Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 7hIn the current climate, news stories like this are a welcome reprieve. 05519
Reposted by Jack DeanJochen Müller @jocmuel.bsky.social · 23/09/2026Thinking about doing a PhD in political science? We are looking for people interested in studying politics in the Baltic Sea Region (the Nordic countries, the Baltics, Poland, etc.). Projects may come from a range of subfields, including gender & politics, legislative studies, and party politics. 11415
Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 20/09/2026Do we think Merz considered the possibility they wouldn't cross the threshold before going so early with the statement? 140
Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 19/09/2026Conspiracy theories pose a significant risk to public health, as shown in the pandemic, but also to the health of democracy. I'm not yet sure much of the political sphere has grasped either how widespread they are or where they are emerging from. 000
Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 15/09/2026SSEES has been a fantastic place to spend the last few years, first for MA then PhD - something to be said about being surrounded by incredibly passionate people, from the staff to the undergrads I taught. 020
Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 14/09/2026Very, very pleased to announce that I have today passed my Viva with minor corrections! Looking forward to implementing the changes proposed by my examiners and discovering what comes! 140
Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 07/09/2026Broadly, I agree with Eliot here, albeit I think the answer is more nuanced still. We know anti-vax movements skew right, but in certain contexts, shouldn't that be expected for those distrustful of authority? Hofstadter's Paranoid Style comes to mind here - the American left is not going to appeal. 100
Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 07/09/2026Fantastic to return to Krakow for a week of panels, conversations, and talks. Looking forward to catching up with old friends and hopefully future colleagues and collaborators! #ecprgc26 110
Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 07/09/2026The story of British politics over the last few years can be characterised by an obsessive focus on the far right's polling, whilst never confronting its social manifestations. The riots after Southport, the pogroms in NI, now Dover and Portsmouth. This is not going away. 100
Reposted by Jack DeanWill Jennings📉🗳️ @drjennings.bsky.social · 06/09/2026Ngl, I am increasingly cranky about what seems to be a complete lack of rigour, curiosity, depth of thought across many domains of public life in Britain today. What is going on with far right disorder raises really fundamental questions for the state and society, but nobody seems interested. 1535464
Reposted by Jack DeanAlexander Clarkson @aphclarkson.bsky.social · 07/09/2026The "legitimate concerns" framing also normalises networks and individuals who are often from the more violent and socially dysfunctional fringes of many communities 624266
Reposted by Jack DeanTarik Abou-Chadi @tabouchadi.bsky.social · 06/09/2026In the 90s S-A saw the best result of a far-right party in Germany before the AfD. 13% for the DVU in 1998. S-A should not be the basis for sweeping conclusion about the electoral sociology of the AfD. The consequences might be far-reaching but your reporting will contribute to these consequences. 120949
Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 04/09/2026Of simple public health measures about drinking, this may be one of my favourites thus far. Free breathalyser, available for public use at Brussels Beer Festival, allowing for a quick and easy way to estimate your blood alcohol level. A reminder that good interventions don't have to be complex. 110
Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 02/09/2026Nearly four months on, still no government. Yet again, an example of AUR, SOS, and PSD collaborating: this time on parliamentary appointments. PSD increasingly not discounting the possibility of further support from AUR, whilst George Simion of AUR continues calling for new elections. 100
Reposted by Jack DeanJakub Jaraczewski @jakubjaraczewski.bsky.social · 31/08/2026🇭🇺🇪🇺 Pretty safe to say that we won't be hearing any more from the "Democracy Interference Observatory" that MCC Brussels set up to "monitor Brussels-backed attempts to interfere in European democracy" after my organisation sued X over access to data ahead of the Hungarian elections. 621259
Reposted by Jack DeanGabriela Greilinger @gabrielagreilinger.com · 28/08/2026There is this narrative that far-right actors, when in power, will do certain things, but "through legal means". When they say they will act in line with the rule of law, that means they will change the law in specific ways beforehand to suit their interests. Ortbán is a prime example here too. 1/ 13310
Reposted by Jack DeanNotes from Poland @notesfrompoland.bsky.social · 24/08/2026The split in Poland’s main opposition party is a serious self-inflicted wound which complicates the right’s path back to power. While it provides a boost for the Tusk government, effective cooperation could lead to a comeback, writes @aleksszczerbiak.bsky.social notesfrompoland.com/2026/08/21/h...notesfrompoland.comHow will the Law and Justice split affect Polish politics? 0122
Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 24/08/2026 In my new article in the European Politics and Society Journal, I focus on a specific aspect of Orbán’s illiberal project: Tusványos. I suggest articulation of the nation can build upon and take emphasis from the location it is performed, using Transylvania as a case. Now available Open Access:tandfonline.comTusványos and nation-building: Orbán’s populist performance in TransylvaniaThis article analyses how Viktor Orbán’s annual speeches at the Tusványos summer school in Transylvania construct a transnational Hungarian political community through populist performance. While s... 000
Reposted by Jack DeanCristina Maza @cmaza.bsky.social · 16/08/2026A Russian plot to kill a Ukrainian-American citizen in Warsaw was thwarted by Poland before it could be carried out, Poland's PM said, marking the first time in decades that a Western leader has publicly accused Moscow of plotting to kill a U.S. citizen. www.cbsnews.com/news/russian...cbsnews.comRussian plot to kill American citizen thwarted by Poland, prime minister says: "First situation of its kind"Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the suspect was allegedly recruited by Russia's secret services. 001
Reposted by Jack DeanRuth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 10/08/2026I can strongly recommend a holiday in Poland. And if you're in Gdansk (brilliant city), visit the European Solidarity Museum - a fascinating museum of the Solidarity movement and its role in the end of European communist regimes, which also shows solidarity with Ukraine. 2808
Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 09/08/2026I'd started to see social media posts from Romania regarding 'baby stealing ambulances', but presumed it was something fringe or completely nonsensical. In Cluj County, an ambulance crew has been attacked after rumours online (particularly on Tiktok) about its supposed ulterior motive.m.digi24.roAmbulanţă atacată cu topoarele într-o comună din Cluj, după ce într-un clip pe TikTok s-a afirmat că „fură copii”. Șoferul a fost rănitMedicii chemaţi să acorde îngrijiri unui pacient în comuna Recea-Cristur, judeţul Cluj, au fost atacaţi cu bâte, topoare şi pietre, pe fondul unor zvonuri propagate pe TikTok despre o presupusă „ambul... 130
Reposted by Jack DeanJakub Jaraczewski @jakubjaraczewski.bsky.social · 08/08/2026🇭🇺⚖️ Famously, after ousting Baka from the seat of the president of the Hungarian Supreme Court, the Fidesz majority renamed the court to Kuria, so that in case the ECtHR ruled in his favour (as it did), he wouldn't be able to return to the post because new name, new court, who dis? Quite a comeback. 210933
Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 06/08/2026After six years of debating the merits of gain-of-function research, this feels like a step off the cliff and into the abyss. 000
Reposted by Jack DeanCEU Review of Books @ceureviewofbooks.bsky.social · 29/07/2026The Aesthetics of Populism (Brill, 2025), edited by Leszek Koczanowicz, Michał Stambulski, Wojciech Ufel, and Rafał Włodarczyk, explores not only what populism says and does, but what it looks like in post-1989 Poland. @jackddean.bsky.social reviews the volume. ceureviewofbooks.com/review/what-...ceureviewofbooks.comWhat does populism look like? - CEU Review of BooksThe Aesthetics of Populism (Brill, 2025), edited by Leszek Koczanowicz, Michał Stambulski, Wojciech Ufel, and Rafał Włodarczyk, explores not only what populism says and does, but what it looks like in... 011
Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 24/07/2026The infighting in PiS has been an admittedly entertaining subplot of Polish politics for the last few weeks, but today's news has really blown the issue up into a major news story. After years of Kaczynski dominating the party through a selection of loyalist candidates, change is happening. 152
Reposted by Jack DeanNicolai von Ondarza @nvondarza.bsky.social · 24/07/2026This will also have repercussions on the European level - Morawiecki, who has just been expelled, is the head of the European Conservative and Reformer (ECR) party, the party that brings together PiS, Meloni's FdI and other national conversatives across the EU. 413044
Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 21/07/2026It has been a very poor week for news regarding health in Romania. From high profile figures promoting vaccine conspiracies, to strikes, to anticorruption investigations, there are few signs that health has improved since Dan's presidency began. Below, I outline several of these news stories. 130
Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 17/07/2026Duda appears alongside a cast of the European radical right, including Romania's George Simion and former British PM Liz Truss. For an event supposedly focused on the 'future' of the European sovereigntist right, there's a lot of faces from the past. 001
Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 15/07/2026Former Hungarian FM Szijjártó getting a job at BYD and leaving politics. It's almost too on the nose: it's the type of post-politics position you'd jokingly suggest for him, but I didn't expect him to actually do it. 000
Reposted by Jack DeanTarik Abou-Chadi @tabouchadi.bsky.social · 07/07/2026Le Pen, Farage, and yet another day where the news cycle won't let me do any actual work 0464
Reposted by Jack DeanBritish Association for Slavonic and East European Studies @basees.bsky.social · 26/06/2026'Polish Studies: Today and Tomorrow' - 8th Annual Conference of the BASEES Polish Studies Group and SSEES Polish Studies Research Group (3-4 September, Zoom) Please send your title and an abstract of up to 250 words to anne.white@ucl.ac.uk by 10 July. basees.org/study-group-...basees.orgSD Study Group Polish — Basees 023
Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 22/06/2026Latest Romania update: 47 days and counting without a functioning government. The vote for the Veștea government has unsurprisingly failed. After days of the PSD courting the far-right AUR, Simion brought an ultimatum: they will vote for Veștea if Dan withdraws calling AUR extremists. 100
Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 18/06/2026If anyone is curious as to how Veștea's candidacy is being received, his latest Facebook post in which he announces he's planning to run for PNL leader might give some indication. Every second comment is suggesting he goes to the PSD, and a few people are comparing him to Dragnea and Ponta. 000
Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 18/06/2026I've been largely offline for a couple of days, but Romania's political developments warrant discussion and what can only be described as an attempt at explanation given how much has gone on. 110
Reposted by Jack DeanClaire Burchett @cburchett.bsky.social · 18/06/2026My 2nd PhD publication is out today in @pop-jrnl.bsky.social ! 🎉 We know the far right largely claims to be "anti"-antisemitic, but this paper looks at how a party's online community responds when it encounters these narratives. Do individuals agree? www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... 1197
Reposted by Jack DeanSzabolcs Panyi @szabolcspanyi.bsky.social · 16/06/2026.atlatszo.hu obtained contracts from the Danube Institute, a key node in Orbán's network linking European right-wing populists with MAGA. Just before the election, it signed record-value deals, using public funds to court Anglo-American right-wingers. VSquare.orgvsquare.orgOrbán's Foreign Payroll: How Hungary Spent a Fortune to Buy Influence on the Western Right - VSquare.orgÁtlátszó has been granted access to contracts signed by the Danube Institute, a key component of the Orbán government’s attempt to build a network between European right-wing populists and the MAGA world just before the election. 03915
Reposted by Jack DeanTim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 01/06/2026Turns out, Lowe (was).theloop.ecpr.eu🔮 Who is Reform UK's most populist voice?Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, dominates headlines as the face of the party’s populism. However, Tutku Zengin's analysis of 1,108 statements from all five Reform UK parliamentarians elected in... 3203
Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 14/05/2026That sound you can hear is the furious googling of the name "James Murray", from all the correspondents and pundits trying to work out who he is. 000
Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 06/05/2026PSD has for a long time not fit within the PES. For them to post this yesterday, the same day PSD collaborated with the far right AUR to bring down a pro-EU government, pushes them from parody into farce. 040
Reposted by Jack DeanUCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies @uclssees.bsky.social · 06/05/2026🔊 One week until Prof. @allansikk.bsky.social's Inaugural Lecture 'All Tomorrow’s Parties: What Central and Eastern Europe Teaches Us About Party Politics'. Free and open to all! 🗓️ 13 May at 6pm BST 📍 Gustave Tuck LT ➡️ www.ucl.ac.uk/arts-humanit... 063
Reposted by Jack DeanThe Loop @ecprtheloop.bsky.social · 30/04/2026🌊 #Illiberal Wave No.46 💪 @plutscher.bsky.social, @draege.bsky.social, @karstendonnay.bsky.social & @chknutsen.bsky.social draw on 3 experiments across Venezuela, Türkiye + the US to show that visual strongman #Propaganda can deter opposition movements + mobilise supporters. 👉️ bit.ly/48vkRV3bit.ly🌊 The dark logic of visual strongman propagandaPhilipp Lutscher, Jonas Bergan Dræge, Carl Henrik Knutsen and Karsten Donnay draw on three survey experiments across Venezuela, Turkey and the United States to show that visual strongman propaganda ca... 196
Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 21/04/2026I have linked here to a very good article on the dangers a measles outbreak would (again) pose in Romania. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...theguardian.com‘It’s a powder keg’: Romania leads EU measles cases as vaccination rates collapseBottlenecks in the system and parents’ suspicions mean doctors expect another serious outbreak soon 111
Reposted by Jack DeanSeán Hanley @drseanhanley.bsky.social · 17/04/2026Look out for our upcoming @uclssees round table on Hungary’s elections and their consequences: turning point or false dawn? www.ucl.ac.uk/arts-humanit... Monday 20 April, 6pm (UK time). In-person and online.ucl.ac.ukA turning point for Hungary?A SSEESing roundtable on the results and implications of the parliamentary elections 011
Reposted by Jack DeanReview of Democracy @revdem2020.bsky.social · 16/04/2026✍️ Hungarian PM Orbán’s defeat in last Sunday’s election rings in a new era for the country, but also for its partners to the East and West. Still, some challenges will remain, @gabrielagreilinger.com argues in her op-ed. 🇭🇺🗳️ 🧑💻 Read it now: 👉 tinyurl.com/8av6bdmv 033
Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 12/04/2026Romanian media continues to disappoint on coverage of Hungary's election. The amount of places referring to exit polls is infuriating. 010
Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 11/04/2026Thoroughly enjoyed a trip to sunny Oxford for the @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social conference presenting my working paper on media framing of militant democracy in Romania and Moldova. A very strong range of panels and keynotes, would highly recommend! 221
Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 09/04/2026This is an important point. There has been so much of a focus on the youth and social media influence that it is easy to think it is limited to the young - but when you look at the role of Facebook etc and how its user base skews, this has likely obscured a worrying trend in older age groups. 010
Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 22/03/2026Great thread on the upcoming elections in Hungary. In short, apprehension is necessary. 010