iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Delighted to see SUPA's consortium leader Yves Steinebach step up as Lead Co-Editor at Regulation & Governance @reggovjournal.bsky.social – a well-earned promotion. Congrats, Yves! 👏

000

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Is there rule growth? Yes – but not where you'd expect. Legal acts per year: flat. Words per year: 2.5x since 2000. The explosion is in regulatory word count – from 10M in 2000 to 30M today.

000

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Most comparative research on legislation focuses on primary legislation. But it's only a fraction of what governments actually produce. The regulatory share varies wildly — from 67.7% in Germany to 98.8% in France.

100

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Yves Steinebach took SUPA's questions on policy growth and bureaucratic overburdening to São Paulo last week — the SPSAS/ISP RG2026 school at Fundação Getulio Vargas. Ten days, thirty years of Brazilian regulation on the table, and confirmation that administrative overload doesn't need a passport.

000

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

A few SUPA folks at IWPP5 in Ottawa last week — marking 20 years of Regulation & Governance, with scholars from five continents. Tuva Lima Molde on how policy growth reshapes administrative structures, and Nir Kosti on measuring regulation itself. All beautifully organised by Yves.

010

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Two SUPA panels on EU regulatory growth at #SGEU2026 in Catania 📸 Nir Kosti on complexity vs. discretion, Brigitte Pircher @brigittepircher.bsky.social on how "Better Regulation" quietly changed what it means. Sun, Sicily, and rule stocks — not a bad combo.

021

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

The SUPA team at #EPSS2026! Yesterday: Regulatory Growth: Implementation and Outcomes, chaired by B. Pircher. Five papers, plenty of fruitful exchange. Round two on Saturday: Regulatory Growth: Drivers and Design, chaired by X. Fernández-i-Marín. Come join us! epssnet.org/belfast-2026/

010

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

A clean framework for comparing what countries actually do on climate — beyond headline pledges. New in the Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis @jcpaicpa.bsky.social by SUPA's X. Fernández-i-Marín, C. Knill & Y. Steinebach (with M. Hinterleitner & D. Nachtigall). doi.org/10.1080/1387...

011

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

New in @jeppjournal.bsky.social: @dionyszink.bsky.social introduces *organizational corrosion* — the slow, self-reinforcing decay of public agencies under sustained overload. Illustrated with England's Environment Agency (deep into it) vs Ireland's EPA (largely spared). 📖 doi.org/10.1080/1350...

021

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Two presentations, one big question: why do good political intentions get lost somewhere between ambition and reality? Today at the PBO seminar (UiO), Y. Steinebach and M. Nemčok @miroslavnemcok.bsky.social presented their recent research. Thanks to the PBO group at @uio.no for great feedback.

010

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Two intense days in Oslo with the full SUPA consortium in one place 📸 Four panels of work-in-progress on the core questions driving the project — partners from Oslo, LMU Munich, Universitat de Barcelona, Södertörn, Zeppelin & Aarhus. More to come 👇

064

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

A few snapshots from Yves Steinebach's talk at Nordisk Administrativt Forbund 📸 A great deep dive into policy overload — why modern democracies keep stacking rules they can't actually implement, and what targeted simplification could look like.

010

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

ERC @erc.europa.eu spotlights Christoph Knill @cknill.bsky.social (LMU Munich @lmu.de) on policy accumulation — the very question SUPA was set up to tackle. Governments keep adding rules; capacity to implement them doesn't keep pace. Worth a read: erc.europa.eu/projects-sta...

020

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

🔥🔥🔥 Lenz @alexalenz.bsky.social, Knill @cknill.bsky.social & Steinebach in @wepsocial.bsky.social: policymakers are cognitively wired to add rules, not remove them. A survey experiment with 1,454 Norwegian politicians shows the bias is persistent and hard to debias. 🔗 doi.org/10.1080/0140...

021

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

"One-in-one-out" sounds simple: new rule in, old rule out. But does it work? New in Public Administration Review: Fernández-i-Marín, Hinterleitner, Knill & Steinebach test Germany's scheme across 500+ laws. No reduction in restrictions. Even in Germany 🚨 doi.org/10.1111/puar.70107

000

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

“EU Better Regulation… doesn’t depoliticise. It reshapes politics.” From a presentation at SNES at Linköping University, Brigitte Pircher @brigittepircher.bsky.social (with Miranda Thulin & Swapnil Vashishtha) shows how “good regulation” is being redefined—without changing the rules.

021

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

Miroslav Nemčok @miroslavnemcok.bsky.social presenting at Queen Mary University of London. New paper, with Prachee Arora and Yves Steinebach, develops a measure of social policy complexity—capturing how legislation becomes harder to implement for administrations and navigate for citizens.

041

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

Why do “independent” institutions become politicized? In Regulation & Governance @reggovjournal.bsky.social, Brigitte Pircher @brigittepircher.bsky.social shows how institutional design itself can generate contestation. doi.org/10.1111/rego... Congrats, Brigitte! 👏

041

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

Important policy discussion at the German Federal Ministry for Digital Affairs and State Modernization. Great to see Christoph Knill @cknill.bsky.social contributing to the debate on improving how regulatory burden is measured.

030

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

Rules, competitiveness, and simplification on the agenda at SNS Center for Business and Policy Studies. Great to see Brigitte Pircher @brigittepircher.bsky.social bringing SUPA-relevant insights to the debate. 🎥 Full recording: www.sns.se/evenemang/re...

011

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

Policy ambition ⬆️ Administrative capacity ↔️ We’ve finished data collection in Norway—and the pattern is clear: far more policy tasks over time, but not a proportional increase in actors responsible for implementation. More rules. More work. Same system.

000

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

EU climate policy is getting more ambitious—and more complex. That undermines implementation. S. Hurka @steffenhurka.bsky.social and Y. Steinebach show in @climate-policy.bsky.social that legal complexity is linked to implementation deficits across the EU: doi.org/10.1080/1469... 👇⬇️ Explained ⬇️👇

020

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

We set ourselves a mammoth challenge: mapping policy changes down to the level of individual tasks and their allocation across actors. Such granular don’t exist. We take it VERY seriously. Therefore, our research assistants met to calibrate coding practices to ensure our data are reliable.

021

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

‼️Join Brigitte Pircher @brigittepircher.bsky.social in an important debate on administrative burden reduction. Brigitte will present fresh insights from the SUPA project on regulation, administrative capacity, and implementation challenges. Details: www.sns.se/evenemang/re...

000

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

🎉 Big congratulations! SUPA's WP co-PI Alexa Lenz @alexalenz.bsky.social has won the Gördeler Prize 2026 for her PhD on municipal crisis management — highlighting how local governments can stay effective and legitimate in times of crisis. 👏 Well deserved! 🔗 publicgovernance.de/html/de/Carl...

041

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

Which climate policies are the real “all-season players”? New SUPA research in @climate-policy.bsky.social identifies individual measures that reliably cut emissions across policy mixes. Read: doi.org/10.1080/1469... @cknill.bsky.social

010

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

Should laws expire by default? FDP @freiedemokraten.bsky.social leader Christian Dürr @christianduerr.bsky.social suggests letting all German laws passed since 2000 lapse unless reintroduced. A striking response to regulatory overload. Source at @zeit.de: www.zeit.de/politik/deut...

000

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

At DFØ, Yves and Tuva @tuvamolde.bsky.social discussed how “smart regulation” and policy portfolios can help identify deregulation potential—by spotting instruments that add burden without improving effectiveness.

010

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

Great session at the XIII Workshop on Empirical Political Science at @ub.edu! Prachee Arora showed how hidden compliance costs - below reporting thresholds- still shape policy outcomes. Thanks to discussants Jaime Bordel @jaimebgl.bsky.social and Pau Vall-Prat for the insightful feedback!

020

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

Legislative complexity on the rise: a new study in @jeppjournal.bsky.social shows EU acts are fewer, but denser with regulatory obligations. Valuable work that complements what we’re exploring in SUPA. doi.org/10.1080/1350...

041

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

Exploring the link between social policies and political attitudes: M. Nemčok (@miroslavnemcok.bsky.social, @uio.no) shared fresh insights with his colleagues at @statsvitenskap.bsky.social on SUPA’s ambition to examine how social policy complexity shapes citizens’ evaluation of political system.

031

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

Yves and Tuva met with the Norwegian Ministry of Digitalisation and Public Governance. Yves presented how AI-driven policy portfolios can help identify smart deregulation opportunities. Exciting conversation and promising next steps.

062

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

🚨 CfP 🚨 At ECPR @ecpr.bsky.social GC 2026 (Kraków, 8.-11. 9. 2026) Y. Steinebach and A. Lenz @alexalenz.bsky.social are convening a panel on "Overburdened Bureaucracies" - how public administrations cope with rising demands and limited capacity. 🚨 Submit your abstract by 17 Dec! Details below ⬇️

022

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

A rare sight 🚨: the entire SUPA consortium gathered on one screen for a coordination meeting. Big ideas, good vibes — and just a hint of technical drama 💻.

041

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 21/11/2025

📢 CfP: Regulatory Growth in the EU The 2026 SG-EU @ecprsgeu.bsky.social Biennial Conference 1–3 July | Università di Catania Brigitte Pircher @brigittepircher.bsky.social and Nir Kosti invite papers on the drivers and consequences of EU rule growth. 📬 Submit by 8 Dec 2025 → nir.kosti@lmu.de

042

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

The European Citizen Action Service @ecas-europe.bsky.social connects the project to citizens, helping us understand how rule growth affects everyday life. Team: Giulia Sandri @giuliasandri.bsky.social, Claire Morot‑Sir, Nicolò Triacca.

042

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

At LMU Munich @lmumuenchen.bsky.social, the team identifies administrative “Achilles’ heels” and develop proposals for adaptive responses. Team: C. Knill @cknill.bsky.social, A. Lenz @alexalenz.bsky.social, F. Findeisen, D. Zink @dionyszink.bsky.social .

142

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

At the University of Oslo @uio.no, we map how growing rule volumes reshape public administration: who implements what, and how responsibilities shift. Team: Y. Steinebach, M. Nemčok @miroslavnemcok.bsky.social , M. Povitkina @mpovitkina.bsky.social, L. Gulli, M. Imran, T. Molde.

182

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

At the Hebrew University of Jerusalem @hebrewuniversity.bsky.social , the focus is on endogenous rule growth: legal design, linguistic and relational indicators, regulatory discretion — tracing first-, second-, and third-order rules. Team: Nir Kosti.

140

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

Södertörn Uni. @sodertornshogskola.bsky.social studies how rule-offsetting schemes work, combining theory, coding, and interviews with policymakers & civil society. Goal: effective and legitimate rule design. Team: Brigitte Pircher @brigittepircher.bsky.social , Miranda Thulin, Swapnil Vashishtha.

142

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

The University of Barcelona @ub.edu team turns archives, APIs, web-scraped material, and legal documents into machine-readable data using text-as-data and NLP — building a dataset on rule growth across the EU. Team: Xavier Fernández-i-Marín, David García García @davidgg.bsky.social , Prachee Arora.

152

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

What brings the SUPA scholars together? Turning laws into data to ask why rules multiply, how to streamline without hurting democracy, and how to help policymakers make sense of it. In the posts below ⬇️👇🔽 we show how each partner tackles a different angle. It really fits together, doesn’t it? 💡

132

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

🛑 The EU’s Better Regulation agenda risks cutting rules that protect workers, consumers & the environment. A policy brief by Brigitte Pircher @brigittepircher.bsky.social calls for stronger oversight, transparency & reclaiming regulation: library.fes.de/pdf-files/bu...

032

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 22/10/2025

📢 CfP | EPSS 2026 @epssnet.bsky.social (Belfast, 18–20 June 2026) Why do rules keep growing—and what happens when they do? Join our panel “Rules Growth: Dynamics, Drivers, and Implementation Challenges in Advanced Democracies”. 📅 Deadline: 5 November 2025 📧 Submit proposals to nir.kosti@lmu.de

020

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 18/10/2025

After two great talks, Yves has two days off to immerse himself in Chinese culture and enjoy the wonderful hospitality of his hosts 🇨🇳

010

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 18/10/2025

Next stop on Yves’s Beijing tour was Beijing Normal University! Great energy and thoughtful debate yesterday.

110

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

Yves Steinebach is bringing policy talk to #Beijing! First stop: Tsinghua University @tsinghuauniversity.bsky.social Topic: how to balance responsiveness and effectiveness in policymaking.

170

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

Congratulations to our consortium leader, Yves Steinebach, on his promotion to full professor! 🎉 Today he delivered his inaugural lecture, “The Balance Challenge: Navigating Policy Responsiveness and Effectiveness,” at the @statsvitenskap.bsky.social @uio.no

081

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

🧠 Are democracies trapped by their own complexity—or strengthened by it? New study from the SUPA team in @jeppjournal.bsky.social shows that openness builds resilience, not overload. doi.org/10.1080/1350...

032

SUPA: Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies @supaproject.bsky.social · 05/10/2025

🌍 ANALYZING (CLIMATE) POLICY PORTFOLIOS New paper in @jcpaicpa.bsky.social introduces an analytical approach to systematically map what governments do on (climate) policy along two dimensions: 🎯 Targets – goals governments address 🛠️ Instruments – how they pursue them 🔗 doi.org/10.1080/1387...

022