Will Daniel

13th Biennial Conference of the SGEU, Università di Catania, 1 – 3 July 2026 European Consortium for Political Research

Delighted to co-convene the track on EU Elections and Legislative Politics with Lukas Obholzer at @ecprsgeu.bsky.social 2026, next July in Catania! 🇪🇺

Learn more about what we're looking for here ▶️ ecpr.eu/Events/Event...

Submit your panels and/or papers by 10 December here ▶️ ecpr.eu/Events/341

Cheers to 10 great days of political science conferencing in Spain 🇪🇸

After all the sun ☀️ I’m looking forward to a cooler Belfast for next year’s @epssnet.bsky.social already.

Thanks to @marcgeddes.uk and the organisers of @sgparliaments.bsky.social for a great conference in Barcelona!

Conference text details

Conference text details

It’s the final day of our conference but the fun isn’t over - here are our morning panels starting at 9.30am #sgop25

🌟 Scholar Spotlight 🌟

@wdaniel127.bsky.social & @steffenhurka.bsky.social reveal how changes in #EuropeanCommission cabinets impact #EU policy-making. More diverse cabinets boost legitimacy but don’t affect proposal quality or political processing.

🔗 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Abstract of the article "Social media campaigning across multiple platforms: evidence from the 2024 European elections" by William T. Daniel and Lukas Obholzer. Published online first in West European Politics.

Figure 1, displaying the shae of MEPs using six different social media platforms, per party group.

Figure 2, displaying the predicted numbers of accounts.

Figure 3, displaying predictive margins for the effect of candidates' national party's EU position and left-right position on a number of posts.

How do politicians campaign on social media? @wdaniel127.bsky.social & Lukas Obholzer explore campaign data from the 2024EP elections on Facebook, Instagram & TikTok, showing party-based differences.

doi.org/10.1080/0140...

Part of the Symposium: European Parliament Elections 2024

@nottspolitics.bsky.social

Social media campaigning across multiple platforms: evidence from the 2024 European elections Politicians have a rational incentive to keep up with voters’ growing use of social media platforms. How they do so is important for democratic political communication. The article examines how the...

You can read the whole article Open Access here ➡️ shorturl.at/6FWmT

This has tremendously important consequences for who is controlling the narrative of online campaigning (probably also in many other contexts!), and how this goes on to affect voting behaviour.

In particular, we compile unique evidence from Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok find that while centrist voices generally engage with more voters across more platforms, it was the extremist Eurosceptic politicians who dominated the online campaigning in the 2024 elections.

In newly published research just out at @wepsocial.bsky.social, we show that legislators are not only diversifying their social media platforms to reach constituents across a number of apps and websites, but they are not all doing so in the same way.

🚨New Elections Article Alert!🚨

Lukas Obholzer and I have been writing about online campaigning in European elections 🇪🇺 since 2014. This past year, we broadened our focus from Twitter (now X) to see where else Members of the @europarl.europa.eu were campaigning.

Fancy a cheeky discount to add it to your summer reading list? Find a friends and family code below. You can also recommend it to your library. It's been out in Oxford Online since February, if that's your preferred medium!

Quite pleased to see that my new book with Andrea Aldrich is now hot off the (physical) presses and ready to ship across the US, UK, and Europe.

School of Politics and International Relations - Research with Impact Series - Dr William Daniel - Gender quotas and the reform of the Welsh legislature

▫️ Research with Impact series ▫️

Read more on how @wdaniel127.bsky.social advised the Welsh government on its plans to promote gender equality under the expanded Senedd
🔗➡️ tinyurl.com/366u6vfe

@uonresearch.bsky.social @uoninstitute.bsky.social

A well-resourced European Parliament is so vital for democracy! But MEPs often blur the line between parliamentary work and campaigning.

Some go too far: Le Pen today, Farage during Brexit, Bayrou in his post-election blues.

blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2...

First-order contests for second-order parties? Differentiated candidate nomination strategies in European Parliament elections This article examines an alternative logic for candidate renomination to the European Parliament (EP), based upon the size and ideological nature of a Member of the European Parliament’s (MEP’s) ho...

In fact, Le Pen's party gets a special mention for this tactic, in the conclusion.

You can read the full paper, here: dx.doi.org/10.1080/0703...

This was seen as an important way of professionalising their parties and benefitting from the benefits of holding public office.

One of the key findings of the article was that parties that were 'second order' in their national electoral importance focussed disproportionately on keeping their top leaders in European office.

The article looked at how fringe parties use the European Parliament to build an institutional foothold to promote their national political work.

Screenshot of the article abstract, which is linked at the bottom of the thread.

News of 🇫🇷 Marine Le Pen's temporary barring from seeking public office for diverting of 🇪🇺 European Parliament funds to national work, reminds me of an article that I wrote for the @jei-publication.bsky.social about a decade ago.

Job Vacancy at the University of Nottingham: Teaching Associate in Political Science (fixed term) About the role The holder of this role will primarily undertake the teaching, assessment and supporting administrative duties across a range of established modules with a focus on quantitative methods...

More details and the role profile are available at:
jobs.nottingham.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx...
Deadline for applications: 21 April 2025.

An ability to teach undergraduate and postgraduate students quantitative methods using R is an essential criteria for the role.

@nottspolitics.bsky.social is hiring! We are seeking to appoint a Teaching Associate in Political Science (with a focus on quantitative methods). This full-time, fixed-term post is available from 1 September 2025 until 30 June 2027.

Looking forward to discussing this work, later today!

Looking forward to this next week!

Gender Quotas as Game Changers for the Recruitment, Selection, and Performance of Elected Politicians - Google Play As political systems around the world implement gender quotas to balance women and men's elected representation, new opportunities and expectations for how both men and women are recruited, selected, ...

Read a free preview chapter on Google Play here: shorturl.at/SweK1

Gender Quotas as Game Changers for the Recruitment, Selection, and Performance of Elected Politicians As political systems around the world implement gender quotas to balance women and men's elected representation, new opportunities and expectations for how both men and women are recruited, selected, ...

Check out the book on Google Books here shorturl.at/6hikR

We hope that you enjoy reading it, as much as we enjoyed writing it!

If anything, quotas HELP the qualifications of politicians - and they also open up new pathways to career advancement for BOTH men and women. This is a key message to retain in an age where so many affirmative action and inclusive hiring policies are now under (misplaced and misguided) assault.

Now, perhaps more importantly than ever, we provide comprehensive evidence that gender quotas do not replace merit-based recruitment when it comes to electing European politicians.