Sona Golder

📣 New article
👥 @allansikk.bsky.social @sonagolder.bsky.social @ibenskasr.bsky.social @paulinasl.bsky.social
👉 Does switching pay off? The impact of parliamentary party instability on individual electoral performance
📗 Open access in Electoral Studies
🔗 doi.org/10.1016/j.el...

We find all types of party switchers less likely to run again vs non-switchers. If seeking reelection, switching is bad for all (newly independent, splits, etc.) except defectors to other parties who can benefit from high list positions w/ new party even if their personal popularity drops. See 👇

That's a good question. Komeito will want to emphasize a clear distinction, especially on corruption, and I'd expect leaving the coalition would prompt some voters to update their perceptions. But as you note, after 26 years, it's not clear how much of an immediate impact this will have on voters...

Diminishing electoral support + heightened policy conflict w/ the LDP over Komeito’s core issue – corruption – prompted the rupture. This illustrates general policy challenges faced by niche parties, as shown by @danbischof.bsky.social & @markuswagner.bsky.social (Bischof & Wagner BJPolS 2020) (3/3)

As a junior govt partner, Komeito had to navigate challenging policy differences with the LDP (Sukeui Sohn JEAS 2024), though @adampliff.bsky.social & Ko Maeda show that the parties had strong electoral incentives to cooperate (Liff & Maeda JJPS 2019) (2/3)

Japan’s Komeito exposes the logic of coalition survival Japan’s long-standing coalition cracked when Komeito chose its identity over power, walking out rather than be tainted by the LDP’s corruption scandals

I have a piece in East Asia Forum w/ Charles Crabtree & Jinhyuk Jang on Komeito’s exit from Japan’s 26-year ruling coalition. We highlight polsci research by Sukeui Sohn; @adampliff.bsky.social & Ko Maeda; @danbischof.bsky.social & @markuswagner.bsky.social. (1/3) eastasiaforum.org/2025/12/30/j...

Current Japanese politics highlight the importance of distinguishing ‘formal’ vs. ‘substantive’ minority cabinets. Our East Asia Forum article links to very useful work by @mariathurk.bsky.social and @svenjakrauss.bsky.social on this point. (Thürk LSQ 2022; Krauss & Thürk WEP 2022)

The minority LDP will only be able to muster a majority if Ishin continues to support from outside & every MP from both parties adheres to party discipline at all times… still a challenging situation for the PM over the long term. (3/3)

Now – underscoring the perils of this kind of minority situation and the importance of party switching* – 3 independent MPs who’d been expelled from Ishin are joining the LDP! However… (2/3)
(*See doi.org/10.1111/lsq.... w/ @ibenskasr.bsky.social, @allansikk.bsky.social, @paulinasl.bsky.social)

Takaichi’s Japan enters an era of fragile coalitions Takaichi’s minority government must rely on constant bargaining and coalition-building to survive in a divided Diet.

I recently published a piece in East Asia Forum w/ Charles Crabtree about the challenges facing Japan's Prime Minister Takaichi as head of a minority govt (even with outside support from Ishin, the govt was just shy of a majority). eastasiaforum.org/2025/11/27/t... (1/3)

Interested in the theory and empirics of multi-party governments? Thomas Bräuninger and I edited a Handbook on Coalition Politics with Edward Elgar Publishing: lnkd.in/eis8Yc2y /1

Penn State Political Science is launching a new Semester in Washington program and we’re hiring a full-time on-site coordinator for the program, based permanently in Washington, D.C.

Going to be teaching about electoral rules in European democracies next week, so thanks to everyone reacting to @simonhix.bsky.social's proposal to change NL's electoral system... Very interesting discussion of important tradeoffs.

The US Administration is moving to severely restrict lawful, high-skill immigration.

First H-1B visas.

Next comes barring int'l students from staying to offer their talents to the US after graduation.

I wrote earlier on the economic harms Americans can expect—> www.piie.com/blogs/realti...

How Natural Resources Affect Authoritarian Leaders’ Provision of Public Services: Evidence from China | The Journal of Politics: Vol 80, No 1 This article examines the effects of natural resource extraction on authoritarian governments’ provision of public services, using subnational data from China. Facing no electoral constraint that woul...

Just began teaching about the economic determinants of democracy & dictatorship. A student's thoughtful question after class has prompted me to re-read this smart article by @jeanhong.bsky.social which is on my list of recommended materials for the week: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

Research Fellowships Each year, IAST invites applications for post-doctoral Research Fellowships, which offer candidates an opportunity to devote themselves full-time to their research at the start of their careers. Fello...

It is the time of the year when I tell you about my favorite post-doc ever 👇 Unless you are allergic to the French, this one sits up there with the Nuffield postdoc (life style, productivity, interdisciplinary stimulation). Share widely! Apply! #poliscky

www.iast.fr/research-fel...

Screenshot of the call for applications for MZES Visiting Fellowships, 22 September 2025. For the full text, please follow the link.

📣 Attention, postdoctoral researchers!

❗ Apply now for our MZES Visiting Fellowships 😊

💡 Spend 2-4 weeks at the MZES to share ideas
💰 Funding for accommodation, travel, daily allowance
📆 Deadline: 28 November

Full information:
👉 www.mzes.uni-mannheim.de/en/news/deta...

It's official! Check out the new International Center for Decentralization and Governance, an interdisciplinary initiative for the study of decentralization, governance, and federalism. Wish I could attend the conference on Asymmetric Decentralization in Santiago de Compostela in early November...

Elections DES Version 5.0 (1919-2020) Nils-Christian Bormann and I are releasing version 5.0 of the Democratic Electoral Systems (DES) dataset. The new dataset is the same as DES 4.2 but expands the time per…

The other Prof. Golder has an electoral systems data paper - and a couple of updates (w/ Nils Bormann) - that were published in Electoral Studies (in 2005, 2013, 2022). mattgolder.com/elections

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Grade 1 Company Description: Every institution values excellence. What matters most is why. Griffith was created to be a different type of university. You’ll find we’re about leading research, academic excel...

Please share widely! Great #PostDoc opportunity at one of Australia's top #PoliticalScience departments, on a #FutureFellowship on electoral resilience. 3yrs, great pay, and a workplace practically next to the Great Barrier Reef!
Closing date is 1 Oct 2025
jobs.smartrecruiters.com/GriffithUniv...

Instaparty logo

If you are in Vancouver this week, do come along to Instaparty presentations @apsa.bsky.social 2025!
instapartyproject.com
@ibenskasr.bsky.social @sonagolder.bsky.social @paulinasl.bsky.social

Thanks to @elizabethbitmeehan.com for the solution so that we can easily scroll through ALL the #APSA2025 panels...
[Note that panel locations might not be up to date]

apsanet.org/wp-content/u...

Thank you! This is exactly what I was looking for.

For folks heading to #APSA soon - is there a version of the program that one can scroll though and see all the information about panels (without clicking though & back each time)? Not saying I miss those thick printed programs but wanted to check that I'm not overlooking an online version of them.

I'm putting together a talk on a new applied micro paper, and I'm reminded that (I believe) it's very hard to outperform the structure proposed in this piece by Jesse Shapiro. shapiro.scholars.harvard.edu/sites/g/file...

Looks fascinating - and a great example to use for my European politics class (which begins with 6 weeks on 20th century history) about why history matters for understanding politics today...

Me, sitting at my desk after teaching two classes, get my (sad desk) sandwich out for a quick lunch, open Bluesky for a few minutes and...

Two book covers, The Collapse by M.E. Sarotte and Journey to a Revolution by M. Korda

Stopped by the library to find the book that @dingdingpeng.the100.ci posted about even though classes start in a few days and I don’t really have time to read it. And then I saw this other book that looked really interesting (and which I also don’t have time to read). Left with 5 books in total.

Feeling nostalgic for the days when I could show students in my European politics class this classic Schabowski moment from my VHS (!) copy of the 1999 documentary "When the Wall Came Tumbling Down: 50 Hours That Changed the World"...