We set ourselves a mammoth challenge: mapping policy changes down to the level of individual tasks and their allocation across actors.
Such granular don’t exist. We take it VERY seriously.
Therefore, our research assistants met to calibrate coding practices to ensure our data are reliable.
📢 New article 🌟
👤 Miroslav Nemčok (ISV) @miroslavnemcok.bsky.social
👉 Special Voting Arrangements
📗 Published in Oxford Handbook of Electoral Integrity
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/oxfo...
Exploring the link between social policies and political attitudes: M. Nemčok (@miroslavnemcok.bsky.social, @uio.no) shared fresh insights with his colleagues at @statsvitenskap.bsky.social on SUPA’s ambition to examine how social policy complexity shapes citizens’ evaluation of political system.
Yves and Tuva met with the Norwegian Ministry of Digitalisation and Public Governance. Yves presented how AI-driven policy portfolios can help identify smart deregulation opportunities. Exciting conversation and promising next steps.
🚨 CfP 🚨
At ECPR @ecpr.bsky.social GC 2026 (Kraków, 8.-11. 9. 2026) Y. Steinebach and A. Lenz @alexalenz.bsky.social are convening a panel on "Overburdened Bureaucracies" - how public administrations cope with rising demands and limited capacity.
🚨 Submit your abstract by 17 Dec!
Details below ⬇️
A rare sight 🚨: the entire SUPA consortium gathered on one screen for a coordination meeting.
Big ideas, good vibes — and just a hint of technical drama 💻.
Our #SUPA team explained group-by-group 🧠
At the University of Oslo @uio.no, we map how growing rule volumes reshape public administration: who implements what, and how responsibilities shift.
Team: Y. Steinebach, M. Nemčok @miroslavnemcok.bsky.social , M. Povitkina @mpovitkina.bsky.social, L. Gulli, M. Imran, T. Molde.
Made it to the 82nd spot on Khrono’s TOP500 list of Norway’s most productive researchers (2023–2024). Grateful for the great colleagues, collaborations, and research environment I found at @uio.no that made it possible.
🔗 www.khrono.no/disse-500-fo...
🛑 The EU’s Better Regulation agenda risks cutting rules that protect workers, consumers & the environment.
A policy brief by Brigitte Pircher @brigittepircher.bsky.social calls for stronger oversight, transparency & reclaiming regulation: library.fes.de/pdf-files/bu...
Our introduction to to the special issue on the formation of public opinion in the welfare state is now out in the @jeppjournal.bsky.social!
📖 Freely available: doi.org/10.1080/1350...
A big thanks to Zhen Jie Im, Maria Grasso, and Franco Bonomi Bezzo for outstanding co-editorship.
We are hiring PhDs and postdocs to work on the ERC project GETGOV, where I am the PI.
We will investigate governing elites since 1789. I am sure that it will be a lot of fun and result in great research!
Postdocs: www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...
PhDs: www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...
Congratulations to our consortium leader, Yves Steinebach, on his promotion to full professor! 🎉 Today he delivered his inaugural lecture, “The Balance Challenge: Navigating Policy Responsiveness and Effectiveness,” at the @statsvitenskap.bsky.social @uio.no
...in contrast to the study above, @miroslavnemcok.bsky.social @hannawass.bsky.social and Johanna Peltoniemi find that in Finland, the implementation of postal voting had a negligible effect on turnout across low-participation areas
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
🌍 ANALYZING (CLIMATE) POLICY PORTFOLIOS
New paper in @jcpaicpa.bsky.social introduces an analytical approach to systematically map what governments do on (climate) policy along two dimensions:
🎯 Targets – goals governments address
🛠️ Instruments – how they pursue them
🔗 doi.org/10.1080/1387...
📜 One way governments try to cut regulatory burden is #offsetting: for every new rule, an old one (or more) must go.
🗺️ The map and table show which OECD countries have used these schemes.
👉 Can you spot your country?
(from Steinebach, Hinterleitner & Fernández-i-Marín doi.org/10.1111/puar...)
The SUPA project has a new webpage! 🌐
👉 www.supa.uio.no/english/inde...
There you’ll find:
🌍 project background & goals
👩🔬 team members & institutional partners
📢 news, events & publications (with more coming soon!)
Check it out — and let us know what you think!
🤔 What makes a law complex—and why does it matter?
In his talk, Steffen Hurka @steffenhurka.bsky.social (a close friend of SUPA) explains:
📏 how to measure legislative complexity
⚖️ why it varies across laws & policy areas
🏛️ how it shapes institutions & implementation
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gclb...
In the working paper (with @miroslavnemcok.bsky.social and others), which will soon be available, we show that such politicization can harm democratic norms and fuel affective polarization. However, we also find that it does not translate into greater support for political violence.
Policies, rules & regulations keep on growing. 📈🚨
Have you ever wondered how quick that growth is? 🤔
Hinterleitner, Knill @cknill.bsky.social & Steinebach in @reggovjournal.bsky.social empirically demonstrate the swelling complexity of legislative rulebooks!
📚 Read: doi.org/10.1111/rego...
💥 Publication ALERT 💥
Steinebach, Fernández-i-Marín, Hinterleitner & Knill examine #environmental policy in 21 democracies and find:
- 1/3 of measures could be streamlined
- Effectiveness preserved (sometimes improved!)
Not crude cost-cutting ➡️ Smarter rules > fewer rules.
🔗 doi.org/10.1080/1350...
Introduction of 🤟 #SUPA 👇🚨⬇️
SUPA's social media accounts are now active, and posting is about to begin. Follow us for thoughtful insights on administrative overburdening and science-based suggestions on how to address it!
📢 New article 🌟
👥 Miroslav Kreos-Nemcok @miroslavnemcok.bsky.social (ISV), Hanna Wass @hannawass.bsky.social & Juho Vesa
🔎 Partisan Influence on Policy Preferences in Retrenching the Welfare State
📖 Open access in Public Opinion Quarterly
doi.org/10.1093/poq/...
As global population growth starts to hit the brakes, Rein Taagepera and I consider what this means for our future and look for lessons from the past.
🔽👇⬇️
👨👩👧👦 As #PopulationGrowth slows, @miroslavnemcok.bsky.social & Rein Taagepera draw on a striking demographic stall 2,000 years ago that preceded political fragmentation and imperial collapse.
🌍 Can modern states withstand the pressures of a post-growth world?
👉 buff.ly/BQCQ8Vj
What’s the app. share of invitations you send to your network (i.e., scholars you know from somewhere) as opposed to total strangers?
Just thinking that acceptance rates may decline over time, as you might resist the temptation to keep reaching out to friends.
Rearmament challenges modern welfare states, pitting military vs. social spending.
In our new #OA article in @jeppjournal.bsky.social, Stefano Sacchi, Caroline de la Porte and I show that citizens prioritize the welfare state—though important divisions emerge
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
This is very interesting! Thank you, Gregorio, for your fine contribution to the special issue!
Special shout-out to @celytadeas.bsky.social, the driving force behind this work, its promotion, and outreach to journalists - just too humble to be the one interviewed.
