Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Max Grömping @maxgroemping.bsky.social · 24d

Please share widely! Great #PostDoc opportunity at one of Australia's top #PoliticalScience departments, on a #FutureFellowship on electoral resilience. 3yrs, great pay, and a workplace practically next to the Great Barrier Reef!
Closing date is 1 Oct 2025
jobs.smartrecruiters.com/GriffithUniv...

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Grade 1

Company Description: Every institution values excellence. What matters most is why. Griffith was created to be a different type of university. You’ll find we’re about leading research, academic excel...

jobs.smartrecruiters.com

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Charlie Warzel @cwarzel.bsky.social · Oct 30

Wrote about X's Election Integrity Community which is the purest distillation of using a platform as an efficient incitement machine/bullshit/paranoia engine. And how it is so very clear that this chaos is the return on Musk's $44 billion investment (gift link) www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

Elon Musk Wants You to Think This Election’s Being Stolen

X is now a political weapon.

www.theatlantic.com

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The Onion @theonion.com · Nov 6

Today’s Historic Front Page: November 6, 2024
theonion.com/todays-histo...

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Authoritarian Political Systems Group @apsgworkshop.bsky.social · Nov 15

We noticed there wasn't a starter pack on authoritarian politics yet – Now there is!

go.bsky.app/UFHn7sS

Spread and ask to join!

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Tarik Abou-Chadi @tabouchadi.bsky.social · Jan 11

Die AfD ist wieder über 20%. Dabei hat die Bundesregierung doch dafür gesorgt dass die Asylanträge zurückgehen, dass endlich mehr abgeschoben wird, dass die Grenzen kontrolliert, Bezahlkarten eingeführt werden. Könnte es vielleicht sein dass rechte Politik nicht gegen Rechtsextreme hilft?

Europe Elects @europeelects.bsky.social · Jan 11

Germany, Forschungsgruppe Wahlen poll:

CDU/CSU-EPP: 30% (-1)
AfD-ESN: 21% (+2)
GRÜNE-G/EFA: 15% (+1)
SPD-S&D: 14% (-1)
BSW-NI: 4% (-1)
LINKE-LEFT: 4%
FDP-RE: 4% (+1)

+/- vs. 17-19 December 2024

Fieldwork: 7-9 January 2025
Sample size: 1,433

➤ europeelects.eu/germany

#btw25 #Bundestag #Wahlen

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Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · Feb 26

The right’s “waste and fraud” frame is a replay of the same participatory propaganda games they played w/ “voter fraud” in 2020, “censorship” in 2022, and any number of anti-immigration frames in 2024. Set the frame, inspire the generation of “evidence” to fit it, amplify that evidence, and repeat.

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Centre for Deliberative Democracy @deldemucan.bsky.social · Apr 4

This week we welcomed Alex Fischer (Australian Department of Home Affairs) and @maxgroemping.bsky.social from
@griffith.edu.au to our Centre for a rich and insightful discussion on the relevance of democracy research for practice, expertly moderated by Selen Ercan.

Recording will be available soon!

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Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · Apr 23

"I am stuck with the prediction that the Trump historical episode will end in costly, probably violent, conflict."

From @adamprz.bsky.social, the US's leading scholar on democracy/elections, and far from an alarmist.

adamprzeworski.substack.com/p/week-10

WEEK 10

adamprzeworski.substack.com

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Leonardo Carella @leonardocarella.bsky.social · Apr 24

Some thoughts on institutional reform in the UK, spurred by the upcoming Australian elections. Australia has traditionally been classified, with Britain other former colonies, as a "Westminster democracy" - characterised by a majoritarian system and fusion of legislative and executive powers. 🧵

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Alex Dukalskis @alexdukalskis.bsky.social · Jun 30

This is just an incredible story. A leadership team from Princeton University Press went on a propaganda tour in Xinjiang (strangely, in a subsequent public statement the press described some of the basic mechanics of a propaganda tour when defending its actions).

Chenchen Zhang 🤦🏻‍♀️ @chenchenzhang.net · Jun 28

not looking good for Princeton University Press is it @princetonupress.bsky.social
the video can be found on Facebook
www.facebook.com/share/v/16Rv...

Screenshot of an X post: The current director of Princeton University Press Christie Henry is now in Xinjiang "I can't wait to tell the world the story here,the ability for multiple cultures and multiple languages to coexist in such wonderful way"

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Lars Lott @larslott.bsky.social · Jul 1

Why are some democracies more resilient than others? How can their resilience be improved? Together with Aurel Croissant, I’ve developed a conceptualization of democratic resilience as resilience performance and resilience capacity.
Read the full article here (Open Access): doi.org/10.1177/0032...

Democratic Resilience in the Twenty-First Century: Search for an Analytical Framework and Explorative Analysis - Aurel Croissant, Lars Lott, 2025

Why are some democracies more resilient than others? How can their resilience be improved? Answering these questions requires valid conceptualization and reliab...

doi.org

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Tom Pepinsky @tompepinsky.com · Feb 16

Everyday authoritarianism is mostly boring and tolerable, but it is always maddening and stupid

Everyday Authoritarianism is Maddening and Stupid

Eight years ago, I wrote a post on this blog entitled “Everyday Authoritarianism is Boring and Tolerable.” A slightly edited version did some numbers when it appeared at Vox as “L…

tompepinsky.com

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Max Grömping @maxgroemping.bsky.social · Jul 1

Great work on democratic resilience by my @larslott.bsky.social & Aurel Croissant

Lars Lott @larslott.bsky.social · Jul 1

Why are some democracies more resilient than others? How can their resilience be improved? Together with Aurel Croissant, I’ve developed a conceptualization of democratic resilience as resilience performance and resilience capacity.
Read the full article here (Open Access): doi.org/10.1177/0032...

Democratic Resilience in the Twenty-First Century: Search for an Analytical Framework and Explorative Analysis - Aurel Croissant, Lars Lott, 2025

Why are some democracies more resilient than others? How can their resilience be improved? Answering these questions requires valid conceptualization and reliab...

doi.org

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Max Grömping @maxgroemping.bsky.social · Jun 30

Wow, Princeton UP got bamboozled into this like a travel vlogger.

Alex Dukalskis @alexdukalskis.bsky.social · Jun 30

This is just an incredible story. A leadership team from Princeton University Press went on a propaganda tour in Xinjiang (strangely, in a subsequent public statement the press described some of the basic mechanics of a propaganda tour when defending its actions).

Chenchen Zhang 🤦🏻‍♀️ @chenchenzhang.net · Jun 28

not looking good for Princeton University Press is it @princetonupress.bsky.social
the video can be found on Facebook
www.facebook.com/share/v/16Rv...

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Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · Jun 27

🧵 THREAD: Why the Cato Institute’s new paper on “misinformation panic” is dangerously wrong, and why it completely misunderstands the real crisis we face.
www.cato.org/policy-analy...

The Misleading Panic over Misinformation

People can’t agree on how to define misinformation and its related terms, making regulation nearly impossible. Instead, free expression serves as a better tool for discovering truth.

www.cato.org

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Frederik Thieme @frederikthieme.bsky.social · Jun 26

Are tailored ads in political campaigns as persuasive as conventional wisdom holds? 📢

In joint work w/ @heikekluever.bsky.social we present evidence from a field experiment with the German Greens ahead of the 2024 European Elections calling this into question 🤔
#epsa2025

⏰: Friday, 16:50
📍: 0A.10

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Max Grömping @maxgroemping.bsky.social · Jun 18

Huge! Massive congratulations Sofia.

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Max Grömping @maxgroemping.bsky.social · Jun 18

Check out this great work by @griffith.edu.au colleague @ammassarisofia.bsky.social on women's party engagement on the radical right.

Sofia Ammassari @ammassarisofia.bsky.social · Jun 17

Thrilled that my article on women's activism in PRR parties has been published open access today in @cpsjournal.bsky.social 💫

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

This is my favourite article from my PhD thesis. I love the topic, its findings, and the literature it draws on.

A quick 🧵:

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Sofia Ammassari @ammassarisofia.bsky.social · Jun 17

Thrilled that my article on women's activism in PRR parties has been published open access today in @cpsjournal.bsky.social 💫

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

This is my favourite article from my PhD thesis. I love the topic, its findings, and the literature it draws on.

A quick 🧵:

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David Rand @dgrand.bsky.social · Jun 17

🚨In PNAS🚨
The right often accuses fact-checkers of political bias
But we analyzed Community Notes on Musk's X and found posts flagged as "misleading" are 2.3x more likely to be written by Reps than Dems!
The issue is Reps sharing misinformation, not fact-checker bias...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

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Max Grömping @maxgroemping.bsky.social · Jun 14

Friends in Germany interested in #deliberative #democracy, this is THE event for you. "Can citizen councils strengthen representative democracy?".
I wish I could make it to Berlin for this one.

Sebastian Ziaja @sziaja.bsky.social · Jun 11

Können Bürgerräte die repräsentative Demokratie stärken?
Wir diskutieren Ergebnisse aus vier praxisnahen Forschungsprojekten auf einem Roundtable mit
@polenz.bsky.social,
@kliesenberg.bsky.social,
Felix Arndt, Stabstelle Bürgerräte @bundestag.de
und @heikekluever.bsky.social
1/4

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Jason Reifler @jasonreifler.bsky.social · Jun 12

The most popular thing I did on the old site was telling people about my rejections. Failure and rejection is a big part of academic life. It happens to all of us -- well, at least everyone I know. This thread lists mine and is founded on the hope it helps other people cope better with their own.

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Sebastian Ziaja @sziaja.bsky.social · Jun 11

Können Bürgerräte die repräsentative Demokratie stärken?
Wir diskutieren Ergebnisse aus vier praxisnahen Forschungsprojekten auf einem Roundtable mit
@polenz.bsky.social,
@kliesenberg.bsky.social,
Felix Arndt, Stabstelle Bürgerräte @bundestag.de
und @heikekluever.bsky.social
1/4

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Timothy Graham @timothyjgraham.bsky.social · May 13

Here's me saying it like it is regarding Elon Musk and X as a propaganda tool that is increasingly biased towards the far right.

The article is in French - in this thread are some auto-translated excerpts from my comments. Shout out to @markandrejevic.bsky.social

www.rtbf.be/article/comm...

Comment Elon Musk utilise son réseau X pour faire monter l'extrême droite en Europe - RTBF Actus

Voici un extrait du compte X (anciennement Twitter) de Dries Van Langenhove, ex-député Vlaams Belang condamné en 2024 à...

www.rtbf.be

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Max Grömping @maxgroemping.bsky.social · May 2

Two in three Australians say they have encountered misinformation in the lead up to the election. How concerned should we be? Read about the results of our recent survey w @acarson.bsky.social theconversation.com/fake-news-an...

Fake news and the election campaign - how worried should voters be?

New research reveals a growing number of Australians are encountering political misinformation and disinformation in the election campaign and are worried about it.

theconversation.com

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Max Grömping @maxgroemping.bsky.social · May 1

Congrats, Roman!

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Roman Senninger @rsenninger.bsky.social · May 1

🚨 New book alert!

Policy Preparation Inside the European Commission is out with OUP @oxfordacademic.bsky.social

It’s about the behind-the-scenes stage of EU policymaking that shapes everything—yet rarely gets the spotlight: how the Commission prepares its proposals.

Link: doi.org/10.1093/9780...

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Max Grömping @maxgroemping.bsky.social · Apr 24

What a well-argued thread about the benefits of semi parliamentarism.