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Political Studies Association

@polstudiesassoc.bsky.social

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The home of Political Studies since 1950. We advance, support & promote the global study of Politics & International Relations. psa.ac.uk Become a PSA member psa.ac.uk/members

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Political Studies @polstudies.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

When conflict forces people from their homes, does it change how they vote? @galbitton.bsky.social finds that displaced residents shift rightward in their political identity, but don't change their vote. Read more: buff.ly/Qv5xJMw @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social #researchnote #ConflictPolitics

Abstract
Does exposure to conflict displacement amplify support for far-right parties? This study investigates the political consequences of conflict-induced displacement in northern Israel by exploiting a natural experiment arising from government-ordered evacuations during military conflicts. Using a pre-registered survey and a regression discontinuity design based on an exogenous 5 km threshold, I assess changes in retrospective and prospective voting behavior as well as self-reported political ideology. The analysis reveals no evidence that displacement increases far-right support or induces partisan realignment. Rather, evacuees demonstrate a modest rightward shift in ideological self-placement without corresponding changes in voting behavior. This divergence suggests that displacement influences symbolic political positioning without prompting corresponding changes in voting behavior. These patterns unfold against a broader backdrop of political frustration and electoral disengagement that affects both displaced and non-displaced populations. The findings reveal troubling implications for democratic accountability during external conflict: leaders may be shielded from electoral consequences of security failures even as civic engagement deteriorates, challenging models of wartime accountability.

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Political Studies Review @psrjournal.bsky.social · 10h

📖📖Commissioned Book Review: Elisa Chelle, La démocratie à l’épreuve du populisme. Les leçons du trumpisme📖📖 By Eve Seguin 'What we have here is a general interest book by a scholar who knows US politics inside out.' journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10..... @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social

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Politics Journal @politicsjournal.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

1/4. New article! “The far-right’s tug-of-war with multilateral democracy promotion” by Jana Lipps The article examines how far-right parties use their representation within international organisations to challenge liberal democratic norms @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social @glasgow.ac.uk @sagepub.com

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BJPIR @bjpir.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

📣 Don't miss this #BJPIR article out now! 'Centralisation without Independence: The functional scope of informal intergovernmental organisations' by David Hagebölling 🔗 buff.ly/rnWBzXq @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social

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Political Studies @polstudies.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Can youth volunteering reduce class-based gaps in voting? @clarawe.bsky.social & @leoazzollini.bsky.social find volunteering nearly closes the participation gap linked to social origin, especially for blue-collar working-class children. Read OPEN ACCESS: buff.ly/3MYAfvU @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social

"Abstract
Differences in political participation between social classes are well documented, yet less is known about the mechanisms that may reduce these gaps. This article adopts a life-course perspective to investigate whether youth volunteering can mitigate class-based inequalities in electoral participation. Using longitudinal data from Germany, we analyse how class of origin affects voting for the newly enfranchised, how volunteering influences turnout, and how both factors interact. Our findings show that, while individuals from working-class backgrounds are less likely to vote and youth volunteering increases electoral participation for all, volunteering during youth nearly closes the participation gap linked to social origin and uplifts specifically blue-collar working-class children’s electoral participation. These results suggest that voluntary engagement in youth can serve as a “school of democracy,” reducing class-based inequalities in political participation starting at an early age, which remain persistent otherwise."

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Political Studies Review @psrjournal.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

🚨🚨New Online First!🚨🚨 Open Access & Free to Read! 🔓🔓 Ethnic discrimination and the dynamics of belonging in Africa By Daniel Tuki Read the full article here: journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10..... @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social

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Ethnic discrimination and the dynamics of belonging in Africa - Daniel Tuki, 2026

Using Afrobarometer survey data covering 36 countries (N ≈ 94,000), this study examines the relationship between experiences of ethnic discrimination and patter...

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Political Studies @polstudies.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Should EU migrants receive equal welfare treatment? Pietro Intropi examines reciprocity in EU law, arguing rights and contributive duties vary by migrants’ contributions and the justice of the host state. Read more: buff.ly/O7Foc1b @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social #polsky #polsci

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BJPIR @bjpir.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

📖 Most read #openaccess article in #BJPIR: 'International relations theory and US–China competition: A theoretical exploration' by Kai He & Huiyun Feng 🔗 buff.ly/Yp0aXSj @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social

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BJPIR @bjpir.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

📣 Don't miss this #BJPIR article out now! 'Centralisation without Independence: The functional scope of informal intergovernmental organisations' by David Hagebölling 🔗 buff.ly/rnWBzXq @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social

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Political Studies Review @psrjournal.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

🚨🚨New Online First!🚨🚨 Open Access & Free to Read! 🔓🔓 How civil war intensity shapes post-war repression: State capacity, regime type, and conflict termination By Jeremy Ko Read the full article here: journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10..... @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social @ethz.ch

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How civil war intensity shapes post-war repression: State capacity, regime type, and conflict termination - Jeremy Ko, 2026

This study examines the association between civil war intensity and post-war repression and explores the pathways through which this relationship may operate. R...

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PSA Environmental Politics Specialist Group @psaenvironmental.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

📧 Our @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social mailing list is changing! 📣 If you want to keep getting updates from us, make sure you have done the following: ✅Logged into your account on the PSA Website. ✅Clicked on the 'Specialist Groups' tab. ✅Clicked 'Join Group' next to 'Environmental Politics'.

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Political Studies @polstudies.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Does family background shape adolescents’ political trust more than schools? @gdagostino.bsky.social examines institutional performance, finding its link to trust is stronger among adolescents with higher parental socio-economic status. Read OPEN ACCESS: buff.ly/qy7FwRb @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social

Evaluations of institutional performance among adolescents: Comparing the socializing roles of schools and families - Giovanni D’Agostino, 2026

Democratic accountability requires citizens’ political trust to reflect institutional performance, making it crucial to understand what fosters such responsiven...

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BJPIR @bjpir.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

📝 Don't miss this article out now! 'Representations of nuclear risk in the UK Parliament: Understanding the role of political discourse in the development of preparedness activity for nuclear accidents' by Lianna Roast & Christopher Baker-Beall 🔗 buff.ly/Ozajoyu @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social

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Political Studies @polstudies.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Why do senators respond differently to China trade shocks? @weitianliu.bsky.social finds Democrats became critical as import exposure rose, while Republicans responded less. Read more: buff.ly/khjZ0Tu @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social #polsky #polsci

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Political Studies Association @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

#PSA27 Call for Papers - 3 weeks to submit 📢 Paper & panel proposals invited for the PSA27 Annual Conference at the University of Hull, 22-24 March 2027. 📆 CfP Deadline 12 October 2026 🌎️ Conference theme: 'Seismic Politics – impacts and responses from the global to the local'

PSA27 Annual Conference - Political Studies Association

Join us in Hull for PSA27 to discuss Seismic Politics – impacts and responses from the global to the local “PSA [conference] was really great. It gave much-needed exposure to interact with…

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BJPIR @bjpir.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

📝 Don't miss this new #openaccess #BJPIR article out now! 'The long shadow of the past: How Irish history shapes attitudes towards the Israel–Palestine conflict' by Miceal Canavan & Liam Kneafsey 🔗 buff.ly/GzlW7JY @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social

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Political Studies @polstudies.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Can social media enable popular counter-power while reinforcing elite influence? @absander.bsky.social examines #saccageparis, finding its digital tactics gave citizens a tribunate role despite its non-popular composition. OPEN ACCESS: buff.ly/2z1TPOo @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social #polsky #polsci

"Abstract
This article argues that the case of an idiosyncratic digital movement in Paris—#saccageparis—has much to contribute to recent debates around social media’s democratic potential. #saccageparis leaders paint themselves as contemporary tribunes of the plebs, a permanent counter-power representing the “small people” of Paris against the municipality. Based on ethnographic fieldwork, I examine in this article such claim. On the one hand, Twitter’s affordances enabled ordinary citizens to gain some of the attributes of a popular tribunate standing up to power while, on the other hand, the movement only gained this foothold because it was not itself popular. #saccageparis’s composition therefore contradicts its tactics, and the movement is best described as “bourgeois populism.” This case shows us how social media’s populist affordances can be exploited by elites and, as a result, offers precious insights for those interested in rescuing social media’s radical-democratic possibilities from elite capture."

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Political Studies @polstudies.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Does the level of government shape political trust and compliance? Susan Banducci, @l-horvath.bsky.social & Daniel Stevens argue local trust influences prosocial behaviour, unlike national trust. Read OPEN ACCESS: buff.ly/RgZMQ5R @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social #polsky #polsci #PoliticalTrust

The trust in government gap: National trust, local trust, and compliance - Susan Banducci, Laszlo Horvath, Daniel Stevens, 2026

According to Tang and Huhe, individuals “are nested in a multiplicity of governments,” including national and local governments, “and . . . constantly find them...

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Political Studies @polstudies.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Who supports martial law in a democracy? Brandon Beomseob Park & Inkwan Chung examine South Korea, finding affective polarization drives support for executive overreach. Read more: buff.ly/63rPmga @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social #polsky #polsci #AffectivePolarization #ResearchNote

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BJPIR @bjpir.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

📝 Don't miss this new #openaccess #BJPIR article out now! 'Party organisation and the strategic use of federal narratives in electoral campaigns: Evidence from Assam, India' by Pratyush Paras Sarma 🔗 buff.ly/10iaUdx @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social

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Political Studies @polstudies.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Should we exaggerate support for #democracy to save it? Maxime Lepoutre examines the dilemma of affirming democracy during democratic backsliding. Read OPEN ACCESS: buff.ly/f0fAwu0 @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social #polsky #polsci #ethics

"Abstract
Democracies around the world have increasingly faced concerted efforts to dismantle democratic institutions. How should public speakers respond to such attempts at democratic backsliding? A widespread rhetorical strategy is to affirm democracy—that is, to publicly invoke the value of democracy and vigorously insist on the need to defend it. I argue that this practice gives rise to an underappreciated democratic dilemma. On one hand, distinctive features of the backsliding process seemingly require us to affirm democracy. Yet, on the other hand, this practice also poses serious dangers for democracy. For one, it risks accelerating democratic erosion. Moreover, efforts to limit this risk seemingly violate democratic requirements of truthfulness. So, both affirming democracy and failing to do so involve significant democratic pitfalls. The best way to navigate this dilemma, I contend, is not to forgo affirming democracy. Instead, it is to do so in a way that emphasises elites’ concrete attacks on democracy, while insisting that most people are strongly committed to democracy. While this approach may indeed involve some deception—insofar as it may knowingly overstate support for democracy—this is often all-things-considered justified."

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PSA Technology, Internet, & Policy (TIP) @techpolicy.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

🍂The beginning of autumn 🍂 means.. looking forward to #PSA27 ! Send us your abstracts by 12 October ⏰ Link 👉 www.psa.ac.uk/conference/p...

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Political Studies Review @psrjournal.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

🚨🚨New Online First!🚨🚨 Open Access & Free to Read! 🔓🔓 Conceptualizing human dignity as a political concept By Jodok Troy journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10..... @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social @uniinnsbruck.bsky.social

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Political Studies Association @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

📚 'The Global Vibe Shift: China and the Rise of Strongman Entitlement' New #OpenAccess article by @astridnordin.bsky.social (Kings College London) in the latest issue of PSA Political Insight magazine. ➡️ Learn more buff.ly/xCFFPby #Global #Politics #InternationalStudies #PIR

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Political Studies @polstudies.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Who decides the constitutional future of Scotland & the UK? @meineanna.bsky.social proposes a democratic reading of constituent power, tracks changes in constituent collectives & maps monist vs. pluralist trajectories for the Union. Read OPEN ACCESS: buff.ly/mHhLCgA @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social

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BJPIR @bjpir.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

📝 Don't miss this #BJPIR article out now! 'Does populism challenge the status quo? Understanding transgression and subversion in contemporary politics' by Sebastian Ronderos & @emmyeklundh.bsky.social 🔗 buff.ly/vLHOWIx @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social

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Political Studies Association @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

#PSA27 Call for Papers - 3 weeks to submit 📢 Paper & panel proposals invited for the PSA27 Annual Conference at the University of Hull, 22-24 March 2027. 📆 CfP Deadline 12 October 2026 🌎️ Conference theme: 'Seismic Politics – impacts and responses from the global to the local'

PSA27 Annual Conference - Political Studies Association

Join us in Hull for PSA27 to discuss Seismic Politics – impacts and responses from the global to the local “PSA [conference] was really great. It gave much-needed exposure to interact with…

Political Studies Association @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

📚 'The political economy of #immigration from #Blair to #Burnham' New #OpenAccess article by James Hampshire (University of Sussex) in the latest issue of PSA Political Insight magazine. ➡️ Learn more buff.ly/xCFFPby

Political Studies Association @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

'Can #AndyBurnham Succeed?' 📚 Read this #OpenAccess article by Kevin Hickson (Centre for British Politics at the University of Hull) & Ben Williams (Politics Lecturer, incl. visiting Lecturer at the University of Chester) in the latest issue of PSA #PoliticalInsight magazine. ➡️ buff.ly/xCFFPby

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BJPIR @bjpir.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

📣 New #BJPIR article out now! '‘Change at home and change abroad?’ Visualising the (im)possibilities of British foreign policy in the aftermath of Corbyn’s response to the Manchester Arena bombing' by @tomhowe.bsky.social & Maximillian Guarini 🔗 buff.ly/A8X3H7n @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social

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Political Studies @polstudies.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

IN NEW ISSUE: How does republican theory reimagine economic freedom? Sean Irving explores John Francis Bray’s economic republicanism and its implications for markets and justice. Read OPEN ACCESS: buff.ly/a4aGPuz @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social #polsky #polsci

Abstract
In recent years political theorists have applied republican ideas to considerations of economic freedom. The development of a distinct socialist republicanism has been one strand of this literature, while another has claimed the centrality of a free market to freedom understood in republican terms. Revisiting the work of John Francis Bray (1809–1897) can point us beyond these binaries. Bray applied republican ideas, developed in the register of constitutionalism, to issues of exchange and production. He did not, however, do so in the name of the free market or of socialism. Rather, his concern was to create a system of popular economic self-government. Doing so, Bray believed, would involve a combination of markets and economic democracy, involving worker cooperatives and indicative economic planning. In Bray’s work, we find an economic republicanism which, out of a concern to establish popular economic self-government, combined elements of what have become two distinct camps.

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Politics Journal @politicsjournal.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

1/4. New Article "Elites and institutional legacies: The political explanations for Libya’s transition" by Walid Ali Why did Libya's post-2011 transition collapse into prolonged uncertainty? This new research moves beyond regional trends to examine the domestic political drivers.

Political Studies Association @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

*PSA Specialist Groups* Would you like to be a convenor of the Young People's Politics Specialist Group? We're looking for 2-3 new convenors to join their team, including 1 post for a PhD student. Applications from all career levels are welcome - Deadline: 28 September Apply 👉️ buff.ly/6WX1FDd

Young People's Politics - Political Studies Association

Find out more about the Young People's Politics specialist group by visiting their webpage here.

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Political Studies @polstudies.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Election is no guarantee a politician is viewed as an adequate representative - Hendriks & Saward capture how contemporary elected representatives & their teams invest heavily in backstage efforts to show their capacity to represent. Read OPEN ACCESS: buff.ly/tHXGHqD @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social

Abstract
The work of being an elected representative today is increasingly demanding as they seek to perform representation amid political distrust, polarised electorates, and rising populism. In response, elected representatives and their teams invest heavily in developing and showcasing their capacities to represent. This variously involves constructing representative personas, designing participatory events, curating diverse digital content, and communicating evidence on how and where they are representing. Extending Saward’s representative claim-making framework, this article develops the concept of representative-capacity-making to better understand this overlooked (‘backstage’) aspect of modern representation. The article explores – in concept only – the work involved in developing and demonstrating four key representative capacities. The normative implications of representative-capacity-making in an era of democratic strain are considered. While representative-capacity-making can be read as a response to the challenges of democratic representation today, the extent to which it can be a solution is mixed, in specified ways.

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BJPIR @bjpir.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

📝 Don't miss this #BJPIR article out now! 'Time well spent? A population study of corporate access to the executive in the United Kingdom' by Kevin Fahey & Iain McMenamin 🔗 buff.ly/OgX2bne @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social

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Political Studies @polstudies.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

IN NEW ISSUE: How do populist citizens understand democracy? Patricia Rehus & @steven-vanhauwaert.bsky.social find they tend to support direct democracy & are less supportive of liberal principles. Read OPEN ACCESS: buff.ly/XhXgcjl @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social #polsky #polsci

Abstract
Populist leaders often describe democracy as being in conflict with liberal values and endorse more direct democratic measures for people to influence politics. But what about populist citizens? How do they define democracy and what aspects of democracy do they value most? Using a cross-national survey of 10 West European countries, we first explore how citizens understand democracy in general and then test the assumption that populist citizens share a different understanding of democracy to both populist elites and less-populist individuals. Our findings show that citizens’ conceptions of democracy do not exactly match scholarly models, but are still clearly structured. We also find that populist citizens tend to support direct democracy and are less supportive of liberal principles, primarily because they are less likely to support the protection of minorities. They remain, however, equally supportive of other institutions of electoral and liberal democracy. Similarly, our results show that populist individuals are not especially more or less supportive of egalitarian and authoritarian understandings of democracy. That said, they are more comfortable with the idea of having strong leaders than their less populist counterparts. These results have important implications for democratic resilience. Policy-makers aiming to strengthen liberal democracy must address citizens’ concerns about representation without compromising core democratic safeguards. Understanding these tensions can help guide more inclusive democratic reforms and better communication between political institutions and the public.

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Political Studies @polstudies.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Does ideological congruence or perceived competence matter more for vote choice? @dieterstiers.bsky.social & @annkristinkolln.bsky.social argue both matter, but valence consistently outweighs spatial considerations. Read more: buff.ly/J3cy21u @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social #polsky #polsci

Abstract
Rational choice theories offer one of the major explanations for citizens’ voting behavior. The most prominent models within the rational choice framework – spatial and valence voting – share the same roots but differ in central aspects, emphasizing ideological congruence and competence evaluations, respectively. In this note, we provide a direct test of the models’ relative strength. Does a party’s issue congruence with a voter (spatial) or its effectiveness in handling important issues (valence) have a larger effect on vote choice? Our results from lab-like conditions using a novel conjoint experiment show strong evidence for both models, but valence evaluations consistently trump spatial considerations. These results have important implications for research on electoral behavior, party politics, and democratic representation.

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Chris Rivers @chrisrivers50.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Politics saw the largest year-on-year increase of all A-level subjects in the UK, with entries up 12% this year compared with 2025.It’s still only 3% of all A-levels studied across the UK in 2026 but is one of the fastest-growing A-levels – up 81% in the UK since 2010.

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Political Studies @polstudies.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

IN NEW ISSUE: Polarized attitudes and anti-democratic orientation in the US - Ariel Malka, Christopher M Federico, Thomas H Costello & Adam R Panish examine paradoxical partisan asymmetries in current democratic attitudes. Read more: buff.ly/dVEZQr8 @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social #polsci #polsky

Abstract
Influential perspectives on polarization in the United States imply that partisans will be more willing to degrade democracy when they are ideologically aligned with their own party and negatively oriented toward the opposing party. But psychological accounts of political ideology suggest that conservatives will be especially anti-democratic regardless of partisanship. Integrating insights from these areas, we argue that there are reasons to expect paradoxical partisan asymmetries in the ideological correlates of democratic attitudes. Across numerous surveys we find that cultural conservatism and out-party favorability are reliably associated with anti-democratic orientation among Democrats (but not Republicans), while left-leaning economic attitudes are reliably associated with anti-democratic orientation among Republicans (but not Democrats). These findings provide context for understanding how polarization might impact American democracy. They also suggest that increased centrality of sociocultural conflict and Republican cultivation of a right-wing populist reputation might sort anti-democratic Americans into the Republican Party.

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Political Studies @polstudies.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

How much more complicated does government formation get when one more party enters parliament? Chris Hanretty (@chanret.bsky.social) finds identifiability declines as parties increase, with no "sweet spots". Read OPEN ACCESS: buff.ly/EPcxz0X @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social #polsky #PartySystems

"Abstract
Government identifiability – the degree to which the party composition of the eventual government can be predicted given the election results – is a desirable characteristic of a political system. But the measurement of identifiability has remained impressionistic, limiting our ability to speak precisely about trade-offs between identifiability and other characteristics of the political system. I show that a recent measure of bargaining complexity by Cronert and Nyman acts as a ratio-level measure of government identifiability measured in bits – or equivalently, the number of yes/no questions needed to identify the composition of the government. I then show how identifiability is linearly related to the number of seat-winning parties in three different contexts: parliamentary governments, presidential cabinets, and municipal governments. Across all three contexts, an additional seat-winning party increases entropy of government formation by between 0.7 and 0.8 bits. Since identifiability is linearly related to the number of parties, any increase in the number of parties through electoral reform will worsen identifiability by the same amount. Conversely, there are no “sweet spots” where we can achieve high levels of identifiability at low cost in terms of the number of parties."

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Political Studies Review @psrjournal.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

You can watch the interview here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkQ1... You can read the article here: journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1... @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social

PSR Author Interview with Mr Nchango

In this episode, Dr Mark Kaye speaks with Mr Michael Nchango regarding his paper, co-authored with Dr Dilek Latiff entitled: 'Perception versus practice: Using neoclassical realism to analyse…

Political Studies Association @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

#Politics is the fastest growing #A-level subject Find out why in this article by PSA Chair @rosegann.bsky.social, and PSA Trustee Ana Nunes which was published in buff.ly/2CoB8ZC buff.ly/XkhyJXg

A-level results: why politics is the fastest growing subject

Young people are not disengaged from politics but increasingly interested in understanding it.

Political Studies Association @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

#PSA27 Call for Papers 📢 Paper & panel proposals invited for the PSA27 Annual Conference at the University of Hull, 22-24 March 2027. 📆 CfP Deadline 12 October 2026 🌎️ Conference theme: 'Seismic Politics – impacts and responses from the global to the local'

PSA27 Annual Conference - Political Studies Association

Join us in Hull for PSA27 to discuss Seismic Politics – impacts and responses from the global to the local “PSA [conference] was really great. It gave much-needed exposure to interact with…

Political Studies Association @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

📚 'The Global Vibe Shift: China and the Rise of Strongman Entitlement' New #OpenAccess article by @astridnordin.bsky.social (Kings College London) in the latest issue of PSA Political Insight magazine. ➡️ Learn more buff.ly/xCFFPby #Global #Politics #InternationalStudies #PIR

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The British Academy @britishacademy.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

UK-based postdoctoral – or equivalent – researchers in the humanities and social sciences can still apply for the British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grants. The deadline is 4 Nov for institutional applicants and 28 Oct for independent scholars. Find out more: bit.ly/4iwQQtI

British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grants, deadline of 4 November 2026. Independent scholars deadline 28 October 2026

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Political Studies @polstudies.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

IN NEW ISSUE: Politicized pejoration - @erikbleich.bsky.social, Husam AlZubaidy, Andrey Cao, Abigail Chang, Nikki Sadat, Abby Ward & A Maurits van der Veen develop the concept through a case study of the term “woke” in the US. Read more: buff.ly/lqoCtN7 @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social #polsky #polsci

Abstract
Politicized semantic change occurs when ideological actors strategically alter the meaning of existing terms to undermine opponents and to strengthen allies. We develop the concept of politicized pejoration through a case study of the term “woke” in the United States. This word originated in the US Black community as an encouragement to stay aware of social and racial injustices; it was subsequently transformed by the political right to indicate what it perceived as the left’s hypersensitivity and oppressive tendencies. We illustrate the process of pejoration by tracking usage of “woke” in mainstream media outlets, on Twitter and in Google searches from 2010 through 2022, combining quantitative text-as-data analyses with qualitative readings of media stories. Conceptualizing politicized pejoration as a form of politicized semantic change extends scholarly and public understanding of the politics of language.

Political Studies Association @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

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Political Studies Association @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

📚 'The political economy of #immigration from #Blair to #Burnham' New #OpenAccess article by James Hampshire (University of Sussex) in the latest issue of PSA Political Insight magazine. ➡️ Learn more buff.ly/xCFFPby

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Political Studies Review @psrjournal.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

🚨🚨New Online First!🚨🚨 Open Access & Free to Read! 🔓🔓 Climate mitigation: Just, legitimate and hence politically feasible? By Naima Chahboun Read the full article here: journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10..... @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social

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Political Studies Association @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

'Can #AndyBurnham Succeed?' 📚 Read this #OpenAccess article by Kevin Hickson (Centre for British Politics at the University of Hull) & Ben Williams (Politics Lecturer, incl. visiting Lecturer at the University of Chester) in the latest issue of PSA #PoliticalInsight magazine. ➡️ buff.ly/xCFFPby