Political Science? No problem et al.!

Episode 8: Björn Bremer on Austerity Politics and the Debt Brake

In the eighth episode of “Political Science? No Problem et al.” we talk to Björn Bremer about how the public thinks about austerity politics in the context of Germany's upcoming election. How does public opinion look on spending cuts and what drives these preferences? In what policy areas are spending cuts met with greater resistance and how does the public prioritize debt lending, raising taxes and expenditure reduction? We also talk about how austerity cuts and borrowing affect electoral politics and party branding.  You can find Björns website here: https://www.bjoern-bremer.com/ [https://www.bjoern-bremer.com/]  and follow him on Bluesky here: https://bsky.app/profile/bjoernbremer.bsky.social. [https://bsky.app/profile/bjoernbremer.bsky.social.]   If you'd like to give us feedback, consider rating the podcast wherever you listen to it or send us a message on Twitter (https://twitter.com/V_Burgi [https://twitter.com/V_Burgi] & https://twitter.com/Julius_Ktxt [https://twitter.com/Julius_Ktxt]). You may also follow us on BlueSky (https://bsky.app/profile/juliusk.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/juliusk.bsky.social] & https://bsky.app/profile/vikburgi.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/vikburgi.bsky.social]).

Episode 7: Vicente Valentim on the Normalization of the Radical Right

In the seventh episode of “Political Science? No Problem et al.” we talk to Vicente Valentim about the role of norms in the normalization of the far-right. How do social norms influence the expression of radical-right political preferences? How do skilled far-right candidates strategically erode social norms through entrepreneurship? How does a norm-based theory of far-right support interact with economic and cultural explanations? Moreover, we talked about what Vicentes research implies for strategies on countering far-right parties.  You can find Vicentes website here: https://www.vicentevalentim.com/ [https://www.vicentevalentim.com/]  and follow him on Twitter here: https://x.com/ValentimVicente [https://x.com/ValentimVicente] and here on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/valentimvicente.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/valentimvicente.bsky.social].  The book discussed in the episode can be found here: https://academic.oup.com/book/57946?login=false [https://academic.oup.com/book/57946?login=false] If you'd like to give us feedback, consider rating the podcast wherever you listen to it or send us a message on Twitter (https://twitter.com/V_Burgi [https://twitter.com/V_Burgi] & https://twitter.com/Julius_Ktxt [https://twitter.com/Julius_Ktxt]). You may also follow us on BlueSky (https://bsky.app/profile/juliusk.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/juliusk.bsky.social] & https://bsky.app/profile/vikburgi.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/vikburgi.bsky.social]).

Episode 6: Silja Häusermann on the Crisis of Social Democratic Parties

In the sixth episode of “Political Science? No Problem et al.” we talk to Professor Silja Häusermann about the crisis of social democratic parties. How have long-term changes in the labor market affected the electoral coalition of these parties? Have social democratic parties lost the working class to the radical right and which programmatic strategies provide these parties with a way out of their current crisis? We also discussed to what degree the electoral crisis of social democratic parties is self-inflicted by the welfare state reforms implemented by center-left governments in the early 2000s.  You can find Silja’s website here: http://siljahaeusermann.org/ [http://siljahaeusermann.org/] and follow her on Twitter here: https://x.com/SiljaHausermann [https://x.com/SiljaHausermann].  The book discussed in the episode can be found here: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/beyond-social-democracy/B4C5F9FFAF5FF8142DB2E209E6C5C9D0 [https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/beyond-social-democracy/B4C5F9FFAF5FF8142DB2E209E6C5C9D0].  If you'd like to give us feedback, consider rating the podcast wherever you listen to it or send us a message on Twitter (https://twitter.com/V_Burgi [https://twitter.com/V_Burgi] & https://twitter.com/Julius_Ktxt [https://twitter.com/Julius_Ktxt]). You may also follow us on BlueSky (https://bsky.app/profile/juliusk.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/juliusk.bsky.social] & https://bsky.app/profile/vikburgi.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/vikburgi.bsky.social]).

Episode 5: Noam Gidron on Public Support for Democratic Backsliding in Israel

In the fifth episode of “Political Science? No Problem et al.” we talk to Professor Noam Gidron about democratic backsliding in Israel. What ideological motivations lie behind the controversial plans to weaken the Israeli justice system? What attitudes explain public support for these plans and democratic backsliding in general? How can Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party and its plans to restructure the justice system be compared with situations in Poland and Hungary? We also discussed the role of affective polarization in Israeli society and how the ongoing war might influence the attempted erosion of Israel's democratic institutions in the long term.  Noam Gidron is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His previous research is especially known for its findings on affective polarization and the link between social status and support for populist parties.  You can find his website here: https://en.politics.huji.ac.il/people/noam-gidron [https://en.politics.huji.ac.il/people/noam-gidron]  and follow him on Twitter here: https://x.com/NoamGidron [https://x.com/NoamGidron].  Noams work discussed in the episode can be found here: https://osf.io/preprints/osf/zxukm [https://osf.io/preprints/osf/zxukm] and here: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/900431 [https://muse.jhu.edu/article/900431] . If you'd like to give us feedback, consider rating the podcast wherever you listen to it or send us a message on Twitter (https://twitter.com/V_Burgi [https://twitter.com/V_Burgi] & https://twitter.com/Julius_Ktxt [https://twitter.com/Julius_Ktxt])

Episode 4: Sabrina Mayer on Immigrant-Origin Voters

In the fourth episode of “Political Science? No Problem et al.” we talk to Professor Sabrina Mayer about the voting behavior of immigrant origin voters in Germany. How can we understand the voting behavior of this heterogeneous voter group and what do we know about their party preferences? Why is there a stronger affinity for the AfD among Russian Germans and to what extent has the party affiliation of Turkish-German voters changed in recent years? Moreover, we discussed whether parties are increasingly trying to appeal to migrant voters, what kind of information environment these voters find themselves in and what the methodological difficulties are in studying their political preferences.   Sabrina is a full professor of Political Sociology at the University of Bamberg as well as associated member at the DeZIM Institute in Berlin.  Her research focuses on group identities, political attitudes and comparative voting behavior and is best known for findings on the voting behavior of migrant voters.  You can find her website here: https://sabrinajmayer.de/ [https://sabrinajmayer.de/] and follow her on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/sabrinajmayer?lang=de [https://twitter.com/sabrinajmayer?lang=de]. Sabrina´s work discussed in the episode can be found here:https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=r8VOcJYAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=r8VOcJYAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao] If you'd like to give us feedback, consider rating the podcast wherever you listen to it or send us a message on Twitter (https://twitter.com/V_Burgi [https://twitter.com/V_Burgi] & https://twitter.com/Julius_Ktxt [https://twitter.com/Julius_Ktxt])