Dimiter Toshkov
@dtoshkov.bsky.social
comparative politics, European Union governance, research methods and design, data visualization, bureaucracy and public administration
Pinned
Dimiter Toshkov
@dtoshkov.bsky.social
· Mar 14
How do attitudes to 🇪🇺 European integration relate to political ideology and policy preferences?
A major update of my study:
- I added the latest 2023 ESS data for citizens and 2024 CHES data for parties
- I built an app to explore these relationships across datasets, indicators, years & countries
A major update of my study:
- I added the latest 2023 ESS data for citizens and 2024 CHES data for parties
- I built an app to explore these relationships across datasets, indicators, years & countries
It's quite absurd that there is no funding to keep ParlGov updated: this is essential data infrastructure for political science! No funder is interested in keeping the data backbone of comparative politics alive, while millions get spent on all kinds of BS. Ridiculous!
Just learned that Holger Döring retired from ParlGov in October.
If I'm not misreading his message, then this great resource will not be updated anymore 🖤
parlgov.org/2024/10/01/r...
If I'm not misreading his message, then this great resource will not be updated anymore 🖤
parlgov.org/2024/10/01/r...
Retiring from ParlGov - ParlGov project
parlgov.org
November 24, 2025 at 1:12 PM
It's quite absurd that there is no funding to keep ParlGov updated: this is essential data infrastructure for political science! No funder is interested in keeping the data backbone of comparative politics alive, while millions get spent on all kinds of BS. Ridiculous!
Reposted by Dimiter Toshkov
The deadline (10 December) for the call for papers and panels for the 13th biennial SGEU conference (1-3 July 2026, Università di Catania) is approaching fast!
Submit your panels and papers to one of 18 sections via the
@ecpr.bsky.social webpage: ecpr.eu/Events/341.
Submit your panels and papers to one of 18 sections via the
@ecpr.bsky.social webpage: ecpr.eu/Events/341.
13th Biennial Conference of the SGEU, Università di Catania, 1 – 3 July 2026
European Consortium for Political Research
ecpr.eu
November 21, 2025 at 9:34 AM
The deadline (10 December) for the call for papers and panels for the 13th biennial SGEU conference (1-3 July 2026, Università di Catania) is approaching fast!
Submit your panels and papers to one of 18 sections via the
@ecpr.bsky.social webpage: ecpr.eu/Events/341.
Submit your panels and papers to one of 18 sections via the
@ecpr.bsky.social webpage: ecpr.eu/Events/341.
🤩 Party positions in the 2024 European Parliament 🇪🇺!
I merged the CHES expert survey with EP composition data to visualize the political space of the current EP. The graphs make the center of gravity in the EP quite clear, on multiple dimensions and policy issues.
dimiter.shinyapps.io/ches/
I merged the CHES expert survey with EP composition data to visualize the political space of the current EP. The graphs make the center of gravity in the EP quite clear, on multiple dimensions and policy issues.
dimiter.shinyapps.io/ches/
November 19, 2025 at 8:33 AM
🤩 Party positions in the 2024 European Parliament 🇪🇺!
I merged the CHES expert survey with EP composition data to visualize the political space of the current EP. The graphs make the center of gravity in the EP quite clear, on multiple dimensions and policy issues.
dimiter.shinyapps.io/ches/
I merged the CHES expert survey with EP composition data to visualize the political space of the current EP. The graphs make the center of gravity in the EP quite clear, on multiple dimensions and policy issues.
dimiter.shinyapps.io/ches/
Reposted by Dimiter Toshkov
🌱 How do environmental protests affect public option? And what if they are disruptive? We have a 💫 new study 💫 out in the BJPS about public support for environmental protests. (cc @catherinedevries.bsky.social , @simonvanteutem.bsky.social ) Summary below 👇
NEW -
Public Support for Pro-environment and Environment-Critical Movements - https://cup.org/3XzCAEJ
- @dirckdekleer.bsky.social, @catherinedevries.bsky.social & @simonvanteutem.bsky.social
#OpenAccess
Public Support for Pro-environment and Environment-Critical Movements - https://cup.org/3XzCAEJ
- @dirckdekleer.bsky.social, @catherinedevries.bsky.social & @simonvanteutem.bsky.social
#OpenAccess
November 17, 2025 at 9:22 AM
🌱 How do environmental protests affect public option? And what if they are disruptive? We have a 💫 new study 💫 out in the BJPS about public support for environmental protests. (cc @catherinedevries.bsky.social , @simonvanteutem.bsky.social ) Summary below 👇
Reposted by Dimiter Toshkov
Our study on public immigration misperceptions is out! Prior research overstated their prevalence due to flawed measurement. Our new approach separates real misperceptions from uninformed guessing — showing they’re less common than widely assumed and ideologically motivated.
doi.org/10.1017/psrm...
doi.org/10.1017/psrm...
Beyond innumeracy: measuring public misperceptions about immigration | Political Science Research and Methods | Cambridge Core
Beyond innumeracy: measuring public misperceptions about immigration
doi.org
November 17, 2025 at 9:43 AM
Our study on public immigration misperceptions is out! Prior research overstated their prevalence due to flawed measurement. Our new approach separates real misperceptions from uninformed guessing — showing they’re less common than widely assumed and ideologically motivated.
doi.org/10.1017/psrm...
doi.org/10.1017/psrm...
Reviewer 2:
You have no definition of 'sanctions'. Also, I don't like your definition of 'sanctions'. 😂😡🥹
You have no definition of 'sanctions'. Also, I don't like your definition of 'sanctions'. 😂😡🥹
November 5, 2025 at 9:22 AM
Reviewer 2:
You have no definition of 'sanctions'. Also, I don't like your definition of 'sanctions'. 😂😡🥹
You have no definition of 'sanctions'. Also, I don't like your definition of 'sanctions'. 😂😡🥹
It is truly disappointing how small-minded some political scientists can be 😮💨. For a recent study on enforcement in the EU, we dug deep into the general literature on enforcement, which spans evolutionary psychology, anthropology, economic behavior, etc.
Here is what Reviewer 2 has to say:
Here is what Reviewer 2 has to say:
November 5, 2025 at 9:04 AM
It is truly disappointing how small-minded some political scientists can be 😮💨. For a recent study on enforcement in the EU, we dug deep into the general literature on enforcement, which spans evolutionary psychology, anthropology, economic behavior, etc.
Here is what Reviewer 2 has to say:
Here is what Reviewer 2 has to say:
This is some very thorough empirical work on judicial bias in Germany 👏
New paper with @mhamjediers.bsky.social
German judges have discretion to apply rehabilitative juvenile criminal law (Jugendstrafrecht) or punitive adult criminal law to 18–20-year-old offenders. We show that immigrant youths are ~10 percentage points less likely to be sentenced under juvenile law
German judges have discretion to apply rehabilitative juvenile criminal law (Jugendstrafrecht) or punitive adult criminal law to 18–20-year-old offenders. We show that immigrant youths are ~10 percentage points less likely to be sentenced under juvenile law
NEW -
Anti-Immigrant Bias in the Choice Between Punitive and Rehabilitative Justice - https://cup.org/49vUfVa
- @riazsascha.bsky.social & @mhamjediers.bsky.social
#OpenAccess
Anti-Immigrant Bias in the Choice Between Punitive and Rehabilitative Justice - https://cup.org/49vUfVa
- @riazsascha.bsky.social & @mhamjediers.bsky.social
#OpenAccess
November 4, 2025 at 5:02 PM
This is some very thorough empirical work on judicial bias in Germany 👏
For my course on Conflict and Representation in the EU, I made an interactive Shiny app that plots CHES party positions, for all countries, years (1999-2024) and (most) dimensions in the dataset. Enjoy!
dimiter.shinyapps.io/ches/
#polsci #Polisky #EUsky #Comparativesky #polbehaviorsky
dimiter.shinyapps.io/ches/
#polsci #Polisky #EUsky #Comparativesky #polbehaviorsky
November 3, 2025 at 9:32 AM
For my course on Conflict and Representation in the EU, I made an interactive Shiny app that plots CHES party positions, for all countries, years (1999-2024) and (most) dimensions in the dataset. Enjoy!
dimiter.shinyapps.io/ches/
#polsci #Polisky #EUsky #Comparativesky #polbehaviorsky
dimiter.shinyapps.io/ches/
#polsci #Polisky #EUsky #Comparativesky #polbehaviorsky
Reposted by Dimiter Toshkov
Planning a panel related to the EU 🇪🇺 or European integration for the next @ecpr.bsky.social General Conference (8-11 September 2026 in Krakow 🇵🇱)?
The section proposal on the EU is prepared by Adam Holesch (IBEI) and @nathaliebrack.bsky.social. Get in touch with them before 7 November to co-ordinate!
The section proposal on the EU is prepared by Adam Holesch (IBEI) and @nathaliebrack.bsky.social. Get in touch with them before 7 November to co-ordinate!
November 3, 2025 at 9:01 AM
Planning a panel related to the EU 🇪🇺 or European integration for the next @ecpr.bsky.social General Conference (8-11 September 2026 in Krakow 🇵🇱)?
The section proposal on the EU is prepared by Adam Holesch (IBEI) and @nathaliebrack.bsky.social. Get in touch with them before 7 November to co-ordinate!
The section proposal on the EU is prepared by Adam Holesch (IBEI) and @nathaliebrack.bsky.social. Get in touch with them before 7 November to co-ordinate!
Pedantic point, but the reported increases/decreases are not in % (percentages), as suggested by this @nieuws.nos.nl table, but in percentage *points*.
NSC lost 97% of its vote share, not 12.5%.
NSC lost 97% of its vote share, not 12.5%.
October 30, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Pedantic point, but the reported increases/decreases are not in % (percentages), as suggested by this @nieuws.nos.nl table, but in percentage *points*.
NSC lost 97% of its vote share, not 12.5%.
NSC lost 97% of its vote share, not 12.5%.
Affective polarization (negative/positive feelings towards voters of different parties), for prospective voters of D66 and CDA, as of june 2025. Dots show the averages per groups of party voters.
DD6 voters were much more negative towards JA21 than CDA voters were negative towards GL-PvdA voters.
DD6 voters were much more negative towards JA21 than CDA voters were negative towards GL-PvdA voters.
October 30, 2025 at 8:26 AM
Affective polarization (negative/positive feelings towards voters of different parties), for prospective voters of D66 and CDA, as of june 2025. Dots show the averages per groups of party voters.
DD6 voters were much more negative towards JA21 than CDA voters were negative towards GL-PvdA voters.
DD6 voters were much more negative towards JA21 than CDA voters were negative towards GL-PvdA voters.
Call me old-fashioned, but I find such open endorsement of political figures by university professors on professional social networks inappropriate.
It is actions like this one that erode the credibility of social scientists as independent experts.
It is actions like this one that erode the credibility of social scientists as independent experts.
October 28, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Call me old-fashioned, but I find such open endorsement of political figures by university professors on professional social networks inappropriate.
It is actions like this one that erode the credibility of social scientists as independent experts.
It is actions like this one that erode the credibility of social scientists as independent experts.
I find it quite remarkable that in the past 8 years, the Netherlands has had no regular government for 2.5 years, or 30% of the time.
For two-and-a-half years the country has been governed by 'demissionary' cabinets with a very limited mandate (prepare elections and take care of ongoing business).
For two-and-a-half years the country has been governed by 'demissionary' cabinets with a very limited mandate (prepare elections and take care of ongoing business).
October 28, 2025 at 11:28 AM
I find it quite remarkable that in the past 8 years, the Netherlands has had no regular government for 2.5 years, or 30% of the time.
For two-and-a-half years the country has been governed by 'demissionary' cabinets with a very limited mandate (prepare elections and take care of ongoing business).
For two-and-a-half years the country has been governed by 'demissionary' cabinets with a very limited mandate (prepare elections and take care of ongoing business).
Reposted by Dimiter Toshkov
Vandaag in Trouw: Veel kiezers steunen de democratie, maar niet iedereen verstaat hetzelfde onder "democratie". Waarom wil een grote groep kiezers een onbegrensde meerderheidsdemocratie? Lees mijn bijdrage (samen met @dtoshkov.bsky.social) hier: www.trouw.nl/opinie/opini...
Opinie: De steun voor democratie hangt af van haar resultaten
Het is niet zo gek dat burgers aandringen op een systeem van ‘de meerderheid beslist alles’, schrijven Lars Brummel en Dimiter Toshkov.
www.trouw.nl
October 20, 2025 at 7:55 AM
Vandaag in Trouw: Veel kiezers steunen de democratie, maar niet iedereen verstaat hetzelfde onder "democratie". Waarom wil een grote groep kiezers een onbegrensde meerderheidsdemocratie? Lees mijn bijdrage (samen met @dtoshkov.bsky.social) hier: www.trouw.nl/opinie/opini...
Reposted by Dimiter Toshkov
💡New publication in Governance @govjournal.bsky.social!
Read our article, together w/ @dtoshkov.bsky.social and Brendan Carroll, on the perceived legitimacy of region-specific crisis interventions in Germany and the Netherlands, here ➡️ doi.org/10.1111/gove...
Short summary of our main findings ⬇️
Read our article, together w/ @dtoshkov.bsky.social and Brendan Carroll, on the perceived legitimacy of region-specific crisis interventions in Germany and the Netherlands, here ➡️ doi.org/10.1111/gove...
Short summary of our main findings ⬇️
September 16, 2025 at 8:57 AM
💡New publication in Governance @govjournal.bsky.social!
Read our article, together w/ @dtoshkov.bsky.social and Brendan Carroll, on the perceived legitimacy of region-specific crisis interventions in Germany and the Netherlands, here ➡️ doi.org/10.1111/gove...
Short summary of our main findings ⬇️
Read our article, together w/ @dtoshkov.bsky.social and Brendan Carroll, on the perceived legitimacy of region-specific crisis interventions in Germany and the Netherlands, here ➡️ doi.org/10.1111/gove...
Short summary of our main findings ⬇️
Reposted by Dimiter Toshkov
🚨 New call for the SGEU FUTURE Grants! 🚨
Are you a PhD student doing research on 🇪🇺 European integration? Do you need financial support for your fieldwork?
If yes, apply to the new edition of the SGEU Future Grants.
Deadline is 30 September 2025. Details here:
ecpr.eu/news/news/de...
Are you a PhD student doing research on 🇪🇺 European integration? Do you need financial support for your fieldwork?
If yes, apply to the new edition of the SGEU Future Grants.
Deadline is 30 September 2025. Details here:
ecpr.eu/news/news/de...
New call for the SGEU FUTURE Grants
European Consortium for Political Research
ecpr.eu
July 16, 2025 at 8:03 AM
🚨 New call for the SGEU FUTURE Grants! 🚨
Are you a PhD student doing research on 🇪🇺 European integration? Do you need financial support for your fieldwork?
If yes, apply to the new edition of the SGEU Future Grants.
Deadline is 30 September 2025. Details here:
ecpr.eu/news/news/de...
Are you a PhD student doing research on 🇪🇺 European integration? Do you need financial support for your fieldwork?
If yes, apply to the new edition of the SGEU Future Grants.
Deadline is 30 September 2025. Details here:
ecpr.eu/news/news/de...
Reposted by Dimiter Toshkov
Why do people support policies that go against their interests?
Miroslav Nemčok and coauthors show that voters shift their views to match their party, even when that means supporting painful welfare cuts.
Out now in POQ: doi.org/10.1093/poq/...
@miroslavnemcok.bsky.social @hannawass.bsky.social
Miroslav Nemčok and coauthors show that voters shift their views to match their party, even when that means supporting painful welfare cuts.
Out now in POQ: doi.org/10.1093/poq/...
@miroslavnemcok.bsky.social @hannawass.bsky.social
July 15, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Why do people support policies that go against their interests?
Miroslav Nemčok and coauthors show that voters shift their views to match their party, even when that means supporting painful welfare cuts.
Out now in POQ: doi.org/10.1093/poq/...
@miroslavnemcok.bsky.social @hannawass.bsky.social
Miroslav Nemčok and coauthors show that voters shift their views to match their party, even when that means supporting painful welfare cuts.
Out now in POQ: doi.org/10.1093/poq/...
@miroslavnemcok.bsky.social @hannawass.bsky.social
There is a very strong support among people in Holland for an active role of the Dutch government in international cooperation and defence. There are also big, cross-partisan majorities in favor of increasing the defence budget and continuing sending weapons to Ukraine.
shorturl.at/svcZp
shorturl.at/svcZp
June 27, 2025 at 11:16 AM
There is a very strong support among people in Holland for an active role of the Dutch government in international cooperation and defence. There are also big, cross-partisan majorities in favor of increasing the defence budget and continuing sending weapons to Ukraine.
shorturl.at/svcZp
shorturl.at/svcZp
Reposted by Dimiter Toshkov
Two vacancies for assistant professor (tenure track) at our Department of Political Science. One on International Relations, the other on EU Politics and Governance.
I may be biased, but would 100% recommend applying. We are a warm, collegial, ambitious department.
werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies...
I may be biased, but would 100% recommend applying. We are a warm, collegial, ambitious department.
werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies...
Vacancy — 2 Assistant Professors: International Relations (option a) and EU Politics and Governance (option b
The Department of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam invites applications for two tenure-track Assistant Professor (Universitair Docent) positions in Political Science with a specializat...
werkenbij.uva.nl
May 23, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Two vacancies for assistant professor (tenure track) at our Department of Political Science. One on International Relations, the other on EU Politics and Governance.
I may be biased, but would 100% recommend applying. We are a warm, collegial, ambitious department.
werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies...
I may be biased, but would 100% recommend applying. We are a warm, collegial, ambitious department.
werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies...
Another consequence of granting ever more powers to the president is that a democratic transition becomes ever less likely. Do we really believe Republicans will accept a Democratic president with this sort of unchecked power in 4 years?
New, from me:
Quick explainer on why the Supreme Court (likely) decision to overturn Humphrey's Executor and move toward unitary executive theory will undermine any future efforts to rebuild state capacity.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/why-the-su...
Quick explainer on why the Supreme Court (likely) decision to overturn Humphrey's Executor and move toward unitary executive theory will undermine any future efforts to rebuild state capacity.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/why-the-su...
Why the Supreme Court decision on firing independent agency heads is a big deal
The demise of Humphrey's Executor and the rise of unitary executive theory
donmoynihan.substack.com
May 23, 2025 at 7:50 AM
Another consequence of granting ever more powers to the president is that a democratic transition becomes ever less likely. Do we really believe Republicans will accept a Democratic president with this sort of unchecked power in 4 years?
Reposted by Dimiter Toshkov
🚨 New publication 🚨 : Happy to share that my paper, "Losing Touch: The Rhetorical Cost of Governing" is now forthcoming at @cpsjournal.bsky.social. Short 🧵 about the paper here 👇 1/10
May 22, 2025 at 9:56 AM
🚨 New publication 🚨 : Happy to share that my paper, "Losing Touch: The Rhetorical Cost of Governing" is now forthcoming at @cpsjournal.bsky.social. Short 🧵 about the paper here 👇 1/10
Does anyone know what is the copyright status of the peer reviews of our work that we recieve from journals? Are we allowed to make them publicly available, legally speaking? What would be the consequnces of just posting the reviews online (other than pissing off the editors, obviously)?
May 21, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Does anyone know what is the copyright status of the peer reviews of our work that we recieve from journals? Are we allowed to make them publicly available, legally speaking? What would be the consequnces of just posting the reviews online (other than pissing off the editors, obviously)?
Great list of methodological results/advice articles
Gave a talk to our PhD students today, and feeling appreciative of all the recent methods work on improving common practices. Thanks to all the authors who work to make their work accessible, especially on social media.
A few articles we discussed:
A few articles we discussed:
April 7, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Great list of methodological results/advice articles
Last week I completed another edition of my short introductory course to R for social science PhD students @fggaleiden.bsky.social. The course covers fundamentals, data wrangling, data analysis (stat models) and data visualisation. All the slides are freely available at dimiter.eu/R-tutorial.h....
April 1, 2025 at 8:23 AM
Last week I completed another edition of my short introductory course to R for social science PhD students @fggaleiden.bsky.social. The course covers fundamentals, data wrangling, data analysis (stat models) and data visualisation. All the slides are freely available at dimiter.eu/R-tutorial.h....