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ascharpf.bsky.social
Adam Scharpf
@ascharpf.bsky.social
1.1K followers 240 following 77 posts
Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen | Researching dictatorships and the dark side of politics | https://www.adamscharpf.net/
www.adamscharpf.net
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ascharpf.bsky.social
Adam Scharpf @ascharpf.bsky.social · Mar 5
I started the year with a great personal achievement.

After years in the making, our book manuscript is ready and under contract with Oxford University Press.

So stay tuned for deep insights into the security apparatus of dictatorships.

Small preview 👇
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Reposted by Adam Scharpf
fhollenbach.org
Florian Hollenbach @fhollenbach.org · 7d
Are you interested in research on corruption/illicit finance/kleptocracy? We are hiring a Research Fellow at @acdatacollective.bsky.social: acdatacollective.org/wp-content/u...
Please share in your networks, this could be a great gig.
acdatacollective.org
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Reposted by Adam Scharpf
timfrye.bsky.social
tim frye @timfrye.bsky.social · 10d
So many echoes from this article for US politics....
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ascharpf.bsky.social
Adam Scharpf @ascharpf.bsky.social · 13d
Thanks for the follow-up. We wanted to avoid an apple-and-oranges comparison because the finalist selection for the Intervision 2025 was not entirely clear.
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ascharpf.bsky.social
Adam Scharpf @ascharpf.bsky.social · 18d
#3

While the Eurovision participant countries represent a rather coherent group of democracies, this is different for tonight's Intervision event.

Many of the participating countries have governments that systematically violate the civil liberties of their citizens.
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ascharpf.bsky.social
Adam Scharpf @ascharpf.bsky.social · 18d
#2

This is in stark contrast to the Eurovision song contest, where most participant countries are fully fledged democracies.

Average polyarchy score of Eurovision finalists: 0.8
Average polyarchy score of Intervision finalists: 0.3
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ascharpf.bsky.social
Adam Scharpf @ascharpf.bsky.social · 18d
#1:

There are a lot of autocracies and dictatorships participating in Putin's alternative song contest.

Quite a few are BRICS members and close allies of Russia.
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ascharpf.bsky.social
Adam Scharpf @ascharpf.bsky.social · 18d
To provide a first answer, @belengonzalez.bsky.social and I quickly collected the data on the participant/finalist countries and merged it with the dataset by the @vdeminstitute.bsky.social.

Here is what we found:
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ascharpf.bsky.social
Adam Scharpf @ascharpf.bsky.social · 18d
We know that Putin and other dictators try to build a new world order. Soft power plays a crucial role in this.

Today, Russia hosts the Intervision 2025 – a competitor event to the Eurovision Song Contest.

Which regimes participate in this contest?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intervi...
Intervision 2025 - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
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ascharpf.bsky.social
Adam Scharpf @ascharpf.bsky.social · 24d
Big congrats!
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Reposted by Adam Scharpf
kbkarlson.bsky.social
Kristian Bernt Karlson @kbkarlson.bsky.social · 26d
We're hiring in wonderful Copenhagen 🇩🇰

Two or more open rank sociology professorships (tt assistant, associate with tenure, or full prof with tenure).

You'll join a leading sociology department in Europe with many core fields represented!

#sociology

More 👇

jobportal.ku.dk/videnskabeli...
Call for two or more open-rank academic positions in Sociology
jobportal.ku.dk
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ascharpf.bsky.social
Adam Scharpf @ascharpf.bsky.social · Sep 7
Fantastic special issue - Thanks so much for putting it together @laiabalcells.bsky.social @apvjustino.bsky.social @andrearuggeri.bsky.social 💪
[full disclosure: our article is part of it as well]
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ascharpf.bsky.social
Adam Scharpf @ascharpf.bsky.social · Sep 3
Had the chance to talk to the fantastic team of @worldpolitics.bsky.social about my new article on soft power, study abroad programs, the effectiveness of foreign influence campaigns and what all this has to do with Henry Kissinger. 👇
worldpolitics.bsky.social
World Politics @worldpolitics.bsky.social · Sep 3
Drawing on his July 2025 @worldpolitics.bsky.social article, @ascharpf.bsky.social spoke to The Storied Teller about Henry Kissinger's #International Seminar at #Harvard and #SoftPower campaigns. #HenryKissinger #StudyAbroad #GlobalEducation #ArchivalResearch wpj.princeton.edu/storied-tell...
The Kissinger Files
In the July 2025 (Volume 77, Number 3) issue of World Politics, Adam Scharpf, assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Copenhagen, studies Henry Kissinger’s Inte...
wpj.princeton.edu
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ascharpf.bsky.social
Adam Scharpf @ascharpf.bsky.social · Aug 26
Thanks for the shout-out, Jacob. Christian and I have been thinking a lot about how our theory applies to security organizations in the US, (e.g. ICE and the FBI). There will be more on it in our book, which will be published by the end of the year.
Making a Career in Dictatorship: The Secret Logic behind Repression and Coups
Making a Career in Dictatorship: The Secret Logic behind Repression and Coups [Gläßel, Christian, Scharpf, Adam] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Making a Career in Dictatorship: The Secret Logic behind Repression and Coups
www.amazon.com
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Reposted by Adam Scharpf
alexdukalskis.bsky.social
Alex Dukalskis @alexdukalskis.bsky.social · Aug 19
If you prefer to listen to your books, the audio book version of Dictating the Agenda: The Authoritarian Resurgence in World Politics by me & @cooleyoneurasia.bsky.social was released today.

Get it wherever you get your audio books - Audible, Amazon, Apple, Storytel, your library, etc.
Dictating the Agenda: The Authoritarian Resurgence in World Politics - Audiobook - alexander cooley, Alexander Dukalskis - ISBN 9798318530715 - Storytel International
Following the end of the Cold War, the world experienced a remarkable wave of democratization. Over the next two decades, numerous authoritarian regimes
www.storytel.com
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Reposted by Adam Scharpf
hannefjelde.bsky.social
Hanne Fjelde @hannefjelde.bsky.social · Aug 19
I am hiring! 1-2 post-docs to join my project on political violence in democracies at @uupeace.bsky.social!
uupeace.bsky.social
UppsalaPeaceConflict @uupeace.bsky.social · Aug 14
We are looking for 1–2 postdoctoral researchers to join the project “Political Violence in Democracies”, led by @hannefjelde.bsky.social

📌 Full-time, 2-year postdoctoral position
📆 Start Date: Dec 1, (or by agreement)
📍 Location: Uppsala
⏳ Apply by: Oct 1

Read more: www.uu.se/en/about-uu/...
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Reposted by Adam Scharpf
epssnet.bsky.social
EPSS @epssnet.bsky.social · Aug 1
The European Political Science Society is now accepting paper & panel proposals for its annual conference!

📢 Call for Papers: EPSS 2026 – Belfast

🗓️ June 18–20, 2026

📍 ICC Belfast

📬 Deadline: Nov 7, 2025

🧵
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Reposted by Adam Scharpf
erikvoeten.bsky.social
Erik Voeten @erikvoeten.bsky.social · Jul 28
New UN ideal point estimates available. These are for the first time based on years rather than UNGA sessions. For more, see here: dataverse.harvard.edu/dataset.xhtm...
dataverse.harvard.edu
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ascharpf.bsky.social
Adam Scharpf @ascharpf.bsky.social · Jul 25
Nice, crisp introduction to my latest article on the targeting logic behind soft power 👇 Thanks @worldpolitics.bsky.social
worldpolitics.bsky.social
World Politics @worldpolitics.bsky.social · Jul 24
Since the 1950s, educational exchanges and "study abroad" programs, such as @princetonpiirs.bsky.social Global Seminars, have flourished. The United States alone hosts over one million international foreign students annually, as Figure 1 from @ascharpf.bsky.social's July WP article shows.
An info-graphic showing a Figure 1 from a World Politics article in the July 2025 issue. The figure depicts the increase in educational exchange programs, by showing the number of exchange students in the United States between 1950 and 2020. Data come from IIE 2022.
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ascharpf.bsky.social
Adam Scharpf @ascharpf.bsky.social · Jul 8
More on all this in the paper.

I hope some will view this article as a kind of dialogue between Henry Kissinger and Joseph Nye. Both are extremely influential figures and Harvard professors who recently passed away.

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ascharpf.bsky.social
Adam Scharpf @ascharpf.bsky.social · Jul 8
What does Henry Kissinger's International Seminar tell us about global elite networks and their transnational activities?

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ascharpf.bsky.social
Adam Scharpf @ascharpf.bsky.social · Jul 8
It has often been claimed that Kissinger used the International Seminar to build a network of "Kissinger boys."

Is this true?

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ascharpf.bsky.social
Adam Scharpf @ascharpf.bsky.social · Jul 8
The ultimate goal of any exchange program is that its graduates eventually assume influential positions in their home countries.

Was this also the case with Kissinger's program?

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ascharpf.bsky.social
Adam Scharpf @ascharpf.bsky.social · Jul 8
Historian Niall Ferguson describes Henry Kissinger's International Seminar as "soft power at its softest."

What impact can such a program possibly have?

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ascharpf.bsky.social
Adam Scharpf @ascharpf.bsky.social · Jul 8
Henry Kissinger is often considered one of the most famous proponents of realism in international relations.

Why would he use an influence instrument commonly attributed to the (neo-)liberal school?

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ascharpf.bsky.social
Adam Scharpf @ascharpf.bsky.social · Jul 8
Educational exchanges and "study abroad" programs are a, maybe the most, powerful soft power tool available, but the value of this tool is increasingly being questioned, especially in the United States.

What effects do such programs have?

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