𝙅𝙖𝙘🍩𝙗 𝙉𝙮𝙧𝙪𝙥
@jacobnyrup.bsky.social
I (try to) advance knowledge on the politics of dictatorships, political elites, comparative politics, and 💵🏠 as Associate Professor at University of Oslo. I also collect loads of data on governments: https://bit.ly/whogov.
"The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command."
- George Orwell, 1984.
- George Orwell, 1984.
November 8, 2025 at 2:47 PM
"The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command."
- George Orwell, 1984.
- George Orwell, 1984.
Drug prosecutions and money laundering cases are at historic lows under Trump. This is because agents are being diverted to other tasks. Trump is playing tough by blowing up fishing boats in the Caribbean, while weakening law enforcement at home.
From: www.reuters.com/legal/govern...
From: www.reuters.com/legal/govern...
October 28, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Drug prosecutions and money laundering cases are at historic lows under Trump. This is because agents are being diverted to other tasks. Trump is playing tough by blowing up fishing boats in the Caribbean, while weakening law enforcement at home.
From: www.reuters.com/legal/govern...
From: www.reuters.com/legal/govern...
This weekend 83-year-old Ouattara "won" his fourth term in the Ivory Coast. He is, however, a youngster compared to 92 year-old Paul Biya in Cameroon who "won" his eight term. We are truly living in an age of absurdly old dictators.
October 27, 2025 at 8:18 PM
This weekend 83-year-old Ouattara "won" his fourth term in the Ivory Coast. He is, however, a youngster compared to 92 year-old Paul Biya in Cameroon who "won" his eight term. We are truly living in an age of absurdly old dictators.
Donald Trump er historisk upopulær. Men der er fortsat ~43% af amerikanerne, der mener, at han gør et fantastisk job.
October 26, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Donald Trump er historisk upopulær. Men der er fortsat ~43% af amerikanerne, der mener, at han gør et fantastisk job.
The data is by no means perfect, and there are issues with missingness and some variables are tough to code across countries and over time. We therefore encourage everyone who uses the data to read the "Limitations and Considerations" section. And feel free to contact us at paths-to-power@stv.uio.no
October 20, 2025 at 1:52 PM
The data is by no means perfect, and there are issues with missingness and some variables are tough to code across countries and over time. We therefore encourage everyone who uses the data to read the "Limitations and Considerations" section. And feel free to contact us at paths-to-power@stv.uio.no
We also see where British cabinet members attended university. Unsurprisingly, Oxford and Cambridge
graduates dominate.
graduates dominate.
October 20, 2025 at 1:52 PM
We also see where British cabinet members attended university. Unsurprisingly, Oxford and Cambridge
graduates dominate.
graduates dominate.
Moreover, we can look at single countries. We see that more cabinet members registered as Democrats are born on the West or East Coasts, whereas relatively more Republicans are born further inland. And we can do this for all countries!
October 20, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Moreover, we can look at single countries. We see that more cabinet members registered as Democrats are born on the West or East Coasts, whereas relatively more Republicans are born further inland. And we can do this for all countries!
We can also look at where cabinet members studied. We have both the country and the university. The US overtook the UK as the biggest exporter of education for government members in the 70s, while very few has studied in China.
October 20, 2025 at 1:52 PM
We can also look at where cabinet members studied. We have both the country and the university. The US overtook the UK as the biggest exporter of education for government members in the 70s, while very few has studied in China.
We also think it is relevant for public administration. For example, we can look at the occupational background of cabinet members before joining politics. There is quite a high degree of specialization!
October 20, 2025 at 1:52 PM
We also think it is relevant for public administration. For example, we can look at the occupational background of cabinet members before joining politics. There is quite a high degree of specialization!
Another field where the data is useful is gender studies. We looked at whether male or female cabinet members are most likely to come from a family of politicians. It used the be the case that women more often were from a political family, but not anymore.
October 20, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Another field where the data is useful is gender studies. We looked at whether male or female cabinet members are most likely to come from a family of politicians. It used the be the case that women more often were from a political family, but not anymore.
Or do different countries represent different groups? We compare Norway and the US and see that Norway has had a fair share of ministers who had working class occupations before joining politics, while this is not the case in the United States.
October 20, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Or do different countries represent different groups? We compare Norway and the US and see that Norway has had a fair share of ministers who had working class occupations before joining politics, while this is not the case in the United States.
We also show how the data can be used to give new insights in different fields. Do democracies or autocracies have the best educated cabinet members? Turns out that leaders are better educated in democracies, but cabinet members have about the same level of education across regimes.
October 20, 2025 at 1:52 PM
We also show how the data can be used to give new insights in different fields. Do democracies or autocracies have the best educated cabinet members? Turns out that leaders are better educated in democracies, but cabinet members have about the same level of education across regimes.
In the paper we give a few applications! First, we show the distribution globally on key variables. How many members of government attended universities? What is the share who have been in politics before joining government? Who studied abroad? And how many are from a family of politicians?
October 20, 2025 at 1:52 PM
In the paper we give a few applications! First, we show the distribution globally on key variables. How many members of government attended universities? What is the share who have been in politics before joining government? Who studied abroad? And how many are from a family of politicians?
We collect information – whenever identifiable – on 44,789 cabinet members holding office in 141 countries from 1966-2021, regarding their level, type, and location of education, place of birth, family- and class origins, prior occupation, and political background.
October 20, 2025 at 1:52 PM
We collect information – whenever identifiable – on 44,789 cabinet members holding office in 141 countries from 1966-2021, regarding their level, type, and location of education, place of birth, family- and class origins, prior occupation, and political background.
However, we were by no means able to do this ourselves, so @peterla.bsky.social and @inalkristiansen.bsky.social joined the project. Moreover, we got help from an army of RAs and scholars spread across 6 continents, speaking +15 languages. We are enormously grateful to everyone who helped!
October 20, 2025 at 1:52 PM
However, we were by no means able to do this ourselves, so @peterla.bsky.social and @inalkristiansen.bsky.social joined the project. Moreover, we got help from an army of RAs and scholars spread across 6 continents, speaking +15 languages. We are enormously grateful to everyone who helped!
What if we google all the cabinet members in WhoGov and note down what they did before joining government? (This was before LLMs, not sure they are too helpful with this but that is a discussion for later day).
Luckily, @chknutsen.bsky.social had secured funding from the Research Council of Norway
Luckily, @chknutsen.bsky.social had secured funding from the Research Council of Norway
October 20, 2025 at 1:52 PM
What if we google all the cabinet members in WhoGov and note down what they did before joining government? (This was before LLMs, not sure they are too helpful with this but that is a discussion for later day).
Luckily, @chknutsen.bsky.social had secured funding from the Research Council of Norway
Luckily, @chknutsen.bsky.social had secured funding from the Research Council of Norway
Fx. har Berlingske en historie om Pentagon's vrede over en Netflix serie højere end protesterne. Berlingske har dog - for at være fair - en billedserie lidt længere nede. Jeg kunne ikke finde nogen historier om protesterne på hovedsiden hos Politiken og TV2. DR har sjove videoer derfra først 👍
October 18, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Fx. har Berlingske en historie om Pentagon's vrede over en Netflix serie højere end protesterne. Berlingske har dog - for at være fair - en billedserie lidt længere nede. Jeg kunne ikke finde nogen historier om protesterne på hovedsiden hos Politiken og TV2. DR har sjove videoer derfra først 👍
"The other side is also nasty, they are calling us Nazis," is not a great comeback when you are accused of writing "I love Hitler"
October 15, 2025 at 11:47 AM
"The other side is also nasty, they are calling us Nazis," is not a great comeback when you are accused of writing "I love Hitler"
October 14, 2025 at 11:48 AM
We use the new PtP dataset to compare cabinet members on background characteristics. Overall, politicians look pretty similar across genders. But women in the most prestigious positions conform closer to the typical politician than men, indicating that women must conform to make it to the top.
October 9, 2025 at 11:12 AM
We use the new PtP dataset to compare cabinet members on background characteristics. Overall, politicians look pretty similar across genders. But women in the most prestigious positions conform closer to the typical politician than men, indicating that women must conform to make it to the top.
Bailey’s Real Econometrics is an underappreciated book for teaching econometrics
October 7, 2025 at 10:14 AM
Bailey’s Real Econometrics is an underappreciated book for teaching econometrics
Der er ikke en snebolds chance i helvede for det
October 6, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Der er ikke en snebolds chance i helvede for det
Ten years ago when Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump was tweeting Mussolini quotes instead of trying to usher in a fascist regime. His candidacy should have been dead then.
October 5, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Ten years ago when Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump was tweeting Mussolini quotes instead of trying to usher in a fascist regime. His candidacy should have been dead then.
Yep! There is even great research that shows that these are precisely the kind of people, who would want to join the secret police -- because they are not good for anything else: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
October 4, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Yep! There is even great research that shows that these are precisely the kind of people, who would want to join the secret police -- because they are not good for anything else: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
October 2, 2025 at 1:27 PM