Simon Hix
Stein Rokkan Chair in Comparative Politics, at EUI. FBA, FRSA. Democracy, parties, elections, electoral systems etc. Live music. COYI
- From the brilliant Adam Przeworski's latest substack diary. I share this same fear. Having seen how authoritarian leaders (e.g. Orban) manipulate "free and fair" elections, I think people are too complacent about the 2026 midterms.
- Reposted by Simon Hix[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Simon HixYou've (probably) got mail! ✉️ Heading to #EPSA2025 in Madrid? Consider signing up to our buddy/mentor scheme that the diversity committee has set up to help first-time attendees navigate Europe's biggest political science conference Questions? Send them over to @alonadolinsky.com or me 🙂
- Reposted by Simon Hix⏰ You’re probably not going to read this…that’s a writing problem. “It’s the deeper, slower discipline of reading itself that seems to be eroding. The consequences extend beyond comprehension, they ripple into how we write too.” My latest: catherineeunicedevries.substack.com/p/you-probab... 🧵
- Reposted by Simon HixWhat's the future of historical political economy in Europe? To find out, we (w/ @cathrinmohr.bsky.social @lhaffert.bsky.social) conducted a survey and workshop. Here are our main take-aways. Special thanks to all who participated!
- New Broadstreet post! By Lukas Haffert, Cathrin Mohr, and Bastian Becker www.broadstreet.blog/p/the-future...
- Reposted by Simon HixLabour's immigration announcement today is a reflection of the paucity of honest debate by BOTH political parties over the last decade on this issue. Labour has never made a counter-argument, or been honest about economic cost of immigration curbs, so it's stuck making Tory/Reform arguments 1/n
- Reposted by Simon Hix[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Simon Hix📢 🇪🇺📘 Exciting news! The second edition of our textbook "Foundations of European Politics: A Comparative Approach" - with @catherinedevries.bsky.social @sarahobolt.bsky.social and @jbslapin.bsky.social - is out at Oxford UP! 🧵👇 1/5
- Really enjoyed EUSA 2025 in Phili. Thanks to the great organizers and to the countless colleagues who schlepped across the pond. … but glad to be back in my “Safe European Home” (as Joe S and the boys once sang!)
- Reposted by Simon HixIt’s a cruel irony that I wrote about the death of American soft power just before the passing of Joe Nye. danieldrezner.substack.com/p/joseph-nye...
- @alanbeattie.bsky.social having a good moan about the US-UK trade deal. Why do you hate Britain so much, Alan? 😉 on.ft.com/438PHzp Britain’s trade deal with Trump may not be good news for the world
- Reposted by Simon HixMy take on today’s UK-US trade deal. The UK is a small weak country. It does what small weak countries do, which is to escape the bully, to pay the Dane-geld. Standing up for the multilateral rules-based trading system will have to be left for others.
- We have an American Pope! Wow!! That’s out of left field. A Trump effect?
- As we predicted (ecfr.eu/publication/...), the right-wing majority in the 2024-29 European Parliament is watering down the European Green Deal.
- Metz got there in the end. But clearly some backbenchers wanted to send a signal. Wonder if this will come back to haunt the new government at some point.
- Wow! What are the SPD playing at? on.ft.com/434jvx6 Friedrich Merz fails in initial vote to become Germany’s chancellor
- Reposted by Simon Hix[Not loaded yet]
- Wow! What are the SPD playing at? on.ft.com/434jvx6 Friedrich Merz fails in initial vote to become Germany’s chancellor
- Very good piece by @nixonsimon.bsky.social on Breugel’s innovative proposal for a European common defence fund. Europe needs to do this, and the EU needs to get over its reluctance. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
- Some very good points by @gideonrachman.bsky.social, about why the EU is better at trade deals than the US: on.ft.com/3ECSdpq
- Reposted by Simon Hix[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Simon Hix[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Simon Hix🗳️ Populism is a warning sign. English local elections show it again: People feel abandoned & look scapegoats. Drawing on own research & others, I argue 👇🏽 💡 To counter populism: We need to reinvest in citizens, e.g. housing, health & dignity. Short 🧵 📖 www.socialeurope.eu/to-counter-p...
- Reposted by Simon Hix[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Simon HixIn a Party crying out for gifted communicators, AB has been carefully distancing himself from the Leadership on a range of issues. www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/and...
- Reposted by Simon HixAnother way of looking at that deadly pincer movement facing the Conservatives - look at how they get squashed between Reform and the Lib Dems in Devon on this chart.
- @drjennings.bsky.social tells it like it is. A familiar picture in the UK:
- Tories squeezed: losing seats in the North and Midlands to Reform, and seats in the South and South West to the Lib Dems, eg.
- @willjennings.bsky.social tells it like it is. A familiar picture in the UK:
- England needs PR for local elections. With such fragmented politics, first-past-the-post yields massively skewed and unrepresentative results. And, coalitions in local government will force needed compromises: www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...
- Reposted by Simon Hix[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Simon Hix[Not loaded yet]
- Thanks Toby. This was a lot of fun. Hope your listeners agree.
- Reposted by Simon Hix[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Simon HixSmall colleges have taken the lead -- but they are now joined by 6 of 8 Ivies: Cornell, Penn, Princeton, Yale, Brown, and -- yes -- Harvard. And, finally, by a handful of big publics: U. of Washington, Wisconsin, Rutgers, SUNY Buffalo and Stony Brook, UC Riverside, UVa, UMD.
- A powerful call has just gone up on the website of the @aacu.org : “A Call for Constructive Engagement” signed by almost 200 college & university presidents (more sure to join), from community colleges to R1s! #academicsky #edusky @academic-chatter.bsky.social www.aacu.org/newsroom/a-c...
- Reposted by Simon Hix[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Simon HixIT FINALLY HAPPENED!!! 🤣🤣🤣 The IEA is denying that they ever backed Brexit!!! Me vs Reem Ibrahim on BBC5Live The Institute of Economic Affairs can see the public has turned against Brexit so much that they're re-writing history to avoid the blame!
- Very good analysis by @robfordmancs.bsky.social. We need PR in the UK, starting with local elections in England and Wales (it’s already used for these elections in Scotland and NI): www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
- WTAF?!?
- Reposted by Simon Hix[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Simon Hix[Not loaded yet]
- “As a British student in the US in the early 90s, I thought it was the greatest country on Earth. I acquired an American wife & kids, but we ended up in Paris. Over decades I’ve tracked the lives of US friends & relatives” @simonkuper.bsky.social share a name, and parallel lives! on.ft.com/3Gd0BfC
- Reposted by Simon HixStarmer told UK must repeal hate speech laws to protect LGBT+ people or lose Trump trade deal. Plus sacrifice the NHS, food and environmental standards, worker rights. Who governs? No thank you. Don't want to be the 51st state, or US slaves. Better to join the EU and Single Market.
- Reposted by Simon HixStanford speaks out in support of Harvard: "America’s universities are a source of great national strength, creating knowledge and driving innovation and economic growth. This strength has been built on government investment but not government control." news.stanford.edu/stories/2025...
- Reposted by Simon HixBone chilling. A court ordered Kilmar Abrego Garcia to stay in the United States. The Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that he was illegally removed. Trump is pretending he won the ruling 9-0. 1/ You may not think this case means anything to you. But let me tell you why it does.
- Reposted by Simon HixUniversities must indeed all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.
- Stanford stands with Harvard against the would-be tyrants. stanforddaily.com/2025/04/15/l...
- Reposted by Simon Hix[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Simon Hix[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Simon Hix[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Simon Hix[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Simon HixUpdate: The House just passed the Republican voter suppression measure that threatens voting access for millions of Americans, including 69 million women whose married names don't match their birth certificates. Make sure your senators know you expect them to stand against it.
- Are you a woman who changed your name when you got married? Congress is considering a bill that could make it much harder for you to vote. Call your rep—this is not a drill. indivisible.org/resource/cal...
- Thanks Toby. That was a fun discussion. Hope your listeners agree.
- Reposted by Simon Hix[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Simon Hix[Not loaded yet]
- This is the most incredible commentary on what is happening in the US, by one of the most eminent political scientists on the planet. You have to read this. open.substack.com/pub/adamprze...
- Reposted by Simon HixMartin Wolf is not messing around here www.ft.com/content/d96d...
- Reposted by Simon Hix[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Simon Hix[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Simon Hix[Not loaded yet]
- I found this piece fascinating, on the thinking behind the tariffs. Eg. Denial of the contradiction between complaining that the global south doesn’t apply labour and environmental standards and complaining that Europe prevents US hormone-injected beef! on.ft.com/4ckmCoG
- This is a really good point
- Reposted by Simon Hix@maddow.msnbc.com my 82 year old mom outside Philadelphia
- Excellent by @faisalislam.bsky.social, eg: “The US economy did very well [from free trade]. The problem …was that it was not evenly distributed among sectors. And what the US lacked was levels of redistribution and adaptation to spread that wealth across the country.” www.bbc.com/news/article...
- Reposted by Simon Hix[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Simon HixThis is embarrassing. They didn't secure anything. The Trump administration used an idiot equation to decide rates and implemented it. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
- Reposted by Simon Hix1) Fox News is for real not showing stock-market ticker during this week's collapse. 2) Its economic news is "strong jobs report." 3) Every time I've checked in today, the coverage has been "illegal immigrants committing new crimes." This is state propaganda, on a par with North Korea or PRC.
- Finally some robust defiance. Go New York and Chicago! www.nytimes.com/2025/04/04/u...
- Reposted by Simon Hix[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Simon Hix[Not loaded yet]
- Bravo South Korea. This is what proper democracy looks like 👏 on.ft.com/3E7kvI7 South Korea’s president removed from office over martial law bid
- Reposted by Simon HixThe two most powerful Republican politicians in America - the president and co-president of the United States - are publicly praising and defending and excusing the crimes of a far-right foreign politician who leads a party founded by a Holocaust-denying neo-Nazi. We are in a very, very dark place.
- The only thing I would add is that many of the lowest paid “working class” in many societies do not have the right to vote, as they are recent migrants. “Progressive” parties should be campaigning to give all legal residents voting rights.
- This is an excellent thread. Thank you @casmudde.bsky.social
- Reposted by Simon HixThe ERC have given me 5 years to figure out what Europeans really think about democracy. If you would like to come and join me in the endeavour, then I am currently hiring a postdoc @sotonpolitics.bsky.social. Deadline: 30 April | Details here: jobs.soton.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx... #polisky
- Reposted by Simon HixOn the tariffs @strangeloopcanon.com over at the other place has pretty convincing evidence that the White House may have used LLMs to come up with its tariff model and that that evidence may have come from LLM scraping of a Peter Navarro book. We are in the dumbest AI timeline.
- Reposted by Simon Hix[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Simon Hix[Not loaded yet]
