The Loop
banner
ecprtheloop.bsky.social
The Loop
@ecprtheloop.bsky.social
👩🏾‍💻 A political science blog site from ECPR, the European Consortium for Political Research.

🔲 Showcasing political science at its best. Get your research noticed beyond the academy http://theloop.ecpr.eu

⬛ ...and follow ECPR @ecpr.bsky.social
Reposted by The Loop
Really pleased that @ecprtheloop.bsky.social have published my blog setting out my research around how well politicians understand which issues matter to voters, why they sometimes get it wrong, and how this misperceptions play out in real life decisions theloop.ecpr.eu/how-well-do-...
How well do politicians understand what matters to voters?
Politicians need to have a good understanding of which issues matters most to voters. Chris Butler reports from a recent survey of politicians that
theloop.ecpr.eu
January 16, 2026 at 2:29 PM
🕊️ A fair and durable #PeaceSettlement for Ukraine remains elusive. According to Dennis Shen, an outcome that is overly accommodating of Russia’s war aims would only deepen present global geopolitical tensions and compound fiscal and economic challenges

⤵️ bit.ly/4jAEy1U
A just peace settlement for Ukraine remains elusive
Donald Trump has recently suggested negotiators have made 'tremendous progress' on a Russia-Ukraine peace agreement. A fair and durable settlement, however, remains elusive. According to Dennis Shen, ...
bit.ly
January 14, 2026 at 9:51 AM
🪖 On 3 January 2026, US military invaded Venezuela, capturing and removing president #NicolásMaduro.
💡 But @vasabjit.bsky.social and @maripuerta.com caution that beyond the ousting of Maduro, the Trump administration doesn't appear to have a plan for sustaining a democratic regime
👇 bit.ly/4pznACr
Trump’s strategy for Venezuela must include civil-military relations
On 3 January 2026, US military invaded Venezuela, capturing and removing president Nicolás Maduro. But Vasabjit Banerjee and María Isabel Puerta Riera
bit.ly
January 14, 2026 at 9:50 AM
🚁 The US capture and extraction of Venezuelan leader #NicolásMaduro on 3 January 2026 was an act without precedent.
🌐 But in his new piece for The Loop, Ruairidh Brown argues that recent events in #Caracas were only the second Act in an unfolding post-exceptionalist world order
⤵️ bit.ly/49zgdoD
Kyiv, Caracas... Taipei? The unfolding post-exceptionalist world order
The US capture and extraction of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on 3 January 2026 was an act without precedent. But Ruairidh Brown argues that recent
bit.ly
January 14, 2026 at 9:16 AM
Reposted by The Loop
I did this job for a few years. Always fascinating.
Call for Co-Editor of @pdyearbook.bsky.social (PDY) - deadline 31st of January 2026.

✅ Are you passionate about data and analysis?
✅ Do you have a strong research background in political parties and governments in Europe and beyond?

Find out how to apply - https://cup.org/4soRGLQ
January 12, 2026 at 6:50 AM
🎈No.5 Émilie Frenkiel introduces a pioneering #DeliberativeDemocracy project inviting university students & staff to develop measures to future-proof their institution against social and environmental challenges, bridging the #RepresentativeDisconnect between citizens & institutions bit.ly/4jBg7Bn
🎈 How a student citizens' assembly in France is reshaping a Parisian university
A pioneering new deliberative democracy project invites university students, faculty and administrative staff to develop transformative measures to future-proof their institution against social and en...
bit.ly
January 12, 2026 at 9:38 AM
Reposted by The Loop
Archive content from the European Political Science is now available on Cambridge Core -

https://cup.org/4poSDRx

cc @ecprtheloop.bsky.social @epsjournal.bsky.social
January 9, 2026 at 5:30 AM
🪧 Many #extremist organisations operate in democratic societies. Some get banned; others don’t. Why?
📜 Using data from Germany, Michel Zeller of @ecpr-ead.bsky.social explains why governments ban only some of the organisations working to undermine constitutional democracy
#extremism
⤵️ bit.ly/3YuECH0
Why democracies ban extremist organisations
Many extremist organisations exist and operate in democratic societies. Some get banned by democratic authorities; others don’t. Why? Using data on far-right organisations from Germany, Michael Zeller...
bit.ly
January 8, 2026 at 9:49 AM
🌐 The #TrumpAdministration is advancing an #illiberal #Atlanticism that reimagines the West in manners uncannily similar to how #Putin imagines Eurasia.
🌎 @sunsibei.bsky.social considers what this means for future transatlantic relations.
#illiberalism #Eurasianism
⤵️ bit.ly/4b8eqtl
Trump’s version of Atlanticism mirrors Putin’s Eurasianism
The Trump administration is advancing an illiberal Atlanticism that reimagines the West in manners similar to how Putin imagines Eurasia. Sibei Sun dissects the uncanny parallels between the two geopo...
bit.ly
January 8, 2026 at 9:21 AM
🚗 The UK’s car-centric transport policy undermines accessibility, pushing millions into effective poverty through forced car ownership.
🚌 @wedmonds98.bsky.social argues that prioritising #PublicTransport, and equalising accessibility, would break Britain's reliance on the car.
⤵️ bit.ly/49GkFDg
The social cost of the UK’s approach to transport policy
The UK’s car- and London-centric transport policy undermines accessibility. It is pushing millions into effective poverty and entrenching transport emissions through forced car ownership. Will Edmonds...
bit.ly
January 7, 2026 at 9:24 AM
👨‍💻 In a piece based on @polbehavior.bsky.social research, @chrisbutlerpol.bsky.social reports on his survey of politicians.
💡 He finds that while politicians do have reasonable understanding of which issues matter, they often make mistakes that have consequences for representation
👇 bit.ly/3KZhugI
How well do politicians understand what matters to voters?
Politicians need to have a good understanding of which issues matters most to voters. Chris Butler reports from a recent survey of politicians that
bit.ly
January 6, 2026 at 9:32 AM
👨‍💻 Information warfare has moved to the centre of the UK's security agenda.
🖥️ Media monitoring reveals how digital manipulation and foreign interference now shape public understanding of risk.
⌨️ Yuliia Turchenko weighs up the threat - and suggests how the UK should respond.
⤵️ bit.ly/4plPSjM
How information warfare is transforming the UK’s security landscape
Information warfare has moved to the centre of the UK’s security agenda, says Yuliia Turchenko. Media monitoring reveals how digital manipulation and foreign interference now shape public understandin...
bit.ly
December 31, 2025 at 9:24 AM
🎈#RepresentativeDisconnect No.5
@suleyaylaci.bsky.social, Edana Beauvais & Mark E. Warren show how #DemocraticInnovations help elites tackle inclusion gaps, agenda-setting dilemmas and decision-making deadlocks.
The authors also highlight the risks of co-optation & #DemocracyWashing
👇 bit.ly/4paqmOh
🎈 Why elected elites might reach for democratic innovations
Elected politicians face rising mistrust, gridlock, and citizen disengagement. In their research, Şule Yaylaci, Edana Beauvais and Mark E. Warren show how democratic innovations can help elites tackle...
bit.ly
December 30, 2025 at 9:01 AM
Reposted by The Loop
Great to see our (with @ainvernizzi.bsky.social) blog post published on The Loop!

It builds on research published here: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
December 23, 2025 at 9:13 AM
🕌 Gülşen Doğan argues that Türkiye’s long crisis reveals a new way of governing, one that stretches liberal rules without fully abandoning them.
🌆 Cities like Istanbul keep democratic options alive even as national politics turns in a more authoritarian direction
👇 bit.ly/4aBnbMa
What Türkiye reveals about post-liberal governance
Gülşen Doğan argues that Türkiye’s long crisis reveals a new way of governing that stretches liberal rules without fully abandoning them. Cities like Istanbul can keep democratic options alive even as...
bit.ly
December 29, 2025 at 10:09 AM
Reposted by The Loop
@ecprtheloop.bsky.social invites pitches for the Future of Populism blog series, co-edited by @petraguasti.bsky.social and myself.

Nearly 100 blogs have been published so far.

🔍 Any country, method, approach.

🎓 PhD students & ECRs especially encouraged.

✍️ Submit via The Loop 👉 lnkd.in/ghAy6s96
December 22, 2025 at 11:40 AM
The rapid contraction of EU presence in #Sahel has sparked debate over Europe’s diminishing influence.
EU capacity building in #SahelNiger, says Elise Ketelaars, offers lessons for EU Common Security & Defence Policy design – and for crisis management & security sector reform efforts
bit.ly/3MJVy9Q
Lessons from Sahel Niger for EU crisis management
The rapid contraction of EU presence in the Sahel has sparked debate over Europe’s diminishing influence. But what did these missions get right? And what did they get wrong? EU capacity building in Sa...
bit.ly
December 24, 2025 at 8:21 AM
💰 Trump’s 2025 tariff shock marks a turn toward a near-isolationist US #TradePolicy.
💱Yet, in their piece based on @iojournal.bsky.social research,
@andduer.bsky.social & @ainvernizzi.bsky.social argue the international trading system is likely to weather the storm.
#TrumpTariffs
⤵️ bit.ly/4pPsGeG
Will the global trading system weather Trump 2.0?
Trump’s 2025 tariff shock marks a sharp turn toward a near-isolationist US trade policy. Yet given that US protectionism is expected to ease, Andreas Dür and Alessia Invernizzi argue that the internat...
bit.ly
December 23, 2025 at 9:02 AM
💪 Through strongman toughness or maternal guardianship, populists model idealised versions of a nation’s citizens + they naturalise exclusion.
♀️♂️ Selina Mabrouki of @ecprgender.bsky.social shows how #populist leaders exploit gendered role models as tools of emotional persuasion.
👉 bit.ly/44HLcNH
Strongmen and mother-figures: role models in today’s populist politics
Populist leaders don’t just claim to represent the people – they embody them. Through strongman toughness or maternal guardianship, populists model idealised versions of a nation’s citizens, and they ...
bit.ly
December 22, 2025 at 10:30 AM
🎈 #RepresentativeDisconnect No.4
🔗 Can we re-establish the connection between political institutions + citizens?
🔃 Dario Castiglione says we must first rethink democratic representation as a process of mutual engagement; then re-imagine its political practices + institutions.
👉 bit.ly/4pXC3ta
🎈 Who elected Mark Rutte? Representation as political engagement
In his introductory piece for this series, Luca Verzichelli asked whether we can re-establish a connection between political institutions and citizens. Dario Castiglione suggests we can. But first, we...
bit.ly
December 22, 2025 at 9:26 AM
🗳️ New NYC mayor #ZohranMamdani's electoral campaign prioritised face-to-face interactions with voters. 
🗣️ Portia Roelofs argues that this is a standard part of Nigerian political practice + offers the potential for a new kind of accountability.
👉 bit.ly/48MiPQV
Nigerians have a name for what Zohran Mamdani is doing: accessibility
The new Mayor of New York’s electoral campaign prioritised face-to-face interactions with voters. Western commentators have struggled to find a language for this new ‘politics of listening’. Portia Ro...
bit.ly
December 19, 2025 at 10:33 AM
📣 Applications are OPEN for the 5th edition of the Summer School of @ecpr-ead.bsky.social

📆 6–10 Jul 2026, University of Bologna @unibo.it

✅ 5 teaching days
✅ 2 keynote speeches
✅ Networking opportunities + more!

⌛ Find out more and apply by 25 Feb ecpr.eu/Events/353
Learn more
Summer School of the Standing Group on Extremism and Democracy, University of Bologna, 6 – 10 July 2026
ecpr.eu
December 19, 2025 at 10:00 AM
🌈 #GenderingDemocracy No.33
💭 #DigitalViolence research must account for its metapolitical dimension.
🗣️ @ilheenk.bsky.social of @ecprgender.bsky.social reveals how proponents of the far-right metapolitical project are shaping public discourse to fit their anti-democratic interests. 👉 bit.ly/4j3e4pL
🌈 Metapolitical digital wars on gender, race, and queer life
Research on digital violence must account for its metapolitical dimension. Silvia Díaz Fernández reveals how proponents of the far-right metapolitical project are shaping public discourse to fit their...
bit.ly
December 19, 2025 at 9:25 AM
#ConstraintsOnAcademicFreedom No.13
Birzeit University in the #WestBank recently halted teaching to mourn one of its students, killed by Israeli gunfire nearby. The case, says Serena Fraiese, reveals how freedom crumbles in the world outside academe before it even reaches campus.
👉 bit.ly/4rUIj66
⛓️ Academic freedom begins on the streets
On 23 November 2025, Birzeit University in the Palestinian West Bank halted all teaching to mourn one of its law students, killed by Israeli gunfire in a nearby village. The case, says Serena Fraiese,...
bit.ly
December 18, 2025 at 9:52 AM
Reposted by The Loop
@ecprtheloop.bsky.social features an article on our recent Special Issue "The Complexity of Nuclear (Dis)ordering" in @cambridgecria.bsky.social. The full issue is available (open access) at www.tandfonline.com/toc/ccam20/3...
December 16, 2025 at 4:45 PM