Mike Cowburn
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mikecowburn.bsky.social
Mike Cowburn
@mikecowburn.bsky.social
Research Fellow, @demolaw.bsky.social, Zeppelin Universität

Intra-Party Politics | Candidate Selection | Legislative Politics | PolComm | Primaries

Author: Party Transformation in Congressional Primaries https://tinyurl.com/4w6tfvjx

www.mikecowburn.com
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🎉📖Book release day 📖🎉

My first book, "Party Transformation in Congressional Primaries: Faction and Ideology in the Twenty-First Century" is published TODAY by Cambridge University Press.

You can buy a copy here: tinyurl.com/4w6tfvjx. Use the code in the flyer below to get 20% off.
Reposted by Mike Cowburn
🚨🎉New Publication Friday 🎉🚨

Campaigning in the Age of Platforms: A Longitudinal Analysis of German Parties & Politicians

w/ @ulrikeklinger.bsky.social & @andersoloflarsson.bsky.social

Out now in Political Communication.

#polisky #commsky

doi.org/10.1080/1058...
Campaigning in the Age of Platforms: A Longitudinal Analysis of German Parties & Politicians
Social media platforms now play a central role in election campaigns for parties and politicians. Yet comparatively little research has compared how these actors use these platforms during and outs...
doi.org
November 7, 2025 at 1:31 PM
🚨🎉New Publication Friday 🎉🚨

Campaigning in the Age of Platforms: A Longitudinal Analysis of German Parties & Politicians

w/ @ulrikeklinger.bsky.social & @andersoloflarsson.bsky.social

Out now in Political Communication.

#polisky #commsky

doi.org/10.1080/1058...
Campaigning in the Age of Platforms: A Longitudinal Analysis of German Parties & Politicians
Social media platforms now play a central role in election campaigns for parties and politicians. Yet comparatively little research has compared how these actors use these platforms during and outs...
doi.org
November 7, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Reposted by Mike Cowburn
🇳🇱🗳️ Sondage sorti des urnes @IpsosNL pour les élections législatives aux Pays-Bas :

🟡D66 (progressistes) 27, +18
⚫️PVV (extrême-droite) 25, -12
🔵VVD (libéraux) 23, -1
🟣GL-PvdA (gauche écologiste) 20, -5
🟡CDA (chrétiens-démocrates) 19, +14
⚫️JA21 (droite radicale) 9, +8
October 29, 2025 at 8:03 PM
For the second time this postseason I (in Europe) have woken up and they are still playing baseball. ⚾️
October 28, 2025 at 5:17 AM
Reposted by Mike Cowburn
The @ec.europa.eu preliminarily finds TikTok and Meta in breach of transparency obligations under the Digital Services Act.

The EC also finds that Meta and TikTok have put in place "burdensome procedures and tools for researchers to request access to public data."

ec.europa.eu/commission/p...
Commission preliminarily finds TikTok and Meta in breach of their transparency obligations under the Digital Services Act
Today, the European Commission preliminarily found both TikTok and Meta in breach of their obligation to grant researchers adequate access to public data under the Digital Services Act (DSA).
ec.europa.eu
October 24, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Reposted by Mike Cowburn
Now out in Party Politics 🎉

Our study (@jbpilet.bsky.social)suggests that when a mainstream right-wing party signals willingness to rule with the radical right, support for the radical right rises — while the mainstream gains nothing.
👉 A legitimisation effect.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
October 24, 2025 at 7:38 AM
Reposted by Mike Cowburn
Senator Merkley is on hour 20 of reading How Democracies Die, mixed w commentary, on u.s. senate floor
October 22, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Reposted by Mike Cowburn
If you've been reading that fantastic new paper by @dasalgon.bsky.social & @tevoelker.bsky.social on how mainstream parties lose if they adopt far-right issues:
We looked at a case study & found similar dynamics for media.
This was partly based on data from Daniel & Teresa!❤️
bsky.app/profile/curd...
October 20, 2025 at 8:28 AM
Reposted by Mike Cowburn
Job Alert! We are hiring two post-docs (full time, 4+ years) in our project SCEPTIC - Social, Computational and Ethical Premises of Trust and Informational Cohesion with @annanosthoff.bsky.social @guzoch.bsky.social and Prof. Andreas Peters (uol.de/informatik/s...)
October 17, 2025 at 9:15 AM
Reposted by Mike Cowburn
This is an essential. "Democrats need to beat the Trumpists in elections that we ensure are free" is the best strategy for the next 2-4 years. But it is not a long-term strategy! The only possible long-term strategy is that someone else needs to defeat the Trumpists for control of the Repub Party.
“Win every election” is not a viable strategy for preventing authoritarianism
October 13, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Reposted by Mike Cowburn
Very good news from the east of Germany, where the far-right (AfD) has its strongest base - the AfD got soundly defeated in two mayoral elections, in places where they were trying to use the presence of people seeking asylum as a decisive issue. Many voters rejected that outlook. That's hopeful.
Wieder ein schlechter Tag für die AfD im Osten.
Deklassiert in der OB-Stichwahl in Frankfurt (Oder) und sogar in Eisenhüttenstadt - wo sie sich echte Hoffnung machte - deutlich verloren.
October 13, 2025 at 6:58 AM
Reposted by Mike Cowburn
Happening this morning at the @wzb.bsky.social conference, straight after @catherinedevries.bsky.social‘s opening keynote.
After a great evening at the first @wzb.bsky.social conference on the future of democracy I’m looking forward to the first full day first tomorrow. I’m presenting work (w/ @curdknupfer.bsky.social & @yunkangyang.bsky.social) at 9:30am in B001

mikecowburn.com/wp-content/u...
October 9, 2025 at 5:17 AM
Reposted by Mike Cowburn
For my DFG-funded project “German Sexual Identity and Election Study” and my ERC-funded project “VisibleQueers”, I am looking for three student assistants (m/f/d) to provide dedicated support and active collaboration.

Please share!

www.mzes.uni-mannheim.de/en/three-stu...
Three Student Assistants (m/f/d) Projects German Sexual Identity and Election Study as well as VisibleQueers
www.mzes.uni-mannheim.de
October 8, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Happening this morning at the @wzb.bsky.social conference, straight after @catherinedevries.bsky.social‘s opening keynote.
After a great evening at the first @wzb.bsky.social conference on the future of democracy I’m looking forward to the first full day first tomorrow. I’m presenting work (w/ @curdknupfer.bsky.social & @yunkangyang.bsky.social) at 9:30am in B001

mikecowburn.com/wp-content/u...
October 9, 2025 at 5:17 AM
After a great evening at the first @wzb.bsky.social conference on the future of democracy I’m looking forward to the first full day first tomorrow. I’m presenting work (w/ @curdknupfer.bsky.social & @yunkangyang.bsky.social) at 9:30am in B001

mikecowburn.com/wp-content/u...
October 8, 2025 at 8:25 PM
At the inaugural @wzb.bsky.social Future of Democracy conference. Tomorrow I’ll be presenting work with @curdknupfer.bsky.social & @yunkangyang.bsky.social but tonight it’s the opening discussion event with @betoorourke.bsky.social, Anna Lührmann and Anna Sauerbrey
October 8, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Reposted by Mike Cowburn
New paper out with @dasalgon.bsky.social: “Far-Right Agenda Setting: How the Far Right influences the Political Mainstream” doi.org/10.1017/S1475676525100066 #openaccess in @ejprjournal.bsky.social🧵
October 7, 2025 at 7:14 AM
Reposted by Mike Cowburn
This was always the funniest conspiracy theory to me — that there are MRI machine-like devices that can cure all known illnesses in seconds, but the government has been hiding them — and Trump just posted an AI generated video of himself announcing they're real. We're cooked!
Trump tonight appears to have pushed the false "medbed" conspiracy theory, which has spread in the far-right internet over the years. www.yahoo.com/news/qanon-c...
September 28, 2025 at 3:43 AM
Reposted by Mike Cowburn
@kaplaner.bsky.social and @steffenhurka.bsky.social had the privilege to present and discuss the DEMOLAW project at the University of Aarhus. DEMOLAW thanks @rsenninger.bsky.social and the entire department of political science for the kind invitation, the hospitality, and the great feedback!
September 25, 2025 at 9:55 AM
Reposted by Mike Cowburn
Democratic women are disadvantaged in competitive district primaries, where party elites prioritize electability & view men as safer. Republican women are disadvantaged in safe district primaries, where elites & voters assume they are less conservative.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1...
www.tandfonline.com
September 22, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Reposted by Mike Cowburn
🚨🎉 New Publication 🎉🚨 w/ @meredithconroy.bsky.social

Where Do Women Win Primaries? Asymmetric Opportunity Theory in Congressional Nominations

We offer a party-asymmetric theory of incentives for female candidates in nominations across different districts

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com
September 18, 2025 at 7:14 AM
Reposted by Mike Cowburn
Empirically, we show that Democratic women are disadvantaged in competitive districts (likely due to perceptions of “electability”) whereas Republican women less often win safe districts (likely due to views about the role of women in politics/society among primary voters and party elites) #polisky
September 18, 2025 at 7:14 AM
🚨🎉 New Publication 🎉🚨 w/ @meredithconroy.bsky.social

Where Do Women Win Primaries? Asymmetric Opportunity Theory in Congressional Nominations

We offer a party-asymmetric theory of incentives for female candidates in nominations across different districts

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com
September 18, 2025 at 7:14 AM
Reposted by Mike Cowburn
👉 Just published: "Empowering People in Online Spaces: Democracy and Well-being in Digital Societies" - Book of Abstracts of the Weizenbaum Conference 2025. #WIConf25

➡️ doi.org/10.34669/WI.... 🔗
September 10, 2025 at 1:50 PM