Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Mikael Persson

American Political Science Review @apsrjournal.bsky.social · 2d

From our latest issue: Politicians’ Theories of Voting Behavior by Jack Lucas et al. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

4 7

Reposted by Mikael Persson

WEP Journal @wepsocial.bsky.social · 2d

What matters more to politicians: the quantity or quality of public opinion signals?

Find out in the new article by @bart-maes.bsky.social Stefaan Walgrave Emmi Verleyen Frédéric Varone @annerasmussen.bsky.social & @professormpersson.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1080/0140...

Abstract of the article "What matters more to politicians: the quantity or quality of public opinion signals?" by Bart Maes, Stefaan Walgrave, Emmi Verleyen, Frédéric Varone, Anne Rasmussen and Mikael Persson. Published online first in West European Politics.

Figure 1, displaying average (reversed) importance of each public opinion criterion aggregated across countries.

Figure 3, displaying the frequency distribution of the quantity vs. quality public opinion criteria scale.

Figure 4, displaying predicted values of politicians' ranking of the criteria.

2 3

Reposted by Mikael Persson

Ruth Dassonneville @rdassonneville.bsky.social · 5d

Had a *fantastic* time at the Nordic Political Behavior Workshop! Great papers, engaging discussions, and super constructive feedback. Thanks so much for organizing @finseraas.bsky.social @lchristensen.bsky.social @professormpersson.bsky.social & Peter Dinesen!

Mikael Persson @professormpersson.bsky.social · 5d

The 5th Nordic Political Behavior Workshop in Trondheim! @lchristensen.bsky.social @rdassonneville.bsky.social @finseraas.bsky.social et al!

1 10

Mikael Persson @professormpersson.bsky.social · 5d

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

What matters more to politicians: the quantity or quality of public opinion signals?

Research has found evidence of policy responsiveness to public opinion, but also that responsiveness is highly variable. This selectivity is, however, only partially understood. This study explores...

www.tandfonline.com

Mikael Persson @professormpersson.bsky.social · 5d

The 5th Nordic Political Behavior Workshop in Trondheim! @lchristensen.bsky.social @rdassonneville.bsky.social @finseraas.bsky.social et al!

5 18

Mikael Persson @professormpersson.bsky.social · 9d

Stark duo!

2

Reposted by Mikael Persson

European Journal of Political Research @ejprjournal.bsky.social · 14d

📘 64.4

@jesperlindqvist.bsky.social, @professormpersson.bsky.social, W.Schakel & A.Sundell look at 🗳️ voters’ policy preferences often misalign with what they get in practice with the study showing how this “electoral connection” gap contributes to unequal outcomes

#OA

🔗

Poor choices? Examining the electoral connection behind unequal policy representation

JESPER LINDQVIST, MIKAEL PERSSON, WOUTER SCHAKEL, ANDERS SUNDELL

ejpr.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

5 9

Reposted by Mikael Persson

WEP Journal @wepsocial.bsky.social · 28d

🌟Online first:

"Ideological bias in policy implementation: public opinion and policy outcomes in 43 democracies"

Research Note by @professormpersson.bsky.social & Anders Sundell

doi.org/10.1080/0140...

Abstract of the research note "Ideological bias in policy implementation: public opinion and policy outcomes in 43 democracies" by Mikael Persson and Anders Sundell. Published online first in West European Politics.

Figure 2, displaying triangles of representation, showing congruence (y-axis) and under-/over-provision of policy (x-axis).

Figure 3, displaying public support for and implementation of leftist and rightist proposals.

Figure 4, displaying policy provision and congruence. Leftist and TAN proposals are the most under-provided relative to public support.

2 7

Mikael Persson @professormpersson.bsky.social · Sep 3

New paper with Anders Sundell published in West European Politics: Ideological bias in policy implementation: public opinion and policy outcomes in 43 democracies www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Ideological bias in policy implementation: public opinion and policy outcomes in 43 democracies

Previous research has documented a conservative bias in politicians’ perceptions of public opinion. Do similar biases also exist in policy implementation, relative to public opinion? In this articl...

www.tandfonline.com

5 13

Mikael Persson @professormpersson.bsky.social · Aug 28

📢 Call for proposals: Submit survey module ideas for inclusion in the Swedish National Election Study 2026. Deadline: Oct 31, 2025 👉 www.gu.se/en/swedish-n...

Swedish National Election Study 2026 – Call for Proposals

The next large national election study in Sweden will be conducted in conjunction with the general election in September 2026. We invite the research community to submit proposals for survey instrumen...

www.gu.se

Mikael Persson @professormpersson.bsky.social · Jun 25

10/
Working paper here: swopec.hhs.se/ifauwp/abs/i...
Comments are welcome!

S-WoPEc: Processing macroeconomic signals: Voter responses to growth, unemployment, inflation and stock markets

swopec.hhs.se

Mikael Persson @professormpersson.bsky.social · Jun 25

9/
Signals are interpreted through a lens of class exposure.

Each signal carries has its specific effect.

Economic reasoning is structured, but unequally distributed.

1

Mikael Persson @professormpersson.bsky.social · Jun 25

8/
Not all voters process signals the same way:
– High-knowledge voters make more accurate and nuanced inferences
– High-income voters place more weight on stock markets
– Labor market position has surprisingly little impact

1 1

Mikael Persson @professormpersson.bsky.social · Jun 25

7/
– Inflation strongly affects personal/national evaluations and vote choice
– Unemployment matters for all outcomes, but less consistently
– GDP influences national more than personal assessments
– Stocks influences personal evaluations, but matters less for voting

1

Mikael Persson @professormpersson.bsky.social · Jun 25

6/
Voters distinguish who benefits and who suffers from different signals:
– Unemployment is seen as hurting the working class
– Inflation is seen as hitting both the working and middle class
– Stock markets are seen as primarily benefiting the rich
– GDP growth broadly positive.

1

Mikael Persson @professormpersson.bsky.social · Jun 25

5/
Voters have intuitive models of how the economy works. Many apply a “good-begets-good” heuristic:
When one signal improves, others are assumed to follow. But this isn’t always consistent with macroeconomic logic. High-knowledge = more likely to recognize tradeoffs.

1

Mikael Persson @professormpersson.bsky.social · Jun 25

4/
Voters differentiate how macro signals affect:
– Their personal economy
– The national economy
– Their vote intentions

All four signals matter — not just GDP or unemployment — but they matter in different ways.

1

Mikael Persson @professormpersson.bsky.social · Jun 25

3/
📊 We fielded survey experiments in 🇸🇪 🇩🇪 🇺🇸 (N ≈ 9,000), randomly varying information about:
– GDP growth
– Inflation
– Unemployment
– Stock markets

1

Mikael Persson @professormpersson.bsky.social · Jun 25

2/
Most economic voting research assumes voters respond to “the economy” as a unified construct.
But which macro signals shape perceptions of the economy?
We show that voters distinguish between macroeconomic signals — and reason about them in distinct ways.

1

Mikael Persson @professormpersson.bsky.social · Jun 25

1/
New working paper out (w/ Love Christensen & Jana Schwenk @janaschwenk.bsky.social @lchristensen.bsky.social):
"Processing Macroeconomic Signals: Voter Responses to Growth, Unemployment, Inflation and Stock Markets"
🧵

1 5 9

Reposted by Mikael Persson

Hilma Lindskog @hilmal.bsky.social · Jun 19

🧵 How does education shape political behavior?
@professormpersson.bsky.social and I contribute with two chapters to the new Research Handbook on Education and Democracy👇

1 12 21

Reposted by Mikael Persson

IFAU @ifau.bsky.social · Jun 17

När väljare tar ställning till hur regeringar hanterar ekonomin spelar inflationen en stor roll, men även arbetslöshet, tillväxt och börsutveckling påverkar bedömningen. Det visar en ny studie från IFAU, genomförd av forskare vid Göteborgs universitet.

www.ifau.se/Press/Meddel...

1

Reposted by Mikael Persson

IFAU @ifau.bsky.social · Jun 17

Processing macroeconomic signals: Voter responses to growth, unemployment, inflation and stock markets.

New Working paper by Love Christensen, Mikael Persson and Jana Schwenk.

www.ifau.se/en/Press/Abs...

1

Mikael Persson @professormpersson.bsky.social · Jun 13

Preprint (open):
gupea.ub.gu.se/bitstream/ha...
Published version:
Wallin, Olson & Persson (2025), Research Handbook on Education and Democracy
doi.org/10.4337/9781...

gupea.ub.gu.se

1

Mikael Persson @professormpersson.bsky.social · Jun 13

-Deliberative and participatory approaches often show positive effects—especially for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
-Several studies point to a compensatory effect of open classroom climates.
-Not all students benefit equally. Implementation matters.

1