Catherine E. de Vries

So, European and EU politics folks, this 👇 is where we need your newest work to be submitted and discussed next year @epssnet.bsky.social first conference in Belfast!

I am happy to co-chair the section with Bjorn Hoyland, and looking 👀 forward to your submissions.

The Call for Papers for the 2026 EPSS annual conference in Belfast is now live!

Looking forward to your submissions!! Check out all details in this thread 👇

Further Modifying the Reciprocal Tariff Rates By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency

New US tariffs dropped. Don't be Switzerland. Do be the EU that uniquely got a concession on tariff stacking, which should but won't silence the doomsters with no actual trade policy or geopolitical knowledge.

Better also for many developing countries. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

🚨 Very excited to share that the call for papers for the EPSS annual conference in Belfast 2026 is live.

🔝 Lots of innovation to enrich the way we exchange ideas in political science in Europe.

🙏🏼 Sharing is caring!

July 2025 in review - looking at political developments in the EU institutions With a deeper look at the motion of censure against the Commission, an EP where the far-right is often part of the majority and Hungary is often outvoted in the Council.

New experiment - following the examples of many great colleagues such as @catherinedevries.bsky.social, @samuelmarclowe.bsky.social, @alanderminna.bsky.social and others, I am starting a new experimental substack 'EU Analytics', a (monthly?) look at EU developments from an institutional perspective.

Important & timely work on the crisis of liberal democracy. ‘Backsliding’ doesn’t capture the scale of the challenge, we need sharper language & deeper analysis of the shifting relationship between state and society. Looking forward to this paper’s impact.

For now, do read it!

I hugely enjoyed speaking to Matt Mulford on the TRIUM Connects podcast about the rise of challenger parties and populism and the future of European integration

Listen in here if you’re interested:

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...

🎗️ Today, Jacques Delors would have been 100 years old.

The teams at the institutes in Paris, Berlin and Brussels pay tribute to him by quoting some of the most memorable thoughts of the man who shaped Europe.

@delorsinstitute.bsky.social @delorseurope.bsky.social

Abstract The rise of populist right parties is well-studied, but little attention has been given to how public service performance influences voter support. Given that public services are often the primary means through which citizens interact with the state, we argue that declining public services can create grievances that increase the appeal of populist right parties. Focusing on England’s National Health Service (NHS), we combine administrative data on local health facility closures with panel data on public preferences and voting intentions. Using a staggered difference-indifferences design, we find that closures reduce satisfaction with public services and increase support for populist right parties. These effects are moderated by migrant registrations at local health practices, highlighting the interaction between public service performance and immigration concerns in fueling populist right support. Our findings underscore the role of public service decline as a driver of support for populist parties, especially in areas undergoing demographic change.

Public Service Decline and Support for the Populist Right:

"Our findings underscore the role of public service decline as a driver of support for populist parties, especially in areas undergoing demographic change"

Thank you!

Thank you reading Sarah!

You’ve Got the Ideas. What If It’s Your Voice That’s Not Landing? The Hidden Curriculum of Academic Writing

@catherinedevries.bsky.social wrote this piece about voice & it resonates deeply, especially when so many of us are trying to figure out how to write through the fire of these times.

catherineeunicedevries.substack.com/p/youve-got-...

Thank you for the suggestion Eric! Just followed Jane!

💯%

You’ve Got the Ideas. What If It’s Your Voice That’s Not Landing? The Hidden Curriculum of Academic Writing

This is really good by @catherinedevries.bsky.social

Although not mentioned explicitly, “voice” is also very much about “power”, which differs among individuals but also changes in time for most individuals.

A voice that was a “liability” early on can become an “asset” (or even “brand”) later on.

+1

At least one needs to be very good at standup comedy to pull it off. 😉

👇

💯 % this

Politics and the English Language | The Orwell Foundation "Political language... is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind."

"This mixture of vagueness and sheer incompetence is the most marked characteristic of modern English prose, and especially of any kind of political writing." - Orwell, 1946. A great tip from @catherinedevries.bsky.social how to right with great clarity and engagement.

🙏🙏🙏

I am looking forward to the new series, though have to say I am sad for hearing #RtM will be on a break. During these past weeks, opening my inbox to discover new emails announcing another #RtM text were sources of joy and usually my first reading of that day.

I’m so happy to read that the posts resonated with you, Andrej. It really makes my day!

🙏🙏🙏

This sounds brilliant and y'all should sign up if you haven't already!

Thank you reading and engaging Nicolai!

Another great experiment in the highly interesting and thought-provoking Substack from Catherine focused on (academic) writing:

cc @fromtga.bsky.social @casmudde.bsky.social @nathalietocci.bsky.social @abenewman.bsky.social @simonkuper.bsky.social @cfieschi.bsky.social @markblyth.bsky.social @anandmenon.bsky.social @katemcnamara.bsky.social @dziblatt.bsky.social @lapuente.bsky.social

To give these conversations the space they deserve, Respect the Marble will pause from July 18 to August 31.

The first Etched in Marble post will drop in September.

It’s intended for all of us trying to make sense of noisy times:

Writing clearly & carefully as a quiet form of resistance.

/end

We’ll talk about:

✍️ The rituals and doubts of the writing process

🧱 How to write as a contribution, not just as content?

🪨 And what they would etch in marble about writing & thinking for a next generations of writers?

/9

…and also:
Helen Thompson, Kate McNamara, Erik Voeten, Lea Ypi & Daniel Ziblatt.

These are writers who think deeply, write bravely & shape the world through how they say what they say.

8/