Frederik Hjorth @fghjorth.bsky.social · 26/03/2026Third graph with correctly rendered background: 3172 0
Frederik Hjorth @fghjorth.bsky.social · 26/03/2026Fourth: this leaves a severely fragmented party system. By my count 🇩🇰 now has the 2nd most fragmented parliament in Europe, surpassed only by 🇧🇪. Traditionally, parties have delivered mostly stable governance in spite of fragmentation. But we are in uncharted territory. (4/4) 3246 0
Frederik Hjorth @fghjorth.bsky.social · 26/03/2026Third: the mainstream left loses votes to the radical right. A familiar pattern reemerged: the single biggest voter movement between blocs was Social Democrats losing voters to the Danish People's Party. (Based on estimates from the final YouGov poll). (3/4) 1143 0
Frederik Hjorth @fghjorth.bsky.social · 26/03/2026Second: overall, a terrible night for mainstream parties. The four traditional "prime ministerial" mainstream parties had their worst collective result ever, dipping below 50 pct. for the first time. (2/4) 1172 0
Frederik Hjorth @fghjorth.bsky.social · 26/03/2026FOUR GRAPHS ABOUT 🇩🇰'S GENERAL ELECTION My read of the election in four graphs. First: big urban-rural divide. The two big mainstream parties, Social Democrats and Liberals, are now mainly rural/suburban, with niche parties dominating in cities. (1/4) #polisky 39737 0
Reposted by Frederik HjorthPolitical 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 1143 0
Frederik Hjorth @fghjorth.bsky.social · 04/12/2025If you work on legislative politics, polarization, or computational methods, we hope this provides a new toolkit and motivates more work on nonverbal signals in democratic politics. Full article (open access) here: www.cambridge.org/core/journal... Thanks for reading this far! 🙏 11/11cambridge.orgPartisan conflict in nonverbal communication | Political Science Research and Methods | Cambridge CorePartisan conflict in nonverbal communication 270 0
Frederik Hjorth @fghjorth.bsky.social · 04/12/2025The paper concludes by outlining implications for representation, elite behavior, and experimental design. If emotional arousal is both perceivable and strategic, then public reactions—and misperceptions—may depend on vocal features that standard text-based analyses cannot detect. 10/11 130 0
Frederik Hjorth @fghjorth.bsky.social · 04/12/2025Substantively, the results imply that elites communicate partisan conflict even when their words remain civil or non-polarized. Nonverbal cues allow legislators to signal conflict along dimensions not easily observed in text. 9/11 120 0
Frederik Hjorth @fghjorth.bsky.social · 04/12/2025Methodologically, our findings highlight the value of audio as data for political science. Text alone cannot capture pitch, intensity, or prosody—yet these features encode meaningful political information. Multimodal approaches can enrich research on polarization and legislative behavior. 8/11 140 0
Frederik Hjorth @fghjorth.bsky.social · 04/12/2025This distinguishes spontaneous emotional display from strategic communication. In parliamentary settings, vocal style appears to be *deliberately deployed* to influence audiences and coalition partners, not merely an uncontrolled affective reaction. 7/11 230 0
Frederik Hjorth @fghjorth.bsky.social · 04/12/2025We then ask: are these signals strategic? Two results suggest yes. • Legislators exhibit greater arousal in high-profile debates with substantial media attention. • They signal more conflict toward parties with > bargaining leverage—i.e., parties that could shape alternative governments. 6/11 120 0
Frederik Hjorth @fghjorth.bsky.social · 04/12/2025Importantly, these patterns persist *conditional on verbal content*. Even when sentiment, emotionality, and topic structure are held constant, pitch carries distinct information about partisan conflict. Nonverbal communication adds an independent dimension to elite polarization. 5/11 130 0
Frederik Hjorth @fghjorth.bsky.social · 04/12/2025We also show that nonverbal conflict signals correspond closely to policy disagreement. When two parties vote differently on a bill, legislators’ pitch rises significantly in speeches addressing the opposing party. This is a robust, dyad-level pattern. 4/11 120 0
Frederik Hjorth @fghjorth.bsky.social · 04/12/2025Our core finding: nonverbal arousal systematically tracks partisan polarization. Legislators speak with higher pitch when addressing out-bloc parties than in-bloc parties. This holds even after accounting for sentiment, rhetoric, and topic controls. 3/11 120 0
Frederik Hjorth @fghjorth.bsky.social · 04/12/2025Using >20 years of Danish parliamentary audio (≈380,000 speeches), we develop a measure of emotional arousal based on within-speaker deviations in vocal pitch. Decades of psycholinguistics show that pitch rises when speakers are more emotionally activated. 2/11 120 0
Frederik Hjorth @fghjorth.bsky.social · 04/12/2025Political communication research overwhelmingly relies on text. But parliamentary speech is multimodal! In our new @psrm.bsky.social article, Mathias Rask and I show that legislators also signal partisan conflict nonverbally— through changes in vocal pitch during floor speeches. 🧵 1/11 #polisky 38524 0
Frederik Hjorth @fghjorth.bsky.social · 03/12/2025In *the annotated sample alone*, these proportions correspond to ~1500 published survey experimental papers yearly, rising sharply. I'm no stranger to survey experiments myself, but seems a bit much. 070 0
Reposted by Frederik HjorthOlivia V. J. Levinsen @olivialevinsen.bsky.social · 12/09/2025Why has women's representation in parliament been lagging? Can it be that party elites have penalized women candidates? Come find out tomorrow at "Primaries and Candidate Selection" at 8.00 am in West 215. @fghjorth.bsky.social @fkjoeller.bsky.social @annalund.bsky.social @apsa.bsky.social 072 0
Frederik Hjorth @fghjorth.bsky.social · 18/08/2025“The American president visited Paris today, instead of shooting Budweiser bottles out of his pickup truck” 030 0
Reposted by Frederik HjorthJonathan Ladd @jonathanmladd.com · 04/07/2025Liberal democracy is a fighting faith. Fight to defend it. Cynicism is an authoritarian government’s best friend. 118447 0
Frederik Hjorth @fghjorth.bsky.social · 29/06/2025I am an ardent Beamer user, but this take is correct 🥲 130 0
Reposted by Frederik HjorthRev. Poppy Haze 𓅋 @poppyhaze.bsky.social · 25/06/2025we’re about to find out if loving SimCity makes you a better mayor Mamdani was asked in 2002 by NY Mag what he wanted for Christmas and said SimCity 3000 14662991410 0
Frederik Hjorth @fghjorth.bsky.social · 25/06/2025Lastly, Friday 4.50pm, @fkjoeller.bsky.social will present a paper on the link between commuting costs and geographic inequality in representation 🌉 (thx to @carlsbergfondet.dk for support 🙏 ) 5/5 030 0
Frederik Hjorth @fghjorth.bsky.social · 25/06/2025Thursday 1.10pm, I will present a paper on the role of family background in explaining affective polarization 👪 (thx to @erc.europa.eu for support 🇪🇺 ) 4/5 130 0
Frederik Hjorth @fghjorth.bsky.social · 25/06/2025Thursday 11.20am, @olivialevinsen.bsky.social will present a paper on party nominations and long-term trends on women's descriptive representation 👩💼 (thx to @carlsbergfondet.dk for support 🙏 ) 3/5 140 0
Frederik Hjorth @fghjorth.bsky.social · 25/06/2025Thursday 9.30am, @torewig.bsky.social will present a paper on measuring and explaining global variation in "critical social science" 🌎 2/5 174 0
Frederik Hjorth @fghjorth.bsky.social · 25/06/2025Pumped to be at #EPSA2025 in sunny Madrid, where my esteemed coauthors and I will present four papers. Quick 🧵 on the papers in chronological order 👇 1/5 1211 0
Reposted by Frederik HjorthFederica Genovese @fgenovese.bsky.social · 03/06/2025🚨 WP w/ @acalacino.bsky.social & @hayleypring.bsky.social It’s been a turbulent decade of globalization backlash. Populist projects wanna take back control everywhere. Focusing on the case of oil and Brexit, we offer a story of the danger of this narrative and concrete merits of multilateralism: 🧵 48227 0
Reposted by Frederik HjorthFrederik Kjøller @fkjoeller.bsky.social · 23/06/2025Excited to be presenting in shorts on this years' EPSA! 🩳 I'll be presenting joint work w. @fghjorth.bsky.social about geographical representation and commute time's effect on candidate supply 🗳️🧭 📍Friday 16:50-18:30 in room 0A.01 1101 0
Reposted by Frederik HjorthAlice el-Wakil @anewq.bsky.social · 10/06/2025CfA: PhD scholarship in political theory @ucph.bsky.social Part of my project "Citizens' Agenda-Setting in Democratic Systems," which will explore how citizens should participate in making political agendas Apply by Aug. 3, 2025 ➡️ employment.ku.dk/all-vacancie... #PolTheory #demoinnoemployment.ku.dkPhD Scholarship at the Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen (UCPH): Citizens’ Agenda-Setting in Democratic Systems (CASDS) 01516 0
Reposted by Frederik HjorthWiebke Marie Junk @wmjunk.bsky.social · 23/05/2025The deadline is approaching (5 June)! So, I am just reposting this once more... Perhaps it can reach a few more junior scholars interested in lobbying? 077 0
Frederik Hjorth @fghjorth.bsky.social · 22/05/2025Thanks Federica! And absolutely agree—reviewers very reasonably pushed me to discuss scope constraints 010 0
Frederik Hjorth @fghjorth.bsky.social · 22/05/2025Second, this can help us understand the appeal of populists, who often claim governing elites have "lost touch". Preprint here: osf.io/r53gj. Thanks for reading this far! 🙏 10/10osf.ioOSF 240 0
Frederik Hjorth @fghjorth.bsky.social · 22/05/2025I highlight two main implications: first, the rhetorical cost of governing adds to our understanding of the constraints faced by governing parties (and the advantages oppositions enjoy). 9/10 230 0
Frederik Hjorth @fghjorth.bsky.social · 22/05/2025Do voters prefer simple rhetoric? Yes. In a preregistered survey experiment (N ≈ 4k), citizens preferred the exact same policy stated simply over complex wording by 0.34 pts on a 0-10 scale. 8/10 151 0
Frederik Hjorth @fghjorth.bsky.social · 22/05/2025Instead, it's likely about agenda constraints. Topic model evidence shows ministers pivot toward technocratic & crisis issues (e.g., EU treaties, COVID-19) and away from easy ideological staples (taxes, immigration) → govt. agendas are harder to talk about simply. 7/10 130 0
Frederik Hjorth @fghjorth.bsky.social · 22/05/2025It is not about formal speech requirements. To show this, I consider high profile opening/closing debates where ministers aren’t forced to read bills. Same simplicity gap. 6/10 130 0
Frederik Hjorth @fghjorth.bsky.social · 22/05/2025🔄 Once politicians leave cabinet, simplicity bounces back. No evidence of a permanent drift—this is office-specific, not aging or learning. 5/10 120 0
Frederik Hjorth @fghjorth.bsky.social · 22/05/2025Main finding: The moment an MP becomes a minister, readability drops sharply—about 0.13–0.20 SD below their own pre-government baseline. 4/10 161 0
Frederik Hjorth @fghjorth.bsky.social · 22/05/2025To provide evidence, I collect 1.5 million speech snippets from Denmark’s parliament (1997-2022) & link them to every MP’s career path. I use two measures of simplicity, validated with survey assessments. 3/10 110 0
Frederik Hjorth @fghjorth.bsky.social · 22/05/2025Electoral costs of governing are well established. But what about non-electoral costs? I highlight 'the rhetorical cost of governing': simply put, holding government office constrains politicians' ability to craft simple, effective messages. 2/10 160 0
Frederik Hjorth @fghjorth.bsky.social · 22/05/2025🚨 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 512736 0
Reposted by Frederik HjorthEugene Vinitsky 🍒 @eugenevinitsky.bsky.social · 18/05/2025So what happens to volunteer led sites like stackoverflow now? Do the companies that ate them make and release the labels they generate for new languages? Do we just hope and pray LLMs fill the gap? Something real has been lost. 5706 0
Frederik Hjorth @fghjorth.bsky.social · 17/05/2025“It’s an agent of stability until it becomes an agent of chaos.” Christopher Nolan screenplay or @robfordmancs.bsky.social about FPTP? 120 0
