iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Mirko Wegemann @mwegemann.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

We are looking for a new colleague! Please apply and work with with @danbischof.bsky.social, @elenaleuschner.bsky.social and me at @ifpolms.bsky.social. Deadline: November 6

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Danbischof @danbischof.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

📄 And another working paper: **Pretty much all citizens say they support democracy.** But what do they mean by that? We ask whether voters from different partisan camps mean the same thing when they talk about "democracy." Paper: osf.io/preprints/so...

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Mirko Wegemann @mwegemann.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

...and tomorrow @haasvioleta.bsky.social will present our work on "Norm Legacies" in an exciting panel on "Memory and Historical Legacies". 📍Lagan B (Hilton) ⏰ 09:00

Abstract: How Good Ancestors Make Good Citizens: Norm Legacies and the Activation of Pro-Social Behavior"

Why do dormant norms resurface, and can they be deliberately reactivated to promote pro-social behavior today? Social norm research treats compliance as a present-day phenomenon: individuals infer expectations from contemporaries, with models of norm change assuming norms to travel across time through repeated within-cohort observation. Research on collective memory, by contrast, highlights the historical experiences of predecessors, focusing primarily on how traumatic events and the emotional legacies of victimization can increase engagement, but also often intensify intergroup hostility. Neither account fully explains the recovery of positive historical in-group practices, long after they faded. We introduce the concept of norm legacies: historically rooted in-group practices whose salience for present behavior is activated by appeals to a cross-generational reference group. We theorize collective pride and cognitive consistency as mechanisms through which such appeals can shape behavior today, and test the argument in a sequential design centered on SERO, the GDR's voluntary recycling system (1981--1990). We combine archival reconstruction and interviews with a preregistered field experiment in East Germany, contrasting a norm-legacy framing with an equivalent historical account of recycling. We further field two survey experiments in Germany and the US to isolate mechanisms and assess generalizability across varying identities (regional and religious) and domains (environment and economic). We expect the activation of norm-legacies to increase targeted attitudes and behaviors among in-group members relative to appeals that provide historical information or invoke present-day in-group norms without making the group's cross-generational benchmark salient.

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Mirko Wegemann @mwegemann.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

Great @epssnet.bsky.social so far! Today, I am presenting ongoing work w. @elenaleuschner.bsky.social, @timallinger.bsky.social, @danbischof.bsky.social, @kristianvsf.bsky.social, and @morganlcj.bsky.social on citizen's conceptualisations of democracy. 📍 CP09, Lagan B (Hilton) ⏰ 15:20

Abstract: "What Citizens Mean By Democracy: Evidence from Open- and Closed-Ended Survey Responses"

Why do citizens report high support for democracy in standard survey questions even as democratic backsliding advances in many countries? We address this puzzle by comparing two ways of measuring democratic orientations: an open-ended question asking respondents to define democracy in their own words and closed-ended items asking whether they endorse specific democratic principles. Drawing on more than 25,000 survey responses from representative samples in 14 countries, we use a fine-tuned language model to classify open-ended answers into substantive dimensions. First, across countries, citizens most often define democracy in terms of individual and civil rights, while multidimensional conceptions are rare. Second, open- and closed-ended measures diverge systematically. Center-right voters invoke liberal-democratic language at rates similar to the center-left, yet they are less supportive of minority rights and electoral norms when prompted. Far-right voters stand out more clearly in open-ended responses, where majoritarian conceptions are more prevalent than among other electorates.

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Elena Leuschner @elenaleuschner.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

It's time for our final speaker series of the semester! On Wednesday, @mstalinski.bsky.social will present work on "The Prosocial Ranking Challenge: Reducing Polarization on Social Media without Sacrificing Engagement". w @danbischof.bsky.social @mwegemann.bsky.social @thiloalbers.bsky.social

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Elena Leuschner @elenaleuschner.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

On Wednesday at 12.00, we welcome @cathrinmohr.bsky.social in Münster, presenting her working paper "Hysteresis and Selection in the Rise of Fascism: The “Ordinary Men” of the Nazi Party" @danbischof.bsky.social @mwegemann.bsky.social @thiloalbers.bsky.social

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Elena Leuschner @elenaleuschner.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

It's a new semester in Münster and that means a new start to our speaker series! We have teamed up with @thiloalbers.bsky.social + Andreas Stegmann to organize next year's talks. We are so excited to kick off w @alexjabbour.bsky.social next week 🎉 @danbischof.bsky.social @mwegemann.bsky.social

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Elena Leuschner @elenaleuschner.bsky.social · 15/12/2025

The Christmas prepping was prepping, and I almost forgot to tell you that @miguelpereira.bsky.social is coming all the way to Münster to present work on politicians' ability to use evidence in policy making! This Wednesday, find the Zoom link below 👇 @danbischof.bsky.social @mwegemann.bsky.social

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Magda Breyer @mabreyer.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

New article out in @cpsjournal.bsky.social with Tabea Palmtag and @dpzollinger.bsky.social 📝 We use open-ended survey questions (in Germany) to assess how and among whom social status shifts are perceived. This tests cultural backlash narratives in voters' perceptions. 🔗 doi.org/10.1177/0010...

Abstract
It is widely accepted in political science – and remarkably established in public discourse – that status anxieties fuel a far right backlash against progressive politics. This narrative suggests that right-wing conservatives perceive the status of women, racial, or sexual minorities as threatening. Using open-ended survey questions fielded in Germany, we show that women and minorities indeed figure in people’s perceptions of status hierarchies, but in very specific ways: First, overall, people still perceive status as largely socioeconomically determined. Second, sociocultural groups figure in perceptions of who is gaining/losing status, less so in perceptions of the top/bottom of society. Third, more than conservative voters, it is social progressives who mention women and minorities as “winners”. While on race/ethnicity, we find evidence for a backlash, on gender and sexuality we find more evidence for a progressive momentum. This matters for progressive politics today and for how we empirically study status concerns.

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zweitstimme.org @zweitstimme.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

🎉 Kicking off the Zweitstimme.org Workshop! We’re looking forward to two days discussing new work on Elections, Public Opinion & Elite Behaviour. Today’s sessions: 👉 Panel I – Elites 👉 Panel II – Participation 👉 Panel III – Party Strategies Huge thanks to @hertieschool.bsky.social for hosting us!

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Elena Leuschner @elenaleuschner.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

On Wednesday, @riazsascha.bsky.social will join us in Münster to present phenomenal work on regime loyalty during the Nazi regime! joint work w De Juan, @felixhaass.bsky.social + @juvoss.bsky.social As always, you can join us via zoom! organized w @danbischof.bsky.social + @mwegemann.bsky.social

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Mirko Wegemann @mwegemann.bsky.social · 13/11/2025

We are very much looking forward to @krausewe.bsky.social talk on how the reporting of polls shapes parties' chances of entering parliament (w @christinagahn.bsky.social). Join us!

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Mirko Wegemann @mwegemann.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

Very much looking forward to present new joint work with @awaldendorf.bsky.social on the "Politics of Language" at #APSA2025 tomorrow morning (8am). Please reach out for a coffee during the conference :)

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John Holbein @johnholbein1.bsky.social · 17/06/2025

Female academics are much more affected by the birth of a child than are male academics. Academic mothers are much more likely to... ◾temporarily leave the labor force ◾and, if they return, shift away from tenure-track positions. scholar.harvard.edu/files/sdchen...

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G Elliott Morris @gelliottmorris.com · 15/06/2025

Based on crowd-sourced records of No Kings Day event turnout, and extrapolating for the cities where we don't have data yet, it looks like roughly 4-6 million people protested Trump across the U.S. yesterday. That's nearly 2% of the U.S. pop! Mobilized anti-Trump resistance is exceeding 2017 levels

gelliottmorris.com

"No Kings Day" protests turn out millions

Our unofficial estimate is that around 4 million people attended a protest event yesterday. Anti-Trump resistance is outpacing 2017.

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Mirko Wegemann @mwegemann.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

I am very much looking forward to tomorrow's talk by @mrooduijn.bsky.social on "Arts-based interventions and prejudice reductions" @ifpolms.bsky.social. Please join @danbischof.bsky.social, @elenaleuschner.bsky.social and me on Zoom (link below).

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Mirko Wegemann @mwegemann.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

We invite you to join @danbischof.bsky.social, @elenaleuschner.bsky.social and our colleagues for an exciting talk. Please register for Zoom participation via forms.gle/R18jKz2fkKeF....

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Mirko Wegemann @mwegemann.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

This Wednesday (12-1pm), we will launch our new speaker series on "Understanding Democracies" @ifpolms.bsky.social! We are delighted to host @dianebolet.bsky.social who will present joint work with @giorgiomalet.bsky.social on "The Electoral Consequences of Conditional Agricultural Subsidies".

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Mirko Wegemann @mwegemann.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

Many congrats, Elena! Happy to work with you in Münster :)

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Marc Debus @marcdebus.bsky.social · 06/10/2023

Eine Analyse der prog. Positionen von Union und AfD zu den 37 Bund- und Landtagswahlen seit 2013 deutet darauf hin, dass eine Annäherung der Union an die Positionen der AfD eher mit einem höheren Stimmenanteil für die AfD verbunden ist. Ein Beitrag für den DVPW Blog. www.dvpw.de/blog/schwaec...

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