Danbischof
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danbischof.bsky.social
Danbischof
@danbischof.bsky.social
danbischof.com

Political Scientist: studying democracy with experiments & data

Professor | University of Münster
Associate Professor | Aarhus University

(he/him | "Sie" als Anrede brauche ich nicht)
As I've heard the idea this week several times
@epssnet.bsky.social #epss2026:

There is no limit of being co-author only on two papers. No need to start strategically deleting names...

epssnet.org/belfast-2026...
November 7, 2025 at 9:18 AM
I'm back in Zurich to give a talk tomorrow at the CIS Colloquium:

"How Citizens Perceive Others: The Role of Social Norms for Democracies"

I'll be around until Friday and back a few times before Christmas; happy to meet up if you're around and want to chat!☕

@ciseth.bsky.social @ipz.bsky.social
October 15, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Die Info zu einer Studie kam von einer dritten Quelle. Warum sie wieder aus dem Artikel verschwand? Wissen wir nicht. Sie musste raus. Punkt.
August 11, 2025 at 6:52 PM
** Nochmal: Korrektur zum Korrekturhinweis:**

Trotz Auflösung wurde weiter wild spekuliert (darum gelöscht von mir): Die Journalistin hat *nichts* blind von einer KI übernommen... 🧵
August 11, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Korrektur: Die Studie kam von einem Gesprächspartner.

Das Problem bleibt; Quelle blind vertraut.
August 11, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Ja, weil es ohne Demokratie keinen fucking Bus für sie gäbe, kein Essen in der Kita, keine Bildung.

Das sollen die bitte lernen!
August 11, 2025 at 7:10 AM
Klar, weil es nun eine „linke“ Haltung ist für Demokratie sich einzusetzen.

Wann hört ihr den Knall endlich?
August 11, 2025 at 6:50 AM
Um ehrlich zu sein, glaubt ein Großteil der Gesellschaft das. Die Kirche überrascht mich da am wenigsten.
August 9, 2025 at 5:12 PM
I'm all in for healthy food but it doesnt need to be as nasty as this.

Love the appendix though, super interesting to see what the groups ate.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
August 5, 2025 at 1:28 PM
But what do we mean by sustainability? 🌿

Inspired by how the government defines it and including 17 sustainability goals, for more see for instance here:

www.bundesregierung.de/breg-de/schw...
August 4, 2025 at 8:10 AM
July 29, 2025 at 6:07 PM
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Wait a minute...Berlin...nowhere to be found?!? No Berghain? No Spree? Ufta...
July 29, 2025 at 9:10 AM
📊 Our findings:

Counties with more bans =
⬆️ More protests
⬆️ More support for the Greens
⬆️ Long-term shift in political alignment

Democratic repression didn't kill dissent. It helped organize it.
July 10, 2025 at 9:54 AM
🧪 We built a unique dataset based on archival work:

✅ 1,095 individuals banned
✅ Local protest data
✅ Voting data over decades
✅ Survey evidence

Across multiple sources and levels of analysis, one pattern stands out: backlash.
July 10, 2025 at 9:54 AM
⚠️ In 1972, West Germany adopted the "Anti-Radical Decree" 🧾

The goal: keep suspected left-wing extremists out of public jobs — especially teachers.

Result? Over 1,000 people were banned. Millions were screened.

But that's not the full story...
July 10, 2025 at 9:54 AM
Can banning political ideologies protect democracy? 🛡️🆚🗣️

Our (w. @valentimvicente.bsky.social) paper finds: punishing individuals might backfire. We study a West German policy banning "extreme left" individuals from working for the state.

#Democracy #PoliticalScience

🧵

url: osf.io/usqdb_v2
July 10, 2025 at 9:54 AM
This project benefitted not only but would have been impossible without the support by a range of fantastic (and highly motivated!) student research assistants: Thanks!
June 23, 2025 at 12:06 PM
What’s going on? 🔍

We think protest acts as a cue that mobilizes latent supporters.
It reminds them the fight for the cause is ongoing and active.

This makes support feel more urgent, visible, and worthwhile.
June 23, 2025 at 12:06 PM
💸 Behavior changed.

Those who saw the protest were significantly more likely to donate money to environmental causes.

📬 There is no effect on newsletter subscription.

TL;DR: Protest might move wallets, seldomly minds.
June 23, 2025 at 12:06 PM
What changed after seeing a protest? 📣

- 🗳 Voting intentions? Nope.
- 🌱 Environmental attitudes? Mostly unchanged.
- 👥 Perceived social norms? Little immediate change.

But…
June 23, 2025 at 12:06 PM
What did we do? 🔬

We randomly assigned people walking through Berlin to either pass an FFF protest (treatment) or not (control).

Everyone filled out a pre- and post-survey. Participants were offered a chance to donate part of their compensation to climate causes and sign up for newsletters.
June 23, 2025 at 12:06 PM
🪧 New research 🪧

osf.io/preprints/os...

Can protests move bystanders, people who observe protests without being part of the march?

We conducted a 3-wave field experiment during real Fridays for Future (FFF) protests in Berlin.

Here's what we found 🧵👇
June 23, 2025 at 12:06 PM
„Niemand wählt mich in sein Team im Sportunterricht.“

Mit Mitte 50 dann eine Klage einreichen, um all diese Entscheidungen zu rächen. Wer macht sowas? Klagen weil man nicht im Sportteam mitspielen darf? Was für Opfer.
June 21, 2025 at 7:54 AM
Stresst euch nicht: es gab schon öfter mal Millionen über Millionen Tote in der Geschichte.

Cool down: danach wird’s auch wieder besser!
June 19, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Nach allem was wir wissen, und vielleicht auch normativ wünschen, ist das nicht "klug" für eine SD in der Regierung.

Aber sei's drum.
June 5, 2025 at 7:52 AM