Mike Cowburn
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mikecowburn.bsky.social
Mike Cowburn
@mikecowburn.bsky.social
Research Fellow, @demolaw.bsky.social, Zeppelin Universität

Intra-Party Politics | Candidate Selection | Legislative Politics | PolComm | Primaries

Author: Party Transformation in Congressional Primaries https://tinyurl.com/4w6tfvjx

www.mikecowburn.com
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🎉📖Book release day 📖🎉

My first book, "Party Transformation in Congressional Primaries: Faction and Ideology in the Twenty-First Century" is published TODAY by Cambridge University Press.

You can buy a copy here: tinyurl.com/4w6tfvjx. Use the code in the flyer below to get 20% off.
Reposted by Mike Cowburn
Who shares which sources on social media, and why does this matter politically? Our open-access @polcommjournal.bsky.social article shows how far-right French Twitter/X users strategically post and cite sources to achieve their goals. doi.org/10.1080/1058... #polisky #commsky #migcitsky A 🧵:
November 21, 2025 at 7:19 AM
Reposted by Mike Cowburn
🚨🎉Announcing our project's first publication🎉🚨

"Laws as Blades: A Conceptual Framework of Legislative Design" is now available open access in @policysciences.bsky.social

Funded by @erc.europa.eu

doi.org/10.1007/s110....
Laws as blades: A conceptual framework of legislative design - Policy Sciences
Legislation shapes every aspect of public life and stands at the core of governance. Despite sustained attention on a variety of aspects of legislation, we still lack a comprehensive and integrated fr...
doi.org
November 12, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Reposted by Mike Cowburn
📊 𝗘𝗨𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗫 dataset update!

💻 We updated complexity data to 𝟭,𝟬𝟯𝟮 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀, including entirely new data on 𝟴𝟭𝟱 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀. The dataset now includes legislative procedures from 𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟵𝟵𝟯 𝘁𝗼 𝗢𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱.

📎 The data are now available for download at www.euplex.org/data
Latest dataset - EUPLEX
EUPLEX is a DFG-funded research project at the Geschwister-Scholl-Institute for Polittical Science at LMU Munich. The project, led by Dr. Steffen Hurka at LMU Munich, is dedicated to the questions of ...
www.euplex.org
November 19, 2025 at 7:31 AM
Narrowly passed then…
Bill to release the Epstein files passes the House 427 to 1
November 18, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Reposted by Mike Cowburn
Our long-awaited Fall 2025 issue, "Football Politics," is finally out! And just in time for the final round of the qualifying matches for #FIFAWorldCup #WorldCup #WeAre26.

It is available to read on @projectmuse.bsky.social
🔗 muse.jhu.edu/issue/5...

1/2
November 17, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Reposted by Mike Cowburn
Those claiming Dems should retreat on racial justice aren't hard-headed realists, they're pushing against the electoral tide rather than leaning into it. The story of Gen Z isn't about racist backlash or red-pilled young men. It's the most racially progressive generation in American history. 🧵
November 14, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Reposted by Mike Cowburn
Black Mirror: in this episode I invented the Dead Person AI as a cautionary tale

Tech Company: At long last, we have created the Dead Person AI from the classic Black Mirror episode, Don't Create The Dead Person AI
Nightmarish idea for a startup tbh
November 14, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Reposted by Mike Cowburn
CfP is online! We particularly encourage submissions from early-career researchers (MA students, PhD candidates, postdocs) and scholars interested in interdisciplinary exchange. June 11-13! www.atlantische-akademie.de/aktuelles/ak...
Call for Papers: Crisis and Continuity: The Declaration of Independence 250 Years On
As the United States marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, this milestone invites critical reflection on the endurance, evolution, and contestation of its core democratic ide...
www.atlantische-akademie.de
November 13, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Political scientists in Europe (& beyond) working on topics related to the U.S., consider submitting to the DGfA PolSci Conference 2025 in beautiful Freiburg next June!
Now welcoming paper and panel submissions: www.atlantische-akademie.de/aktuelles/ak...
Supported by @atlantakademie.bsky.social
Call for Papers: Crisis and Continuity: The Declaration of Independence 250 Years On
As the United States marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, this milestone invites critical reflection on the endurance, evolution, and contestation of its core democratic ide...
www.atlantische-akademie.de
November 13, 2025 at 8:57 AM
Reposted by Mike Cowburn
📣 The first publication from the DEMOLAW team is out today! 📣

Check out the below thread and follow us for further news and publications from the project. #polisky
November 12, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Reposted by Mike Cowburn
@lkseiling.bsky.social & @markscott.bsky.social plea in @techpolicypress.bsky.social for a new data access regime emerging from a "generation of decentralized platforms that treat data transparency not as a regulatory burden but as a civic and scientific good"

www.techpolicy.press/in-critical-...
In Critical Condition – How To Stabilize Researcher Data Access? | TechPolicy.Press
Mark Scott and LK Seiling discuss the struggle for researcher access to social media data and an alternative future where transparency is seen as a civic good.
www.techpolicy.press
November 12, 2025 at 7:44 PM
📣 The first publication from the DEMOLAW team is out today! 📣

Check out the below thread and follow us for further news and publications from the project. #polisky
November 12, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Reposted by Mike Cowburn
🚨🎉New Publication Friday 🎉🚨

Campaigning in the Age of Platforms: A Longitudinal Analysis of German Parties & Politicians

w/ @ulrikeklinger.bsky.social & @andersoloflarsson.bsky.social

Out now in Political Communication.

#polisky #commsky

doi.org/10.1080/1058...
Campaigning in the Age of Platforms: A Longitudinal Analysis of German Parties & Politicians
Social media platforms now play a central role in election campaigns for parties and politicians. Yet comparatively little research has compared how these actors use these platforms during and outs...
doi.org
November 7, 2025 at 1:31 PM
🚨🎉New Publication Friday 🎉🚨

Campaigning in the Age of Platforms: A Longitudinal Analysis of German Parties & Politicians

w/ @ulrikeklinger.bsky.social & @andersoloflarsson.bsky.social

Out now in Political Communication.

#polisky #commsky

doi.org/10.1080/1058...
Campaigning in the Age of Platforms: A Longitudinal Analysis of German Parties & Politicians
Social media platforms now play a central role in election campaigns for parties and politicians. Yet comparatively little research has compared how these actors use these platforms during and outs...
doi.org
November 7, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Reposted by Mike Cowburn
🇳🇱🗳️ Sondage sorti des urnes @IpsosNL pour les élections législatives aux Pays-Bas :

🟡D66 (progressistes) 27, +18
⚫️PVV (extrême-droite) 25, -12
🔵VVD (libéraux) 23, -1
🟣GL-PvdA (gauche écologiste) 20, -5
🟡CDA (chrétiens-démocrates) 19, +14
⚫️JA21 (droite radicale) 9, +8
October 29, 2025 at 8:03 PM
For the second time this postseason I (in Europe) have woken up and they are still playing baseball. ⚾️
October 28, 2025 at 5:17 AM
Reposted by Mike Cowburn
The @ec.europa.eu preliminarily finds TikTok and Meta in breach of transparency obligations under the Digital Services Act.

The EC also finds that Meta and TikTok have put in place "burdensome procedures and tools for researchers to request access to public data."

ec.europa.eu/commission/p...
Commission preliminarily finds TikTok and Meta in breach of their transparency obligations under the Digital Services Act
Today, the European Commission preliminarily found both TikTok and Meta in breach of their obligation to grant researchers adequate access to public data under the Digital Services Act (DSA).
ec.europa.eu
October 24, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Reposted by Mike Cowburn
Now out in Party Politics 🎉

Our study (@jbpilet.bsky.social)suggests that when a mainstream right-wing party signals willingness to rule with the radical right, support for the radical right rises — while the mainstream gains nothing.
👉 A legitimisation effect.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
October 24, 2025 at 7:38 AM
Reposted by Mike Cowburn
Senator Merkley is on hour 20 of reading How Democracies Die, mixed w commentary, on u.s. senate floor
October 22, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Reposted by Mike Cowburn
If you've been reading that fantastic new paper by @dasalgon.bsky.social & @tevoelker.bsky.social on how mainstream parties lose if they adopt far-right issues:
We looked at a case study & found similar dynamics for media.
This was partly based on data from Daniel & Teresa!❤️
bsky.app/profile/curd...
October 20, 2025 at 8:28 AM
Reposted by Mike Cowburn
Job Alert! We are hiring two post-docs (full time, 4+ years) in our project SCEPTIC - Social, Computational and Ethical Premises of Trust and Informational Cohesion with @annanosthoff.bsky.social @guzoch.bsky.social and Prof. Andreas Peters (uol.de/informatik/s...)
October 17, 2025 at 9:15 AM
Reposted by Mike Cowburn
This is an essential. "Democrats need to beat the Trumpists in elections that we ensure are free" is the best strategy for the next 2-4 years. But it is not a long-term strategy! The only possible long-term strategy is that someone else needs to defeat the Trumpists for control of the Repub Party.
“Win every election” is not a viable strategy for preventing authoritarianism
October 13, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Reposted by Mike Cowburn
Very good news from the east of Germany, where the far-right (AfD) has its strongest base - the AfD got soundly defeated in two mayoral elections, in places where they were trying to use the presence of people seeking asylum as a decisive issue. Many voters rejected that outlook. That's hopeful.
Wieder ein schlechter Tag für die AfD im Osten.
Deklassiert in der OB-Stichwahl in Frankfurt (Oder) und sogar in Eisenhüttenstadt - wo sie sich echte Hoffnung machte - deutlich verloren.
October 13, 2025 at 6:58 AM
Reposted by Mike Cowburn
Happening this morning at the @wzb.bsky.social conference, straight after @catherinedevries.bsky.social‘s opening keynote.
After a great evening at the first @wzb.bsky.social conference on the future of democracy I’m looking forward to the first full day first tomorrow. I’m presenting work (w/ @curdknupfer.bsky.social & @yunkangyang.bsky.social) at 9:30am in B001

mikecowburn.com/wp-content/u...
October 9, 2025 at 5:17 AM