Michal Ovádek
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movadek.bsky.social
Michal Ovádek
@movadek.bsky.social
Lecturer in European Institutions, Politics and Policy at University College London

https://michalovadek.github.io/
Reposted by Michal Ovádek
Schumer and Jeffries negotiating to limit the number of journalist arrested by the Department of Justice each year to a maximum of 20.
January 30, 2026 at 1:38 PM
maybe just to put this in context this is someone whose own psychological state is regularly questioned on the domestic scene (post-assassination attempt)
Robert Fico, one of the few EU leaders to frequently support Trump, was concerned about the U.S. president’s “psychological state.” Fico used the word “dangerous” to describe how the president came across during their meeting at Mar-a-Lago on Jan. 17. www.politico.eu/article/dona...
European leader spoke of shock at Trump’s state of mind after Mar-a-Lago meeting
The Slovak PM, a Trump ally, told leaders at last week’s EU summit he was concerned about the way the U.S. president spoke to him, European diplomats said.
www.politico.eu
January 28, 2026 at 1:15 PM
Reposted by Michal Ovádek
NEW PAPER ALERT! My paper, with @bjornhoyland.bsky.social , on how “policy loss” shapes support for the EU has just been published in @cpsjournal.bsky.social. Check it out!
1/
January 26, 2026 at 3:12 PM
it's common (and maybe good) that this type of organising comes from outside opposition parties in democracies. The question then is of course how the party establishment responds to the new leaders these events are going to produce

anyway: the US government is executing protestors in the street
Am wondering why more Democratic politicians aren’t joining in organic displays of resistance and protest in Minnesota. open.substack.com/pub/donmoyni...
January 24, 2026 at 8:58 PM
a footnote to this discussion is that the EP acquired the power to request these opinions from the CJEU only in 2003, along with the general power to request the annulment of EU legislation
January 21, 2026 at 3:13 PM
Reposted by Michal Ovádek
Recently accepted by #QJE, “The Price of Housing in the United States, 1890–2006,” by Lyons (@ronanlyons), Shertzer (@econhist-allday), Gray (@econhistoryorbust), and Agorastos: doi.org/10.1093/qje/...
The Price of Housing in the United States, 1890–2006*
Abstract. We construct the first annual market rent and home sales price series for American cities over the 20th century using 2.7 million newspaper real
doi.org
October 16, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Reposted by Michal Ovádek
We just published the methodology behind CoPE, our 9B parameter model that matches GPT-4o at content classification at 1% the size! The model is already open source, but now we're sharing our training technique. blog.zentropi.ai/how-we-built... 🧵 1/6
How we built CoPE
We just published the methodology behind CoPE. This is the model that powers Zentropi, and we think the approach might be useful for others working on policy-steerable classification systems. We had ...
blog.zentropi.ai
January 15, 2026 at 6:51 PM
I am visiting @eui-eu.bsky.social this term for my sabbatical. If you find yourself passing through Florence, do say hello!
January 15, 2026 at 11:04 AM
Reposted by Michal Ovádek
What do people in England think about their local area? In this short report I take a look at surveys we conducted with @yougov.co.uk in 2022, 2024 and 2025 to gain some insights...

Some key findings...
Perspectives on Place: what the English think about their local area
www.southampton.ac.uk
January 13, 2026 at 9:21 AM
Reposted by Michal Ovádek
There is one week left to apply for @uclspp.bsky.social's new Lecturer in British and Comparative Politics role!

Importantly, the successful candidate will also join our senior team and contribute to our research and impact activities.

Applicants must have, or be near to finishing, a PhD.

Apply 👇
Job opportunity: Lecturer in British and Comparative Politics
The UCL Department of Political Science and Constitution Unit are seeking to appoint a Lecturer in British and Comparative Politics. The successful candidate will join the senior team at the Unit.
www.ucl.ac.uk
January 11, 2026 at 10:00 AM
been away from the Northern line for 3 weeks and the first ride back is always a bit of a shock to the system
January 8, 2026 at 10:41 PM
Reposted by Michal Ovádek
The image of the Director of the CIA, the Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Secretary of Defense clustered in front of an emoji on X during the Maduro raid was just one of many Trump released on Truth Social. It conveyed a government completely besotted by social media.
January 7, 2026 at 1:43 PM
can't wait to dig into the data with @tommasopavone.bsky.social. This is probably one of the largest survey experiments ever run in Slovakia, a country you will not find analysed in the big journals very often
Can reflecting on past democratic backsliding episodes “inoculate” citizens into vigilant liberal democrats? Drawing on the Slovak case, @movadek.bsky.social & I will find out: our registered report is in-principle accepted @thejop.bsky.social & survey results forthcoming! See tinyurl.com/uv5wybhs
January 2, 2026 at 5:07 PM
reading open-text reflections on democracy and media by a representative sample of citizens
December 29, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Reposted by Michal Ovádek
The Abundance movement often points to environmental groups as the obstacles to building. But who actually files the lawsuits blocking projects? It’s not environmental groups. It’s been lawyered-up HOAs protecting property values all along. Regulation by litigation is the problem.
December 20, 2025 at 7:57 PM
the Netherlands was at one point the closest among continental European countries in creating a genuine international university environment. As that process reverses, I don't think we are going to see anything similar anywhere else in the current political and economic moment
Not exactly a Xmas merrymaking post, but I wrote something on the changing environment for international academics in the Netherlands and how it has changed over the last 10 years: open.substack.com/pub/alexandr...
December 20, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Reposted by Michal Ovádek
well, well, well if it isn't the book I started working on in 2017:

academic.oup.com/book/61769
Contested Competences in the European Union: The Law and Politics of Institutional Choice
Abstract. What role do rules really play in shaping the behaviour of legislative actors? In theory, competences and procedures provide a framework within w
academic.oup.com
December 18, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Reposted by Michal Ovádek
I can honestly say that this is the best and most systematic treatment of competences of and decision-making in the #EuropeanUnion I have read (and I have tried a few ...).

Check it out ... it's open access! 👇 #EUsky
December 18, 2025 at 4:48 PM
well, well, well if it isn't the book I started working on in 2017:

academic.oup.com/book/61769
Contested Competences in the European Union: The Law and Politics of Institutional Choice
Abstract. What role do rules really play in shaping the behaviour of legislative actors? In theory, competences and procedures provide a framework within w
academic.oup.com
December 18, 2025 at 3:37 PM
perfectly timed for the proofs of my book
December 11, 2025 at 3:56 PM
the parliament in Slovakia just abolished an office for the protection of whistleblowers. Among others it shielded policemen who previously investigated corruption charges against politicians and oligarchs close to the current government
December 9, 2025 at 12:13 PM
same model specification with marginaleffects::plot_predictions(): condition="treated" on the left, by="treated" on the right

I'll be mightily surprised if there aren't multiple replication notes highlighting this discrepancy in the coming years across various fields
December 4, 2025 at 12:18 PM
why do we need gambling ads everywhere when scores of Londoners are weekend after weekend banking their plans on the normal functioning of the overground. The risk appetite in this city is already on a different level
November 29, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Reposted by Michal Ovádek
Join and help to lead the Constitution Unit!

@uclspp.bsky.social is looking for a Lecturer in British and Comparative Politics who will also join our senior team and contribute to our research and impact activities.

Applicants must have, or be near to finishing, a PhD.

Apply 👇
Job opportunity: Lecturer in British and Comparative Politics
The UCL Department of Political Science and Constitution Unit are seeking to appoint a Lecturer in British and Comparative Politics. The successful candidate will join the senior team at the Unit.
www.ucl.ac.uk
November 28, 2025 at 5:00 PM