WEP Journal

West European Politics Volume 49, Issue 4 of West European Politics

📖 New issue out!

West European Politics 49(4) 🎉

👉 EU policy congruence, interest groups, cloud computing, nationalism, political support, government alternation, elite ideology, plus the 2025 German and Portuguese elections.

🔗 www.tandfonline.com/toc/fwep20/4...

Abstract of the research note "Street mobilisation during election campaigns in multilevel systems: a supply–demand analysis" by Lennart Schürmann and Leonhard Schmidt, published online first in West European Politics.

Conceptual diagram showing the supply and demand sides of street mobilisation. On the supply side, institutional political actors (politicians) and civil society actors (activists) interact and use protest to mobilise voters or issues. On the demand side, citizens participate. Politicians receive institutional authorisation; activists receive informal authorisation from citizens.

Dot plot showing predicted effects of election campaigns on protest sponsorship and participation. Politicians are most likely to sponsor protests during national campaigns; activists dominate during subnational campaigns. Predicted number of citizen participants peaks during national campaigns.

🎉 Online first:

How do election campaigns shape street protests?

@lennartschuermann.bsky.social & @leonhardschmidt.bsky.social find street protests spike during national elections. Politicians sponsor more national protests, while activists dominate subnationally.

🔗 doi.org/10.1080/0140...

🎉 Online first:

Does disliking the other side shape what you believe?

@alexanderryan124.bsky.social, @roycecarroll.bsky.social, Hanna Bäck & Emma Renström find that affectively polarised Europeans align their policy views more — especially around immigration.

🔗 doi.org/10.1080/0140...

5/6 🧵In @wepsocial.bsky.social @mhaslberger.bsky.social @madselk.bsky.social & @benansell.bsky.social: homeownership is tied to political efficacy. While young renters may still expect to buy, older may won’t reach the property ladder & feel less politically included. Read here: doi.org/qqjx

Really excited to see my final dissertation paper out 🎉

Do parties shift their issue priorities when polls decline?

Looking at press releases from 68 parties in 9 countries, we find little evidence that they do.

Abstract of the article "Parties' issue responsiveness between elections" by Cornelius Erfort, Heike Klüver, and Lukas F. Stoetzer, published online first in West European Politics.

Marginal effects plot showing the relationship between changes in polls and subsequent party issue attention in press releases, split by party issue ownership, issue salience, and being the main issue of a successful competitor.

🎉 Online first:

Do parties shift their issue priorities when polls drop?

Examining press releases across 68 parties in 9 countries, @cornelius-erfort.bsky.social , @heikekluever.bsky.social & @lstoetze.bsky.social find little evidence that they do.

🔗 doi.org/10.1080/0140...

Abstract of "When does accommodation fail? The electoral consequences of intra-party divisions and mainstream party strategies" by Felix Lehmann, published in West European Politics.

The marginal effect of Δ EU position on mainstream party vote over increasing levels of EU intra-party divisions (N = 393). The histogram plots the distri- bution of EU intra-party divisions.

The Marginal effect of Δ immigration position on dyadic mainstream party voter gains over increasing levels of immigration intra-party divisions (N=134). The histogram plots the distribution of immigration intra-party divisions.

🎉 Online first:

Can shifting to the Eurosceptic right backfire?

@felixlehmann.bsky.social points to an overlooked reason for why accommodation may fail: intra-party division. When the party disagrees, policy shifts become less credible and can cost votes.

🔗 doi.org/10.1080/0140...

Policy over votes: why extreme governments respond to their supporters Responsive government means changes in policy reflect changes in citizen preferences. But which citizens? This study examines that question through the lens of policymakers’ incentives to respond t...

New research with Lawrence Ezrow and Werner Krause in @wepsocial.bsky.social
We show that more extreme governments are more likely to deliver policy solely to their supporters

Why does mainstream accommodation of far-right and Eurosceptic parties often electorally backfire? In my 3rd dissertation paper, just published in @wepsocial.bsky.social, I argue that voters specifically punish internally divided parties for accommodation: doi.org/10.1080/0140...
1/13 🧵

Shift to Stem subjects means kids could be moving right Youngsters are ditching arts and humanities out of economic necessity — it both reflects and informs their politics

Our @wepsocial.bsky.social paper (with @nspmartin.bsky.social and @rolandkappe.bsky.social) on the effects of school subjects on political party support is the focus of @jkirkup.bsky.social's @thetimes.com piece today

Abstract of "Do impartial inquiries help voters hold the government accountable for political misconduct?" by Jannik Fenger, published in West European Politics.

Media coverage of the scandal spiked around the inquiry commission report. Weekly amount of media reporting of the misconduct (solid dark grey line) and the amount of that reporting mentioning the inquiry (dashed light grey line) from four major Danish newspapers. Both lines display a kernel-weighted local polynomial smoothing.

Voters’ sanctioning inclinations rose after the inquiry report. The figure shows changes over time on four different outcomes measuring whether citizens sanction the government for the scandal by all voters (black dots, n = 2,829), supporters of the government or supporting parties (grey dots, n=1,329), and supporters of opposition parties (white dots, n=1,065) controlling for relevant imbalances between the two pre-waves.

🎉 Online first:

Do impartial inquiries make voters punish governments for misconduct?

In this new study, Jannik Fenger shows that an independent inquiry in Denmark made even government supporters more likely to acknowledge wrongdoing and sanction incumbents.

🔗 doi.org/10.1080/0140...

Thanks to everyone who contributes to the journal as authors, reviewers, editors, and readers. Looking forward to another strong year of research on European politics.

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The journal's readership remains truly international, with the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany being the top three download locations in 2025 🇺🇸🇬🇧🇩🇪

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Exciting news:

West European Politics reached a new milestone in 2025: over 640,000 article downloads 🎉

That is a roughly 30% increase from 2024 and the highest annual readership in the journal's history!

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Abstract of "Homeownership and political efficacy: how housing wealth shapes whether people feel heard" by Matthias Haslberger and Mads Andreas Elkjær, published in West European Politics.

Predicted levels of external efficacy by housing tenure and age, with 95% confidence intervals. Covariates fixed at: Married male Conservative voter without university degree living in Southeast England, full-time employed with average income.

🎉 Online first:

How does owning a home change how people feel about politics?

In this article, @mhaslberger.bsky.social and @madselk.bsky.social find that owning a home is linked to feeling more politically included, especially for older people.

🔗 doi.org/10.1080/0140...

In this @wepsocial.bsky.social article, @Karin Leijon analyzes the role of national courts in EU legal integration. The findings suggest that national courts regularly strike a balance between EU integration and member state autonomy.

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

The last paper of @dpzollinger.bsky.social and I's Special Issue 'Cleavage Politics in Western Democracies' is now out at @wepsocial.bsky.social.

Florent Gougou & @simonpersico.bsky.social's paper analyzes ecological conflict in the longue durée through a Lipset-Rokkanian lens.

Abstract of "Dimension-specific party and public opinion responsiveness in the EU immigration acquis" by Miriam Sorace and Natascha Zaun, published in West European Politics.

Wordscores results – increasing immigration restrictiveness in EU legislation over time, Loess Line.

Marginal effects plot of the marginal effect of dossier responsiveness on "yes" votes by public euroscepticism (left panel) or public anti-immigration sentiment (right panel).

🎉 Online first:

How do EU parties balance immigration and EU integration views in Parliament votes?

In this study, @miriamsorace.bsky.social and Natascha Zaun show parties stick to their immigration stance but shift with public opinion on EU integration.

doi.org/10.1080/0140...

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Homeownership and political efficacy: how housing wealth shapes whether people feel heard
doi.org/10.1080/0140...
Paper in @wepsocial.bsky.social by Associate Member @mhaslberger.bsky.social, @madselk.bsky.social and @nuffieldcollege.bsky.social Fellow @benansell.bsky.social

Homeownership and political efficacy: how housing wealth shapes whether people feel heard Why do some citizens feel that political institutions are responsive to people like them, while others do not? Existing research highlights the role of education and income in shaping external poli...

Just out in @wepsocial.bsky.social: how housing wealth shapes whether people feel heard. Together with @madselk.bsky.social and @benansell.bsky.social, I looked at a neglected determinant of political efficacy: homeownership.

Read the #OA paper: doi.org/10.1080/0140...

Quick overview below (1/5)

📖✅Our open access article 'Lipset and Rokkan meet data' on the electoral structuring of traditional #cleavages has been issued on @wepsocial.bsky.social
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Thrilled to see my joint work with Natascha Zaun published in @wepsocial.bsky.social 🎉 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... a 🧵...

The abstract of the article "The Ecologism/Productivism cleavage: reassessing the transformation of cleavage politics in Western Europe" by Florent Gougou and Simon Persico, published in the journal West European Politics.

Pairwise correlations between ecologism and four key political cleavages in public opinion across 12 Western european countries. Data: European Value Study 2017.

Figure showing theoretical argument about the sequence of formation of the productivism/ecologism cleavage linked to the productivist revolution.

🎉 Online first:

“The Ecologism/Productivism cleavage: reassessing the transformation of cleavage politics in Western Europe”

by Florent Gougou & Simon Persico

🔗 doi.org/10.1080/0140...

Same old, same old?

Germany held an early election after the implosion of the traffic-light coalition in Feb 25. Some takeaways from our election report @klingelt.bsky.social @wepsocial.bsky.social

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

Abstract of the article "Same old, same old? The return of the (not so) Grand Coalition after the 2025 German Bundestag election" by Thorsten Faas & Tristan Klingelhöfer. Published online first in West European Politics.

Time series graph of net government approval of the German government, by party, from 2022 through 2024.

🎉 Online first:

"Same old, same old? The return of the (not so) Grand Coalition after the 2025 German Bundestag election" by @wahlforschung.thorstenfaas.de & @klingelt.bsky.social

🔗 doi.org/10.1080/0140...

After 8️⃣ years as Social Media Editor of @wepsocial.bsky.social I am very happy to announce that @chdausgaard.bsky.social takes over from 1 January 2026 on. 🥳

It was a great pleasure to be part of @wepsocial.bsky.social journey & I thank the editors for the trust they have placed in me. 😊

Abstract of the article "Vote choices in the Council of the European Union 2010 to 2021" by Arash Pourebrahimi and Madeleine O. Hosli. Published online first in West European Politics.

Table 1, displaying the vote choice by EU member states in the Council between 2010 and 2021.

🎊 Online first: "Vote choices in the Council of the European Union 2010 to 2021" by @arash-p.bsky.social & Madeleine Hosli

🔗 doi.org/10.1080/0140...

Abstract of the article "Blame games, problem denial, and relational distance" by Thomas Elston, Christoper A. Cooper and Anna Bilous. Published online first in West European Politics.

Figure 2, displaying the predicted probabilities of accepting recommendations, with 95% confidence intervals.

Figure 3, displaying the probability of accepting recommendations as an interaction between core executive and media attention.

Figure 4, displaying the probability of accepting recommendations as an interaction between ministry and media attention.

🎉Online first: "Blame games, problem denial, and relational distance" by Thomas Elston, Christopher A. Cooper & Anna Bilous

doi.org/10.1080/0140...

🎉 Excited to share that our article “Adopting restriction: how coalition governments respond to radical right parties” (with @fabioellger.bsky.social) has won the Gordon Smith & Vincent Wright Memorial Prize 2025 from @wepsocial.bsky.social 🏆

The Gordon Smith and Vincent Wright Memorial Prizes Explore the article collection: The Gordon Smith and Vincent Wright Memorial Prizes. Published in West European Politics.

🎉 The Gordon Smith & Vincent Wright Memorial Prizes 2025 have been awarded to @fabioellger.bsky.social & @heikekluever.bsky.social and Marie Kübler!

The full announcement can be found here:
🔗 www.tandfonline.com/journals/fwe...