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Simon Hix

Simon Hix

@simonhix.bsky.social

11K followers 3.6K following 590 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%

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Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 10h

Thanks Dan

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 18h

I agree with Ben: "fire alarms" better than "police patrols" (i.e. basic principal-agent theory!). So, we need to make fire alarms easier, e.g. via @i4replication.bsky.social et al. This is not about "gotcha" moments, but about credibility, which includes showing replications that confirm findings

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 1d

Yes, journals signal quality. What I like about I4R is the culture it fosters: civil; engagement between original paper authors and replicators; open to younger scholars; publishing replications that show the original is sound, etc. So great for transparency and accountability.

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 1d

Yep. And also platforms like Institute4Replication are a good innovation. Much faster and more flexible. I use it for the course I teach on “Replicating Research in Political Science”. i4replication.org

I4Replication advances research credibility through systematic replication studies, academic events, and open-source tools for researchers.

i4replication.org

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 1d

I agree. I’m sceptical that having an in house replication specialist would solve the issues we’re discussing. We know (eg. from principal-agent work) that, as a monitoring mechanism, “fire alarms” can be more effective than “police patrol”. So, in that sense, the system isn’t broken.

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 1d

A great man 😢 #COYI
www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...

West Ham legend Billy Bonds dies aged 79

Billy Bonds, West Ham's record appearance maker who led them to two FA Cup titles, passes away peacefully on Sunday morning.

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 1d

Sure. Are you willing to pay for that, e.g. by paying to submit papers? Almost no money from journal publishers to pay for anything like that, so journals rely a lot on temporary and usually voluntary labour.

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 1d

I understand that. I know this stuff is far from easy. I’m just reporting what Dan and Stuart have been saying. Better to talk directly to them.

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 1d

From what has been said (and that’s all I can judge), the replication and the response to the replication should ideally have been published online at the same time. Both sets of authors made other points, and they can address those themselves.

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 2d

Yep. On the same page. We need to collectively work out how to do this stuff better.

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 2d

Thanks Hugo. This debate is now on the curriculum of the course for next term :-)

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 2d

Btw, it sounds like @apsrjournal.bsky.social didn’t handle this as well as they might have done. Lessons for the future, perhaps.

Reposted by Ben H. Ansell, Federica Genovese

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 2d

Ouch! Hoping this argument doesn’t escalate. I have enormous respect for @dandekadt.bsky.social and @turnbulldugarte.com. Both are phenomenally smart and creative scholars. Some of the very best around.

Stuart Turnbull-Dugarte @turnbulldugarte.com · 2d

Some researchers, like myself, care about knowledge production and finding the "right" answer.

Others care more about getting a publication based on saying that others are wrong rather than engaging in a discussion about what the current state of knowledge is and whether it needs to be corrected.

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 2d

Thanks Dan. Didn’t mean to be snarky. Just thought I’d flag that, in case you weren’t aware. Good to know it’s in hand.

Reposted by Simon Hix, Will Jennings

Stuart Turnbull-Dugarte @turnbulldugarte.com · 2d

Some researchers, like myself, care about knowledge production and finding the "right" answer.

Others care more about getting a publication based on saying that others are wrong rather than engaging in a discussion about what the current state of knowledge is and whether it needs to be corrected.

Reposted by Simon Hix, Will Jennings, Ruth Dassonneville , and 6 more Simon Hix, Will Jennings, Ruth Dassonneville, Alexander Wuttke, Robert Huber, Ingo Rohlfing, Alessandro Nai, Werner Krause, Tarik Abou‐Chadi

Stuart Turnbull-Dugarte @turnbulldugarte.com · 2d

A critique of our (w/ @bertous.bsky.social) paper “Instrumentally inclusive” has just been published.

Our response is under review (see below on process) but we feel obliged to share our draft for balance since the comment has been released without the response.

osf.io/rn6h3/files/...

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 2d

SPLITTERS !!! #LifeOfBrian

Sky News @news.sky.com · 2d

Zarah Sultana boycotts first day of Your Party conference over 'witch hunt' expulsions

Zarah Sultana boycotts first day of Your Party conference over 'witch hunt' expulsions

Zarah Sultana has boycotted day one of the Your Party Conference over the expulsion of members of left-wing groups.

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 2d

Hi Dan. This is fascinating. But (somewhat ironically!) the link to your replication files on Dataverse doesn't seem to work (doi.org/10.7910/DVN/...). Maybe fix that. Ta!

Reposted by Simon Hix, Andrew Scott, Lilian Edwards , and 3 more Simon Hix, Andrew Scott, Lilian Edwards, Mark Priestley, Steven Fielding, Christina Pagel

Sky News @news.sky.com · 2d

Zarah Sultana boycotts first day of Your Party conference over 'witch hunt' expulsions

Zarah Sultana boycotts first day of Your Party conference over 'witch hunt' expulsions

Zarah Sultana has boycotted day one of the Your Party Conference over the expulsion of members of left-wing groups.

Reposted by Simon Hix, Brendan Nyhan, Alexander Wuttke , and 1 more Simon Hix, Brendan Nyhan, Alexander Wuttke, Marta Kołczyńska

Dan de Kadt @dandekadt.bsky.social · 3d

Today I published a replication outlining concerns with "Instrumentally Inclusive" by Turnbull-Dugarte and López Ortega (2024, APSR).

I document seemingly idiosyncratic and ad hoc choices made by the authors that create a pattern of statistically significant results consistent with their theory.

Reposted by Simon Hix, Ben H. Ansell, Markus Wagner

Tarik Abou-Chadi @tabouchadi.bsky.social · 4d

For the Guardian, @bjoernbremer.bsky.social, @siljahausermann.bsky.social and I write about how building new homes is not enough to tackle the housing crisis. Housing is a redistributive issue and progressive policy solutions need to acknowledge that.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

To halt the far right, Europe’s progressive parties must fix its housing crisis. Our research shows how | Tarik Abou-Chadi, Björn Bremer and Silja Häusermann

The mantra of ‘build, build, build’ misses something crucial: that few can afford these new homes, say Tarik Abou-Chadi, Silja Häusermann and Björn Bremer

www.theguardian.com

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 4d

To do list:
- buy more of the Xmas gifts this year!
on.ft.com/4pAF8Pc Santa Claus is still a woman

Santa Claus is still a woman

There is something particularly stubborn about gender roles at Christmas

Reposted by Simon Hix, Ben H. Ansell, Jacob Montgomery , and 4 more Simon Hix, Ben H. Ansell, Jacob Montgomery, Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham, Brian Weatherson, Michael Larkin, David Darmofal

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 5d

People on BlueSky: AI is useless! A stochastic parrot!

Mathematicians/biologists/physicists: It is already helping us do frontier technical research and in some cases solve open problems arxiv.org/pdf/2511.16072

(There are of course, as always, many caveats, but the paper is genuinely remarkable)

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 5d

Great to see the CJEU enforcing basic rights throughout the EU www.bbc.com/news/article...

Same-sex marriage must be respected throughout EU, top court tells Poland

The ruling covers the case of a Polish couple who married in Berlin but Polish authorities refused to recognise their marriage.

Reposted by Simon Hix, Mark J. Brandt, Alexander Wuttke , and 2 more Simon Hix, Mark J. Brandt, Alexander Wuttke, Jens Rydgren, Stuart J. Turnbull‐Dugarte

James Dennison @jamesrdennison.bsky.social · 6d

Thrilled to share my new article in Political Psychology: “The psychology of political attitudinal volatility.” In it, I attempt to answer why do some people change their political views more than others? Open access at: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....
@ispp-pops.bsky.social

Reposted by Diane Coyle, Simon Hix, Elizabeth Saunders , and 21 more Diane Coyle, Simon Hix, Elizabeth Saunders, Stephen P. Jenkins, Steven Van de Walle, Samuel L. Perry, Stefanie Walter, Alexander Wuttke, Justin H. Kirkland, Robert Huber, Jason Reifler, Benjamin Braun, Valerie Mueller, Ingo Rohlfing, Robert C. Richards, Christian Breunig, Thomas M. Meyer, Nazita Lajevardi, Federica Genovese, Tom Louwerse, Alexandra Cirone, Nicolai von Ondarza, Francesco Nicoli, Roman Senninger

Sara Hobolt @sarahobolt.bsky.social · 6d

🚨 LSE Assistant Professor in Political Science 🚨

We’re hiring a tenure-track assistant professor - any area of empirical political science - to join our wonderful Government Dept @lsegovernment.bsky.social

Any questions, please reach out to me

📣 Please share! 📣

jobs.lse.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/...

Reposted by Simon Hix, Mark Priestley

Kaja Kallas @kajakallas.bsky.social · 6d

Gender-based violence has no place in a free and equal society.
No woman or girl should have to live in fear.

On International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, we call for an end to all forms of violence and affirm the right for every women to live in safety and dignity.

Reposted by Simon Hix, Dorothy Bishop, Dave O’Brien , and 3 more Simon Hix, Dorothy Bishop, Dave O’Brien, Charles Forsdick, Audrey Osler, Catriona Seth

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 7d

Are you worried about the devastating cuts we are seeing to arts, humanities & social sciences in UK universities? Last call for my lecture in Leicester this Thurs 27th Nov on the value of these subjects and how they support UK security, cohesion and prosperity www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/shaping-a-...

Shaping a Brighter Future

The first event in our Vice-Chancellor’s Distinguished Lecture Series, delivered by Hetan Shah, Chief Executive, The British Academy

www.eventbrite.co.uk

Reposted by Simon Hix, Dave O’Brien, Stuart J. Turnbull‐Dugarte , and 2 more Simon Hix, Dave O’Brien, Stuart J. Turnbull‐Dugarte, Nick Clarke, Peter Allen

British Journal of Political Science @bjpols.bsky.social · 7d

NEWS -

The Politics of Imperial Nostalgia - https://cup.org/4p1QbRA

"right-wing opposition to criticism of the imperial past is stronger than left-wing support"

- Christopher Claassen & @danjdevine.bsky.social

#OpenAccess

BJPolS abstract discussing the nostalgia for empire in post-imperial European contexts, examining public opinion and attitudes towards imperial history.

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 9d

Eek! I'm sitting on 6 reviewers for journals, all due in the next 10 days! Never experienced so many so tightly bunched. Would love to see an analysis of submissions by month for these journals ... or maybe editors could manage the pipeline differently, e.g. "sorry, we're full until next month"!