I checked 18 political science journals on Friday, August 14, 2026 using the Crossref API. For the period August 07 to August 13, I found 24 new paper(s) in 10 journal(s).

American Journal of Political Science

Durable majority gerrymanders: Where partisan gerrymandering can displace democracy
Maxwell Palmer, Benjamin Schneer
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We develop the concept of, and estimation tools for, durable majority gerrymanders : electoral district maps drawn to reduce an opposing political party's probability of winning a majority in a legislative chamber. Directly interpretable, forward‐looking, and motivated by the democratic principle that a party in power should have some chance of losing it, this measure provides new insights into the role of redistricting in state legislative elections. We show that, when map drawers are unconstrained, the ability to create durable majorities is so widespread that at least one party in every state can draw a map where a majority of legislative districts withstand almost any likely future electoral swing. Enacted maps are less durable due to a combination of underlying geography, voter partisanship, and state‐level guidelines. This paper provides the theoretical framework and empirical tools to understand which gerrymandered maps enable state‐level majorities to emerge and to endure.
Endogenous coalition formation in policy debates
Philip Leifeld, Laurence Brandenberger
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Political actors form coalitions around their joint normative beliefs in order to influence the policy process on contentious issues such as climate change or population aging. Policy process theory maintains that learning within and across coalitions is a central predictor of policy change but has yet to explain how policy learning works. This article explains the formation and maintenance of coalitions by focusing on the ways actors adopt policy beliefs from other actors in policy debates. A policy debate is a complex social system in which temporal network dependence guides how actors contribute ideological statements. Belief adoption matters in three complementary ways: bonding , which exploits cues within coalitions; bridging , which explores new beliefs outside one's perimeter; and repulsion , which reinforces polarization between coalitions and cements their belief systems. We formalize this theory of endogenous coalition formation in policy debates and test it on a micro‐level empirical data set.
(Non)belonging and (un)freedom
Yuna Blajer de la Garza
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This article centers on the concept of “belonging” to argue that belonging and freedom are fundamentally related, and that this relationship cannot be easily captured in formal terms alone. I contend that experiences of incomplete belonging among citizens deserve attention from political science because, in addition to their more obvious challenge to equality, they also erode freedom, even in the context of robust formal guarantees. Citizens perceived as not fully belonging are more likely to eschew behaviors or opinions they know can exacerbate the likelihood of being perceived as interlopers. But although this challenge to individual freedom may be by itself worrisome, I focus on the ways in which some citizens’ unequal belonging undermines collective freedom—what Hannah Arendt calls political freedom—by confining some people's sincere expressions to narrow public spaces, limiting pluralism, and depleting the public space of opportunities for deliberation and political action.
Global harms, local profits: How the uneven costs of natural disasters affect support for green political platforms
Silvia Pianta, Paula Rettl
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Large‐scale fires are becoming increasingly common due to climate change. While conventional wisdom suggests that firsthand experiences with natural disasters foster green coalitions by raising awareness of environmental degradation, we propose an alternative view: Natural disasters can heighten the perceived trade‐off between economic development and environmental policies. This study examines the case of Brazil, where large‐scale fires, by clearing natural vegetation, create new opportunities for land grabbing and the expansion of agriculture and livestock production. Using satellite, administrative, and electoral data, we provide evidence that large‐scale fires increase support for green candidates only in municipalities that are unlikely to reap economic benefits from fires. Survey data further indicate that voters prioritize environmental protection over economic growth only when they stand to receive limited or no benefit from the newly cleared land. Our findings suggest that the potential for natural disasters to foster green coalitions is contingent upon distributive concerns.

American Political Science Review

Generic title: Not a research article
Instrumentally Inclusive: The Political Psychology of Homonationalism – CORRIGENDUM
STUART J. TURNBULL-DUGARTE, ALBERTO LÓPEZ ORTEGA
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Electoral Studies

How snap election calls shape vote intention uncertainty
Klara MĂŒller, Alejandro FernĂĄndez-RoldĂĄn
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Getting to know her: Information and gender bias in preferential voting systems
Justin F. Reeves, Daniel M. Smith
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Learning without improving: Within-voter changes in political knowledge and vote choice proximity
Felix BĂ€ckstedt, Elias Markstedt, Henrik Oscarsson
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European Journal of Political Research

Does citizen deliberation inside representative institutions enhance legitimacy among non-participating publics?
Adele Webb, Max Grömping, Marlene Mauk
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Claims that citizen deliberation can strengthen public confidence in democracy rest on the assumption that it enhances the perceived procedural legitimacy of democratic governance. We test this assumption by examining whether integrating deliberative constituent forums into electoral-representative institutions increases perceived legitimacy among non-participating publics and which specific features of such forums drive these diffuse effects. We extend existing experimental research on democratic innovations by theorising that the deliberative norms of consequentiality and listening shape legitimacy judgements. Drawing on a nationally representative survey vignette experiment in Australia, we show that even minimal, realistic exposure to information about a deliberative citizens’ panel informing a parliamentary committee produces a modest but statistically significant increase in perceived procedural legitimacy. These gains depend on signals that citizens’ input is taken seriously and that participants are sincerely listened to. While legitimacy declines when deliberative input is ignored, the strongest positive effects arise when processes visibly communicate high-quality listening by political representatives. Moreover, legitimacy gains are strongest among respondents with low institutional trust. The findings demonstrate that the legitimacy-enhancing potential of deliberative innovations hinges not only on institutional design but also on the perceived relational quality of engagement between constituents and decision-makers. This contributes to ongoing debates in democratic theory and political behaviour about when and why deliberative innovations can rejuvenate representative democracy.
The winner–loser gap in democratic attitudes among politicians: Individual and collective outcomes
Erick Stivens Padilla-Galviz, Álvaro Canalejo-Molero
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Rooted in concerns about losers’ consent to electoral outcomes, a vast literature documents a winner–loser gap in democratic attitudes among voters, with winners displaying systematically more positive attitudes than losers across a range of indicators. Surprisingly, we know much less about whether this gap extends to politicians. This paper addresses this question both theoretically and empirically. Theoretically, we distinguish between politicians’ reactions to electoral outcomes at the individual level – whether candidates secure a seat in parliament – and the party level – whether their party enters government, and theorise about their interaction. Empirically, we present comprehensive observational evidence from 27 elections showing that losers systematically report lower satisfaction with democracy, weaker support for representative institutions, and lower perceptions of citizens’ trust. The gap is present at both levels, but the individual-level gap is conditioned by party outcomes: it is most pronounced within winning parties and disappears within losing parties. A complementary analysis leveraging close races and administrative data from Iceland provides plausibility that these associations are, at least in part, causal. Taken together, the findings reveal that democratic attitudes among rank-and-file politicians are, like those of voters, highly malleable and responsive to electoral outcomes. While politicians maintain overall positive attitudes towards democracy, this malleability raises questions about when and how such contingency might translate into anti-democratic behaviour.
PRRP identity and sense of understanding for citizens who engage in political violence
Fernando Feitosa, Bjarn Eck, Jean-Benoit Pilet
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This research note extends existing knowledge on anti-pluralism among identifiers of a populist radical right party (PRRP) by investigating their sense of understanding for citizens who engage in two key forms of political violence: threatening and spreading false information about political opponents. Building on methodological advances in political science research, we estimate a series of Bayesian zero-inflated regression models using original Flemish data ( N = 2,963). Results reveal a positive correlation between PRRP identity and sense of understanding. Results further indicate that this correlation diminishes with higher levels of education in the case of spreading false information, but remains equally strong in the case of threatening. This research note offers new insights into anti-pluralism among PRRP identifiers.

Party Politics

Elitism versus populism: Experiments on the dual threat to American democracy BramCurtis. Elitism versus Populism: Experiments on the Dual Threat to American Democracy. 2025. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Rafael Jacob
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Ethno-regionalist parties beyond Western Europe: Kurdish parties in Turkey
ƞenol ArslantaƟ, DĂŒzgĂŒn ArslantaƟ
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While there is an extensive literature on ethno-regionalist parties (ERPs) in Western Europe, Kurdish ERPs in Turkey remain undertheorized. Focusing on party ideology, organizational structure, and electoral strategy, this article advances three findings. First, ideologically, Kurdish ERPs consistently articulate a left-leaning program centered on labor and democratization, while increasingly integrating post-materialist tenets such as feminism and environmentalism. Second, organizationally, they function as movement parties with a highly resilient structure. Third, strategically, they expand beyond their ethnic stronghold through broad leftist alliances and a “Turkification” ( TĂŒrkiyelileƟme ) process, becoming pivotal national actors. These findings underscore the need to account for the interaction between ethno-regional mobilization, political-institutional constraints, and party-movement linkages in understanding ERPs in the European periphery.
Ambition and access: Linking regional opportunity structures and career-ambitious youth party members
Clint Claessen, Stefanie Bailer, Tamaki Ohmura
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Youth party members are primarily driven by intrinsic moral and social motives,  yet ambitions for political and professional careers vary considerably across individuals. Building on findings linking parties' national opportunity structures to having an increase in career-ambitious youth wing members, this research note examines opportunity structures at the regional level. Using a self-collected survey of youth party members in Germany (2017–2018, n = 1216), we show that career-ambitious members are particularly frequent in youth parties that are organizationally strong with numerous local and (sub)regional branches where ambitious youth wing members can make a career. Therefore, this research note provides a key insight into the motivations of young people, and especially those pursuing a political career, for joining youth parties and speaks to a broader literature concerned with political ambition, party organization, and careers.

Political Behavior

Elite Interactions and Social Bonds: How Partisan Cooperation Shapes Perceptions of Cross-Party Friendships
Lie Philip Santoso
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Political Geography

From Everywhere to Somewhere: understanding the spatial limits of AI's political power
Yu-Shan Tseng
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Urban refugee children's integration through a spatial lens: Everyday emotional geographies in two cities
Manya Oriel Kagan
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The authoritarian politics of energy infrastructures: Repertoires of contestation, economic relations, and state practices through a multi-scalar perspective
Alke Jenss, Alessandra Bonci
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At the limits of property: Tent encampments and political life
Allison R. Evans
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Pandemic (Im)mobilities: How humanitarian workers navigated evacuation and COVID-19
Amy Gilmore
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Political Psychology

Consistency, not waste aversion, explains apparent sunk‐cost effects in politics
Marco Mattei, John Michael
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Do sunk costs shape how voters judge political leaders, or do reputational signals carried by current choices dominate? Across three preregistered experiments (total N = 1462) using vignettes about a national rail project, we orthogonally manipulated sunk costs (high vs. absent), leaders' decisions (continue vs. abandon), campaign commitments (pro, anti, none), and reminders of prior voting behavior. In Experiment 1 ( N = 346), Bayesian ANOVA showed that evaluations (vote likelihood, perceived honesty, competence) were reliably higher when leaders continued rather than abandoned a project, with no main effect of sunk costs and no interaction. Experiment 2 ( N = 719) replicated the null sunk‐cost effect and further found no effect of campaign commitments once the leader's current decision was known. Experiment 3 ( N = 397) used a structural equation model to test mediation: perceived commitment—but not perceived sunk costs—robustly predicted evaluations, and abandonment sharply reduced perceived commitment; prior‐vote cues were weak and did not mediate effects. Together, the studies indicate that people take continuation to signal commitment and view it positively, whereas abandonment stopping signals a breach of commitment and is penalized. Apparent sunk‐cost sensitivity in politics may often reflect a premium on consistency rather than waste aversion. We discuss implications for designing “face‐saving” off‐ramps and reframing evidence‐based reversals as fidelity to higher order commitments.

Political Science Research and Methods

Measuring racial attitudes pre-treatment in survey experiments
Leah Christiani, Nathan Kelly, Jana Morgan
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Experimental researchers often need to assess the moderating effect of racial attitudes. However, it is unclear whether the racial attitude battery deployed may bias treatment effects. Less subtle batteries could bias treatment effects toward zero if measuring racial attitudes primes these attitudes for subjects assigned to all conditions, including the control condition. We assess whether bias is introduced across four conditions, pre-treatment: not measuring racial attitudes, using stereotype endorsement measures, using the American National Election Study racial resentment battery, or using the simplified Cooperative Election Study racial resentment battery. We do not uncover widespread instances of treatment bias. However, we do identify bias when the stereotype endorsement measures are used pre-treatment. We conclude with recommendations for researchers.
Debriefings in misinformation research should include fact-checks to correct misperceptions and increase perceived learning
Emma Hoes, Sacha Altay
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Debriefings are a cornerstone of ethical research, especially when deception is used. In misinformation experiments, debriefings both disclose the deception and warn participants about misinformation. Unlike other misinformation interventions, they reveal that researchers deliberately introduced the falsehoods, raising concerns about trust and skepticism. In a preregistered U.S. experiment (N = 896), we compare no debriefing, a general debriefing, and a specific debriefing with fact-checks and source links. Only the specific debriefing reduced belief in false claims participants saw, not in novel ones. The general debriefing slightly reduced belief in true news, suggesting warnings may heighten skepticism. Both improved attitudes toward the study and perceived transparency, supporting the use of specific debriefings as an ethical and effective practice in misinformation research.
Right-wing terrorism and far-right support: evidence from anti-Roma attacks in Hungary
Gabor Simonovits, Attila Gaspar, Bekes Gabor, Marton Vegh
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How do ethnically motivated terrorist attacks shape electoral support for the far right? We study a unique case: a coordinated series of anti-Roma murders in Hungary in 2008–2009, the most severe episode of anti-minority violence in the country since World War II. Combining difference-in-differences and synthetic control methods, we compare attacked settlements to multiple counterfactuals, including planned-but-unrealized targets. We find that Jobbik, Hungary’s radical right party, gained 11–14 percentage points more support in attacked villages than in comparable controls in the 2010 election—an increase 53–70% larger than baseline trends. The effect persisted for several years and spilled over to nearby settlements. In contrast to some research from Western Europe suggesting that right-wing terrorism can reduce far-right appeal, our findings highlight how deep-seated prejudice can reverse this pattern. The results underscore the importance of antecedent inter-group relations in conditioning political reactions to ethnic violence.

PS: Political Science & Politics

Contemplating Conquest: Public Opinion on the Forcible Seizure of Territory
Amnon Cavari, Asif Efrat, Omer Yair
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The norm against conquest—a central tenet of the international order—is eroding. This study is among the first to examine public support for this norm, using a real-world case: Israel’s seizure of Syrian territory following the collapse of the Assad regime in December 2024. Our survey experiment in Israel reveals that citizens are sensitive to the prohibition on conquest. They demonstrate greater support for an occupation that involves only military control of the forcibly seized territory and weaker support for civilian settlement in or annexation of the foreign territory: policies that amount to conquest. Our finding—a stronger preference for legally acceptable occupation over illegal settlement or annexation—sends a positive signal for the constraining power of norms.