iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Leonhard Schmidt

Luis Sattelmayer @luissattelmayer.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Today, @malojan.bsky.social and I are launching the PartySOME website at partysome.org, an open, interactive platform for exploring how much political parties communicate online and what they talk about 🎤💻📊

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Denis Cohen @denis-cohen.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

▶️ This highlights an underappreciated form of competition: valence. Challengers gain when voters lose confidence in mainstream parties’ ability to deliver and credit challengers with superior capability. Lacking executive experience need not prevent them from winning this reputational contest.

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Bastian Stock @b-stock.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Es läuft eine Kampagne gegen mich. Anlass: eine Einschätzung zum „Projekt M1llion" gegenüber WDR und Regionalpresse. Das Muster ist bekannt und Schweigen macht es stärker. @protestinstitut.bsky.social @tudresden.bsky.social 🧵

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Leonhard Schmidt @leonhardschmidt.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

I am very thankful to the Steering Committee of the Standing Group and the Jury members!

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Leonhard Schmidt @leonhardschmidt.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Absolutely stoked to have received the Best Paper Prize 2025 from @ecpr-ead.bsky.social at #ecprgc26 🥳 You can read the published paper, co-authored with @bcastanho.bsky.social, in the EJPR: doi.org/10.1017/S147... The pun in the title had to go, unfortunately...

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Leonhard Schmidt @leonhardschmidt.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Mainstream parties need to realize the demand there is for mass party politics that engages continuously with local communities and projects a willingness to engage in politics, especially in regions with limited civil society resources.

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Leonhard Schmidt @leonhardschmidt.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

In the minds of their voters, the AfD is a party that credibly signals a capability and willingness to enact change. It promises a future. The moderate campaign and movement character helps many voters to discard the racist platform and neo-Nazi personnel.

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Leonhard Schmidt @leonhardschmidt.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

It also contributes to further far-right normalization, since the campaign was, overall, professional and less contentious. This allows them to keep the platform highly radical, preventing potential splits and competition á la Vannacci in Italy.

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Leonhard Schmidt @leonhardschmidt.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

The AfD has refined its mobilization strategy. They have moderated their campaign activities (which started much earlier than for any other party) and essentially used a mass party approach. BBQs, moped rides, outreach to local communities. That signals a willingness to be politically active.

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Leonhard Schmidt @leonhardschmidt.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

New article with @bcastanho.bsky.social out now in @ejprjournal.bsky.social ! ✨ We map protest mobilization calls by MPs across Europe to disentangle the role of radicalism and populism in explaining party involvement in protest politics. 🪧 doi.org/10.1017/S147...

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Bastian Becker @beckerbastian.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

💡Do populism and protest go hand-in-hand? Maybe not. ➡️ @leonhardschmidt.bsky.social & @bcastanho.bsky.social in @ejprjournal.bsky.social

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Leonhard Schmidt @leonhardschmidt.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

A big thank you to everyone who gave feedback on this paper, mainly @markkayser.bsky.social , @swenhutter.bsky.social , Pola Lehmann, @mascakir.bsky.social and @stijntvankessel.bsky.social, as well as all the panel and workshop attendees that saw earlier versions! 🙌

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Leonhard Schmidt @leonhardschmidt.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Our findings reaffirm the importance of disentangling populism from thick ideologies. Populist parties are not fundamentally different in their street mobilization behavior than other parties, they are simply more often radical.

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Leonhard Schmidt @leonhardschmidt.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

We find that radicalism emerges as a much more consistent predictor of protest mobilization than populism, with radicalism increasing mobilization. Populism partially amplifies this pattern, but only on the radical left do we find significant differences between populist and non-populist parties.

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Leonhard Schmidt @leonhardschmidt.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Using a comprehensive dataset of Facebook posts by national MPs across Europe between 2018 and 2021, we extract references to protest and calls for protest mobilization. The importance that parties afford to protest politics differs vastly.

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Leonhard Schmidt @leonhardschmidt.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

While a lot of literature links populism and protest mobilization, there is always the issue of separating the role of populism from its host ideology. Are populist parties simply more involved in street protest because they also tend to be on the radical left or right? 🤔

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Leonhard Schmidt @leonhardschmidt.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

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WZB Berlin @wzb.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

📑The new WZB Discussion Paper "Resisting the Far Right. A Systematic Analysis of Civil Society Strategies" by @chjncke.bsky.social, @hajogu.bsky.social, @tevoelker.bsky.social & @swenhutter.bsky.social is out! ➡️PDF for download: bibliothek.wzb.eu/pdf/2026/zz2...

bibliothek.wzb.eu

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Francesco Vittonetto @fravittonetto.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

It is out in the world! 🎉 'The online transnationalisation of populist radical right publics' is published open access in the @ejprjournal.bsky.social. In this, I ask: which factors explain transnational online engagement with PRR communications?🧵 [1/7]

doi.org

The online transnationalisation of populist radical right publics | European Journal of Political Research | Cambridge Core

The online transnationalisation of populist radical right publics

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Verfassungsblog @verfassungsblog.de · 19/06/2026

Hertie School banned Palestinian solidarity symbols at its graduation ceremony and required students to sign a declaration accepting these terms. BERNHARD KNOLL-TUDOR critically assesses the categorical restrictions on peaceful symbolic expressions. verfassungsblog.de/dissonance-a...

The challenge is not how to eliminate every dissonance from public life but how to ensure that we do not end up hearing only a single tune.

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Reposted by Leonhard Schmidt

Annina Hermes @anninahermes.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

Do far-right parties gain electoral support by embedding their members in sports clubs, cultural societies and volunteer fire brigades? Excited to present my research on far-right infiltration of civil society at #EPSS2026 tomorrow! 🗓️ Saturday, 3:20 - 5:00 pm 📍Broadway (Hilton)

From Sports Clubs to Ballot Boxes: Far Right Infiltration of Civil Society and Consequences for Political Behavior
Annina Hermes
June 2026
Abstract
Does the strategic infiltration of civil society associations strengthen far-right parties?
While existing research on far-right normalization emphasizes elite cues and electoral breakthroughs, less is known about how extremist actors gain influence through grassroots embedding in everyday social life. I argue that by entering and assuming leadership positions in non-political associations - sports clubs, cultural societies, church councils - far-right actors can strengthen their party through three channels: normalizing their ideology and lowering the perceived costs of supporting it, shifting attitudes through trusted personal contact, and mobilizing existing sympathy into participation and organizational capacity. I construct a
novel dataset linking AfD candidates and members to leadership positions in more than 480,000 civil society associations across Germany between 2013 and 2025, providing the first systematic measurement of far-right embeddedness in local civic life. Leveraging variation in the timing of leadership turnover within associations, I employ a staggered difference-in-differences design to estimate the effect of AfD infiltration of civil society organizations on electoral support for the AfD.
This study highlights a critical mechanism through which democratic societies become vulnerable to extremist influence: the everyday social spaces meant to strengthen civic life can become vehicles for undermining democratic norms and empowering anti-democratic
movements.

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Daniel Saldivia Gonzatti @dasalgon.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

💥 Our paper is now out in Political Behavior - I'm very happy about it! We show how confrontational protest affects different dimensions of public opinion compared to demonstrative protest 👇 I also talked to ZEIT Online about our pre-print & the context a while ago: www.zeit.de/gesellschaft...

zeit.de

Klimaaktivismus und Klimaschutz: Schadet die Letzte Generation wirklich dem Klimaschutz?

Demos, Kartoffelbrei, Blockaden: Eine neue Studie untersucht, wie sich Protestformen auf das Ansehen von Aktivisten auswirken – und den Anspruch an Klimapolitik.

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Reposted by Leonhard Schmidt

Bastian Becker @beckerbastian.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

Also finding it hard to keep up with new research? I built something to fix this. SciLove — swipe through recent papers in your field. The feed learns from your saves. Also matches you with researchers saving your work back (opt-out if you prefer). www.scilove.app 3,000+ journals, updated daily

scilove.app

SciLove — Discover new research on the go

A personalized feed of the latest peer-reviewed papers — swipe to save, skip, and make connections in minutes a day.

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Leonhard Schmidt @leonhardschmidt.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

This demonstrates that protest is partially used as a tool for electoral mobilization to which theories of electoral mobilisation (e.g. second-order elections) can be applied and that incentives differ between politicians and civil society.

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Leonhard Schmidt @leonhardschmidt.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

Civil society orgs prioritize more localized elections where institutional access may be easier and issues more concrete. Protest participants follow their lead and are also larger during regional campaigns 🗣️

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Leonhard Schmidt @leonhardschmidt.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

But not all elections matter equally to organizers. Everyone increases mobilization before national elections. But parties, civil society and also crowd sizes diverge for second-order elections (EU and regional elections). Politicians go for high-profile EU campaigns, 🇪🇺

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Leonhard Schmidt @leonhardschmidt.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

We find an overall „professionalization“ of protest during campaigns. Parties and civil society orgs mobilize more and partially crowd out less institutionalized organizers

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Leonhard Schmidt @leonhardschmidt.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

My first publication is out in @wepsocial.bsky.social , with @lennartschuermann.bsky.social ✨ We analyze how protest increases before different types of elections. We show crucial differences in how civil society and parties prioritize elections in a multilevel system. doi.org/10.1080/0140...

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Lennart Schürmann @lennartschuermann.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

NEW PUBLICATION 🚨 "Street mobilisation during election campaigns in multilevel systems: a supply–demand analysis" with @leonhardschmidt.bsky.social — now out in @wepsocial.bsky.social 🔗 doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2026.2634027 1/6

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Anna Stansbury @annastansbury.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

📢now forthcoming in ECMA! The Class Gap in Career Progression: Evidence from US Academia Class is rarely a focus of research or DEI in elite US occupations. Evidence suggests it should be: we find a large class gap in at least one occupation - tenure-track academia...🧵

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Lennart Schürmann @lennartschuermann.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

🚨New article w/ @eborbath.bsky.social & Swen Hutter Protest and the rise of left-nationalist challengers: evidence from Germany 📔 Social Movement Studies 🔗 doi.org/10.1080/1474... In 2022, Germany faced a cost-of-living crisis. Many expected a “Hot Autumn” of mass protest—but it never happened. Why?

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Leonhard Schmidt @leonhardschmidt.bsky.social · 05/07/2025

Thanks so much for organising this @rlachat.bsky.social and @rdassonneville.bsky.social! It was such a pleasure to spend the week with all these wonderful reseachers and generally nice people. Also thanks to all the (actually!) inspiring guest lecturers. Paris also helped, I guess 😉

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Romain Lachat @rlachat.bsky.social · 03/07/2025

We welcome today @sldelange.bsky.social at the CERIUM-FMSH summer school, to talk about far-right and populist parties. @rdassonneville.bsky.social @fondationmsh.bsky.social @cerium-udem.bsky.social

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elia ayoub @ayoub.bsky.social · 28/06/2025

The death toll of Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza is now estimated at 100,000 The list is 1,227 pages long. The first 11 pages are names of babies dead before the age of 6 months. The first 381 pages are all children. archive.is/2025.06.28-0...

On Monday of this week, Hamas' Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip published an updated list of those killed in the war, a 1,227-page chart, arranged from youngest to oldest. The Arabic-language document includes the deceased person's full name, the names of the father and grandfather, date of birth and ID number.
Unlike previous lists, this compilation notes the precise age of children who were under the age of one year when they were killed. Mahmoud al-Maranakh and seven more children died on the same day they were born. Four more children were killed on the day after they entered the world, five others lived to the age of two days. Not until page 11, following 486 names, does the name appear of the first child who was more than six months old when he was killed.

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Leonhard Schmidt @leonhardschmidt.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

Why are parties like AfD, Movimento 5 Stelle, or La France Insoumise so involved in street protests? Is it because of populism or their (radical) host ideology? Come and find out at #EPSA2025 on Friday at 15:00 (0A.05) where I will present joint work with @bcastanho.bsky.social!

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Leonhard Schmidt @leonhardschmidt.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

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Arndt Leininger @aleininger.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

Very happy and proud to see @felixgruenewald.bsky.social 's paper "‘Seen one, seen ‘em all’: political outgroup homogeneity and negative affect" in print @wepsocial.bsky.social. One of the first outputs of our @dfg.de funded project on polarization. Check it out, it's #openaccess

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Kai Koddenbrock @kaikodden.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

Kai Wegner stramm auf Trumplinie. Erste Deportationen von Studierenden angedroht, wenn die 4 Iren, Polen und US-Amerikaner*innen nicht bis 21.4. das Land verlassen haben.

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Daniel Saldivia Gonzatti @dasalgon.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

💥 Wir suchen eine studentische Hilfskraft (10-19 Std./Woche) für das Projekt WZB ProtestMonitoring! @wzb.bsky.social 📅Deadline: 12. März! + Infos & Bewerbung: wzb.eu/de/jobs/stud... Gerne stehe ich für Fragen zur Verfügung!

wzb.eu

studentische Hilfskraft (m/w/d) (ZZ) (ID 321)

Das Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung gGmbH (WZB) sucht für die Mitarbeit in einem Forschungsprojekt zu politischem Protest und politischer Radikalisierung in Deutschland für das...

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Leonhard Schmidt @leonhardschmidt.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

Next to social media, the German Left's other major mobilization story was their commitment to actual grassroots campaigning. While AfD had mostly taken over the image of "caretaker" party in the East, this shows that progressive parties can reclaim this identity by being active on the ground

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