iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Rainbow Murray

Philip Cowley @philipjcowley.bsky.social · 13h

Latest piece for @thehousemag.bsky.social - on the Norway vote in 1940, drawing on a great piece just published in Parliamentary History. www.politicshome.com/opinion/arti...

politicshome.com

The Professor Will See You Now: Norway

Lessons in political science. This week: Norway

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Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 12h

There's many a slip twixt cup and lip. Me on how once we move from the normative abstract to the nitty-gritty particular on electoral reform, there's plenty of opportunities for self-interest to take over. Fortunately, to borrow another maxim, The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men Gang aft agley!

blogs.lse.ac.uk

Burnham’s proposed electoral reform could have unpredictable effects | LSE British Politics

Burnham's proposed electoral reform was cheered by proportional representation supporters. But when political ideals meet political reality, a lot can change.

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Rainbow Murray @rainbowmurray.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Thanks to Daniel Höhmann @dahoehmann.bsky.social (whom I am constantly citing), I always know how to type ö using alt key codes 😁. If you're not yet familiar with his work on gendered representation (and notably on men in politics), I highly recommend!

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Andrew Mueller @andrewmueller.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Latest Daily on Monocle Radio. @rainbowmurray.bsky.social and @phmarliere.bsky.social on the day's big stories, plus Karen Krizanovich on the Venice Film Festival, and the legacy of Gloria Steinem. monocle.com/radio/shows/...

monocle.com

Will Russian interference derail Europe’s future elections?

What can be done to stop Russia meddling in European elections? Then: France and the UK boost their historic ties....

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Cas Mudde @casmudde.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

"The male ‘norm’ is an essential but under-tapped part of the puzzle of understanding gender inequality within political representation." Such a great agenda-setting piece by @rainbowmurray.bsky.social & @elinbja.bsky.social 👏 "we also need to start interviewing male politicians as men"

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Rainbow Murray @rainbowmurray.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

It is a funny old day when there is more than one correct answer to the question: "Which far-right politician, touted as the next leader of a G7 country, today deflected attention away from financial corruption scandals by declaring themselves a candidate in a forthcoming election?"

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Rainbow Murray @rainbowmurray.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Always a pleasure being on the show with you Andrew

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Andrew Mueller @andrewmueller.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Latest Daily on Monocle Radio. @rainbowmurray.bsky.social and Somnath Batabyal on where, if anywhere, we are vis-a-vis an Iran deal, and Geoffrey Robertson KC on his new book outlining a possible fresh approach to policing war crimes. monocle.com/radio/shows/...

monocle.com

Is the war in Iran creating a rift between Trump and Netanyahu?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly admitted he is losing sway over President Trump in how to handle the...

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Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

There's a fine line between brave and foolhardy and Streeting might just have crossed it. And note, this survey was conducted before his resignation. Anyone who remembers how badly Sunak's supposed backstabbing of Johnson went down with the grassroots shouldn't expect those numbers to improve much.

Survey showing Streeting would lose to Starmer in a head to head contest.

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Rainbow Murray @rainbowmurray.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

After a couple of relatively peaceful years I'd got out of the habit of checking the headlines every couple of hours to see if the prime minister had resigned/ been ousted, but now rejoining the armchair fans of British political drama 🍿👀

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Rainbow Murray @rainbowmurray.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

Case study is France 2002-22. The book spans 20 years & has taken me almost as long to write, and it's still not quite finished, but I can't wait to share it once it is because I have found so many interesting things! Watch this space! (Some of my other findings: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....)

tandfonline.com

Gendered participation and conduct in parliamentary debates

Gender quotas have increased women’s presence in many parliaments; what is the impact on participation and conduct within parliamentary debates? This article applies a feminist institutionalist fra...

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Rainbow Murray @rainbowmurray.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

The gender gaps are strongest when parties allocate the questions for a public audience, but modest gender gaps persist even for obscure written questions, and even after controlling for expertise, party & seniority. In particular, women ask far more questions about women. 2/

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Rainbow Murray @rainbowmurray.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

I just completed a full first draft of ch. 6 of my book. I have been working on this chapter for... 🥁... 16 years! To say I'm excited & relieved is quite the understatement. I analyse nearly 400000 parliamentary questions, hand coded, & find gender gaps in issue focus that persist over time 1/

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Rainbow Murray @rainbowmurray.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

This paper was a long time in the making. I'm super excited to see it published. Using a feminist institutionalist framework and the French case study, I show how gendered expectations of behaviour shape parliamentary debate, especially when the cameras are on, and how this endures over time.

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Sarah Kirchberger @sarahkirchberger.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

“One report (found) that only 8 percent of users actually double checked an AI’s answer. Another experiment found that users still listened to AI when it gave them the wrong answer nearly 80 percent of the time — a grim trend the researchers dubbed “cognitive surrender.”

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Rainbow Murray @rainbowmurray.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

This show was a blast. @andrewmueller.bsky.social was on absolutely cracking form, and it is always a pleasure to hang out with the brilliant @anandmenon.bsky.social

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Rainbow Murray @rainbowmurray.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

There is a special place in hell for reviewers who ask for more revisions after you've done everything they originally asked of you #Reviewer2 #academia #polisky

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Rainbow Murray @rainbowmurray.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

I think I speak for most of Northern Europe when I scream "I CAN'T BLOODY WAIT FOR WINTER TO END!!!!!!!" 🥶🥶🌧️😬

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Rainbow Murray @rainbowmurray.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

Quite aside the shocking moral disregard for women's lives, the report cited here v dramatically underestimates the economic contribution of women's unpaid labour, leading to a deeply fallacious conclusion about women's monetary value. It's what happens when men make decisions without women present

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Rainbow Murray @rainbowmurray.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

Netflix is suggesting I want to watch "Witty Mid-Life-Crisis Comedy Series" 🤨

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Politics & Gender @politicsgenderj.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

📣 Out on #FirstView 📣 In "Complex, Conditional, and Contested", @rainbowmurray.bsky.social analyzes representative claims to explore the relationship between descriptive and substantive representation of women in France 🇫🇷 🌟 Available #OpenAccess 🌟 buff.ly/oWpVWw6

Research article titled "Complex, Conditional, and Contested: Substantive Representation and Representative Claims in French Parliamentary Debates" by Rainbow Murray.

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Kai Arzheimer @kai-arzheimer.com · 04/12/2025

Behold: a genuinely useful flowchart #AcademicChatter

Flowchart titled “Should you attend that meeting?” with decision nodes leading to “Decline!” in all cases.

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Rainbow Murray @rainbowmurray.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

Crucially, I find that support for the substantive representation of women is often restricted to representative claims that uphold the gendered and racialized status quo (eg portraying women as victims), while claims that empower women face greater resistance. 4/

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Rainbow Murray @rainbowmurray.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

Sometimes women cross party lines to work together, while ideological differences emerge between women sharing descriptive traits. Contradictory & contested visions of women's interests are advanced by actors who qualify as descriptive and substantive representatives of women. 3/

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Rainbow Murray @rainbowmurray.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

I ask 3 core questions: Who is making representative claims for women? What are the claims saying? Which women are represented by the claims? I find that the substantive representation of women is complex & full of contestations, & is not always clearly divided along gendered or partisan lines. 2/

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Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

BTW, any UK outlets that want a British based Chilean (party and electoral) politics expert, need look no further than our fab @qmulsse.bsky.social colleague @sajuria.com

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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 03/11/2025

Re-reading @colmpm.bsky.social’s marvellous “Futures of Socialism”. A very different experience to reading the proof in 2023 and having a horrible feeling of dread, as opposed to now where you go “well, yeah, my worst fears have been realised and exceeded”.

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Rainbow Murray @rainbowmurray.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

If you are interested in Dutch politics and/or the rise of the far-right in politics then you should follow @stijntvankessel.bsky.social because he really knows what he's talking about AND he has great plants

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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 22/10/2025

"‘Whatever It Takes?’ The Policy Implications of Supporting Ukraine". What does supporting Ukraine mean in practice? What are the implications for national security, tax policy, EU relations, energy security & more? 28 Oct 12:00 at @mileendinstitute.bsky.social. us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

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Rainbow Murray @rainbowmurray.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

The co-optation of the themes of the far-right by mainstream parties, in the Netherlands as elsewhere, only serves to normalise the far-right's agenda and strengthen far-right parties electorally. You cannot defeat the far-right by becoming more like them.

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Andrew Mueller @andrewmueller.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

Latest Daily on Monocle Radio. @rainbowmurray.bsky.social and Nik Gowing on the day's stuff, plus regular panellist Julie Norman on the new book she has co-written on Gaza. monocle.com/radio/shows/...

monocle.com

Will the proposed Trump-Putin summit in Budapest do any good? - Monocle

As reports emerge of a “shouting match” between Zelensky and Trump during their latest meeting, we discuss what lies ahead...

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Rainbow Murray @rainbowmurray.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

In sum: French politics is in a real mess. Asking the outgoing PM to return to the job he just quit is not going to fix the mess. Casual spectators can enjoy the plot-twists 🍿👀, Brits can compare the longevity of French PMs to 🥬, but for many in France the situation is actually one of despair 😞 /end

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Rainbow Murray @rainbowmurray.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

Understandably the Left are very peeved. They hoped they might get one of their own as the next PM. They did not. They hoped they could overturn the pension reform. They cannot. No surprise then that some have threatened to no-confidence Lecornu immediately, while others refuse to rule it out 12/

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Rainbow Murray @rainbowmurray.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

What the Left really want it to overturn the bitterly opposed pension reform from 2023 that raised the retirement age to 64. There were hints this week that pensions were back on the table - turns out Macron is not willing to scrap the reform, only to delay it until after the next election 11/

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Rainbow Murray @rainbowmurray.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

Lecornu has offered meaningful parliamentary input into the budget & promised not to use constitutional clause 49.3 to force the budget through without a vote. He has also offered to soften the targets for deficit reduction, which would mean less austerity but more debt. Will it be enough? 10/

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Rainbow Murray @rainbowmurray.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

Mainstream parties don't need to agree on everything but they do need to find enough common ground to pass a budget. Urgently. Their failure to do so previously has left a string of ousted prime ministers in its wake. What can Lecornu do to succeed where all others have failed? 9/

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Rainbow Murray @rainbowmurray.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

So no surprise that the far-right & far-left are calling for elections & promising to vote down the government before its members are even announced. & Macron is relying once again on fear of the extremes to try & force everyone else to fall in line behind him. It's become his signature move 8/

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Rainbow Murray @rainbowmurray.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

But what this week of discussions HAS demonstrated is that there is, in fact, one thing uniting all moderate parties - the fear of another snap election. Because polls suggest the far-right would win & the moderates could all lose seats. They don't want that. & the extremist parties want it a lot 7/

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Rainbow Murray @rainbowmurray.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

Will the new government be yet another replica of its failed predecessors? Tbc. One person who's clearly out is Bruno Le Maire, whose controversial return to the previous government precipitated its collapse. Lecornu has also said the government must be free of those with presidential ambitions 6/

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