Cas Mudde spells out what has become largely the consensus among researchers: moving right on immigration will not weaken the far right nor strengthen social democracy. If your reaction is "but in Denmark" please at least familiarize yourself with Danish politics

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Also: the media, which made this election all about the AfD. Yes, they have tripled their support,which is impressive. But that still leaves them in 3rd place, and 10 points below their national polling, something that hardly features in the coverage

"A key legacy of illiberalism turns out to be a series of institutional traps... Inaction leaves the damage unrepaired and demobilizes supporters, while effective action may involve capitulation to the illiberal playbook."

Dear universities,

I am begging you to stop requiring letters of recommendation for master's programmes. You and I both know you don't read them, so stop asking for them.

Instead, have applicants list a name and get in touch if it's a borderline case.

Signed,
Everyone.

"To paraphrase Albert Camus, he is an empty prophet for mediocre times." 😁

(although I prefer to ignore M.G.)

New article! 📚

"German Politics in #Times of #Crises: The Success of the Post-Merkel Conservatives in the 2025 Federal Election" is out in the @jcms-eu.bsky.social. Not the Scholz government, but the CDU's return may deepen the break with Merkel's legacy.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

❗The segmentation of the right field is eroding, especially among young voters❗

New article out by @simonbornschier.bsky.social @dpzollinger.bsky.social
@mrsteenbergen.bsky.social and myself
@ipz.bsky.social ‬ @wepsocial.bsky.social

tinyurl.com/ycxfx2aj

A short 🧵

1/7

Important thread summarizing an important article.

People with influence within Social Delocratic parties, please read… and, then, don’t ignore it because you hear one anecdote that confirms “the Narrative”.

Germans spent romanticism feeling the metaphorical pain of the world, we spent it shooting ourselves in the head and surviving, we are not the same.

Stefan Zweig wrote in The World of Yesterday that he knew everything was over in 1930s Germany when squads of young uniformed thugs began to jump out of trucks to beat up protesters.

Someone organized, trained, provided uniforms, and provided trucks. Someone let them legally terrorize society.

Political blunders, distrust of elites, and Donald Tusk’s inability to deliver on his promises helped make an unknown, far-right former bodyguard the country’s next president. Worse, it will be far harder now to safeguard Polish democracy.

www.journalofdemocra...

Very good, short explainer piece on what to expect post-election for the foreign reader.

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/03/o...

🇵🇱⚖️🗳️ The rule of law repair process in Poland just got incredibly more difficult. I expect President Nawrocki to be even less cooperative than Duda, as Nawrocki will work hard for a PiS parliamentary election victory. Tough times ahead. 1/

Classic Polish reaction to exit polls: "Don't give me hope. Kill me now and tell me the final results when they're in"

I’m thinking again of Cas Mudde’s observations after the Polish Presidential candidates spent the past week trying to best each other in courting Mentzen’s far-right voters. It seems a missed opportunity for Trzaskowski to mobilise more progressive voters.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I fear the liberal establishment in Poland regarding Nawrocki is about to discover what the liberal establishment in the US found out the hard way in November re: Trump - some people are simply immune to any attempts at sticking any scandal to them. Their voter base just doesn't give a damn.

⚖️ Poland’s presidential election could make a night-and-day difference in the rule of law.

One candidate supports the government's efforts to repair the rule of law, the other one is set to block them.

Join our @jakubjaraczewski.bsky.social and @mariaskora.bsky.social for a pre-election talk! 👇