Stein Rokkan Chair in Comparative Politics, EUI. President-Elect, @epssnet.bsky.social. FBA, FRSA. Democracy, parties, elections, electoral systems etc. Live music. COYIhttps://bsky.app/profile/simonhix.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/simonhix.bsky.social/post/3mlisapcl3c2tExactly! Two votes under MMP -> split ticket voting -> more fragmentation than there would be with just 1 vote [contains quote post or other embedded content]10 May 2026 12:48 +0000at://did:plc:6yuigqo7h2nixspjdyi2465c/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlisapcl3c2thttps://bsky.app/profile/simonhix.bsky.social/post/3mlipgfjxzs2dI think STV in English Council elections is a great idea [contains quote post or other embedded content]10 May 2026 11:58 +0000at://did:plc:6yuigqo7h2nixspjdyi2465c/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlipgfjxzs2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/simonhix.bsky.social/post/3mlifxetdd22qOn 7 May 2026, Britain ran a PR experiment: Scottish Parliament: a Mixed-Member Proportional system Welsh Senedd: a (new) Low-Magnitude Party List system Same day, same political context, different outcomes. Which version of PR would be better for Westminster? 🧵10 May 2026 09:08 +0000at://did:plc:6yuigqo7h2nixspjdyi2465c/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlifxetdd22qhttps://bsky.app/profile/simonhix.bsky.social/post/3mleueov5ic2n@robertshrimsley.bsky.social (who I am a fan of) is stuck on Duverger, but needs to read Cox FPTP => 2 parties if it’s the same parties in all seats. Geographic heterogeneity + FPTP => highly fragmented politics ie. UK now more like India than Canada! https://giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/actions/redeem/13eb2102-ee86-4200-8f50-ddbfbeb1181b08 May 2026 23:16 +0000at://did:plc:6yuigqo7h2nixspjdyi2465c/app.bsky.feed.post/3mleueov5ic2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/simonhix.bsky.social/post/3mle4fcch422dMarina Hyde is bang on, of course. The problem, though, is that the Labour plane doesn’t have a co-pilot the rest of the crew trusts to fly the plane! … so, a crash looks inevitable https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/08/fly-plane-labour-lost-control-keir-starmer-david-lammy-pilot?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other08 May 2026 16:07 +0000at://did:plc:6yuigqo7h2nixspjdyi2465c/app.bsky.feed.post/3mle4fcch422dhttps://bsky.app/profile/simonhix.bsky.social/post/3mlbfcymip22qFascinating piece in the FT about how Spain is bucking the European trend on immigration, and how a liberal immigration policy is helping to boost the Spanish economy https://giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/actions/redeem/4a0672a9-7d79-4840-bb6f-134a27d1853d07 May 2026 14:08 +0000at://did:plc:6yuigqo7h2nixspjdyi2465c/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlbfcymip22qhttps://bsky.app/profile/simonhix.bsky.social/post/3mkp5urnr722tThis looks like a great opportunity [contains quote post or other embedded content]30 Apr 2026 08:07 +0000at://did:plc:6yuigqo7h2nixspjdyi2465c/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkp5urnr722thttps://bsky.app/profile/simonhix.bsky.social/post/3mkhhmdeqe22oIntrigued to think what would be in a “UK trade bazooka”, eg. no US students at Oxbridge? More like a “UK trade peashooter”! https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/apr/26/uk-urged-deploy-eu-style-trade-bazooka-trump-tariffs?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other27 Apr 2026 06:40 +0000at://did:plc:6yuigqo7h2nixspjdyi2465c/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkhhmdeqe22ohttps://bsky.app/profile/simonhix.bsky.social/post/3mkf45nf3m22aIt's just men's football that Italy aren't very good. Improving in almost all other sports, e.g. https://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-union/articles/c0le3jx7ljzo26 Apr 2026 08:10 +0000at://did:plc:6yuigqo7h2nixspjdyi2465c/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkf45nf3m22ahttps://bsky.app/profile/simonhix.bsky.social/post/3mjqsze7res2iHas Italian football declined? I asked Claude to make a figure of the number of semi-finalists in the 3 European competitions over past 10 years: Eng: dominant (4 in most years) Ita: 22-23 peak an outlier Spa: never below 1, but rarely above 2-3 Ger: volatile (0 to 3) Fra: steady 1-2 (usually PSG)18 Apr 2026 06:33 +0000at://did:plc:6yuigqo7h2nixspjdyi2465c/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjqsze7res2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/simonhix.bsky.social/post/3mjqsze7res2iHas Italian football declined? I asked Claude to make a figure of the number of semi-finalists in the 3 European competitions over past 10 years: Eng: dominant (4 in most years) Ita: 22-23 peak an outlier Spa: never below 1, but rarely above 2-3 Ger: volatile (0 to 3) Fra: steady 1-2 (usually PSG)18 Apr 2026 06:33 +0000at://did:plc:6yuigqo7h2nixspjdyi2465c/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjqsze7res2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/simonhix.bsky.social/post/3mjo5py2r2s2kCountries’ teams in semis of European football championships: Eng 4 Fra 2 Ger 2 Spa 2 Por 1 Ukr 1 Ita 0 Italian football in crisis. Needs root and branch reform.17 Apr 2026 05:07 +0000at://did:plc:6yuigqo7h2nixspjdyi2465c/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjo5py2r2s2khttps://bsky.app/profile/simonhix.bsky.social/post/3mjhrqxcoa222The contrast between Sanchez's PSOE government in Spain and some other social democratic (led) governments in Europe (e.g. Labour in the UK, SD in Denmark) is really striking on migration issues https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy511nln2xvo14 Apr 2026 16:17 +0000at://did:plc:6yuigqo7h2nixspjdyi2465c/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjhrqxcoa222https://bsky.app/profile/simonhix.bsky.social/post/3mjd5gu6gic25I don’t think I have ever been so happy to be wrong!!!! [contains quote post or other embedded content]12 Apr 2026 20:02 +0000at://did:plc:6yuigqo7h2nixspjdyi2465c/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjd5gu6gic25https://bsky.app/profile/simonhix.bsky.social/post/3mj7fnqwyrk2uWith this poll, Orbán is laying the ground to refuse to recognise anything but a win by him as legitimate, eg. https://www.hungarianconservative.com/articles/current/fidesz-leads-5-points-hungarian-election-2026/. Such an outcome would drive a further wedge between Europe and the US government.11 Apr 2026 08:19 +0000at://did:plc:6yuigqo7h2nixspjdyi2465c/app.bsky.feed.post/3mj7fnqwyrk2u