Third, three weeks later on Thursday 13th November at 12:00, @stefaniereher.bsky.social will present important work (with @robjohns75.bsky.social and @lbernardi.bsky.social) on public perceptions of politicians with mental health problems.

Register: events.teams.microsoft.com/event/e51a98...

Our final take based on the data we analysed is that at least for those mental health problems that do not imply severe cognitive deterioration, mental health problems may not always reduce participation and may even mobilise people into political action. 8/8

4. Are we controlling for the key predictors of survey nonresponse? Can we successfully reduce measurement error? 7/8

3. How can we access people with mental health problems, which lead to severe cognitive deterioration, or those who may be distressed but are still less politically active? 6/8

2. Are the measures available in public opinion surveys appropriate for the task? Screening tools may not capture the nuances between different mental health problems. 5/8

1. Is the assumption that poor mental health reduces political participation too deterministic? Given the lessons we learnt from the disability and political behaviour subfield, it may be the case. 4/8

As researchers, we believe we should find answers to at least four important sets of questions. 3/8

We find very little evidence that mental health problems reduce voting or other forms of political participation. Instead, when there is an association, it tends to be positive, suggesting that mental health problems may mobilise people into politics. 2/8

Using six surveys from five different countries (Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United States) we test the Resource Hypothesis of political participation with mental health. 1/8