Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Markus Kollberg @markuskollberg.bsky.social · 5d

It has been a real pleasure to discuss my work on support for the green transition among conservative voters with this great crowd of scholars! Thanks for the invitation @manesweisskircher.bsky.social 🙏

Manès Weisskircher @manesweisskircher.bsky.social · 6d

I’m glad that the 2nd #REXKLIMA workshop in Dresden brought together so many insightful presentations and lively discussions - with a great mix of quantitative and qualitative manuscripts. Looking forward to seeing these papers published! 💫📑

hait.tu-dresden.de/ext/veransta... @rexklima.bsky.social

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Reposted by Markus Kollberg

Wissensnetzwerk Rechtsextremismusforschung @wi-rex.bsky.social · 6d

@markuskollberg.bsky.social und @ivobantel.bsky.social zeigen, dass vor allem über Parteigrenzen hinweg koordinierte Botschaften einer 'common front' die affektive Abgrenzung der Wähler*innen gegenüber der extremen Rechten stärken. Dieser Effekt nutzt sich allerdings ab.
doi.org/10.1080/0140...

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Markus Kollberg @markuskollberg.bsky.social · 6d

Great to finally see this important paper published! ⬇️

Jochem Vanagt @jochemvanagt.bsky.social · 7d

🚨 New publication out @jeppjournal.bsky.social w/ Katrin Praprotnik @luanarusso.bsky.social @markuswagner.bsky.social

We show that coalition signals from the mainstream right to the radical right shift, rather than reduce, existing political divisions.

Open-access article: doi.org/10.1080/1350...

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Reposted by Markus Kollberg

Tarik Abou-Chadi @tabouchadi.bsky.social · 13d

Very excited for our 4th Progressive Politics Research Network workshop today and tomorrow at Humboldt University in Berlin. With a fabulous group of participants we will not only discuss our research but also how we can use it to inform public debate.

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Reposted by Markus Kollberg

Milan Thies @milanthies.bsky.social · 14d

New 📝 out in @reggovjournal.bsky.social

1. Governments are taking a more active role in education and training

2. Linking technical issues to politically salient debates, such as climate change and digitalization, helps open the door to new public policies

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

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Markus Kollberg @markuskollberg.bsky.social · 15d

Happy to see that my paper w\ @jochemvanagt.bsky.social now has issue- and page-numbers.

Also check-out our post @ecprtheloop.bsky.social to learn more about why unsuccessful coalitions - like those that we see across the EU right now - do not mitigate polarization!
theloop.ecpr.eu/coalition-go...

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Reposted by Markus Kollberg

Humboldt GovLab @humboldt-govlab.bsky.social · 19d

🎉 Today at @humboldtuni.bsky.social the 1st Annual Workshop of the Humboldt Governance Lab!

🚀 Inspiring discussions on the challenges facing democracy & how to strengthen it.

🔗 More information on the GovLab: hu-govlab.de

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Markus Kollberg @markuskollberg.bsky.social · 23d

That sounds super interesting, Fabian! Very much looking forward to reading it!

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Reposted by Markus Kollberg

Fabian Guy Neuner @fabianneuner.bsky.social · 27d

New preregistered report @jepsjournal.bsky.social

"Thin" populism treatments manipulate perceptions of people-centrism + anti-elitism

But: some treatments (e.g., "American people") affect perceptions of host ideology, complicating causal analyses of impact of populist rhetoric

cup.org/4n3DvZm

Abstract for paper: Scholars increasingly conceptualize populism by whether politicians use people-centric
and anti-elite appeals that pit a homogeneous people against a corrupt elite. These appeals
reflect “thin” ideology because they offer no programmatic content and thus politicians
must pair these appeals with more substantive positions, termed their “host” (or thick)
ideology, which often consists of nativism on the right (e.g., espousing anti-immigrant
positions) and socialism on the left (e.g., prioritizing redistribution). An emerging
literature has thus sought to estimate whether populists garner support due to their thin
ideology or their substantive host ideology. To date, no research has validated whether
populism treatments (1) truly operationalize populist thin ideology, and (2) do so without
manipulating host ideology. Results from three conjoint validation experiments fielded in
both the United States and the United Kingdom show that thin ideology treatments
successfully manipulate the underlying concepts but caution that some operationalizations
also affect perceptions of host ideology.

Shows that thin populism treatments shift perceptions of people-centrism and anti-elitism as expected

Shows that thin populism treatments can also affect perceptions of host ideology. In particular, using treatments such as "American people" affects perceptions of a candidate's position on immigration

Shows suggestive evidence that people are less likely to use populist thin ideology appeals as heuristics for inferring host ideology when partisan information is included

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Reposted by Markus Kollberg

WEP Journal @wepsocial.bsky.social · Sep 8

💥Online first:

"Communicating a common front: mainstream party rhetoric and affective polarisation towards the radical right"

by @markuskollberg.bsky.social & @ivobantel.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1080/0140...

Abstract of the article "Communicating a common front: mainstream party rhetoric and affective polarisation towards the radical right" by Markus Kollberg and Ivo Bantel. Published online first in West European Politics.

Figure 1, displaying the means of elite-level negative rhetoric for target and origin parties (re-scaled to 0-10) and affective polarisation scores in the public.

Figure 4, displaying the means of skalometer outcome across treatment conditions.

Figure 5, displaying the means of feeling thermometer outcome across treatment conditions.

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Markus Kollberg @markuskollberg.bsky.social · Sep 3

Thanks, Linda! I think the answer is "We don't know". But @valentindaur.bsky.social's recent paper suggests that once a PRR has entered the mainstream, it is hard to undo!
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Legitimize or Delegitimize? Mainstream Party Strategy toward (Former) Pariah Parties and How Voters Respond | American Political Science Review | Cambridge Core

Legitimize or Delegitimize? Mainstream Party Strategy toward (Former) Pariah Parties and How Voters Respond - Volume 119 Issue 3

www.cambridge.org

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Reposted by Markus Kollberg

Ivo Bantel @ivobantel.bsky.social · Sep 3

Very happy to see our new paper out in WEP.

We document that rhetorically countering the Radical Right requires mainstream parties to form a common front to be effective.

Full paper (open access): www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10....

Highlights in the thread below.

Markus Kollberg @markuskollberg.bsky.social · Sep 3

Returning from vacation and looking for a late summer read? @ivobantel.bsky.social and I got you covered!

In our new @wepsocial.bsky.social paper, we assess how mainstream parties rhetorically create an affect-based "common front" against the radical right.

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

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Markus Kollberg @markuskollberg.bsky.social · Sep 3

We are really grateful to @markuswagner.bsky.social and @lucasleemann.bsky.social for their support in pursuing this project and to @ipz.bsky.social, @uclspp.bsky.social, @karstendonnay.bsky.social for supporting the experimental component of this study.

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Markus Kollberg @markuskollberg.bsky.social · Sep 3

2) A common front involves difficult trade-offs. While polarization towards radical right parties and elites may be desirable to prevent normalizing extreme positions, negative rhetoric also affects citizens' dislike of radical right voters - with potentially detrimental effects for social cohesion.

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Markus Kollberg @markuskollberg.bsky.social · Sep 3

This has important implications:

1) Creating a common front (or, "firewall" / "cordon sanitaire") against a radical right challenger requires a mainstream-party consensus. Once one party leaves this broad coalition, the effects of elite messaging weaken significantly.

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Markus Kollberg @markuskollberg.bsky.social · Sep 3

We document that:

1) Mass- and elite-level polarization towards the radical right are strongly correlated.
2) The effects of coordinated mainstream-party rhetoric outweigh those of individual parties.
3) The effects of individual parties' attacks against the radical right are (surprisingly) small.

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Markus Kollberg @markuskollberg.bsky.social · Sep 3

Returning from vacation and looking for a late summer read? @ivobantel.bsky.social and I got you covered!

In our new @wepsocial.bsky.social paper, we assess how mainstream parties rhetorically create an affect-based "common front" against the radical right.

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

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Reposted by Markus Kollberg

British Journal of Political Science @bjpols.bsky.social · Sep 1

NEW -

Detecting Group Mentions in Political Rhetoric A Supervised Learning Approach - cup.org/45WZppQ

- @haukelicht.bsky.social & @ronjasczepanski.bsky.social

#OpenAccess

BJPolS Abstract discussing a social science research method that uses text analysis for understanding group language patterns and political leanings, mentioning the use of British articles and generating new empirical insights.

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Reposted by Markus Kollberg

Per Engzell @pengzell.bsky.social · Sep 1

WE ARE HIRING! 2 Lecturers in Quantitative Social Science. Want a friendly interdisciplinary department in one of the world's most vibrant cities? This just might be for you.

Apply by: 10 Oct

www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...

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Reposted by Markus Kollberg

Nils Steiner @nilssteiner.bsky.social · Sep 1

🚨 Reminder: Heute endet die Deadline für die Anmeldung zur Jahrestagung des AK Wahlen & pol. Einstellungen!

Nils Steiner @nilssteiner.bsky.social · Aug 18

In einem Monat, am 18. & 19.9., trifft sich die Wahlforschungscommunity zur Jahrestagung des AK Wahlen & pol. Einstellungen der @dvpw.bsky.social an der FU Berlin.

Spannendes Programm, freundliche Kolleg:innen!

Anmeldung über meine.dvpw.de bis zum 1.9. möglich.

Siehe: www.dvpw.de/gliederung/a...

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Reposted by Markus Kollberg

JEPP Journal @jeppjournal.bsky.social · Aug 30

🏛️ @markuskollberg.bsky.social: The challenger advantage – how challenger parties disrupt mainstream party dominance in the European Parliament

🧷 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

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Reposted by Markus Kollberg

Francesco Raffaelli @fraraffaelli.bsky.social · Aug 21

✨Very happy to see my paper "Attitudinal ambivalence toward multiculturalism" out on @jeppjournal.bsky.social !

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

1/8 🧵

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Reposted by Markus Kollberg

Florian Foos @florianfoos.bsky.social · Aug 20

📢 Call for Papers – London Experimental Seminar Series (LESS) in Political Science @lsegovernment.bsky.social.
We are launching a new forum for experimental political science research: First seminar: 19/11/2025. Deadline: 31/08/2025. Submit here: forms.gle/ZUJcBbZoDoaY...

London Experimental Seminar Series in Political Science

We are inviting submissions for the London Experimental Seminar Series in Political Science (LESS), a new forum for discussing experimental political science research among researchers at London unive...

forms.gle

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Nils Steiner @nilssteiner.bsky.social · Aug 18

In einem Monat, am 18. & 19.9., trifft sich die Wahlforschungscommunity zur Jahrestagung des AK Wahlen & pol. Einstellungen der @dvpw.bsky.social an der FU Berlin.

Spannendes Programm, freundliche Kolleg:innen!

Anmeldung über meine.dvpw.de bis zum 1.9. möglich.

Siehe: www.dvpw.de/gliederung/a...

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Reposted by Markus Kollberg

theresa gessler @gessler.bsky.social · Aug 14

@deeesharp.bsky.social & I are looking for a collaborator on a project w/ @offenegesellschaft.bsky.social on empathy-based interventions against affective polarization @uni-hamburg.de
j0b.de/veca

75% PhD position, 1st yr project funded & can be converted to a position w/ teaching afterwards
📆31/08

Ausschreibung

www.uni-hamburg.de

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