Swen Hutter

📢📢 Happy to announce a new update to the PPEG database!

The data now covers

- > 3.000 parties
- 1.100 parliamentary elections
- 402 presidential elections
- 2.044 cabinets

across 73 countries (1945 - 2025, Oct 31).

All info: ppeg.wzb.eu

We hope that data is helpful to the community!

Big city life! 💫 I'm glad to spend this week at the Center for Civil Society Research @wzb.bsky.social.

Many thanks to @swenhutter.bsky.social for the invite & @tevoelker.bsky.social for providing me with a desk to distract her from work 🧑‍💻 Looking forward to the exchange with friendly colleagues!

Civil Society and Democracy

💡New publication with @tevoelker.bsky.social and @swenhutter.bsky.social:

"Civil Society and Democracy" In: List, R.A., Anheier, H.K., Toepler, S. (eds) International Encyclopedia of Civil Society

link.springer.com/rwe/10.1007/...

I'm very excited, extremely grateful and deeply honoured to receive the Best Dissertation Award from the German Political Science Association(DVPW)!

Graue Kachel mit weißer und schwarzer Schrift. Unten Links das Logo der DVPW. Am rechten Seitenrand Portraits von Teresa Sophia Völker und Julian Michel. Text: Deutsche Vereinigung für Politikwissenschaft. Dissertationspreis 2025: "Mainstreaming the Far Right: How Far-Right Actors and Ideas Shape Public Debates" (Freie Universität Berlin) Dr. Teresa Sophie Völker, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung (WZB). "The Subnational Roots of Democratic Stability" (University of California, Los Angeles) Prof. Julian Michel, Hong Kong Baptist University.

🏆 Der #DVPW #Dissertationspreis 2025 wird geteilt und geht an Teresa Völker @tevoelker.bsky.social und Julian Michel @julianpolsci.bsky.social!

Beide Arbeiten leisten einen herausragenden Beitrag zur Erforschung der #Stabilität von #Demokratie.

Herzlichen Glückwunsch! 🥳

Congratulations, Teresa! Very proud supervisor moment!

Civil Society, Cleavages, and Political Parties in Western Europe CDDRL Research-in-Brief [4-minute read]

Our recent paper on civil society and cleavage formation (w @eborbath.bsky.social & @swenhutter.bsky.social) was featured in the Research-in-Brief series at @stanfordcddrl.bsky.social. Check out their summary of the project here 😊 cddrl.fsi.stanford.edu/news/civil-s...

Very happy to see "The Green Transition and Political Polarization Along Occupational Lines" out in the
@apsrjournal.bsky.social. w/ @erikvoeten.bsky.social and @hannohilbig.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1017/S000...

Really pleased to this out as part of special issues on "Cleavage Politics in Western Democracies". Huge thanks to the SI editors, @dpzollinger.bsky.social and @davidattewell6.bsky.social for putting the special together and all of their support during the process.

Office Hours Sign-Up Sheet SIGN-UP SHEET FOR “INTERNATIONAL OFFICE HOURS” WITH CAS MUDDE IN FALL 2025, I WILL AGAIN HOLD “INTERNATIONAL OFFICE HOURS” FOR COLLEAGUES/STUDENTS/OTHERS WHO WANT TO TALK TO ME ABOUT THEIR RESEARC...

Still two spots free today. Open to everyone. Sign up and show up!

How do populists define “the people”? @tiondelisa.bsky.social examines how right-wing populists construct ingroup identity through opposition. Read OPEN ACCESS: buff.ly/sGDTDQV

@polstudiesassoc.bsky.social @uoypolitics.bsky.social @sagepub.com #polsky #polsci #ECRs

In our new article, @tevoelker.bsky.social and I show how far-right actors have increased their influence on mainstream parties' agenda-setting.

For the @euobserver.com, Hannah Kriwah has written about our study, and I had the pleasure to comment on it.

euobserver.com/eu-and-the-w...

German far right setting agenda as opponents amplify its ideas, study finds Normalisation of far-right stances likely to affect success of such parties at ballot boxes across Europe, say researchers

“Political communication by mainstream parties plays a central role in the electoral success of the far right”

How much more research do journalisten, politicians, pundits and strategists need before they finally change course?

Great write-up of an important study by @tevoelker.bsky.social and @dasalgon.bsky.social. Far-right actors have been very successful in setting the political agenda. Many in politics and media still ignore this. They argue "immigration is important to people, hence we need to talk about immigration"

"Mainstream parties are increasingly allowing the far right to set the agenda" - for the @theguardian.com, @ashifakassam.bsky.social summed up our study.

@tevoelker.bsky.social and I answered some questions to put our results into context. Give it a read!

Study: bit.ly/4hhRFUN

Climate action versus environmental protection? How far-right and environmentalist messengers shape public attitudes towards renewable energy infrastructure in forests This article examines how political messengers, and not the message, influence attitudes toward renewable energy infrastructure amid an increasingly polarized climate change debate. Focusing on win...

New publication for everyone interested in climate politics, far-right climate obstruction, and the role of elite cues! 📚

"Climate action versus environmental protection?" now out in @environmentalpol.bsky.social (with Matthias Diermeier).

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... (open access!) (1/5)

Updating cleavage theory for the twenty-first century Contemporary cleavage research has linked ‘socio-cultural’ conflicts mobilised by new left and far right parties to structural divides in post-industrial knowledge societies. Contributions in this ...

2/@dpzollinger.bsky.social and I set out 3 puzzles: How does a new cleavage work without strong intermediary orgs? How to reconcile cleavage theory w fragmented party systems? How are structural divides (e.g. ed) mobilized indirectly in political conflict today?

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

@dpzollinger.bsky.social and I are thrilled "Cleavage Politics in Western Democracies" is out as an SI at @wepsocial.bsky.social!

Its papers explore the foundations of the cleavage pitting new left against radical right parties, and how it compares to the classic cleavages of Lipset & Rokkan:

🧵⬇️

Sozialwissenschaftler Claus Offe gestorben Claus Offe prägte die Sozialwissenschaften mit scharfsinnigen Analysen und gesellschaftskritischen Perspektiven. Als Grenzgänger zwischen Soziologie und Politologie bleibt sein Werk wegweisend.

Ein von Michael Zürn und mir verfasster Nachruf auf Claus Offe. Ein bemerkenswerter Mensch und Wissenschaftler www.faz.net/aktuell/feui...

Understanding protest scripts: the anti-containment protests in Germany and Italy during the COVID-19 pandemic The pandemic did not bring protest politics to a halt. Instead, it sparked diverse and divergent forms of contention. This study compares the development and characteristics of anti-containment pro...

Out now @socmovstudies.bsky.social: we introduce the concept of a "protest script" & demonstrate how video-enhanced protest event analysis (vPEA) helps trace a common script of the Italian and German anti-containment protests.

doi.org/10.1080/1474...

Gratuliere nochmals ganz herzlich :-)

The panel shows photos of panelists Daniel Ziblatt and Kriszta Kovács. Above them are arrows in magenta.

Join us for the second part of our new online series "Science under Pressure".
📅 Monday, September 29, 1 p.m.
"When the State Threatens Science – Examples of the USA and Eastern Europe". Online-Discussion with @dziblatt.bsky.social and Kriszta Kovács.
www.wzb.eu/en/events/wh...

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...

📣 Calling all future postdocs 📣

@iast.fr is hiring! This is an incredible opportunity. I couldn't have imagined a better place for my postdoc. The community is fantastic, full autonomy and great resources. Located between the Pyrenees, the Mediterranean, & the Atlantic. Anything more I need to say?

Journal of European Public Policy Special Issue: Europe's Changing Protest Landscape. Guest Editors: Sophia Hunger & Swen Hutter. Volume 32, Issue 8 of Journal of European Public Policy

As I am fairly new to Bluesky, this comes a bit late, but it is still worth checking out:

Our #oa introduction to the @jeppjournal.bsky.social special issue on "Europe’s Changing Protest Landscape"
with @sophiahunger.bsky.social

www.tandfonline.com/toc/rjpp20/3...

Plus some critical reflections from our brilliant colleagues: @profearl.bsky.social, @jannisgrimm.bsky.social & Stefan Malthaner mobilization.kglmeridian.com/view/journal...

More on the methodological approach of video-enhanced protest analysis: mobilization.kglmeridian.com/view/journal...

Thanks to my wonderful co-authors Donatella della Porta, @sophiahunger.bsky.social & @alavizzari.bsky.social

Understanding protest scripts: the anti-containment protests in Germany and Italy during the COVID-19 pandemic The pandemic did not bring protest politics to a halt. Instead, it sparked diverse and divergent forms of contention. This study compares the development and characteristics of anti-containment pro...

Out now @socmovstudies.bsky.social: we introduce the concept of a "protest script" & demonstrate how video-enhanced protest event analysis (vPEA) helps trace a common script of the Italian and German anti-containment protests.

doi.org/10.1080/1474...

Taking a closer look at @mierkezat.bsky.social @swenhutter.bsky.social & @eborbath.bsky.social's paper on cleavage formation and civil society and cannot recommend it highly enough! Really insightful theorizing, e.g. on changes in the form of civil society and its effect on group-party linkages: