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Philipp Mendoza

@philippmendoza.com

1.4K followers 290 following 24 posts

PostDoc @VrijeUniversiteit • #NewsFlows • #NegCampaign • #AffectivePolarization • #Populism • #CCS • 🟥

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Philipp Mendoza @philippmendoza.com · Nov 20

Why do voters often not mind negative or uncivil campaigns—is it for a lack of better electoral alternatives? 🧵

In my PhD study “The Fleeting Allure of Dark Campaigns” (w/ @lindabos.bsky.social & @alessandronai.bsky.social) we test this idea:
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
#polcom #commsky

The Fleeting Allure of Dark Campaigns: Backlash from Negative and Uncivil Campaigning in the Presence of (Better) Alternatives

More aggressive campaigning styles focusing on criticizing opponents (negativity) or using inappropriate language to vilify opponents (incivility) tend to be disliked by voters, and remain thus ris...

www.tandfonline.com

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Reposted by Philipp Mendoza

Florian Foos @florianfoos.bsky.social · 2d

🚨 We have a cool new ESRC PhD studentship opportunity on the topic of political persuasion for someone interested in campaigning, field experiments and/or computational methods @lsegovernment.bsky.social, in collaboration with
@campaign-lab.bsky.social. All info 👇
www.lse.ac.uk/study-at-lse...

LSE Collaborative Studentship with Campaign Lab

www.lse.ac.uk

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Reposted by Philipp Mendoza

Jo(sephine) Lukito @jolukito.bsky.social · 9d

For those on the #polcomm academic job market this year, I am sharing the job market material folder that I put together a few years back.

drive.google.com/drive/folder...

Lukito & Friends Job Market Materials - Google Drive

drive.google.com

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Reposted by Philipp Mendoza

Sebastian Stier @sebstier.bsky.social · Jul 29

🚀 New postdoc position for Platform Data & Computational Social Science
Join us to drive @gesis.org' efforts around the Digital Services Act (DSA) and conduct research with online platform data
💼 TV-L EG 14 | Location: Cologne
📌 Apply now: www.gesis.org/en/institute...
#DSA #CSS #DataScience

Details

GESIS Leibniz Institut für Sozialwissenschaften

www.gesis.org

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Reposted by Philipp Mendoza

Sarah Engler @saengler.bsky.social · Jul 28

My department at Leuphana University offers 6 fully funded PhD scholarships (incl. research funding) for three years.

If you are interested in studying democratic resilience (particularly party competition and elections 🤓) and you have a strong methodolgical background: Apply!

shorturl.at/kcTbG

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Philipp Mendoza @philippmendoza.com · Jun 9

This is big and super harmful.
YouTube increased the threshold for takedowns: videos can now contain 50% (formerly 25%) misinformation or hate and still stay up if deemed “public interest.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/09/t...

YouTube Loosens Rules Guiding the Moderation of Videos

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Philipp Mendoza

APSA & ICA Political Communication Divisions @polcomm.bsky.social · May 26

PhD opportunity!

ASCoR is looking for a motivated PhD candidate for the project “Visual Politics and the Emergence of Angry Publics.” This four-year PhD track will be supervised by @ulrikeklinger.bsky.social, @lindabos.bsky.social, and @alessandronai.bsky.social DL: June 4

shorturl.at/YeXpf

Vacancy — PhD Position "Visual Politics and the Emergence of Angry Publics"

Are you curious about how images, videos, and memes transform political communication? Are you passionate about digital technology and the future of democracy? Then apply for this PhD project focused ...

werkenbij.uva.nl

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Reposted by Philipp Mendoza

Marcel Pauly @marcelpauly.bsky.social · May 26

Wir haben das AfD-Gutachten des Verfassungsschutzes digitalisiert und machen die Zitate durchsuchbar, die das BfV als Belege für die Bestrebungen der Partei gegen die freiheitliche demokratische Grundordnung heranzieht: www.spiegel.de/politik/deut...

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Reposted by Philipp Mendoza

Roman Senninger @rsenninger.bsky.social · May 16

When politicians use simple language, citizens understand more and see them as less elite.

New paper with @danbischof.bsky.social out in @thejop.bsky.social!

doi.org/10.1086/736693

Can Simple Language Affect Voters' Political Knowledge and Their Beliefs About Politicians? | The Journal of Politics: Vol 0, No ja

www.journals.uchicago.edu

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Reposted by Philipp Mendoza

Claes de Vreese @claesdevreese.bsky.social · May 16

Canceling research on misinformation is not only an attack on science and academic freedom.

It is also a democracy, safety, and security threat.

www.nytimes.com/2025/05/15/b...

Trump Administration Cancels Scores of Grants to Study Online Misinformation

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Philipp Mendoza

Alessandro Nai @alessandronai.bsky.social · Apr 24

Glad this one is out at @poqjournal.bsky.social, w @lindabos.bsky.social and P van Erkel

The attack against far-right Baudet 🇳🇱 slightly increased support for #violence among people who dislike his party & experience partisan #Schadenfreude

Open paper: tinyurl.com/4d7dx2fv
Open data: osf.io/6cpbg/

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Reposted by Philipp Mendoza

theresa gessler @gessler.bsky.social · Apr 22

We're organizing another round of the Summer School for Women* in Political Methodology 🎉
summerschoolwpm.org

Our super-cool speakers include msands.bsky.social @allisonwkoh.bsky.social @melinscribe.bsky.social @rebeccakittel.bsky.social @fabiennelind.bsky.social & @indiiigo.bsky.social

📆01/05

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Philipp Mendoza @philippmendoza.com · Mar 25

People don't usually do two PhDs in a row, with these kind of projects that's hard not to....

Amazing topic + stellar supervision team!!

Linda Bos 🟥 @lindabos.bsky.social · Mar 6

We are hiring a new PhD candidate on Democracy by Design: "How App Characteristics Shape Youth Political Worldviews"

Please share with your most talented students!

Deadline: April 10

Link: werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies...

Vacancy — PhD Position: Democracy by Design: "How App Characteristics Shape Youth Political Worldviews"

Ever wondered how smartphone usage influences the political worldviews of young adults? Are you interested in doing meaningful research? Then we have the perfect PhD position for you!

werkenbij.uva.nl

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Reposted by Philipp Mendoza

Catherine E. de Vries @catherinedevries.bsky.social · Mar 7

Lots of talk about ‘left behind’ places & far-right’s rise.

How do industrial decline, economic hardship, & resentment actually fuel far-right support?

In new @apsrjournal.bsky.social
paper exploring
Xylella epidemic that devastated centuries-old 🫒 groves in 🇮🇹, we find out

shorturl.at/xgeho

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Reposted by Philipp Mendoza

Kai Arzheimer @kai-arzheimer.com · Feb 23

#Germany's federal criminal police office, not exactly known for over-counting such things, reports that at least 41,000 crimes with a right-wing extremist motive were committed in 2024, a 1/3 increase compared to 2023. 2023, with a 23% increase on 2022, had already marked an all-time high #farright

Rekord rechtsextremer Straftaten: „Erschreckender Aufwärtstrend“

Rechtsextreme Straftaten erreichen neuen Höchststand: mehr als 40.000 Delikte. Das zeigt eine Anfrage von Bundestagsvizepräsidentin Petra Pau (Linke).

taz.de

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Philipp Mendoza @philippmendoza.com · Feb 8

How do we justify studying the US in these times (asking for a friend who's writing the RD section of their paper)?

Philipp Mendoza @philippmendoza.com · Dec 19

Congratulations 🎉

Reposted by Philipp Mendoza

Fabio Votta📊🐧 @favstats.eu · Dec 5

In Antwerpen today attending an event on digital political campaigning from a practitioners perspective :)

(with @philippmendoza.bsky.social)

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Reposted by Philipp Mendoza

Tarik Abou-Chadi @tabouchadi.bsky.social · Dec 2

2) More anti-immigrant positions do not weaken the radical right
Our research shows that when established parties move to the right on immigration this does not weaken the radical right but if anything strengthens them. It contributes to their normalization and legitimation
doi.org/10.1017/psrm...

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Philipp Mendoza @philippmendoza.com · Nov 20

I would love to be added 🙏

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Philipp Mendoza @philippmendoza.com · Nov 20

@ascor.bsky.social

Philipp Mendoza @philippmendoza.com · Nov 20

#takeaways (2/2):
➡️ harsh campaign effects vary across contexts and voters.
➡️ using third-party attackers or targeting harsh campaigns may reduce backlash.
➡️ classical PolSci models can help us understand the effects of contemporary campaigning tactics.

Philipp Mendoza @philippmendoza.com · Nov 20

#takeaways (1/2):
➡️ having better alternatives shapes how voters assess and react to negative or uncivil campaigns.
➡️ harsh campaigns may mobilize core supporters, but risk alienating swing voters with viable alternatives.

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Philipp Mendoza @philippmendoza.com · Nov 20

5️⃣ This effect is especially emphasized among respondents that follow the election campaigns more closely.

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Philipp Mendoza @philippmendoza.com · Nov 20

However,
4️⃣ Voters lend less political support to parties leading harsher campaigns when they have an at least equally attractive alternative to choose from!

Parties lose any “negativity bonus” among voters that are ideologically at least equally close to their competition.

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