Christoph Valentin Steinert

The Nobel Peace Prize goes to someone trying to peacefully stand up to a dictatorship, not to somebody trying to build a dictatorship.

That seems appropriate.

Credit Claiming in the European Union | The Journal of Politics: Vol 87, No 3 Incumbents in multilevel systems are assumed to exploit uncertainty of responsibility by claiming credit and shifting blame, yet little is known about when and how they engage in these rhetorical stra...

🚨 New(ish) Publication Alert! Delighted to see my article Credit Claiming in the EU @thejop.bsky.social I explore a classic question for accountability in Europe: when and why do govs claim credit for the work of the EU and shift blame onto Brussels to avoid responsibility? doi.org/10.1086/732970

BJPolS abstract describing a study on the consequences of civil society participation in international human rights complaints mechanisms, specifically focusing on the effectiveness of shaming and repressing strategies by civil society organizations (CSOs). The study uses three original surveys and data analysis to explore government responses to CSO strategies, highlighting potential risks associated with personalized shaming tactics.

#OpenAccess from July 2025 -

The Backlash Against Civil Society Participation in International Organizations: The Case of Human Rights Complaints Mechanisms - cup.org/463Vb1m

- @chrisvsteinert.bsky.social & Hannah Marietta Smidt

🚨 New working paper alert 🚨
Missing summer — and the Tour de France? Don’t worry, we got you covered. 🚴‍♂️🚴‍♂️🚴‍♂️
In this paper, we show that being on the route of Tour de France reduces far-right voting. osf.io/preprints/so...

Radical right accommodation really does not work.

New paper out with this exceptionally talented team
@katharinalawall.bsky.social @robjohns75.bsky.social @drjennings.bsky.social @sarahobolt.bsky.social @zachdickson.bsky.social @danjdevine.bsky.social & @jack-bailey.co.uk

doi.org/10.31235/osf...

I am thrilled to share 'Foreign Aid for Peace and Civilian Victimisation,' recently published in @coco-journal.bsky.social. This study examines the impact of European Union aid on civilian victimisation in Colombia’s post-conflict context.
🔗 Read the full article: lnkd.in/dQUFTq_v

Das bemerkenswerte hier ist, dass die Verschiebung eben nicht 2015 passiert sondern 2017. Genau dann wenn Politik und Medien anfangen sich auf die aufsteigende AfD und ihre Themen einzuschießen. Wenn Migrationspolitik verschärft wird und Migranten dämonisiert werden. Es ist nicht Migration an sich.

Due diligence laws make firms liable for human rights violations and environmental damage in their supply chains. But the business lobby heavily criticizes these laws because of the required bureaucracy and potential compliance costs, which may create economic disadvantages. (1/5)

Our findings call into question the business lobby’s narrative of severe economic harm resulting from due diligence law.
For more details, see: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... (5/5)

🚨 New in Journal of Politics! 🚨
Do radical right parties need to cut ties with old dictatorships to succeed?
👉 @sergipardos.bsky.social and my study of Spain’s VOX says: ❌ Not necessarily.

Dictating the Agenda: The Authoritarian Resurgence in World Politics

by me & @cooleyoneurasia.bsky.social is now published by OUP in the USA (rest of world soon)

If you are interested in why you see so many dictatorships & illiberal leaders influencing world politics then this is the book for you.

Armed conflicts involve governments, rebel groups, militias, communal factions, and foreign forces — all interacting in complex ways. The result? A web of violence that can feel overwhelming to understand.

That's why we launch the Conflict Networks Explorer
peaceobservatory.com/conflict-networks

Screenshot of title page of article. Download pre-print version here: https://aidanmilliff.com/publication/estimating-the-impact-of-drone-strikes/BMCJ_Drones_20Aug25.pdf

🚨 Just accepted at @bjpols.bsky.social!

Paolo Bertolotti, Fotini Christia, Ali Jadbabaie, and I use 12 billion Yemeni cellphone records to study the effects of U.S. drone strikes on civilian mobility and displacement.

We Find:

🧵: 1/3

"Populists before power: delegitimization strategies against independent judiciaries" by Philipp Köker, Tilko Swalve, Merle Huber, Christoph Hönnige and Dominic Nyhuis Abstract: Research on the dangers of authoritarian populism for liberal democracy has almost exclusively focused on “populists in power” and those cases where dramatic changes have occurred. However, there is a notable gap in understanding the strategies and dangers of “populists before power”. We argue that authoritarian populists also pose a threat where they cannot effect constitutional change. By using “delegitimization strategies” they can significantly weaken liberal democratic institutions through a systematic erosion of public trust. Focusing on independent judiciaries as targets, we illustrate how attacks that link criticism of decisions, judges and judicial institutions with narratives of systemic failure may unfold and highlight the value of delegitimization within the larger populist tool kit. Thereby, the paper lays the conceptual foundation for an integrated research agenda on “populist before power”, including counter-reactions to delegitimization attempts, and contributes to the growing literature on the relationship between populism and democracy.

We have page numbers 🥳 Independent #judiciaries around the world are under threat from authoritarian #populists - but the threat starts long before these actors enter office! More on the dangers of "populists before power" 👉👉👉 doi.org/10.1080/1351... #OpenAccess @democratization.bsky.social

Looks very interesting, congrats!!

New paper out in @fpajrnl.bsky.social - tldr: Recipient leadership turnover does not affect the continuation of existing international arms transfers relationships. In the paper, I discuss why this is surprising and how we can make sense of it.

Trump has imposed more sanctions on the International Criminal Court than Russia & Putin (who is wanted by the ICC for war crimes)

Anas al-Sharif, prominent Al Jazeera correspondent, among five journalists killed in Israeli airstrike on Gaza Israel admits deliberate attack on the journalist, known for frontline coverage, in a strike on a tent outside al-Shifa hospital

I have studied the targeting of journalists for many years, but the scale and public display of these killings is truly shocking: “Israel admits deliberate attack on the journalist, known for frontline coverage, in a strike on a tent outside al-Shifa hospital“

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

Highly recommended new study, check it out:

There it is: call for papers, inaugural conference of @epssnet.bsky.social in Belfast, 2026.

Please send your best work and support this new important initiative!

epssnet.org/belfast-2026/

Even in times of sociocultural conflict, a progressive left electorate is more averse to sociocultural *and* socioeconomic inequalities than (far) right voters.

New paper with @siljahausermann.bsky.social Palmtag @tabouchadi.bsky.social @stefwalter.bsky.social Berkinshaw
tinyurl.com/d42wyb79

1/n

New UN ideal point estimates available. These are for the first time based on years rather than UNGA sessions. For more, see here: dataverse.harvard.edu/dataset.xhtm...

NGOs are often unsure how to help refugees. For example, when refugees without rights seek help repatriating, NGOs may feel helping makes them complicit in forced returns, but not helping forces refugees to remain. I consider how dilemmas like these can be resolved. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Infectious disease outbreaks drive political mistrust | PNAS The COVID-19 pandemic has renewed attention to the far-reaching social implications of emerging infectious diseases, an issue with historical paral...

Very happy that the joint paper with Ore Koren on infectious diseases and trust in politics has now been published: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... A nice result of his fellowship at @uni-konstanz.de, funded by the @humboldt-foundation.de!

Our findings call into question the business lobby’s narrative of severe economic harm resulting from due diligence law.
For more details, see: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... (5/5)

Employing a difference-in-difference analysis, we find no evidence that the law significantly affected the likelihood of profit of regulated firms. Furthermore, we observe no discernible impact on key profit drivers. (4/5)

We analyzed this question with a large-scale empirical analysis of the French due diligence law ("loi de vigilance"), which is in effect since 2017, based on a large dataset of 11,504 firms. (3/5)

The German economist Lars Feld even claimed that the German due diligence law "takes an axe to the success model of the [export-based] economy". But is it really true that regulation through due diligence laws harms the economic performance of European companies? (2/5)

Due diligence laws make firms liable for human rights violations and environmental damage in their supply chains. But the business lobby heavily criticizes these laws because of the required bureaucracy and potential compliance costs, which may create economic disadvantages. (1/5)

At present, complaints to the UN Special Procedures ‘by default include the name(s) of the alleged victim(s)’. In light of our findings, we think that the standard practice should be to withhold victims’ names from communications and to allow anonymous complaints from the outset. (8/8)