David Attewell
LightNews LightNews
davidattewell6.bsky.social
David Attewell
@davidattewell6.bsky.social
2.1K followers 2.2K following 120 posts
SNSF Postdoc Mobility Fellow in political science at Aarhus University, by way of the University of Zurich. Research on deservingness, solidarity, and social cleavages in politics.

Website: https://www.davidattewell.net/
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by David Attewell
dzobrien.bsky.social
The same people who claim they want to "defend women." Gender studies departments have incredibly committed instructors. They get students to read, write, and think, exposing them to interdisciplinary coursework that helps them make sense of the world. They do this with limited resources & support.
nytimes.com The New York Times @nytimes.com · 1d
Breaking News: Texas A&M ended its women’s studies program and changed hundreds of courses over race and gender to comply with new policies limiting how race and gender ideology may be discussed in classrooms.
Texas A&M Ends Women’s Studies and Overhauls Hundreds of Classes on Race and Gender
New policies limiting the teaching of race and gender issues led administrators and professors to change hundreds of courses. School leaders say the rules could hurt A&M’s reputation.
nyti.ms
January 30, 2026 at 8:25 PM
Reposted by David Attewell
janvogler.bsky.social
🚨 Deadline Soon (***February 5, 2026***): 3-Year Postdoc in Political Science 🚨

I am seeking applicants for a 3-year postdoc related to my @erc.europa.eu research project EQUILIBRIUM that focuses on state-citizen interactions.

The application link and further information are in the post below. ⬇️
January 29, 2026 at 2:01 PM
Reposted by David Attewell
thomayer.bsky.social
Very happy to share that the first single-authored paper of my PhD titled "Populist Radical Right Parties and Pension Privatization" has just been published in Swiss Political Science Review.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Populist Radical Right Parties and Pension Privatization
Populist radical right parties (PRRP) have experienced notable electoral success across Europe in recent decades. While their preferences regarding public social policy have been widely studied, thei...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
January 26, 2026 at 11:06 AM
Reposted by David Attewell
iguinaudeau.bsky.social
En France, tenir ses promesses électorales ne rapporte rien

Avec @egrossman.bsky.social, on revient pour @france.theconversation.com sur ce résultat contre-intuitif et ce qu’il dit de la représentation & de la responsabilité des gouvernants de la Ve République 👇

theconversation.com/en-france-te...
En France, tenir ses promesses électorales ne rapporte rien
Une analyse des mandats présidentiels entre 1995 et 2022 montre que le respect – ou non – des promesses de campagne n’a aucun impact mesurable sur la popularité des présidents français.
theconversation.com
January 26, 2026 at 11:13 AM
Reposted by David Attewell
breunig.bsky.social
🚨 Postdoctoral Position at the University of Konstanz 🚨

We’re hiring a post-doc for our @excinequality.bsky.social project on political elites and decision-making.

4-year position | Deadline: Feb. 20 | Start: Sept 2026

Please share widely 🙏

The ad is here stellen.uni-konstanz.de/jobposting/f...
Postdoctoral Position at the Cluster of Excellence “The Politics of Inequality”
Deadline: 20 February 2026, 12:00 pm CET
stellen.uni-konstanz.de
January 23, 2026 at 12:44 PM
Reposted by David Attewell
julianachueri.bsky.social
📢 We’re hiring @vuamsterdam.bsky.social

PhD position in my ERC project: Welfare State Transformation in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Interested in how AI is reshaping labor markets, social protection, and the politics of redistribution?

Apply here: lnkd.in/eCcAXsaS

Please share widely!
January 21, 2026 at 5:16 PM
davidattewell6.bsky.social
The last paper of @dpzollinger.bsky.social and I's Special Issue 'Cleavage Politics in Western Democracies' is now out at @wepsocial.bsky.social.

Florent Gougou & @simonpersico.bsky.social's paper analyzes ecological conflict in the longue durée through a Lipset-Rokkanian lens.
wepsocial.bsky.social WEP Journal @wepsocial.bsky.social · 17d
🎉 Online first:

“The Ecologism/Productivism cleavage: reassessing the transformation of cleavage politics in Western Europe”

by Florent Gougou & Simon Persico

🔗 doi.org/10.1080/0140...
The abstract of the article "The Ecologism/Productivism cleavage: reassessing the transformation of cleavage politics in Western Europe" by Florent Gougou and Simon Persico, published in the journal West European Politics. Pairwise correlations between ecologism and four key political cleavages in public opinion across 12 Western european countries. Data: European Value Study 2017. Figure showing theoretical argument about the sequence of formation of the productivism/ecologism cleavage linked to the productivist revolution.
January 16, 2026 at 10:52 AM
Reposted by David Attewell
julianlimberg.bsky.social
New in @bjpols.bsky.social!

Dave Hope, @lhaffert.bsky.social and I show that low taxes on the rich have a hidden cost: They undermine public support for broad-based taxation. 🖋️ cup.org/45lgPwN
How does tax regressivity at the top affect public support for taxation? In this article, we run an information provision experiment in the United States with a quota-representative sample of around 4,000 people and randomly present respondents with factual information about total tax rates by income group. We find that informing respondents that the superrich pay lower total tax rates than other people not only increases support for raising taxes on the rich but also lowers support for taxing the middle class. Our results highlight an important hidden cost of tax regressivity at the top: if left unaddressed, it risks undermining public support for broad-based taxation.
December 29, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Reposted by David Attewell
iguinaudeau.bsky.social
New position at @sciencespo-cee.bsky.social, dont’t hesitate to apply if you study ecological transitions👇👇👇
December 22, 2025 at 9:04 AM
Reposted by David Attewell
bertous.bsky.social
New publication with @turnbulldugarte.com in @psrm.bsky.social! 🧵

We study whether citizens’ liberal values are selective: do people support policies based on who promotes them?

Short answer: Yes, and it's driven by ethnic out-group disidentification. (1/11) 👇

doi.org/10.1017/psrm...
December 19, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Reposted by David Attewell
bjpols.bsky.social
From October 2025 -

Educational Networks, Social Closure, and Cleavage Stabilization - cup.org/47ifc4B

"we show that educational divides are diminished in the presence of countervailing networks"

- @davidattewell6.bsky.social & @dpzollinger.bsky.social

#OpenAccess
BJPolS Abstract discussing educational attainment, social networks, and political behavior in Germany, the UK, and Switzerland.
December 10, 2025 at 6:40 AM
Reposted by David Attewell
gessler.bsky.social
We're looking for a colleague (postdoc) 📢 @politikuhh.bsky.social
3+3 years
Doing your own research while teaching 2.5 courses per semester
Research agenda with links to our team (democracy, digital politics, political competition/behaviour)
DL 🗓️ 05/01
stellen.uni-hamburg.de/jobposting/6...
Research Associate (Postdoc) Political Science § 28 Subsection 2 HmbHG
stellen.uni-hamburg.de
December 1, 2025 at 8:56 AM
Reposted by David Attewell
vtiberj.bsky.social
1/n : Vote RN et renouvellement générationnel

On m’interroge souvent sur le paradoxe apparent entre mes résultats sur l’ouverture culturelle des nouvelles générations et la progression de ce parti

Du coup, pan, un thread sur cet article qui explique ce phénomène : shs.cairn.info/revue-europe...
shs.cairn.info
December 9, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Reposted by David Attewell
isabellamweber.bsky.social
The affordability crisis is an inequality crisis. When prices spike in key sectors, it's not just inflation—it's a massive redistribution shock that hits poor households hardest.
In our **new working paper**, we identify the sectors that matter most. A thread 🧵
scholarworks.umass.edu/entities/pub...
December 8, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Reposted by David Attewell
elizabethelder.bsky.social
Out today! I argue companies that dominate local economies can durably shape the capacity of local governments. Read on if you’re interested in business power, local political economy, or (for some reason) how coal companies were (not) taxed by early 20th century local governments.
bjpols.bsky.social British Journal of Political Science @bjpols.bsky.social · Dec 5
NEW -

Company Towns: Single-Industry Dominance and Local Government Capacity - https://cup.org/48yJZcG

- @elizabethelder.bsky.social

#OpenAccess
BJPolS abstract discussing the economic dependency of localities on single industries, focusing on the coal industry in the United States, and its impact on local government policy and economic sustainability.
December 5, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Reposted by David Attewell
iguinaudeau.bsky.social
With @elisadeisshelbig.bsky.social, @theresmatthiess.bsky.social, we are designing a survey experiment with low-income Germans 🇩🇪 Survey folks: any tips on reliable institutes, good practices, or any useful approach for harder-to-reach groups? We are really grateful for any hint or experience 🙏
November 24, 2025 at 10:32 AM
Reposted by David Attewell
profjanegreen.bsky.social
UK politics followers, these graphs are in a paper by @jamesdgriffiths.bsky.social and co (inc. me).

There's so much useful info in them.

The long-term context for the politics of our time, how the 'Brexit elections' differed, though note the Y axes may need to be bigger for the next election!!
November 28, 2025 at 9:29 AM
Reposted by David Attewell
roderikrekker.bsky.social
(1/10) 🚨Preprint alert!🚨

In this article, I challenge claims of a generational rise of conservative men. In the media and recent academic publications, the so-called ‘youth gender gap’ has been interpreted as a generational phenomenon.

doi.org/10.31234/osf...
OSF
doi.org
November 16, 2025 at 2:24 PM
davidattewell6.bsky.social
A fascinating-looking set of papers on a central and under-explored issue of our political moment ⬇️
tabouchadi.bsky.social Tarik Abou-Chadi @tabouchadi.bsky.social · Nov 27
With the Progressive Politics Research Network, we have published 8 new research briefs on the politics of housing. What does a progressive agenda on housing look like? Which elements are important? What the hurdles are and how can they be overcome?
politicscentre.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/progressive-...
November 27, 2025 at 10:44 AM
Reposted by David Attewell
gefjonoff.bsky.social
New publication w/ my friend & amazing coauthor @fedetrastulli.bsky.social in @ejprjournal.bsky.social! 🎉

doi.org/10.1017/S147...

We explore: Who considers which political issues as important & how is this related to sociodemographic/socioeconomic variables?
Who prioritises what? Determinants and measurement of voters’ issue prioritisation | European Journal of Political Research | Cambridge Core
Who prioritises what? Determinants and measurement of voters’ issue prioritisation
doi.org
November 21, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Reposted by David Attewell
dpzollinger.bsky.social
In this new paper, we use open-ended survey questions to study how people perceive (changes in) social hierarchies. 

We show how and among whom status gains of women, ethnic minorities, or LGBTQ+ people are saliently perceived–namely among progressives, not just conservatives!
mabreyer.bsky.social Magda Breyer @mabreyer.bsky.social · Nov 20
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.
November 21, 2025 at 8:29 AM
davidattewell6.bsky.social
Fantastic paper and yet another great example of the power of open-ended survey questions.
mabreyer.bsky.social Magda Breyer @mabreyer.bsky.social · Nov 20
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.
November 21, 2025 at 8:45 AM
davidattewell6.bsky.social
"The entrepreneurs in the slump are longing for a boom; why do they not gladly accept the synthetic boom which the government is able to offer them? It is this difficult and fascinating question with which we intend to deal in this article."
November 20, 2025 at 10:53 AM
Reposted by David Attewell
sophieehill.bsky.social
My antitrust attitudes paper with Nick Short and Jacob Brown is out now @poppublicsphere.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1017/S153...

We find:
- voters are skeptical about M&A
- current law marginalizes important public concerns (layoffs, bailout risk, lobbying)
- expert/public cleavage > partisan diffs
What Is Ideological Capture and How Do We Measure It? Using Antitrust Reform to Understand Expert-Public Cleavages Nicholas Short, Sophie Hill and Jacob Brown Scholarship on regulatory capture—when businesses lobby regulators to act contrary to the public interest—has thrived since the 1970s. Yet it ignores an important dimension of influence, what we call ideological capture. This occurs when experts design regulatory frameworks that marginalize important public values and produce favorable outcomes for special interests even in the absence of lobbying. We present a theoretical and empirical framework for understanding ideological capture, rooted in expert-public cleavages, and measure its presence in an important policy domain (antitrust review of business mergers) with an original survey of the public and of antitrust lawyers. Our results suggest that the main framework for evaluating anticompetitive conduct, the consumer welfare standard, marginalizes important public concerns but is deeply popular among antitrust lawyers. With prior vork showing the standard arose not from conventional processes but from judicial and bureaucratic activism, we conclude that antitrust policy evidences ideological capture. Keywords: political economy, bureaucracy, regulatory capture, economic ideas, public opinion Figure 4 The Public Is Skeptical that Large Mergers Deliver Some Economic Benefits Bar charts Note: A plurality of the public disagrees that large mergers lower prices (their main purported benefit) or make it easier to start a new business but agrees that large mergers increase innovation. Respondents were less certain about the effect of large mergers on product quality. Figure 5 The Public Agrees that Large Mergers Have Significant Social Risks Note: A majority of the public agree that large mergers weaken the ties between companies and local communities, create companies that are too big to fail, have too much power to infringe on individual liberties, and have too much influence in politics. Figure 3 Expertise Outweighs Partisanship in Shaping Support for Replacing the CWS
November 18, 2025 at 10:39 AM
Reposted by David Attewell
heimbergecon.bsky.social
"academic publishing is dominated by profit-oriented, multinational companies for whom scientific knowledge is a commodity to be sold back to the academic community who created it... The dominant four collectively generated... $12 billion in profits between 2019 and 2024."
November 18, 2025 at 6:48 AM