Osman Suntay

🚨 Please share widely! 🚨

I'm hiring a postdoc (from Aug 1) to help build a new research program on politically sustainable immigration policies at Notre Dame.

Looking for a social scientist with strong quant skills, familiarity with new computational tools, and interest in public-facing research.

📢 Our study (w @jessicakuhlm.bsky.social) on AfD success in integration council elections is now published in @pvs-journal.bsky.social

📖 doi.org/10.1007/s116...

👉Socioeconomic factors explain where the AfD runs, but not its success
❗Mainstream party competition is central to counter PRRP success

Russia, Venezuela, Iran, China, the Sahel region, the United States ...

Want to know why state agents carry out brutal repression — or participate in illegal coups?

Our new book "Making a Career in Dictatorship" provides answers — it just got published by @academic.oup.com:

tinyurl.com/ystwm3tf

🚨📄 New paper (conditional accepted at @thejop.bsky.social):

We test whether social desirability bias actually distorts answers in online surveys.

Short version:
It mostly doesn’t.

w. @timallinger.bsky.social @kristianvsf.bsky.social @morganlcj.bsky.social

URL: osf.io/preprints/os...

Linguistic Polarization in Minority Representation: Analyzing Parliamentary Speeches in Germany and the UK (1980–2021) Political polarization shapes how minority issues are discussed in public and parliamentary discourse, with implications for representation and policy. We examine the representation of migration and s...

How do parties debate minorities? New study based on all parliament speeches in Germany and the UK 1980-2021, with @younghyunlee52.bsky.social , F. #Piñeyrúa, & @max-web.bsky.social, published in the edited volume Computational Social Science of Social Cohesion and Polarization:

GESIS Workshop Introduction to Conjoint Survey Experiments 05 to 07 May | Online Franziska Quoß (GESIS) & Lukas Rudolph (University of Konstanz)

Need causal insights into how people make decisions?
Conjoint survey experiments let you unpack complex choices in realistic settings. Learn to design and implement them in our #GESISworkshop with @phanxi.bsky.social & @lukrudolph.bsky.social.

Book Now ➡️ t1p.de/intro-experi...

@gesis.org

As always, also attendants of the @infer-frankfurt.bsky.social Mittelbau Colloquium!

Thank you @irisv.bsky.social🙋‍♂️

Thank you @christian.czymara.com 🙏. Glad to hear that

Thank you @psinzig.bsky.social 🙏

Lars-Christopher Stövsand, Yassine Khoudja,@infer-frankfurt.bsky.social members, @aalrababah.bsky.social, @ccavaille.bsky.social, and other EPSA 2024 panel participants.

9/9

Many people helped make this along the way, and I'm likely forgetting some (apologies in advance.) For their invaluable feedbacks and support, I sincerely thank to Constantin Ruhe, Fenella Fleischmann, Katrijn Siderius, Taylan Acar, @irisv.bsky.social, @psinzig.bsky.social,

8/9

A preregistered experiment complements this: inclusive religious messages from prototypical RLs reduce hostility and support for violence, even among listeners of politicized leaders.

7/9

Using survey data from 1,671 Muslim immigrants, I show that (in correlational analyses) sermons from non-politicized (vs. politicized) leaders are associated with less hostility toward outgroup, a lower likelihood of justifying religiously motivated violence, and more inclusive identities.

6/9

Beyond 3Bs, this paper focused on the meaning of identity and elite communication. Specifically, how religious leaders (RLs), as identity entrepreneurs, define religious identity and how their stance on politics affects intergroup attitudes among believers.

5/9

But it can be limited for understanding how religion shapes political and intergroup attitudes as it likely conflates several factors (religious orientation, socialization, organizational resources, political context etc..) that might make it difficult to isolate the effect of religion.

4/9

Many studies analyzing the relationship between religion and political/social attitudes among Muslims measure religiosity through belonging, belief, and behavior (3Bs). This is useful for some political behaviors, such as elections.

3/9

In the first chapter (doi.org/10.1177/0010...), I examined how government policies regarding minority religions affect conflict between majority and minority groups in the West.

In the second, I looked at how elites, their political orientation and identity framing shape intergroup attitudes⬇
2/9

Religious Elites, (Non)Politicization, and Intergroup Attitudes among Muslim Immigrants in Germany | The Journal of Politics: Vol 0, No ja

🎉 I am excited and grateful to share that the second chapter of my dissertation is now forthcoming in the @thejop.bsky.social.

it has been a long journey. Hours, thoughts, and re-assessments at each stage of the study, but it is finally here🥲
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
1/9

Now officially published in jpeaceresearch.bsky.social.

Link to full-text:
academic.oup.com/jpr/advance-...

#PoliticalScience #PoliticalPsychology

Am 12. Januar 2026 ist Matthias Koenig gestorben. In einem Nachruf würdigt Monika Wohlrab-Sahr den Soziologen als integeren Menschen und akribischen Wissenschaftler, der hochgradig normative Fragen mit Herzblut und analytischer Distanz zu behandeln verstand.

www.soziopolis.de/matthias-koe...

📄 New WP version out: revised text, tightened argument, and new analysis.

The Politics of Evidence Selection (w/ @jesperasring.bsky.social)

Grateful for the helpful comments and presentation opportunities. Further feedback welcome!

🔗 osf.io/preprints/so...

We’re organizing a workshop at Aarhus University. Please share and consider submitting!

🗓️ 13–14 April 2026 | 📝 Deadline: Mon, 16 Feb 2026 (extended abstract) — junior scholars prioritized

🎤 Keynotes: @stefwalter.bsky.social (Univ. of Zurich) & @hhuang.bsky.social (Ohio State)

Deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Matthias Koenig. He inspired me to follow an academic path and taught the very first sociology course I ever took. I will always admire the brilliance and unique precision of his thinking.

📈 Our key finding: the rural–urban divide didn’t grow gradually. It *jumped* in 2016. Support for Republicans became much more strongly associated with living in rural areas in 2016—and this pattern then remained stable in 2020.

🧵 PhD position (75%) in Political Behavior / Political Communication / CSS
📍 LMU Munich | ⏳ 3 years | 🗓 start March–May 2026

We’re hiring for DemocraGPT, a @bidt.bsky.social-funded project developing an AI-based training for difficult conversations in times of growing polarization

🚨Job alert! 🚨

I'm advertising a PhD position (66%) in Comparative Politics at HU Berlin. Ideal candidates combine a research interest in autocratic politics, conflict, and/or political violence with strong quantitative methods skills.

⏳ 4 (+2) years | 🗓 DL 16.01; Start March/April 26

More info:

we have 5 positions open at @goetheuni.bsky.social in Frankfurt
- a 4,5 year postdoc in my @erc.europa.eu project on the educational cleavage
- 2 postdoc & 2 PhD positions, 4 years, in a research group on Reconfiguration & Internalization of Social Structure

www.uni-frankfurt.de/48794784/FB0...

Is Christian religiosity driving backlash against Muslims in Western Europe? 📺 Watch the video, or read the full paper (open access) here 🔗 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Join us! Die Abteilung für Innenpolitik & Politische Soziologie sucht zum 01.04. eine*n neue*n Kollegin*en. Wir bieten: volle Promotionsstelle (EG13) für drei Jahre (Verlängerung um 3 Jahre möglich), flexible Arbeitszeitregelungen, kollegiales & forschungsstarkes Team. Mehr Informationen hier👇