Thursday Seminars

Are parliaments at risk of becoming irrelevant? Abstract Parliaments have been conceptualised as a core institution of our representative democracies – they are meant to embody the link between public and governance. However, in a context of declining levels of trust, increased polarisation and misinformation, are they increasingly becoming irrelevant in people’s imaginary? Parliaments drive […]

The unintended consequences of depolarization treatments (in the US) Abstract Many interventions exist for reducing toxic polarization. However, a possibility is that these interventions that aim to help political opponents get along have unintended side effects. For example, they may increase other forms of intolerance, reduce civic engagement, or reduce people’s willingness to confront prejudices or misinformation. We tested these possibilities […]

How to study platform influences on digital democracies Abstract Digital platforms do not merely host democratic debate — they structure visibility, shape information flows, and influence how political opinions are formed. To understand these effects, we need theory-driven and longitudinal approaches that trace communicative processes over time, combining digital trace data, sequence-based analyses, and innovative […]