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Simon Hix

Simon Hix

@simonhix.bsky.social

12K followers 3.6K following 620 posts

Stein Rokkan Chair in Comparative Politics, EUI. President-Elect, @epssnet.bsky.social. FBA, FRSA. Democracy, parties, elections, electoral systems etc. Live music. COYI

Simon Hix is a British political scientist, holder of the Stein Rokkan chair in comparative politics at the European University Institute in Florence. His main areas of research are voting in parliaments, democratic institutions, and EU politics. .. more

Political science 79%

Economics 10%

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Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 17h

And here’s the link to the paper! 🤦‍♂️ doi.org/10.1177/0010...

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 17h

lol! Here it is: doi.org/10.1177/0010...

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 20h

Perhaps of interest to @catherinedevries.bsky.social @sarahobolt.bsky.social @heikekluever.bsky.social @erik-jones.bsky.social @chriswratil.bsky.social @miriamsorace.bsky.social @rdanielkelemen.bsky.social @sopro.bsky.social @jbslapin.bsky.social (I'm sure I'm missing lots of people. Sorry!).
10/

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 20h

We also find an interesting mechanism: the effect of policy loss is stronger for people who are more highly educated (who are more likely to have more information about what the EU does)
9/

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 20h

This effect is robust across our 6 measures of EU policy outputs as well as with 2 different ways of conceptualising “policy loss”: immediate (the distance to policies in the same year), or cumulative (distance to all policies prior to a given year).
8/

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 20h

At the individual level, pooling <1.1 million respondents in the Eurobarometer surveys, the further EU policies are from an individual’s preferences, the less they like it
7/

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 20h

At the aggregate level, the EU was most popular when it delivered policies that were more centrist (so minimised the "policy loss" for most EU citizens) and became less popular when average policy loss was higher
6/

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 20h

Across all of our measures of EU policies, what the EU has delivered has moved “leftwards” over time, although some measures suggest a move back towards the centre in recent years
5/

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 20h

To test this explanation we measure EU citizens (from almost 50 years of Eurobarometer surveys) and annual EU policy outputs (using 6 different methods) on the same scale
4/

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 20h

Our explanation for this pattern is that, at the individual level, citizens support the EU more (less) if it delivers policies closer to (further from) their left-right preferences.
3/

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 20h

What we do in the paper is try to explain why the relationship between political preferences and support for the EU has changed over time, e.g. why people on the right supported European integration most in the 1970s, and why the left support the EU most today.
2/

Reposted by Steve Peers, Andrew Watt, Carl Henrik Knutsen , and 11 more Steve Peers, Andrew Watt, Carl Henrik Knutsen, Antje Wiener, Stefan Müller, Catherine E. De Vries, Kurt Vandaele, Michelle Everson, Ben Worthy, Werner Krause, Bjørn Høyland, Nicolai von Ondarza, Dionyssis G. Dimitrakopoulos, Roman Senninger

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 20h

NEW PAPER ALERT! My paper, with @bjornhoyland.bsky.social , on how “policy loss” shapes support for the EU has just been published in @cpsjournal.bsky.social. Check it out!
1/

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 21h

Eek! Tragic to see this in my old home town

Reposted by Simon Hix

Julius Kölzer @juliusk.bsky.social · 9d

Berlin’s political fragmentation is, of course, nothing new. Rising fragmentation has been evident since the emergence of the Greens in the 1980s and the Left Party in the 1990s. Compared to the 2016 and 2021 state elections, Berlin’s party system would actually be even a bit less fragmented.

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 10d

A key European ally of the United States is preparing, together with European allies, for the possibility of invasion by the United States

This is a sentence I thought I would never write!

Mads Korsager @madskorsager.bsky.social · 10d

BREAKING: A full-scale airlift is running around the clock, transporting troops and military equipment to Greenland.
The operation is extensive, “beyond anything we’ve tried before,” a source tells DR. Danish F-35 fighter planes and warships from European allies involved.

www.dr.dk/nyheder/indl...

Stor operation i gang: Fly strømmer til Grønland med europæiske soldater

I flere døgn har militære transportfly fløjet i pendulfart mellem Danmark og Grønland. Fredag aften landede et stort antal soldater i Nuuk.

Reposted by Kim L. Scheppele, Simon Hix, Jan W. Mueller , and 10 more Kim L. Scheppele, Simon Hix, Jan W. Mueller, Elizabeth Saunders, Matthew Bunn, Sara B. Hobolt, Steve Peers, Martin Tomko, Ben Tonra, Tim Stephens, Nicolai von Ondarza, Aviel Roshwald, David Darmofal

Mads Korsager @madskorsager.bsky.social · 10d

BREAKING: A full-scale airlift is running around the clock, transporting troops and military equipment to Greenland.
The operation is extensive, “beyond anything we’ve tried before,” a source tells DR. Danish F-35 fighter planes and warships from European allies involved.

www.dr.dk/nyheder/indl...

Stor operation i gang: Fly strømmer til Grønland med europæiske soldater

I flere døgn har militære transportfly fløjet i pendulfart mellem Danmark og Grønland. Fredag aften landede et stort antal soldater i Nuuk.

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 22d

She's at it again! Another outstanding Substack by @laurenleek.eu, this time looking under the hood of AirBnB listings in London. Amazing analysis, with important policy implications, e.g. this quote
open.substack.com/pub/laurenle...

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 22d

I’ll believe it when I see it …

Starmer ready for closer alignment with the EU 'in the national interest' www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Starmer ready for closer alignment with the EU 'in the national interest'

It is the clearest indication yet the PM wants to pursue a closer relationship with Europe in a broader number of areas.

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 23d

Interesting analysis by @edwardluce.bsky.social, eg. why it’s not going to be easy to run Venezuela, and this is (in part) about cutting off oil to Cuba
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

Trump now owns Venezuela

The US president has a growing appetite for military adventure

giftarticle.ft.com

Reposted by Simon Hix, Georg Weizsäcker

East Anglia Bylines @eastangliabylines.co.uk · 25d

The story of Europe’s economic decline while US is 'soaring' is everywhere.

But it is wrong. It is a myth.

Europe delivers more leisure, longer life expectancy, less inequality than the US.

Gabriel Zucman dismantles the myths.

Decline, what decline? The myth of dying Europe

There is a widespread view that, by comparison with the USA, Europe is in economic and social decline. But, Zucman argues, it's not true

eastangliabylines.co.uk

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · Dec 19

Interesting insights on the institutional implications of the EU decision last night

Valentin Kreilinger @vkreilinger.bsky.social · Dec 19

Article 20 TEU for ”enhanced cooperation“ is mentioned in the Conclusions of the European Council on the reparations loan for Ukraine. A smart move! It allows to go ahead without Orbán, Fico and Babiš. Is the #EU24 the new EU? #EUCO 1/3

Reposted by Simon Hix

Hugh Pemberton @hugh-pemberton.bsky.social · Dec 19

"Real communism has never been tried"

Paul Marshall: Implementation of Brexit became a fiasco

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · Dec 19

The cleavage inside the EU deepens.

Katalin Halmai @eublogo.bsky.social · Dec 19

“They [The Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia] don’t have to pay — but we will make them pay for it [politically],” said a senior European official

EU agrees €90bn loan to Ukraine after frozen Russian asset plan fails

Money to be borrowed against bloc’s budget after leaders fail to agree on proposal using Moscow’s funds

Reposted by Simon Hix

Valentin Kreilinger @vkreilinger.bsky.social · Dec 19

Article 20 TEU for ”enhanced cooperation“ is mentioned in the Conclusions of the European Council on the reparations loan for Ukraine. A smart move! It allows to go ahead without Orbán, Fico and Babiš. Is the #EU24 the new EU? #EUCO 1/3

Reposted by Simon Hix, Laurent Pech

Katalin Halmai @eublogo.bsky.social · Dec 19

“They [The Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia] don’t have to pay — but we will make them pay for it [politically],” said a senior European official

EU agrees €90bn loan to Ukraine after frozen Russian asset plan fails

Money to be borrowed against bloc’s budget after leaders fail to agree on proposal using Moscow’s funds

Reposted by Simon Hix, Romain Lachat

British Journal of Political Science @bjpols.bsky.social · Dec 18

NEW -

Quality Not Quantity: How a VAA Affected Voting Behavior in Three Large-Scale Field Experiments - https://cup.org/491pwNQ

- @fresejoris.bsky.social, @simonhix.bsky.social & @rlachat.bsky.social

#OpenAccess

BJPolS abstract discussing the impact of Voting Advice Applications (VAAs) on electoral outcomes and voter behavior in the European Parliament elections in Germany, Italy, and France. The text mentions a novel regression discontinuity design and statistical analysis of VAA usage and voter alignment.

Reposted by Simon Hix, Tim Bale, Maarten Vink , and 3 more Simon Hix, Tim Bale, Maarten Vink, Romain Lachat, Stuart J. Turnbull‐Dugarte, Tom Louwerse

Joris Frese @fresejoris.bsky.social · Dec 18

🇪🇺🇩🇪 Published Today in @bjpols.bsky.social 🇮🇹🇫🇷

How a voting advice application affected voting behavior in three large-scale field experiments:

shorturl.at/2ekBj

TLDR of our study (with @simonhix.bsky.social & @rlachat.bsky.social) below 👇 1/14

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · Dec 16

Excellent piece on the decline of the “Brussels effect”, by @pmdfoster.bsky.social and @bmoens.bsky.social. This figure, in particular, tells a lot of the story giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

Reposted by Simon Hix, Christian Odendahl, Seán Hanley

Jakub Krupa @jakubkrupa.bsky.social · Dec 14

Few thoughts on the "Polish exodus" from the UK.

1. It's not an 'exodus', it's a slow drip. We're fine, thanks.
2. Migration is really complicated.
3. The absolute cheek of the very same media attacking Poles for years lamenting their departure.
4. What you can do?

THREAD 🧵

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · Dec 14

West Ham and Fiorentina both lost at home today, and are both in the relegation zone and likely to be relegated. I preferred it when they were both 6th or 7th in their respective leagues. It's like they have some weird cosmic link. 🤷‍♂️