David Attewell

Congratulations!!!

With @elisadeisshelbig.bsky.social, @theresmatthiess.bsky.social, we are designing a survey experiment with low-income Germans 🇩🇪 Survey folks: any tips on reliable institutes, good practices, or any useful approach for harder-to-reach groups? We are really grateful for any hint or experience 🙏

UK politics followers, these graphs are in a paper by @jamesdgriffiths.bsky.social and co (inc. me).

There's so much useful info in them.

The long-term context for the politics of our time, how the 'Brexit elections' differed, though note the Y axes may need to be bigger for the next election!!

(1/10) 🚨Preprint alert!🚨

In this article, I challenge claims of a generational rise of conservative men. In the media and recent academic publications, the so-called ‘youth gender gap’ has been interpreted as a generational phenomenon.

doi.org/10.31234/osf...

A fascinating-looking set of papers on a central and under-explored issue of our political moment ⬇️

New publication w/ my friend & amazing coauthor @fedetrastulli.bsky.social in @ejprjournal.bsky.social! 🎉

doi.org/10.1017/S147...

We explore: Who considers which political issues as important & how is this related to sociodemographic/socioeconomic variables?

In this new paper, we use open-ended survey questions to study how people perceive (changes in) social hierarchies. 

We show how and among whom status gains of women, ethnic minorities, or LGBTQ+ people are saliently perceived–namely among progressives, not just conservatives!

Fantastic paper and yet another great example of the power of open-ended survey questions.

"The entrepreneurs in the slump are longing for a boom; why do they not gladly accept the synthetic boom which the government is able to offer them? It is this difficult and fascinating question with which we intend to deal in this article."

My antitrust attitudes paper with Nick Short and Jacob Brown is out now @poppublicsphere.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1017/S153...

We find:
- voters are skeptical about M&A
- current law marginalizes important public concerns (layoffs, bailout risk, lobbying)
- expert/public cleavage > partisan diffs

"academic publishing is dominated by profit-oriented, multinational companies for whom scientific knowledge is a commodity to be sold back to the academic community who created it... The dominant four collectively generated... $12 billion in profits between 2019 and 2024."

Next week, with the Progressive Politics Research Network, we are going to publish 8 new research briefs on the politics of housing. While housing has become a huge grievance across Europe, it is often absent from progressive parties‘ agendas. Our group of experts discusses different aspects of this

Almost certain now EPP will rely on far-right groups, including Germany’s AfD, to push through amendments on #csddd #csrd, despite Manfred Weber’s promise never to collaborate with them. Will anybody in Berlin notice?

The central argument in this excellent paper & thread is that the open-access turn has neglected profit; indeed, it turbo-charged publishers’ margins. As political economists who know a thing or two about profit and power we should speak up a lot more. As it says below: What we’re doing is crazy.

Three German universities offering post-docs for researchers "who cannot conduct or continue their work in the USA appropriately because of actual political pressure. "
www.uni-konstanz.de/zukunftskoll...

Manuel Bompard : "Il me semble évident qu'avant Noël, il y aura une nouvelle motion de censure" Budget, PLFSS, union de la gauche, Mamdani, Mercosur... Le député Manuel Bompard, coordinateur national de La France insoumise, est l'invité de Questions politiques.

French public broadcaster admits (with no apology) outrageous falsehoods in interview asking LFI MP to condemn Zohran Mamdani:

1) Mamdani had not condemned October 7th
2) Mamdani called to "Globalize the Intifada"
3) Mamdani raised $ for Hamas-colluding UNRWA

www.radiofrance.fr/franceinter/...

Europe rn:

Rad left: Mamdani shows with radical policy, leftists can win on their own. Lander who?

Soc dems: Mamdani shows how to beat the far right. What? Lol no we don't support any of his policies.

Center: Mamdani, Newsom & Jetten are the same

Rad right: AAH LGBTQ sharia is coming for us all!

Excited to have this paper on social networks as a mechanism for cleavage stabilization with @dpzollinger.bsky.social out!

If we have you intrigued, also pairs with (and empirically engages) our theoretical piece on puzzles of contemporary cleavage research:

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

One of the least remarked parts of Mamdani's speech yesterday was its strong implication that he wants his army of 100k volunteers to stick around and do stuff.

It's striking to see all strands of the Left (in FR, UK, Canada) claim Zohran Mamdani's victory as a vindication of their approach.

It shows the success of a popular front model: a democratic socialist left building the broad (contradictory) coalition needed to win in the face of rising fascism.

BJPolS abstract discussing the dynamic between knowledge economy migration and political shifts in Germany, specifically addressing urban versus rural opportunities and its implications on political perspectives and migration trends.

NEW -

Seeking Opportunity in the Knowledge Economy: Moving Places, Moving Politics? - https://cup.org/3LgxVos

"moving to opportunity results in... more left-leaning self-identification, and lower support for far-right parties"

- @valentinaconsiglio.bsky.social & @thmskrr.bsky.social

#OpenAccess

How can we compare the size and structuring power of different cleavages over time? Check out @jacobgunderson.bsky.social 's great paper and dataset for scholars working on cleavages at the party system level!

The latest from @dpzollinger.bsky.social and I's Special Issue in @wepsocial.bsky.social.

There is nothing unique about Fair Fares or NYC governance as far as the failures of means-tested programs to reach the most disadvantaged recipients - it is a universal feature of this policy approach.

It's not a different point.

The means-testing is inherently bureaucratic and inefficient, and public transit being free at the point of service is a good idea both because it achieves the distributional goals which both designs (supposedly) aspire to and because it's more efficient.

Yes, and it's no surprise fair fares immediately runs into massive uptake problems as most of the eligible poor are unable to navigate the bureaucracy of accessing a means-tested service.

It's both more just and more efficient to offer a universal service and correct inequality on the tax side.

BJPolS abstract discussing the effects of extensive media exposure on public perceptions and normalization. It references specific research surveys conducted on Sky News UK and Australia, analyzing changes in public attitudes and policy effects due to media strategies.

#OpenAccess from August 2025 -

Media Platforming and the Normalisation of Extreme Right Views - cup.org/4mmVIAL

"exposure to uncritical interviews increases agreement with extreme statements and perceptions of broader support in the population"

- @dianebolet.bsky.social & @florianfoos.bsky.social

JUST OUT: "Boundaries and Cleavages: Elements of a Cultural Sociology of Political Divides."

OA: direct.mit.edu/ecps/article...

It develops what the cultural sociology of group formation can contribute to research on political cleavages.

(And why "Somewheres vs Anywheres" really doesn't cut it.)

New SI "Cleavage Politics in Western
Democracies" @wepsocial.bsky.social!

If you're interested in transforming social & political divides in advanced democracies, this is for you.

The intro by @davidattewell6.bsky.social & me maps contributions around 3 challenges for contemp. cleavage research.

Thanks, I already downloaded it, courtesy of the Danish national library!