes" votes by public euroscepticism (left panel) or public anti-immigration sentiment (right panel).
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How do EU parties balance immigration and EU integration views in Parliament votes?
In this study, @miriamsorace.bsky.social and Natascha Zaun show parties stick to their immigration stance but shift with public opinion on EU integration.
doi.org/10.1080/0140...
Homeownership and political efficacy: how housing wealth shapes whether people feel heard
doi.org/10.1080/0140...
Paper in @wepsocial.bsky.social by Associate Member @mhaslberger.bsky.social, @madselk.bsky.social and @nuffieldcollege.bsky.social Fellow @benansell.bsky.social
Just out in @wepsocial.bsky.social: how housing wealth shapes whether people feel heard. Together with @madselk.bsky.social and @benansell.bsky.social, I looked at a neglected determinant of political efficacy: homeownership.
Read the #OA paper: doi.org/10.1080/0140...
Quick overview below (1/5)
📖✅Our open access article 'Lipset and Rokkan meet data' on the electoral structuring of traditional #cleavages has been issued on @wepsocial.bsky.social
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Thrilled to see my joint work with Natascha Zaun published in @wepsocial.bsky.social 🎉 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... a 🧵...
The abstract of the article "The Ecologism/Productivism cleavage: reassessing the transformation of cleavage politics in Western Europe" by Florent Gougou and Simon Persico, published in the journal West European Politics.
Pairwise correlations between ecologism and four key political cleavages in public opinion across 12 Western european countries. Data: European Value Study 2017.
Figure showing theoretical argument about the sequence of formation of the productivism/ecologism cleavage linked to the productivist revolution.
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“The Ecologism/Productivism cleavage: reassessing the transformation of cleavage politics in Western Europe”
by Florent Gougou & Simon Persico
🔗 doi.org/10.1080/0140...
Same old, same old?
Germany held an early election after the implosion of the traffic-light coalition in Feb 25. Some takeaways from our election report @klingelt.bsky.social @wepsocial.bsky.social
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....