Sona Golder

@sonagolder.bsky.social

910 followers 870 following 150 posts

Political scientist, comparativist. Prof. at Penn State.
Co-PI on INSTAPARTY: Party Instability in Parliaments
(Norwegian Research Council)
https://instapartyproject.com
sonagolder.com

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Political science 54%

Economics 25%

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Sona Golder @sonagolder.bsky.social · Dec 19

Looking for the lecture slides for the new (4th) edition of Principles of Comparative Politics (2024) that Matt and I used this past semester? See here: mattgolder.com/books/pocp/s... (2/3)

Reposted by Sona Golder

Michael Nelson @mjnelson.bsky.social · 15d

Penn State Political Science is launching a new Semester in Washington program and we’re hiring a full-time on-site coordinator for the program, based permanently in Washington, D.C.

Sona Golder @sonagolder.bsky.social · 24d

Going to be teaching about electoral rules in European democracies next week, so thanks to everyone reacting to @simonhix.bsky.social's proposal to change NL's electoral system... Very interesting discussion of important tradeoffs.

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 25d

NL needs an electoral threshold, eg. 4% (as in Sweden). It would encourage smaller parties to merge, voters to coordinate around medium and larger parties, and make coalition formation easier, governments more stable, and improve governability overall.

Come on guys, Europe needs you to do this!

Peilingwijzer @peilingwijzer.bsky.social · 25d

The Peilingwijzer poll of polls for the Netherlands has been updated to include the latest poll of Ipsos I&O.

📊 📈 All graphs & figures: https://peilingwijzer.tomlouwerse.nl/

Source Ipsos I&O: https://is.gd/35hl01

Reposted by Will Jennings, Albert Weale, Catherine E. De Vries , and 3 more Will Jennings, Albert Weale, Catherine E. De Vries, Sona Golder, Ben Crum, Nicolai von Ondarza

Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 25d

Peilingwijzer @peilingwijzer.bsky.social · 25d

Graph with most recent scores of Peilingwijzer poll of poll (Netherlands)

Reposted by Seema Jayachandran, Sona Golder, Stephen D. Murphy , and 2 more Seema Jayachandran, Sona Golder, Stephen D. Murphy, Samantha Brennan, Clark Gray

Michael Clemens @mclem.org · Sep 24

The US Administration is moving to severely restrict lawful, high-skill immigration.

First H-1B visas.

Next comes barring int'l students from staying to offer their talents to the US after graduation.

I wrote earlier on the economic harms Americans can expect—> www.piie.com/blogs/realti...

Sona Golder @sonagolder.bsky.social · Sep 23

Just began teaching about the economic determinants of democracy & dictatorship. A student's thoughtful question after class has prompted me to re-read this smart article by @jeanhong.bsky.social which is on my list of recommended materials for the week: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

How Natural Resources Affect Authoritarian Leaders’ Provision of Public Services: Evidence from China | The Journal of Politics: Vol 80, No 1

This article examines the effects of natural resource extraction on authoritarian governments’ provision of public services, using subnational data from China. Facing no electoral constraint that woul...

www.journals.uchicago.edu

Reposted by Stephen P. Jenkins, Ruth Dassonneville, Stefan Müller , and 5 more Stephen P. Jenkins, Ruth Dassonneville, Stefan Müller, Sona Golder, Thomas M. Meyer, Martin Kreidl, Florian Keusch, Claudia Landwehr

MZES Uni Mannheim @mzesunimannheim.bsky.social · Sep 22

📣 Attention, postdoctoral researchers!

❗ Apply now for our MZES Visiting Fellowships 😊

💡 Spend 2-4 weeks at the MZES to share ideas
💰 Funding for accommodation, travel, daily allowance
📆 Deadline: 28 November

Full information:
👉 www.mzes.uni-mannheim.de/en/news/deta...

Screenshot of the call for applications for MZES Visiting Fellowships, 22 September 2025. For the full text, please follow the link.

Reposted by Santiago Lago Peñas, Ignacio Lago

Sona Golder @sonagolder.bsky.social · Sep 21

It's official! Check out the new International Center for Decentralization and Governance, an interdisciplinary initiative for the study of decentralization, governance, and federalism. Wish I could attend the conference on Asymmetric Decentralization in Santiago de Compostela in early November...

Santiago Lago-Peñas @santiagolagop.bsky.social · Sep 21

We are thrilled to announce the launch of IDEAGOV - International Center for Decentralization and Governance. Further information at ideagov.eu

Home | IDEAGOV

ideagov.eu

Reposted by Ruth Dassonneville, Ignacio Lago, Sona Golder , and 1 more Ruth Dassonneville, Ignacio Lago, Sona Golder, Bonnie N. Field

Santiago Lago-Peñas @santiagolagop.bsky.social · Sep 21

We are thrilled to announce the launch of IDEAGOV - International Center for Decentralization and Governance. Further information at ideagov.eu

Home | IDEAGOV

ideagov.eu

Reposted by Ruth Dassonneville, Efrén O. Pérez, Sona Golder , and 1 more Ruth Dassonneville, Efrén O. Pérez, Sona Golder, Miranda J. Lubbers

Charlotte Cavaille @ccavaille.bsky.social · Sep 18

It is the time of the year when I tell you about my favorite post-doc ever 👇 Unless you are allergic to the French, this one sits up there with the Nuffield postdoc (life style, productivity, interdisciplinary stimulation). Share widely! Apply! #poliscky

www.iast.fr/research-fel...

Research Fellowships

Each year, IAST invites applications for post-doctoral Research Fellowships, which offer candidates an opportunity to devote themselves full-time to their research at the start of their careers. Fello...

www.iast.fr

Sona Golder @sonagolder.bsky.social · Sep 17

The other Prof. Golder has an electoral systems data paper - and a couple of updates (w/ Nils Bormann) - that were published in Electoral Studies (in 2005, 2013, 2022). mattgolder.com/elections

Elections

DES Version 5.0 (1919-2020) Nils-Christian Bormann and I are releasing version 5.0 of the Democratic Electoral Systems (DES) dataset. The new dataset is the same as DES 4.2 but expands the time per…

mattgolder.com

Reposted by Sona Golder

Max Grömping @maxgroemping.bsky.social · Sep 16

Please share widely! Great #PostDoc opportunity at one of Australia's top #PoliticalScience departments, on a #FutureFellowship on electoral resilience. 3yrs, great pay, and a workplace practically next to the Great Barrier Reef!
Closing date is 1 Oct 2025
jobs.smartrecruiters.com/GriffithUniv...

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Grade 1

Company Description: Every institution values excellence. What matters most is why. Griffith was created to be a different type of university. You’ll find we’re about leading research, academic excel...

jobs.smartrecruiters.com

Reposted by Sona Golder

Allan Sikk @allansikk.bsky.social · Sep 9

If you are in Vancouver this week, do come along to Instaparty presentations @apsa.bsky.social 2025!
instapartyproject.com
@ibenskasr.bsky.social @sonagolder.bsky.social @paulinasl.bsky.social

Sona Golder @sonagolder.bsky.social · Sep 8

Thanks to @elizabethbitmeehan.com for the solution so that we can easily scroll through ALL the #APSA2025 panels...
[Note that panel locations might not be up to date]

apsanet.org/wp-content/u...

apsanet.org

Sona Golder @sonagolder.bsky.social · Sep 8

Thank you! This is exactly what I was looking for.

Sona Golder @sonagolder.bsky.social · Sep 8

For folks heading to #APSA soon - is there a version of the program that one can scroll though and see all the information about panels (without clicking though & back each time)? Not saying I miss those thick printed programs but wanted to check that I'm not overlooking an online version of them.

Reposted by Stephen P. Jenkins, Samuel Bentolila, Sona Golder

David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · Sep 2

I'm putting together a talk on a new applied micro paper, and I'm reminded that (I believe) it's very hard to outperform the structure proposed in this piece by Jesse Shapiro. shapiro.scholars.harvard.edu/sites/g/file...

Sona Golder @sonagolder.bsky.social · Aug 28

Looks fascinating - and a great example to use for my European politics class (which begins with 6 weeks on 20th century history) about why history matters for understanding politics today...

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan

Sona Golder @sonagolder.bsky.social · Aug 26

Me, sitting at my desk after teaching two classes, get my (sad desk) sandwich out for a quick lunch, open Bluesky for a few minutes and...

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · Aug 26

LM Arena prompt: make an image of a political scientist bewildered and horrified at recent political events. in a faculty office. photorealistic. looking at a computer. realistic setting

The sad desk sandwich really nails it.

Reposted by Sona Golder

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · Aug 26

Sona Golder @sonagolder.bsky.social · Aug 20

Stopped by the library to find the book that @dingdingpeng.the100.ci posted about even though classes start in a few days and I don’t really have time to read it. And then I saw this other book that looked really interesting (and which I also don’t have time to read). Left with 5 books in total.

Two book covers, The Collapse by M.E. Sarotte and Journey to a Revolution by M. Korda

Reposted by Kai Arzheimer

Sona Golder @sonagolder.bsky.social · Aug 14

Feeling nostalgic for the days when I could show students in my European politics class this classic Schabowski moment from my VHS (!) copy of the 1999 documentary "When the Wall Came Tumbling Down: 50 Hours That Changed the World"...

Julia M. Rohrer @dingdingpeng.the100.ci · Aug 1

Feeling betrayed that this moment wasn’t really covered in my high school history classes.

Sona Golder @sonagolder.bsky.social · Aug 12

Have you been spying on me while I added a new reading because that one week seemed too empty?

Sona Golder @sonagolder.bsky.social · Aug 10

Had a long chat with my MIL yesterday, and she didn't mention it either! But then, I imagine the news blackout could extend to Northamptonshire from Oxfordshire...

Reposted by Sona Golder

Julia M. Rohrer @dingdingpeng.the100.ci · Aug 1

Feeling betrayed that this moment wasn’t really covered in my high school history classes.

Then, however, Schabowski added, “Anyway, today, as far as I know . . . a decision has been made.” He glanced sideways at the subordinates sitting with him on the stage as if looking for confirmation, but nothing was forthcoming. Schabowski pressed ahead, saying, in between pauses and “uhs,” that the party had decided “to issue a regulation that will make it possible for every citizen . . . to emigrate.” He would now read a text of the new rules, he said, as soon as he could find it. He began digging through his thick stack of papers.54 Now not just Neubert but also the German-speaking NBC sound technician, Heinrich Walling, seemed visibly shocked. Brokaw looked at Walling questioningly. Walling whispered to Brokaw in English, “It’s the end of the Cold War.” In an op-ed in the New York Times ten days later, Brokaw would recount his amazement at that moment. It was as surprising as if “an alien force” from outer space had just invaded the room, he wrote. A frenzy of questions erupted in German.

Sona Golder @sonagolder.bsky.social · Jul 19

Duo, why are you making me worry about automatic desk rejections?

Picture of screenshot from Duolingo app with a translation of the phrase "Don't reject my article before having read it."

Reposted by Hugo Mercier, Lucas Leemann, Sona Golder , and 4 more Hugo Mercier, Lucas Leemann, Sona Golder, Martin Kreidl, Isabelle Guinaudeau, Dieter Stiers, Joost van Spanje

Ruth Dassonneville @rdassonneville.bsky.social · Jun 30

‼️ There are a few more days left to apply for the PhD positions in my group at KU Leuven. Make sure to send in applications by July 4! 👇

Ruth Dassonneville @rdassonneville.bsky.social · Jun 3

I'm recruiting 2 PhD researchers to work with me on a project studying how social groups influence vote choices!

Info on the position and how to apply 👉 www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jo...

Please share with interested students who would like to move to beautiful Leuven!

2 PhD positions in Electoral behavior

2 PhD positions to research how social group memberships become connected to vote choices

www.kuleuven.be

Sona Golder @sonagolder.bsky.social · Jun 6

I tried to explain Howard Dean's "scream" to a 20-year old who has been following current political developments in the US. I failed.

Reposted by Gijs Schumacher, Hugo Mercier, Stefan Müller , and 8 more Gijs Schumacher, Hugo Mercier, Stefan Müller, Emiliano Grossman, Robert Huber, Markus Wagner, Sona Golder, Willem de Koster, Dieter Stiers, Romain Lachat, Kathrin Ackermann

Ruth Dassonneville @rdassonneville.bsky.social · Jun 3

2 PhD positions in Electoral behavior

2 PhD positions to research how social group memberships become connected to vote choices

www.kuleuven.be

Reposted by Sona Golder

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · May 31

The private sector will not fill the gaps. The size of the cuts is too big, and the incentives does not align to do basic research or train the next generation of PhD students.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/are-univer...

Sona Golder @sonagolder.bsky.social · May 24

Félicitations, Damien!

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