iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Fabian Habersack @fabianhabersack.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

Finally got around to updating my website, with a little help from some vibe-coding. Feel free to have a look around: www.fabianhabersack.com

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Fabian Habersack @fabianhabersack.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

All good things must come to an end... 😊 Today, we wrapped up our workshop at the ECPR Joint Sessions 2026 in Innsbruck on “Blurring or Accident? Voluntary and Involuntary Sources of Ambiguous Party Positions and Their Consequences for Democracy.” #ecprjs26

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European Journal of Political Research @ejprjournal.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

🌀 Political parties often adjust their strategies on emerging issues to broaden their support or 🗳️ regain lost voters ⚠️ However, this can be a risky move, especially if parties misjudge their electoral potential, writes @fabianhabersack.bsky.social 👉 bit.ly/41Yx1TL @ecprpovb.bsky.social

bit.ly

How voter availability shapes parties’ policy priorities

Political parties often adjust their policies to address emerging issues, or to attract — or regain — support. However, warns Fabian Habersack, such strategic pivots carry significant risks,…

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Sophie Mainz @sophiemainz.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

Happy that my article just published in PSRM! In "Inclusion to Exclude“, I show that when politicians invoke women's rights to justify anti-immigration positions, it shifts citizens' policy preferences - but differently so depending on their prior views. doi.org/10.1017/psrm... [Thread below]

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Fabian Habersack @fabianhabersack.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

Heute im Büro angekommen: das Jahrbuch Extremismus & Demokratie 2025 – mit unserem Beitrag (gemeinsam mit @cwegscheider.bsky.social) zur ehemaligen „Jungen Alternative“. Darin analysieren wir die #JA als Versuchslabor und Kaderschmiede der AfD von 2013 bis 2025. 🤓 👉 doi.org/10.5771/9783...

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Annika Werner @profannikawerner.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

💥 Last year ended with super exciting news 💥 “𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴’ 𝘐𝘥𝘦𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴: 𝘌𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘉𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘈𝘥𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘴” with the amazing @fabianhabersack.bsky.social was published in 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐉𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 📚✨ (1/4) ➡️ shorturl.at/kVBSq

cambridge.org

Parties’ Ideological Cores and Peripheries: Examining How Parties Balance Adaptation and Continuity in Their Manifestos | British Journal of Political Science | Cambridge Core

Parties’ Ideological Cores and Peripheries: Examining How Parties Balance Adaptation and Continuity in Their Manifestos - Volume 55

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Political Science Research and Methods @psrm.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

🪙Do politicians signal partisan conflict through what they say? ➡️ Using Danish parliamentary debates, @mathiasoestergaard.bsky.social & @fghjorth.bsky.social show that vocal pitch signals partisan polarization, revealing the strategic use of nonverbal cues cambridge.org/core/journal... #FirstView

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British Journal of Political Science @bjpols.bsky.social · 15/12/2025

NEW - Parties’ Ideological Cores and Peripheries: Examining How Parties Balance Adaptation and Continuity in Their Manifestos - cup.org/4rXxRuH - @profannikawerner.bsky.social & @fabianhabersack.bsky.social #OpenAccess

BJPolS abstract discussing how political parties balance policy adaptation with ideological continuity, focusing on parties' core and peripheral strategy decisions using the manifesto flexibility model.

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European Consortium for Political Research @ecpr.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

⚙️ #ecprjs26 Workshop director 🎬 @fabianhabersack.bsky.social 💡 Seeks Papers which explore the role and effects of ambiguity in party communication, particularly in the context of recent political developments ⌛ Submit by 10 Dec buff.ly/XTvL4wr #PoliSky #CallforPapers #Covid19

buff.ly

Blurring or Accident? Voluntary and Involuntary Sources of Ambiguous Party Positions and Their Consequences for Democracy

Joint Sessions of Workshops 2026, 7 – 10 April, University of Innsbruck

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Fabian Habersack @fabianhabersack.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

Working on party positioning, policy complexity, or political ambiguity using text-analytic, survey-experimental, or other methods? 💡 If you still need a home for your paper at the ECPR Joint Sessions 2026, then look no further! 👇 Only 5 days left to apply! ⏰ #ecprjs26 ecpr.eu/Events/Event...

ecpr.eu

Blurring or Accident? Voluntary and Involuntary Sources of Ambiguous Party Positions and Their Consequences for Democracy

European Consortium for Political Research

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Fabian Habersack @fabianhabersack.bsky.social · 25/11/2025

“Some people are saying there’s a workshop. Others are saying there isn’t one. A lot of people are talking about it. The best people!” 📚 Joint Sessions workshop on party policy ambiguity 📍 ECPR Joint Sessions 2026 Innsbruck 🚀 Send in your abstract by 10 December ecpr.eu/Events/Event... #ecprjs26

youtube.com

Trump on striking Iranian nuclear facilities: 'I may do it. I may not do it.'

YouTube video by NBC News

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Fabian Habersack @fabianhabersack.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

Abstract submissions are now open for our workshop on ambiguity and blurring in party communication (ECPR Joint Sessions 2026). 🔗 ecpr.eu/Events/Event... 📅 Deadline: December 3, 2025 👇 Details below

ecpr.eu

Blurring or Accident? Voluntary and Involuntary Sources of Ambiguous Party Positions and Their Consequences for Democracy

European Consortium for Political Research

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Stuart Turnbull-Dugarte @turnbulldugarte.com · 05/09/2025

Radical right accommodation really does not work. New paper out with this exceptionally talented team @katharinalawall.bsky.social @robjohns75.bsky.social @drjennings.bsky.social @sarahobolt.bsky.social @zachdickson.bsky.social @danjdevine.bsky.social & @jack-bailey.co.uk doi.org/10.31235/osf...

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Fabian Habersack @fabianhabersack.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

Delighted to see that my #EJPR article now has page numbers! ☺️

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Fabian Habersack @fabianhabersack.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

Thrilled to share that the Palgrave Handbook on the 2024 EP Election is finally out! 🤩 Martin Dolezal and I co-authored the #Austria chapter on the rise of the #FPÖ, voter disaffection, and mapping 🇦🇹 and 🇪🇺 parties in the 2D policy space via #manifestoberta. 📖 link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...

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Silja Häusermann @siljahausermann.bsky.social · 07/07/2025

❗The segmentation of the right field is eroding, especially among young voters❗ New article out by @simonbornschier.bsky.social @dpzollinger.bsky.social @mrsteenbergen.bsky.social and myself @ipz.bsky.social ‬ @wepsocial.bsky.social tinyurl.com/ycxfx2aj A short 🧵 1/7

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Klaudia Wegschaider @wegschaider.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

📝🧵 New Publication ✨ My paper on multi-option referendums is now available open access in @cpsjournal.bsky.social If you are interested in referendum design and/or immigrant enfranchisement and/or multi-method work, read on...

Abstract: Is voting behaviour in referendums impacted by having similar proposals on the same topic? Drawing on the literature on the compromise effect, I argue that support for a proposal is higher if it is presented alongside a more extreme version. Empirically, I apply this argument to the substantive topic of electoral rights for immigrants—a contemporary frontier of democratisation. First, I test the argument with an original survey experiment fielded in the United States. Second, I delve into the practical relevance of the topic by focusing on Swiss immigrant enfranchisement referendums. Two case studies complement a subsequent analysis of voting data. The results of the experiment and the observational analysis both support the idea that the compromise effect shapes voting behaviour in simultaneous referendums. These findings call on scholars to consider the compromise effect in the study of popular votes and political decision-making more generally.

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Fabian Habersack @fabianhabersack.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

“What we’re seeing right now mirrors elements of different historical periods, but this has never all happened at once.” On the bright side of this #illiberal #backlash, I appreciate the US for curating this year’s most interesting summer reading list. 📚 www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

theguardian.com

Multi-level barrage of US book bans is ‘unprecedented’, says PEN America

Censorship at local to federal level recalls past authoritarian regimes ‘but this has never all happened at once’

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Jana Bernhard-Harrer @janabernhard.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

Thrilled to share that this study, which I started back in 2021, has finally been published! 🎉 While topic modeling may not be the most cutting-edge anymore, the discussion on validation & standardization is still highly relevant. Proud of this work & contribution! 🙌📚 doi.org/10.1017/psrm...

doi.org

Beyond standardization: a comprehensive review of topic modeling validation methods for computational social science research | Political Science Research and Methods | Cambridge Core

Beyond standardization: a comprehensive review of topic modeling validation methods for computational social science research

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Fabian Habersack @fabianhabersack.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

Had a phenomenal time at the 1st ever Extremism & Democracy SG Conference #SGED25 in London — taking lots of new ideas and inspiration home. Really enjoyed @kai-arzheimer.com’s keynote reflecting on the field and history of the SG since its inception in 1999. Already looking forward to #SGED27!

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Fabian Habersack @fabianhabersack.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

Hello #PolSky! 👋 What are your favorite non-journal sources for research inspiration? What are you reading or listening to these days? 🎧📚 Think blogs, podcasts, newsletters — anything accessible and rigorous that helps spark ideas. Bonus points if it’s great for #teaching in political science! 💡

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Government and Opposition @govandopp.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

Out today on #FirstView - "Simply Speaking? Language Complexity among (Non-)Populist Actors in Parliamentary Debates" - tinyurl.com/yc65ezcy by @rebeccakittel.bsky.social

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Christopher Wratil 🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine @chriswratil.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

What I can’t wrap my head around: Are some Democrats really thinking that with every impeachable act they let pass & someone doing crazy stuff remains in office, the probability that transition of power will work after elections remains unaffected? Sure, it goes down — every single time.

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Fabian Habersack @fabianhabersack.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

Hard to overstate how reckless and dumb this all is. What gives some hope is that, time and again, it’s the far right’s own incompetence that gets in its way. Though, if these kinds of f***ups are the only safeguard... www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

theatlantic.com

The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans

U.S. national-security leaders included me in a group chat about upcoming military strikes in Yemen. I didn’t think it could be real. Then the bombs started falling.

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Government and Opposition @govandopp.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

#OpenAccess on #FirstView - "A Question of Commitment: Investigating How Citizens Perceive Parties' Programmatic Responses to Competition" - tinyurl.com/4v87v98b by @fabianhabersack.bsky.social

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Journal of Politics @thejop.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

"Reining in the Rascals: Challenger Parties’ Path to Power" by Frederik Hjorth, Jacob Nyrup, and Martin Vinæs Larsen. www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

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Fabian Habersack @fabianhabersack.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

In the US, it’s the “woketopus”, a supposed deep-state cabal pulling the strings. In Germany, Markus Söder claims that NGOs have “spread like octopuses” in Green party-led ministries. Different country, same playbook.

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Fabian Habersack @fabianhabersack.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

Leaving #Canberra and heading back home to Austria (sadly, no kangaroos there). My #visiting #fellowship has been incredibly rewarding—great conversations, new friendships, and plenty of ideas to take home. Grateful to #ANU for the support that made this possible. Hope to be back in the future!

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Adam Bonica @adambonica.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

The DOGE Purge Isn’t About Efficiency—It’s an authoritarian tactic. I wrote a more in depth piece on the empirical evidence showing how liberal-leaning agencies are being disproportionately targeted and how this mirrors authoritarian strategies seen in Hungary and Turkey.

open.substack.com

The DOGE Purge: Empirical Evidence of Politically Motivated Firings

And what it means for American Democracy

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Fabian Habersack @fabianhabersack.bsky.social · 01/03/2025

What @benstanley.eu says! I genuinely have nothing more to add... 👇

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Fabian Habersack @fabianhabersack.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

🔥 Hot off the press! 🔥 Thrilled to see my article “A Question of Commitment: Investigating How Citizens Perceive Parties’ Programmatic Responses to Competition” finally published in Government and Opposition! 🔗 Read it here: doi.org/10.1017/gov.... @govandopp.bsky.social #OpenAccess

doi.org

A Question of Commitment: Investigating How Citizens Perceive Parties' Programmatic Responses to Competition | Government and Opposition | Cambridge Core

A Question of Commitment: Investigating How Citizens Perceive Parties' Programmatic Responses to Competition

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Fabian Habersack @fabianhabersack.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

#AfD radikalisiert sich, „gutmeinende“ Moderate sucht man vergebens – zugleich schreitet #Normalisierung voran. Gefährlicher Mix! @asheinze.bsky.social: „Die AfD ist mit dem Kurs der Radikalisierung jetzt sehr gut gefahren. Das bedeutet, dass es eigentlich auch weiter in diese Richtung gehen kann.“

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Fabian Habersack @fabianhabersack.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

“Yet much of the blueprint comes not from Trump’s own policy team, but from a power-consolidation playbook established over the past decade by the Hungarian authoritarian leader Viktor Orbán.” www.theguardian.com/news/2025/feb/12/the-orbanisation-of-america-inside-the-14-february-guardian-weekly

theguardian.com

The Orbánisation of America: inside the 14 February Guardian Weekly

A Hungarian-inspired revolution. Plus: How it all went wrong for Emilia Pérez

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Fabian Habersack @fabianhabersack.bsky.social · 17/02/2025

Thrilled to speak at #ANU School of Politics & IR this Thursday about my recent #EJPR article! I’ll be discussing how voter loyalty and opportunities shape parties’ policy priorities. 👉 Full article (Open Access): doi.org/10.1111/1475... 📅 Thu 20 Feb | 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM 📍 ANU (RSSS Room 3.72)

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theresa gessler @gessler.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

Danke an die Kolleg:innen von der Open Expert Survey, die für Daniel Morgenstern, @sophiahunger.bsky.social & mich Fragen zur Brandmauer aufgenommen haben 👏 📣Auf oes25.de/OES25prerele... gibt es alle Ergebnisse & pre-release Daten! Kurz: Es gibt klare Unterschiede im Ausmaß der Brandmauer Lang: 🧵👇

Grafiken mit Umfrageergebnissen, Textversion auf https://oes25.de/OES25prerelease.html

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Fabian Habersack @fabianhabersack.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

Proofs in, article out soon in Government & Opposition. Stay tuned! 🔥

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Christopher Wratil 🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine @chriswratil.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

You wonder how the CDU/CSU playing with the "Brandmauer" to AfD last week has influenced German voters? @mafaldapratas.bsky.social @jmfernandes86.bsky.social & I have you covered. We surveyed sample of 2,000 German voters. 🧵with first results 👇. Spoiler: It did not go down as well as CDU/CSU hoped.

bundestag.de

Deutscher Bundestag - Unionsgesetz zur Zustrombegrenzung mit knapper Mehrheit abgelehnt

Der Bundestag hat das sogenannte Zustrombegrenzungsgesetz der CDU/CSU-Fraktion (20/12804) mit knapper Mehrheit abgelehnt. Gegen die Initiative votierten am Freitag, 31. Januar 2025,...

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Fabian Habersack @fabianhabersack.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

Re-upping my #EJPR article: Shows why strategies like #Merz’s are a dangerous gamble: accommodating #AfD claims when their voters are electorally unavailable. At best, no immediate damage. At worst, it repels a party’s voters without securing replacements. Only lasting effect is #normalization.

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Verfassungsblog @verfassungsblog.de · 05/02/2025

Was können Mitte-rechts-Parteien in Deutschland aus den Erfahrungen anderer Länder im Umgang mit der extremen Rechten lernen? LÉONIE DE JONGE (@leoniedejonge.bsky.social) schickt eine Postkarte aus den Niederlanden. verfassungsblog.de/niederlande-...

Auf der Zitatkachel steht der Name der Autorin Leonie de Jonge sowie das Zitat aus ihrem Blog Post: "Obwohl Merz mehrfach betonte, dass es sich dabei nicht um eine Zusammenarbeit handelte, signalisiert sein Verhalten, dass er die Politikvorschläge der AfD für durchaus legitim hält."

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Fabian Habersack @fabianhabersack.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

Despite overwhelming evidence that “policy accommodation” often falls short, political leaders keep making the same choices. Why? A brilliant read from @philswatton.bsky.social 👇

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Fabian Habersack @fabianhabersack.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

𝗞𝗮𝗻𝗻 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗻𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗚𝗲𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗸𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻? 🗳️ Regelmäßig taucht diese Frage auf und es ist bemerkenswert, wie unklar der öffentliche Diskurs dazu oft bleibt – trotz jahrzehntelanger Forschung mit einer eigentlich ziemlich klaren Antwort: 𝘌𝘴 𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘬𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘦𝘳𝘵 (𝘢𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘪𝘯). 🧵

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Jakob-Moritz Eberl @jamoeberl.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

Wo bleibt die wehrhafte Demokratie von der immer alle sprechen? #USA #CapturedMedia #CapturedInstitutionen #IlliberalDemocracy

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Fabian Habersack @fabianhabersack.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

In the US, #Trump v. US has blurred lines btw. POTUS and nat. interest. Now, science bends to political loyalty—papers are scrubbed of banned terms, grant reviews frozen, self-censorship spreads. Meanwhile, in AT, #FPÖ wants research in German only, and in DE, #Lindner and #Merz flirt with Trumpism.

A German-language excerpt from an article on the Austrian coalition negotiations between FPÖ and ÖVP, dated January 30, 2025. The highlighted section reads: “However, the fact that the FPÖ insists on German at the university level and has proposed that research papers in the future should be written only in German and not in English goes too far for the ÖVP.”

Herbert Kickl, leader of the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ), waving an Austrian flag.

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Fabian Habersack @fabianhabersack.bsky.social · 01/02/2025

Thanks for sharing, @timbale.bsky.social! 👍 I wrote this before the #CDU pushed through the migration law with #AfD support and before the AfD’s latest surge—so, it feels even more relevant now. The election in three weeks will be one to watch!

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Thomas M. Meyer @thomasmmeyer.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

Beinhalten Wahlergebnisse so etwas wie einen klaren Regierungsbildungsauftrag? Dieser Frage sind @carolinaplescia.bsky.social, Alejandro Ecker und ich auf Basis neuer Daten der @gles.bsky.social nachgegangen. Ein kurzer Thread 👇

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