Sign in

Duncan McDonnell

@duncanmcdonnell.com
3.6K followers 911 following 588 posts

Professor of Politics at Flinders University in Adelaide | 🇮🇪🇦🇺 | populism and party youth wings | duncanmcdonnell.com

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Duncan McDonnell
Sofia Ammassari @ammassarisofia.bsky.social · 13h
Oslo was 🔥 On Monday morning, @duncanmcdonnell.com & I discussed findings from our new book, “Youth Wings of the Populist Radical Right”, and our YOUMEM project at the European Wergeland Centre, which does great work to strengthen democratic resilience and civic education among young people.
181
Reposted by Duncan McDonnell
Stefan Müller @stefanmueller.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Our School of Politics and International Relations at @ucddublin.bsky.social is hiring two permanent (!) Assistant Professors in any field of political science, international relations, political theory, or development. Deadline: 9 November Start date: 30 August 2027 my.corehr.com/pls/coreport...

Lecturer/Assistant Professor in Politics and International Relations (x2), UCD School of Politics and International Relations, Permanent
Applications are invited for a permanent post of a Lecturer/Assistant Professor in Politics and International Relations (x2) within UCD School of Politics and International Relations.
 
The UCD School of Politics & International Relations (SPIRe) is a globally ranked, research-active school with teaching and research expertise across the fields of political science, international relations, normative political theory, international development, and other areas. It is committed to the highest standards in undergraduate and graduate teaching and research supervision. The school is home to a number of research centres, and further information can be found at: https://www.ucd.ie/spire/about/
 
95 Lecturer/Asst Professor Above The Bar (7943) Salary Scale: €66,055  - €104,600 per annum

Appointment will be made on scale and in accordance with the Department of Finance guidelines.
 
Closing date: 12:00 noon (local Irish time) on 9th November 2026.
 
Applications must be submitted by the closing date and time specified. Any applications which are still in progress at the closing time of 12:00 noon (Local Irish Time) on the specified closing date will be cancelled automatically by the system. UCD are unable to accept late applications.
 
UCD do not require assistance from Recruitment Agencies. Any CV's submitted by Recruitment Agencies will be returned.
15145
Duncan McDonnell @duncanmcdonnell.com · 24/09/2026
Landing in Bergen, where at 2 pm today, I’ll be giving a research seminar on our new book "Youth Wings of the Populist Radical Right" at @sampol.bsky.social in the University of Bergen.
081
Duncan McDonnell @duncanmcdonnell.com · 22/09/2026
Recently, I clocked up two important milestones: my 12th anniversary in Australia and my departure from Griffith University, where I'd spent all those 12 years. Spurred on by this, I've written a post on LinkedIn. I'm calling it “The ties that no longer bind”. www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...
2315
Duncan McDonnell @duncanmcdonnell.com · 14/09/2026
We've a new YOUMEM article out in Party Politics! Led by Henrik Seeberg, it looks at youth wing members' personal efficacy. We find this is associated with higher levels of: - member activism - youth wings' integration into the party - intra-party democracy journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
194
Duncan McDonnell @duncanmcdonnell.com · 09/09/2026
Yesterday morning, @ammassarisofia.bsky.social & I had a lot of fun presenting our new books at #ECPR26. Huge thanks to everyone who came, but especially to our discussants @caterinafr.bsky.social & @stijntvankessel.bsky.social, and our chair @leoniedejonge.bsky.social. You were great!
0223
Duncan McDonnell @duncanmcdonnell.com · 08/09/2026
This morning at 9.00 am, I’m discussing “Youth Wings of the Populist Radical Right” on a book panel in the opening session of #ecpr26: ecpr.eu/Events/Event... It’s the first of 5 events about the book we’ll be doing over the next 6 weeks. See below for more details. If you’re around, come along!
050
Duncan McDonnell @duncanmcdonnell.com · 07/09/2026
Tomorrow at 9.00 am, I’ll be discussing “Youth Wings of the Populist Radical Right” on a book panel in the opening session of #ecpr26: ecpr.eu/Events/Event... It’s the first of 5 events about the book we’ll be doing over the next 6 weeks. See below for more details. If you’re around, come along!
032
Duncan McDonnell @duncanmcdonnell.com · 05/09/2026
Starting the long trek to Kraków for the @ecpr.bsky.social General Conference. Have to say that the book selection at Brisbane Airport has really improved! 😀
0110
Reposted by Duncan McDonnell
Sofia Ammassari @ammassarisofia.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
It’s book tour time 💓 📖 🤸 I’m very excited to be heading back to Europe tomorrow for a little tour to talk about “Grassroots Women in the Populist Radical Right”!
1213
Duncan McDonnell @duncanmcdonnell.com · 03/09/2026
The introduction to “Youth Wings of the Populist Radical Right” is free to download! It begins with the story of Erwan Le Gouëllec, a Front National youth wing leader from 2000, whom I became mildly obsessed with. If you read the chapter, you’ll see why ;-) academic.oup.com/book/62992/c...
academic.oup.com
Introduction
Abstract. The first chapter introduces the main topics of the book, in addition to presenting the cases, methods, and key findings. Having discussed their
084
Duncan McDonnell @duncanmcdonnell.com · 01/09/2026
At 9.00 next Tuesday at #ECPR2026, @ammassarisofia.bsky.social & I will talk about our new books - on grassroots women and on young people in the radical right. With @caterinafr.bsky.social & @stijntvankessel.bsky.social discussing, and @leoniedejonge.bsky.social chairing, it should be lively!
1167
Reposted by Duncan McDonnell
Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Just arrived. Can’t wait to read it. And @duncanmcdonnell.com has clearly got a handle on my pet peeves. 😱
1161
Duncan McDonnell @duncanmcdonnell.com · 25/08/2026
I know you can't expect people to be able to keep up with Italian party name changes, but I'm baffled to see people questioning Meloni and Fratelli d'Italia's roots in the Italian extreme right. Folks, the clue's in the flame.
46322
Duncan McDonnell @duncanmcdonnell.com · 24/08/2026
My copies of "Youth Wings of the Populist Radical Right" finally made it to Australia. It's always nice to see the physical copy of your book. Especially when the journey from idea to publication took over a decade. I'm glad we persevered though, as I'm very proud of this. 🧵A wee thread below...
1165
Duncan McDonnell @duncanmcdonnell.com · 12/08/2026
For decades, youth wings rarely got more than a footnote in studies of party organisation, despite their importance for both the present and futures of parties. Now, there's an increasing amount of good work coming out about them, including this new study by the stars of Aarhus ⬇️
184
Duncan McDonnell @duncanmcdonnell.com · 12/08/2026
A proud moment. The first time I see a citation of my work that is AI-hallucinated. Marco & I did publish an article in 2014. But it was about technocrats and it came out in EJPR. Thankfully, we did not write anything about defining populism (especially since we now know it does not exist).
0110
Reposted by Duncan McDonnell
The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
The best YouTube channel ever made has just dropped another of the best YouTube videos ever made. www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGt7...
youtube.com
Johnny Depp's Bed
YouTube video by Bobby Fingers
1819264
Duncan McDonnell @duncanmcdonnell.com · 23/07/2026
It’s only a wee beach but, with a bit of effort, we can make it work. [Moorea, French Polynesia]
0150
Reposted by Duncan McDonnell
Cas Mudde @casmudde.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Still amazing to see this final product of a long and testing process. Thanks again to @duncanmcdonnell.com & @ammassarisofia.bsky.social for saving this project and turning all our work into a great book. 🙏 If you are interested in discussing the interesting findings, interview Duncan & Sofia!
0315
Duncan McDonnell @duncanmcdonnell.com · 21/07/2026
Very proud supervisor moment:
081
Reposted by Duncan McDonnell
The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
Been seven years since I first read this, on the English language's *completely universal but totally invisible* adjective hierarchy, and I can honestly say I've thought about it most days since.
Adjectives in English absolutely have to be in this order: opinion-size-shape-colour-origin-material-purpose Noun. So you da. Have a lovely little old rectangular green French silver whittling knife. But if you mess with that word order in the slightest you'll sound like a maniac. It's an odd thing that every English speaker uses that list, but almost none of us could write it out. And since since comes before colour, green great dragons can't exist."
- Mark Forsyth, quote from The Elements of Eloquence: How to turn the Perfect English Phrase
1202900777
Duncan McDonnell @duncanmcdonnell.com · 30/06/2026
I’ll be discussing our new book “Youth Wings of the Populist Radical Right” while on fieldwork in Europe later this year: 8/9: ECPR 🇵🇱 24/9: Bergen 🇳🇴 29/9: Oslo 🇳🇴 1/10: Sussex 🇬🇧 7/10: QMUL 🇬🇧 There’s room for 1 or 2 more, especially in England. If anyone is keen to host one, do get in touch!
0140
Reposted by Duncan McDonnell
Political Studies @polstudies.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Do youth wings produce the party members parties want? Niklas Bolin et al examine 5,000+ members, showing active participation matters more than time served. Read OPEN ACCESS: buff.ly/Mphqpok @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social #polsky #polsci #PoliticalParties
doi.org
The added value of youth wings: Do they nurture the members their parties want? - Niklas Bolin, Duncan McDonnell, Sofia Ammassari, Annika Werner, Marco Valbruzzi, Reinhard Heinisch, Ann-Cathrine Jungar, Carsten Wegscheider, 2026
Political parties expect youth wings to recruit and socialize young people into the norms and values of the party, nurturing aligned future grassroots members, ...
214
Duncan McDonnell @duncanmcdonnell.com · 24/06/2026
Our article “The Inverted Hierarchy: How Public Bias Can Favor Potential Indigenous Candidates” has been published in the ‘Countering Inequality’ special section of the latest issue of @poppublicsphere.bsky.social. 🎉 See the earlier thread from Josh below about what we did & what we think it means.
0114
Reposted by Duncan McDonnell
Perspectives on Politics @poppublicsphere.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
¡¡VOLUME 24, ISSUE 2 IS NOW OUT!! shorturl.at/AtRFj shorturl.at/jblyl Incl. work by @jennifermwelsh.bsky.social, @rbkhoury.bsky.social, @aasiegel.bsky.social, @emilykmscott.bsky.social, @mironovavera.bsky.social, @emamet.bsky.social, @jholloway.bsky.social, @duncanmcdonnell.com...
196
Reposted by Duncan McDonnell
Alexandre Afonso @alexandreafonso.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
I made a small visualisation of the birthplace and nation represented of players at the World Cup. Stunning 96(!) players born in France. You can play with it here: claude.ai/public/artif...
Network diagram on a dark green background titled "The Birthplace Map: World Cup 2026 Squads," with the subtitle "node size = degree (players + countries connected)." Gold circles represent the 48 World Cup nations and smaller grey-green circles represent countries that only supplied players without fielding their own team, positioned roughly according to real-world geography (Americas on the left, Africa and Europe in the center, Asia and Oceania on the right). Curved green lines connect birth countries to the nations players represent, with thicker lines indicating more players. France is the largest node by far, connected to 15 countries totaling 76 players, including thick lines to Algeria, Haiti, Senegal, Congo DR, and Côte d'Ivoire. The Netherlands is the second-largest hub, with an especially thick line to Curaçao (26 players). Other notable hubs include Germany, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Morocco, and the United Kingdom (split into England and Scotland). A legend at the bottom explains the gold/grey node colors and the line-width scale; a footer credits the source as worldcup.csv, 1,248 squad entries, 282 cross-border players.
45318
Duncan McDonnell @duncanmcdonnell.com · 18/06/2026
Coming up later today...my third conference presentation since Tuesday. I'll be talking about our YOUMEM project survey of over 5,000 youth wing members in 6 countries and how other researchers can use the dataset which we've made public and free to use.
040
Reposted by Duncan McDonnell
Sofia Ammassari @ammassarisofia.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
🥁 Exciting news: on 1 September I’ll start a new job as a Senior Lecturer at @flindersuniversity.bsky.social in Adelaide! I’ll be in good company: @duncanmcdonnell.com will be joining the same day as a Matthew Flinders Professor. In early 2027, @fravittonetto.bsky.social will begin as a post doc.
14584
Reposted by Duncan McDonnell
Cas Mudde @casmudde.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
What a great hire for @flindersuniversity.bsky.social , which directly makes itself the Australian knowledge hub on the global far right. Congratulations Sofia (and Duncan)!
0141
Duncan McDonnell @duncanmcdonnell.com · 17/06/2026
Big news day for us. @ammassarisofia.bsky.social has already done the serious posts about our move to Flinders on Bluesky and LinkedIn. We're not on X anymore, but apparently they've been going wild over there about one of the major moves of this year's Australian academic transfer season:
6241
Duncan McDonnell @duncanmcdonnell.com · 16/06/2026
After publishing "Youth Wings of the Populist Radical Right" yesterday, today we talked about it at the CES conference, with @dafnoukos.bsky.social & @pinheiromachado.bsky.social. Hopefully, some of our engaged audience will now read the book (which you can do here: academic.oup.com/book/62992)
1244
Reposted by Duncan McDonnell
Political Studies @polstudies.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
Do youth wings produce the party members parties want? Niklas Bolin et al examine 5,000+ members, showing active participation matters more than time served. Read OPEN ACCESS: buff.ly/Mphqpok @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social #polsky #polsci #PoliticalParties
Abstract
Political parties expect youth wings to recruit and socialize young people into the norms and values of the party, nurturing aligned future grassroots members, officials, and candidates. However, embeddedness in youth wings – understood in terms of membership length and activity levels – may not necessarily deliver this. In our study, we examine whether youth wings nurture the members parties want using YOUMEM survey data from over 5000 members of 12 youth wings in six countries. Specifically, we assess whether embeddedness is associated with greater ideological alignment and desire for long-term party engagement. We find that active members are more ideologically aligned and inclined to remain in the party, while passive members display the opposite trend. However, length of membership is associated with reduced aspirations among all for intra-party and public office. Our findings suggest that the added value of youth wings as future-oriented socialization vehicles for parties is less than generally assumed.
124
Reposted by Duncan McDonnell
C-REX @crexuio.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
New book by @duncanmcdonnell.com, @ammassarisofia.bsky.social, Ann-Cathrine Jungar, @casmudde.bsky.social and C-REX director @arjupskas.bsky.social on a topic we knew surprisingly little about: Youth Wings of the Populist Radical Right (OUP, 2026). academic.oup.com/book/62992
academic.oup.com
Youth Wings of the Populist Radical Right
Abstract. Many of today’s populist radical right (PRR) leaders in Europe came through their party’s youth wings. Yet, we know little about these organizati
0175
Duncan McDonnell @duncanmcdonnell.com · 16/06/2026
The new arrival was duly toasted early yesterday evening in Dublin. "Youth wings of the populist radical right", online now with OUP: academic.oup.com/book/62992
0140
Reposted by Duncan McDonnell
Cas Mudde @casmudde.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
I can truly say, “finally.” This has been a loooong journey, which would not have come to a successful ending without Duncan. I am very proud of this book, which shows that innovative and original research on (far-right) parties is possible and important. We need much more of it.
0384
Reposted by Duncan McDonnell
Anna-Sophie Heinze @asheinze.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
🎉 Publication Day! 🥳 And this one feels special: after many years of wondering about, studying, and learning from #PartyYouthWings, my comparative study on German PYWs is now out in @epsrjournal.bsky.social: doi.org/10.1017/S175... 🔓 #OpenAccess @ecpr.bsky.social
15417
Reposted by Duncan McDonnell
Duncan McDonnell @duncanmcdonnell.com · 15/06/2026
📘 Youth Wings of the Populist Radical Right is out today online with Oxford University Press! A wee thread about our new-born book 🧵 academic.oup.com/book/62992
academic.oup.com
Youth Wings of the Populist Radical Right
Abstract. Many of today’s populist radical right (PRR) leaders in Europe came through their party’s youth wings. Yet, we know little about these organizati
14214
Reposted by Duncan McDonnell
Sofia Ammassari @ammassarisofia.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Quick break from ECPG to say that "Youth Wings of the Populist Radical Right" is now out 🥳 We hope that this book (& mine) can pave the way for more research on the 'inside' of PRR parties. Understanding how they organise & mobilise is crucial to explaining their growing popularity & legitimacy.
0141
Duncan McDonnell @duncanmcdonnell.com · 15/06/2026
📘 Youth Wings of the Populist Radical Right is out today online with Oxford University Press! A wee thread about our new-born book 🧵 academic.oup.com/book/62992
academic.oup.com
Youth Wings of the Populist Radical Right
Abstract. Many of today’s populist radical right (PRR) leaders in Europe came through their party’s youth wings. Yet, we know little about these organizati
14214
Reposted by Duncan McDonnell
Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Holy shit, these people have no idea: The people launching the pogroms against immigrants in Belfast are loyalists, i.e. loyal to the British crown. They hate the concept of being Irish.
1242931642
Duncan McDonnell @duncanmcdonnell.com · 11/06/2026
All set for the 32 hour trip to do 3 presentations in Ireland. On Tuesday (16/6) at @ces-europe.bsky.social: @casmudde.bsky.social & I present "Youth wings of the populist radical right" (which comes out on Monday!). @dafnoukos.bsky.social will discuss, with @pinheiromachado.bsky.social chairing
180
Duncan McDonnell @duncanmcdonnell.com · 05/06/2026
A momentous week. 🥂 Monday: published an article in @polstudies.bsky.social Wednesday: published one in @politicsgenderj.bsky.social Friday: After 12 years, I resigned from Griffith. @ammassarisofia.bsky.social & I will join another university on 1 September. More about that next week 😉
4241
Duncan McDonnell @duncanmcdonnell.com · 04/06/2026
Another YOUMEM article published - the 2nd this week and the 7th in total from the project! In this one, led by @ammassarisofia.bsky.social, we look at women & men's perceptions of having acquired efficacy and greater political ambitions. The article is online & open access in Politics & Gender.
1124
Duncan McDonnell @duncanmcdonnell.com · 01/06/2026
Article no. 6 from the YOUMEM project now out! In this one, led by Niklas, we look at the 'added value' of youth wings in terms of shaping the young members that parties say they want.
132
Reposted by Duncan McDonnell
Sofia Ammassari @ammassarisofia.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
In today’s @aunz.theconversation.com, I write about how the rise of One Nation among women voters is part of a global far-right trend, rather than an Australian anomaly: theconversation.com/pauline-hans...
theconversation.com
Pauline Hanson attracting women voters? It’s part of a global far-right trend
Riding high on new opinion polling, Pauline Hanson is one of the women leading the charge for the far-right all over the world.
151
Reposted by Duncan McDonnell
Josh Holloway @jholloway.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
We've got a new paper out in the @ausjpolsci.bsky.social! We tracked the money behind minor parties and independents across electoral cycles. What we found confirms some key assumptions about political finance in Australia, but challenges others🧵
183
Reposted by Duncan McDonnell
Sofia Ammassari @ammassarisofia.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
6 years ago, I started asking a question that political science had largely ignored: how & why do women get involved in PRR parties as grassroots members? Today, my 1st book proposes an answer. Grassroots Women in the Populist Radical Right is now out online with OUP: academic.oup.com/book/62754
academic.oup.com
Grassroots Women in the Populist Radical Right
Abstract. This book investigates women’s involvement as members of populist radical right (PRR) parties. The latter have long been characterised as ‘men’s
410939
Duncan McDonnell @duncanmcdonnell.com · 04/05/2026
Contract signed! Coming out in 2027 with Melbourne University Publishing (MUP): "Indigenous Participation and Representation in Australia's Major Parties" - the result of many years of research by Michelle Evans & me.
0223