Reposted by Lars Erik BerntzenRahel Freiburghaus @rfrbrghs.bsky.social · 27/09/2026The Swiss People’s Party SVP is one of the oldest and electorally strongest radical-right parties in the world. But: electoral popularity ≠ policy popularity Voters keep supporting the SVP in elections, but only 2 out of 12 popular initiatives launched by the SVP have passed Data: Swissvotes 68029
Reposted by Lars Erik BerntzenPedro Magalhães @pcmagalhaes.bsky.social · 24/09/2026The Atlas of Social Attitudes is now live: www.atlasofsocialattitudes.eu What is it, what can you do with it, and why did we build it? A short🧵. (1)atlasofsocialattitudes.euAtlas of Social AttitudesExplore comprehensive public opinion data from the European Social Survey and the European Values Survey. Discover insights across topics, countries, an... 33327
Reposted by Lars Erik BerntzenSciLove @scilove.bsky.social · 11/09/2026🔥 Trending on SciLove today 🔥 🔬 The (alleged) consequences of affective polarization: A survey experiment in nine democracies 👤 Harteveld et al., 2026 📖 European Journal of Political Research @ejprjournal.bsky.social 🔗 www.scilove.app/article/10.1017/s14… #PoliSciscilove.app🔥 Trending today: The (alleged) consequences of affective polarization (Harteveld et al., 2026) - 11/09/26Reducing hostility between rival supporters improves social relations and democratic support, but effects vary significantly across countries. 🗳️🤝🌍 013
Reposted by Lars Erik BerntzenBastian Becker @beckerbastian.bsky.social · 11/09/2026Does depolarization work? 💥🕊️ A multi-country experiment finds social & democratic benefits, though conditions apply! ➡️ @eelcoharteveld.bsky.social @leberntzen.bsky.social @andrejkokkonen.bsky.social @hayleekelsall.bsky.social @jonaslinde.bsky.social & Dahlberg in @ejprjournal.bsky.social 063
Reposted by Lars Erik BerntzenStuart Turnbull-Dugarte @turnbulldugarte.com · 17/08/2026Three pre-registered experiments. One story. But now with page numbers. Non-heterosexual behaviour/identities among men is punished significantly more than the same among women. 1248
Lars Erik Berntzen @leberntzen.bsky.social · 13/08/2026Interesting. Where are these numbers from? 100
Reposted by Lars Erik BerntzenJulia M. Rohrer @dingdingpeng.the100.ci · 31/07/2026This is an *excellent* video on iodine. I had learned about some of these stories from @ruben.the100.ci, but I wasn't quite aware of how much of a public health miracle iodized salt is. www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRcw...youtube.comThe easiest way to make the world smarterYouTube video by Rabbit Hole 3264
Reposted by Lars Erik BerntzenAmerican Statistical Association History of Statistics @hos-asa.bsky.social · 04/07/2026#OTD 1857 John Snow shows again the thinking that made him one of the founders of epidemiology. In a letter to the Lancet, he suggests that the routine adulteration of bread with alum might be a cause of rickets, a mechanistic hypothesis to explain it, then a case-control design to test it. 1/5🧵 142
Reposted by Lars Erik BerntzenJay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 26/06/2026A new study provides causal evidence from 9 countries where they experimentally manipulated intergroup polarization: When polarization decreases people discriminate less, while support for democratic principles increases & willingness to engage in compromise grows phys.org/news/2026-06... 0124
Lars Erik Berntzen @leberntzen.bsky.social · 26/06/2026Hele boken er åpent tilgjengelig her: www.scup.com/doi/book/10....scup.comScandinavian University Press 000
Lars Erik Berntzen @leberntzen.bsky.social · 26/06/2026Har bidratt med kapittelet "Høyreekstrem ideologi – sentrale strømninger i dagens Norge" sammen med @jacravn.bsky.social i boken "Høyreekstremisme i Norge etter 22. juli", redigert av @arjupskas.bsky.social @crexuio.bsky.socialscup.com1. Høyreekstrem ideologi – sentrale strømninger i dagens Norge 121
Lars Erik Berntzen @leberntzen.bsky.social · 26/06/2026Ps: Study is described as being led by me and my team, but lead here is actually @eelcoharteveld.bsky.social 000
Lars Erik Berntzen @leberntzen.bsky.social · 26/06/2026@eelcoharteveld.bsky.social @jonaslinde.bsky.social @andrejkokkonen.bsky.social @hayleekelsall.bsky.social 100
Lars Erik Berntzen @leberntzen.bsky.social · 26/06/2026Full @ejprjournal.bsky.social article "The (alleged) consequences of affective polarization: A survey experiment in nine democracies": www.cambridge.org/core/journal...cambridge.orgThe (alleged) consequences of affective polarization: A survey experiment in nine democracies | European Journal of Political Research | Cambridge CoreThe (alleged) consequences of affective polarization: A survey experiment in nine democracies 140
Lars Erik Berntzen @leberntzen.bsky.social · 26/06/2026@newsweek.com report on our comparative study of the impact of affective polarizationnewsweek.comScientists found a way to ease political hostility—then came the US resultThe researcher told Newsweek that "partisan animosity in the U.S. may simply be too far gone." 252
Reposted by Lars Erik BerntzenLars Erik Berntzen @leberntzen.bsky.social · 15/06/2026Out in POQ -- Mind the Gap: Partisan Bias in Justifying Political Violence in the United States academic.oup.com/poq/article/...academic.oup.comMind the Gap: Partisan Bias in Justifying Political Violence in the United StatesAbstract. Political polarization in America has intensified beyond mere disagreement to what scholars characterize as sectarianism—a condition where partis 1148
Reposted by Lars Erik BerntzenKristoffer Magnusson @rpsychologist.com · 25/06/2026New interactive blog! "Why Adjusted Regression Coefficients Are Less Descriptive Than They Look" rpsychologist.com/descriptive-... 1520769
Reposted by Lars Erik BerntzenPer Engzell @pengzell.bsky.social · 25/06/2026The most unrealistic assumption in social science is that respondents read survey questions the way researchers do 2588
Reposted by Lars Erik BerntzenBrendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 24/06/2026Faculty are forever making fun of students for asking questions that are answered on the syllabus but if you’ve ever been to a faculty meeting you know that faculty constantly ask questions that are answered by the program handbook or departmental bylaws. Constantly (me included). 2475
Reposted by Lars Erik BerntzenPerspectives on Politics @poppublicsphere.bsky.social · 24/06/2026NOW OUT ON FIRSTVIEW!! Citizen–Elite #Toxicity & #Political #Equality Online By @janabelschner.bsky.social & Linn Sandberg doi.org/10.1017/S153... 0113
Reposted by Lars Erik BerntzenJacob Aasland Ravndal @jacravn.bsky.social · 23/06/2026I år er det 15 år siden 22. juli-terrorangrepet. I den anledning har vi skrevet bok om høyreekstremisme i Norge etter 22. juli. Boka oppsummerer 10 år med forkning ved @crexuio.bsky.social og er åpent tilgjengelig for alle her: www.scup.com/doi/book/10....scup.comScandinavian University Press 03819
Reposted by Lars Erik BerntzenBrendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 22/06/2026Yet again www.nber.org/papers/w3535... 38128
Reposted by Lars Erik BerntzenDaniel Tavana @danieltavana.bsky.social · 17/06/2026How many Iranians support the Islamic Republic? In a new working paper, we answer this using a nationally representative survey of 2,000 adults in Iran—and the list experiment, a method for measuring sensitive attitudes. 3279
Reposted by Lars Erik BerntzenAlejandro Fernández-Roldán @aleferna.bsky.social · 16/06/2026If you work on public opinion and/or political behaviour you might want to consider submitting your abstract(s) to JCPOP 2026 in Barcelona - All the info 👇 063
Lars Erik Berntzen @leberntzen.bsky.social · 15/06/2026Out in POQ -- Mind the Gap: Partisan Bias in Justifying Political Violence in the United States academic.oup.com/poq/article/...academic.oup.comMind the Gap: Partisan Bias in Justifying Political Violence in the United StatesAbstract. Political polarization in America has intensified beyond mere disagreement to what scholars characterize as sectarianism—a condition where partis 1148
Reposted by Lars Erik BerntzenRahel Freiburghaus @rfrbrghs.bsky.social · 25/04/2026In June, Switzerland will vote on what is so far the most radical far-right popular initiative launched by the Swiss People‘s Party SVP: capping the population at 10M (currently ≈9.1M). In this thread, I’ll break down what it’s about and how it fits into broader findings on Swiss direct democracy 617080
Reposted by Lars Erik BerntzenEuropean Journal of Political Research @ejprjournal.bsky.social · 11/06/2026Taking a stand ✋️🧍 These authors 🧵 use survey data across 9 countries to assess the downstreams consequences of #AffectivePolarization & intervene to successfully reduce participants #AffectivePolarization in 6 of the 9, improving interpersonal relations and social norms buff.ly/tHRWa65cambridge.orgThe (alleged) consequences of affective polarization: A survey experiment in nine democracies | European Journal of Political Research | Cambridge CoreThe (alleged) consequences of affective polarization: A survey experiment in nine democracies 12016
Reposted by Lars Erik BerntzenLars Erik Berntzen @leberntzen.bsky.social · 24/05/2026Does affective polarization itself actually threaten democracy? Recent experiments from the US suggest maybe not. In our new @ejprjournal.bsky.social paper, we revisit this question comparatively with a survey experiment in 9 democracies (18,000 respondents). #poliskycambridge.orgThe (alleged) consequences of affective polarization: A survey experiment in nine democracies | European Journal of Political Research | Cambridge CoreThe (alleged) consequences of affective polarization: A survey experiment in nine democracies 23318
Reposted by Lars Erik BerntzenYiqing Xu @yiqingxu.bsky.social · 05/06/20261/ Happy to share that "Factorial Difference-in-Differences" (FDID), with Anqi Zhao and @pengding00 , is out in JASA - ACS. doi.org/10.1080/0162... It has been a truly thrilling experience working with Anqi and Peng.doi.orgFactorial Difference-in-DifferencesWe formulate factorial difference-in-differences (FDID), a research design that extends canonical difference-in-differences (DID) to settings in which an event affects all units. In many panel data... 1289
Lars Erik Berntzen @leberntzen.bsky.social · 02/06/2026Frustrating that AI has sullied the em-dash. It's just so versatile! I haven't been able to come up with a good replacement, so am going to reclaim it despite the risks its use now carries. 060
Reposted by Lars Erik BerntzenCambridge University Press Political Science & IR @cambup-polsci.cambridge.org · 29/05/2026#OpenAccess from @ejprjournal.bsky.social - The (alleged) consequences of affective polarization: A survey experiment in nine democracies - cup.org/43vEJV0 - @eelcoharteveld.bsky.social, @leberntzen.bsky.social, @andrejkokkonen.bsky.social, @hayleekelsall.bsky.social, et al #FirstView 11511
Reposted by Lars Erik BerntzenDepartment of Comparative Politics UiB @sampol.bsky.social · 26/05/2026🌟 New article 👥 Eelco Harteveld, Lars Erik Berntzen, Andrej Kokkonen, Haylee Kelsall, Jonas Linde & Stefan Dahlberg 👉 The (alleged) consequences of affective polarization: A survey experiment in nine democracies 📗 European Journal of Political Research 🔗 www.cambridge.org/core/journal... 01810
Lars Erik Berntzen @leberntzen.bsky.social · 25/05/2026LLM-sycophancy is a major concern across a whole range of domains. But as ⬇️ points out, worth thinking about what a meaningful control group is here 020
Lars Erik Berntzen @leberntzen.bsky.social · 24/05/2026Thanks to @ejprjournal.bsky.social and editorial team as well as reviewers. Funding provided by Research Council of Norway, Swedish Research Council, and the Dutch Research Council. 010
Lars Erik Berntzen @leberntzen.bsky.social · 24/05/2026So affective polarization has a causal impact on interpersonal relations & democratic attitudes, but its effects depend on political context. @eelcoharteveld.bsky.social spearheaded study & paper👏 with @andrejkokkonen.bsky.social @hayleekelsall.bsky.social @jonaslinde.bsky.social Dahlberg & me. 143
Lars Erik Berntzen @leberntzen.bsky.social · 24/05/2026Yet consistent with prior US work, our affective polarization manipulation produced the weakest effects in the US (alongside Italy!). Why? One possible reason is political entrenchment. Views on compromise, democracy, and tolerance may have become identity markers, making them harder to move. 100
Lars Erik Berntzen @leberntzen.bsky.social · 24/05/2026We find: Reducing affective polarization makes people less likely to discriminate against or avoid political opponents. In several countries, it strengthens support for democratic rights and willingness to compromise. This challenges the US-based view that consequences are mainly interpersonal. 130
Lars Erik Berntzen @leberntzen.bsky.social · 24/05/2026Does affective polarization itself actually threaten democracy? Recent experiments from the US suggest maybe not. In our new @ejprjournal.bsky.social paper, we revisit this question comparatively with a survey experiment in 9 democracies (18,000 respondents). #poliskycambridge.orgThe (alleged) consequences of affective polarization: A survey experiment in nine democracies | European Journal of Political Research | Cambridge CoreThe (alleged) consequences of affective polarization: A survey experiment in nine democracies 23318
Reposted by Lars Erik BerntzenCas Mudde @casmudde.bsky.social · 23/05/2026As I have been arguing for almost a decade, populism is a secondary feature for most populist actors. Moreover, the main current threat to liberal democracy comes from the far right, which at least in Europe and U.S., is primarily nativist. In fact, some are barely populist anymore. 1435