Thea Johansen

Excited to share “Commanders of the Mujahideen: Introducing the Jihadist Leaders Dataset” at JPR! Analyzing Arabic, French, German, Turkish, and Urdu sources, we gathered information on the backgrounds and experiences of 237 leaders across multiple regions academic.oup.com/jpr/advance-...

BJPolS abstract of an academic article discussing how democratic institutions prioritize citizen preferences regarding economic and physical security, with a focus on varied democratic features across thirty countries.

NEW -

Elections Without Constraints? The Appeal of Electoral Autocracy Across the World - https://cup.org/49auQPf

- @anjaneundorf.bsky.social, @sirianned.bsky.social, Kristian Vrede Skaaning Frederiksen & @aykutozturk.bsky.social

#OpenAccess

Thank you for the kind words, Carl Henrik, and for making the defense such a great experience with your kind and thought-provoking questions, comments, and suggestions!

Thanks Dr. Kolvani! 🙏

Thanks Asier! 🙏 It is a *very* much appreciated break this year 😄

Thank you, Adam! 😊

I am beyond grateful for the support I have receieved along the way from my supervisors, research group at NTNU, and many many others. I am so lucky to have such great people (and cute dogs!) in my life ❤️ Thanks to everyone who celebrated with me 🥰

Tusen takk! 😊

Yesterday I defended my thesis and officially became a doctor 🎓
Huge thanks to the committee @chknutsen.bsky.social @hannefjelde.bsky.social for the thoughtful questions and helpful suggestions for future work!

BJPolS abstract describing the introduction of a global database called PtP, which contains detailed individual-level data on political, occupational, and social backgrounds from 144,789 cabinet members across 141 countries between 1966 and 2021. The text highlights the database's relevance to researchers in various fields including political and social sciences.

From October 2025 -

Paths to Power: A New Dataset on the Social Profile of Governments - https://cup.org/47i6oKQ

- @jacobnyrup.bsky.social, @chknutsen.bsky.social, @peterla.bsky.social & Ina Lyftingsmo Kristiansen

#OpenAccess

Jeg også, vi får finne på en annen unnskyldning til reunion snart!🥰

Excited to defend my PhD dissertation on pro-democracy mobilization on December 18th! www.ntnu.no/kalender/det...

New preprint with @alexgalvezpol.bsky.social, Sohee Park & @mtsakiris.bsky.social :
🔗 osf.io/preprints/ps...

Key takeaways:
🎨 Political emotions create distinct embodied signatures

⚖️ These bodily patterns shift with ideology.

🗳️ The embodied impact of political emotions predicts participation

Abstract for the article: How does right-wing terrorism affect electoral support for populist radical right parties (PRRPs)? Recent research has produced contrary answers to this question. We argue that only high-intensity attacks, whose motives and targets mirror PRRPs’ nativist agenda, are likely to generate a media backlash that dampens electoral support for PRRPs. We test this argument by combining high-frequency survey and social media data with a natural and survey experimental design. We find that right-wing terror reduced support for the radical right party Alternative für Deutschland after one of the most intense nativist attacks in recent German history. An analysis of all ninety-eight fatal right-wing attacks in Germany between 1990 and 2020 supports our argument. Our findings contribute to an understanding of how political violence triggers partisan detachment and have important implications for media responsibility in the aftermath of terrorist attacks.

🚨 New article out!

“Right-Wing Terror, Media Backlash, and Voting Preferences for the Far Right” in @bjpols.bsky.social

👉 doi.org/10.1017/S000...

We (Alex De Juan, @juvoss.bsky.social & I) examine how right-wing attacks shape support for the far-right in Germany.

Short summary thread below 👇

Very proud to have been a part of this project and to see my first co-authored article out in the world! Read @jacobnyrup.bsky.social excellent thread for more info on the data! 🥳

BJPolS abstract discussing the treatment of the Sámi and other minorities by governmental discrimination, the role of Truth and Reconciliation Commissions in Norway, and their historical and present effects on national reconciliation.

#OpenAccess from July 2025 -

How Does Public Opinion Respond to Government Injustices Against Historically Discriminated Minorities? Evidence from Norway - cup.org/4lRGSBG

- Helga Malmin Binningsbø, Karin Dyrstad & @finseraas.bsky.social

From the streets to the ballots: protests, polls and polarization in Hong Kong Social movement research indicates that protests can influence voting behaviour through several informational and psychological mechanisms. Yet, we know little about the individual variation in how...

I’m very happy to share that the first paper of my PhD, «From the streets to the ballots: Protests, polls and Polarization in Hong Kong» has been published online in @democratization.bsky.social

It is open access, and you can read it here:
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

📊 New dataset and paper alert!
We’re proud to launch the Opposition Movements and Groups (OMG) Dataset, 1789–2019: a global dataset covering 1,452 mass mobilization movements. It was just published in Comparative Political Studies. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Below follows a 🧵

New paper alert 😄 ! Mauricio Rivera Celestino, Scott Gates and I have a paper out in the Journal of Conflict Resolution: lnkd.in/gzqYuTmN! The work began in 2017 as part of the Street-Level Autocrat project. Since then, children have been born, data collected, and now, the article is finally out:

Meninger: Professor Carl Henrik Knutsen: – Mer sannsynlig enn ikke at det amerikanske demokratiet vil overleve Trump Trump og hans støttespillere undergraver demokratiet, og det er en reell fare for demokratisk sammenbrudd. Det er likevel gode sjanser for at demokratiet overlever, men det krever mot-mobilisering.

Endelig fikk jeg skrevet ned kronikken som har tatt opp mye plass i hodet mitt de siste par ukene:

www.vg.no/nyheter/i/gw...

Can citizen action translate into incumbents changing their regimes from within? @chknutsen.bsky.social and I find that the answer is yes in our latest piece, “Citizen Action and Elite Responses: Opposition Mass Movements and Regime Change From Within”, now out in JCR: doi.org/10.1177/0022...

Hva kan vi vite om effekten av etablering av ungdomsklubb på Furuset?: Et svar til Tøge, Ulland og Andersen: Nordic Journal of Urban Studies: Vol 4, No 2 Idunn is Scandinavian University Press’ (Universitetsforlaget) digital publishing platform for academic journals and books.

For de som husker studien som fant at "[...] fritidsklubber [har ikke] noen direkte effekt på lokalmiljøet utenfor klubbens fire vegger" (doi.org/10.18261/nju...). @oyvindstiansen.bsky.social og Andreas Kokkvoll Tveit svarer på hvorfor dette er fullstendig feil konklusjon å dra fra studien. (1/n)

Charles Butcher (NTNU) presenting the LEGACIES project. Capturing the presence of pre-colonial states and their potential influence on post-colonial democratization.

Hello! I thought a list of women scholars in conflict and security studies could be helpful! Let me know if you want to be added/removed! go.bsky.app/Np3NivX

On the concept of representation

On the role of emotions in explaining how we think about politics, and vice versa

Making the case for a citizen’s perspective

@andreavik.bsky.social’s trial lecture🔥🔥Fantastic insights on how perspectives from political psychology can inform our understanding of the legitimacy of unelected representation. Amazing lecture by an amazing scholar

Congrats! 🎉🥳

For those interested in democratic backsliding - After a lot of hard work, I'm excited to share that the data visualizations for the Democratic Erosion Event Dataset are all now in order and Shiny apps up and running. We have a lot of exciting things in the pipeline. Stay tuned!

LEGACIES is also hiring a PhD candidate in CP/IR:

www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...

Super exciting project and a fantastic PI! You will also become a part of our research group @NTNU «Political Instability and Armed Conflict»

Application deadline: 17.03.2024

polisky conflictsky

Come join us in Trondheim! Two weeks left to apply for the postdoc position in the very cool (both people- and research-wise) LEGACIES project: www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...
#polisky #conflictsky

Postdoctoral Fellow in political science/international relations: LEGACIES project (257118) | NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology Job title: Postdoctoral Fellow in political science/international relations: LEGACIES project (257118), Employer: NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Deadline: Thursday, February 29, 2024

Vacancy for a postdoc on ERC-funded LEGACIES at NTNU: www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...

More about LEGACIES and the project team: www.legacies-project.com