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elinazorina.bsky.social
Elia Zorina
@elinazorina.bsky.social
1K followers 340 following 33 posts
📚 Commissioning Editor @springernature.com 🗃️ ex-PhD candidate '25 @polscileiden.bsky.social, democratic legitimacy beliefs, voting behavior, political parties https://who-opposes.netlify.app/ 🎓 MA '20 @ceu-polsci.bsky.social 💪 '17 Alumna Bard-Smolny CCE
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elinazorina.bsky.social
Elia Zorina @elinazorina.bsky.social · Jun 9
Our paper is published in OA in West European Politics @wepsocial.bsky.social! What a milestone 🥳
tomlouwerse.nl
Tom Louwerse @tomlouwerse.nl · Jun 9
🧵 New research on what citizens expect from opposition parties in democracy published in @wepsocial.bsky.social. @elinazorina.bsky.social and I surveyed people in Canada, Denmark, Netherlands & UK to understand their views on opposition roles. doi.org/10.1080/0140...
What kind of opposition do citizens want? Abstract Opposition parties play a crucial role in democracies. While scholars have extensively studied opposition behaviour and institutional powers, little is known about what citizens expect from opposition parties and how they evaluate these expectations being met. This study addresses this gap by examining citizens’ views on three key opposition roles - oversight, cooperation, and offering alternatives - and their perceived fulfilment across four countries: Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Based on a citizen survey, this study assesses how individual characteristics (democratic satisfaction, political interest, education) and institutional context are related to these views. Citizens across all four countries value cooperation. Preferences for the ‘alternative’ role vary between institutional settings. On the individual level, conflict-oriented and dissatisfied citizens value cooperation less, while those with higher education and political interest find oversight and cooperation more important.
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elinazorina.bsky.social
Elia Zorina @elinazorina.bsky.social · Jun 13
💡Another insightful public discussion on NATO’s evolving relationship with Ukraine and Russia organized by @clingendael.bsky.social and moderated by Niels Drost 🎙️Speakers: Elizaveta Gaufman, Han Bouwmeester, Bob Deen, and Hubert Smeets
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Reposted by Elia Zorina
polscileiden.bsky.social
Insitute of Political Science Leiden @polscileiden.bsky.social · Jun 10
📢 ‘We’re already at war – we’re just acting as though we’re not’ 🌍

During the Just Peace Dialogues from 16 to 22 June in The Hague, institute member Daniel Thomas will call for greater awareness – and dialogue.

Read the interview here: www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2025...
‘We’re already at war – we’re just acting as though we’re not’
Professor of International Relations Daniel Thomas is clear: anyone taking peace in Europe for granted is shutting their eyes to reality.
www.universiteitleiden.nl
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elinazorina.bsky.social
Elia Zorina @elinazorina.bsky.social · Jun 11
And while I have been trained not to draw broad consequential claims from studies whose external validity may be limited, applying this insight or keeping in mind the principle of compromise in policymaking and peacebuilding activism can be the answer we are looking for in a polarized world of today
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elinazorina.bsky.social
Elia Zorina @elinazorina.bsky.social · Jun 11
One of the most crucial findings from over four years of my research in Leiden is that compromise is a highly valued principle among voters (at least in the domain of legislative politics)
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elinazorina.bsky.social
Elia Zorina @elinazorina.bsky.social · Jun 10
Thank you so much, Babak!
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elinazorina.bsky.social
Elia Zorina @elinazorina.bsky.social · Jun 9
Our paper is published in OA in West European Politics @wepsocial.bsky.social! What a milestone 🥳
tomlouwerse.nl
Tom Louwerse @tomlouwerse.nl · Jun 9
🧵 New research on what citizens expect from opposition parties in democracy published in @wepsocial.bsky.social. @elinazorina.bsky.social and I surveyed people in Canada, Denmark, Netherlands & UK to understand their views on opposition roles. doi.org/10.1080/0140...
What kind of opposition do citizens want? Abstract Opposition parties play a crucial role in democracies. While scholars have extensively studied opposition behaviour and institutional powers, little is known about what citizens expect from opposition parties and how they evaluate these expectations being met. This study addresses this gap by examining citizens’ views on three key opposition roles - oversight, cooperation, and offering alternatives - and their perceived fulfilment across four countries: Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Based on a citizen survey, this study assesses how individual characteristics (democratic satisfaction, political interest, education) and institutional context are related to these views. Citizens across all four countries value cooperation. Preferences for the ‘alternative’ role vary between institutional settings. On the individual level, conflict-oriented and dissatisfied citizens value cooperation less, while those with higher education and political interest find oversight and cooperation more important.
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Reposted by Elia Zorina
simonotjes.bsky.social
Simon Otjes @simonotjes.bsky.social · Jun 4
What happened in the Netherlands and what will happen next? I wrote a short piece about the collapse of the Dutch government for @ukandeu.bsky.social ukandeu.ac.uk/when-not-if-...
When, not if: the fall of the Dutch cabinet - UK in a changing Europe
Simon Otjes explains the recent fall of the government in the Netherlands prompted by the radical right-wing populist  PVV under Geert Wilders.
ukandeu.ac.uk
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Reposted by Elia Zorina
mdigiuseppe.bsky.social
Matt DiGiuseppe @mdigiuseppe.bsky.social · Jun 2
🚨 New Paper in the Journal of European Public Policy 🚨

Think anti-immigration sentiment is here to stay? 🧠 Think again.

New research by Alessia Aspide (in which I play a small role) reveals a new insight: when people understand immigration as a solution to fiscal crisis, attitudes shift 1/2
aspidea.bsky.social
Alessia Aspide @aspidea.bsky.social · Jun 2
Immigration can help ageing countries reduce public debt by easing fiscal pressure. Yet this narrative is rarely heard in media or political discourse.

🔍 How does the public react when the fiscal benefits of immigration are made visible?

Check out our latest publication 👇🏽 @mdigiuseppe.bsky.social
The mass politics of public debt, immigration, and austerity
Several European governments are confronting both high public debt and ageing populations. Policymakers will confront the unpopular choices of austerity, increasing immigration, or continuing to le...
doi.org
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elinazorina.bsky.social
Elia Zorina @elinazorina.bsky.social · May 30
new books’ haul and an advertisement for our BIG SUMMER CHOIR concert with Pandora Studio on June 8th! Tickets here: lnkd.in/dvSSmMSp
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Reposted by Elia Zorina
tomlouwerse.nl
Tom Louwerse @tomlouwerse.nl · May 29
Just over half a year ago, the Oxford Handbook of Dutch Politics was published. This means that authors working at Dutch universities, can now share a copy of their chapters online for free access, according to Dutch copyright law. My own chapters are linked below 👇
Cover of The Oxford Handbook of Dutch Politics Edited by Sarah de Lange, Tom Louwerse, Paul 't Hart & Carolien Van Ham
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elinazorina.bsky.social
Elia Zorina @elinazorina.bsky.social · May 27
Go buy Mateo’s book! Brilliant work published by @leidenup.bsky.social
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elinazorina.bsky.social
Elia Zorina @elinazorina.bsky.social · May 27
Looking forward to Just Peace Festival www.justpeacethehague.org/en/
Welcome to Just Peace - City Platform | Just Peace
Come to the Just Peace Festival in The Hague!  From dialogues and debates to exhibitions, movie nights, music, and dance. The festival brings together resident…
www.justpeacethehague.org
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elinazorina.bsky.social
Elia Zorina @elinazorina.bsky.social · May 23
this implication for political communication and polarization in social media (and beyond) is explicitly reflected in #grok's instructions, and I can only give kudos to the developers, while hoping that this situation will not change in future.
And that's all from me on this thread 🤓
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elinazorina.bsky.social
Elia Zorina @elinazorina.bsky.social · May 23
...but the main output of that #grok analysis for me was that, contrary to my expectation, this AI has not passed judgement on the involved people and institutions in a way you would expect from the technology developed by the company motivated and dressed in a particular party/ideology colors
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elinazorina.bsky.social
Elia Zorina @elinazorina.bsky.social · May 23
now, let's go to case 2. There, I replicated the above steps but applied them to the series of controversial posts related to an 'ophef' of 2022. As that scandal is no longer relevant and has been resolved, we will not look into the details...
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elinazorina.bsky.social
Elia Zorina @elinazorina.bsky.social · May 23
looking at these 'thoughts' I would argue that we can use AI tools in education, even if only to demonstrate to students how one can organize their interaction with resources, opinions and judgements. Of course, as with everything, the success of such approach would depend on students, but still
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elinazorina.bsky.social
Elia Zorina @elinazorina.bsky.social · May 23
it even browsed polisci research papers to see if the hoax has been widely discussed in the discipline (I would be cautious to trust that this analysis has been exhaustive, similarly to how we should not trust ChatGPT's essays, yet it gives me a good overview and start point for my own research)
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elinazorina.bsky.social
Elia Zorina @elinazorina.bsky.social · May 23
#grok 's extended output allows one to check what goes into its analysis process: thus, I saw the key points, as well as the summary of the whole debate, relevance of it to my own background and field, broader systemic issues related to the publishing industry and academia, its implications etc
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elinazorina.bsky.social
Elia Zorina @elinazorina.bsky.social · May 23
...however, being able to conclude this from "[it] has blown my mind but raised many questions" is quite impressive to me.
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elinazorina.bsky.social
Elia Zorina @elinazorina.bsky.social · May 23
but I was surprised, and, threading carefully, I would even say - positively: #grok inferred the range of the arguments I was thinking about fairly accurately. Now, of course, this is not rocket science, and I do not presume to have cutting edge opinions on the topic...
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elinazorina.bsky.social
Elia Zorina @elinazorina.bsky.social · May 23
and here I was very curious, considering the team and the person behind #grok, I was ready for anything...
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elinazorina.bsky.social
Elia Zorina @elinazorina.bsky.social · May 23
however, it asks itself an interesting question: "I am wondering what specific concerns Elina had". For context, see the post on the sokal squared hoax below. So, naturally, my next step was the following:
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elinazorina.bsky.social
Elia Zorina @elinazorina.bsky.social · May 23
case 1: I did not give #grok any prompts, just pressed on the the first post of the identical two-comment thread published on BSKY and X (image below). The AI's 'thought process', available to the user, shows that #grok is unsure what exactly the user wants in this scenario, a content summary or?
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elinazorina.bsky.social
Elia Zorina @elinazorina.bsky.social · May 23
partly, this is the case because #grok has a good set of instructions it keeps referring back to, it almost looks like human logical reasoning process. How do I know this? I used a couple of my own X posts, controversial and not, to see what kind of interpretation and analysis can this AI perform
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elinazorina.bsky.social
Elia Zorina @elinazorina.bsky.social · May 23
first of all, good news, the AI still cannot read our minds, but it comes pretty close to asking itself 'why questions' as per Judea Pearl's and Dana Mackenzie's brilliant book (2018)
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