Jona de Jong

Cambridge University Press Political Science & IR

Do ordinary Republicans and Democrats really avoid each other in everyday life? In a new working paper with Delia Baldassarri, we present descriptive and experimental evidence to challenge the view that partisanship drives the formation of social relationships. osf.io/preprints/so... 1/15

Jona de Jong reposted

Hilma Lindskog

@hilmal.bsky.social

Do educational networks at workplaces shape political attitudes? 👬 Happy to share that the latest paper in my dissertation is now published in @bjpols.bsky.social.

Jona de Jong reposted

@cambup-polsci.cambridge.org

14 July

#OpenAccess from @ejprjournal.bsky.social - Place, education, and voting along the transnational cleavage in Europe - https://cup.org/4gWZGQD - @twanhuijsmans.bsky.social, @theresakuhn.bsky.social & @bramlancee.bsky.social #FirstView

Jona de Jong reposted

Christopher Barrie

@cbarrie.bsky.social

14 July

🙏 Come work with me 🙏 We're hiring a postdoc. to work on a v cool project using AI to better understand local-level social cohesion...

Jona de Jong reposted

European Journal of Political Research

@ejprjournal.bsky.social

10 July

Place, education and voting 🗺️ 🏫 🗳️ @twanhuijsmans.bsky.social, @theresakuhn.bsky.social & @bramlancee.bsky.social assess the degree of overlap between urban-rural and educational differences in voting for parties at the opposite ends of the transnational cleavage

buff.lyPlace, education, and voting along the transnational cleavage in Europe | European Journal of Political Research | Cambridge CorePlace, education, and voting along the transnational cleavage in Europe

Jona de Jong reposted

Silja Häusermann

@siljahausermann.bsky.social

16 June

This spring, I had the honor of giving the 2026 @ecpr.bsky.social Stein Rokkan Lecture. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii5V... Based on joint work with @dpzollinger.bsky.social, @simonbornschier.bsky.social, I argued that the lens of cleavage politics is most useful to study democratic resilience.

youtube.comHouse Series: Cleavage Politics and Democratic ResilienceYouTube video by ECPRDigital

Jona de Jong reposted

Linus Westheuser

@lwestheuser.bsky.social

11 June

Our book Trigger Points is now out in open access. Huge thanks to Mike Savage for a terrific foreword and to Michèle Lamont, Silja Häusermann and Daniel Ziblatt for their kind words. Link below: @mikesavagelse.bsky.social @mlamont.bsky.social @siljahausermann.bsky.social @dziblatt.bsky.social

Jona de Jong reposted

Max Bradley

@maxbradley.bsky.social

20 May

We have a new paper out in PNAS. Susanna’s thread outlines our findings. The big picture takeaway is that well-designed climate education (active, personally relevant, science-based) can complement fiscal and regulatory instruments by building public support for ambitious policy!

Susanna Garside@susannagarside.bsky.social

🚨I have a new paper out in PNAS with my co-authors, @maxbradley.bsky.social @renschazottes.bsky.social and @ninalopezuroz.bsky.social: "Educational policies can strengthen climate coalitions." A thread on what we found (and a great story about doing ambitious research without funding!) [1/9]

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de Volkskrant

@volkskrant.nl

9 Mar

Opinie: Wat doen we met de belastingvluchtelingen uit Dubai? Alsnog de schatkist laten vullen

volkskrant.nlOpinie: Wat doen we met de belastingvluchtelingen uit Dubai? Alsnog de schatkist laten vullen

Jona de Jong reposted

Petter Törnberg

@pettertornberg.com

5 Mar

A recent debate on the left pits “abundance” vs “anti-monopoly” Is the problem that we've made it too hard to build? Or that extractive corporations dominate the economy? My new paper argues: both reflect a deeper shift. We've entered an economy oriented toward scarcity—the Anti-Growth Machine.

onlinelibrary.wiley.comThe City as an Anti‐Growth MachineLogan and Molotch's “urban growth machine” remains foundational in urban theory, describing how coalitions of landowners, developers, and politicians promote urban growth to raise land values. This p...

Jona de Jong reposted

koenfucius

@koenfucius.bsky.social

1 Mar

Partisans, what partisans? Research by @jonadejong.bsky.social & Baldassari suggests that, contrary to earlier research using fictitious settings, in real encounters, Republicans and Democrats experience partisanship mostly as invisible and not something they find particularly important:

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Rense Corten 🟥

@rensec.bsky.social

25 Feb

For those following along, some thoughts on Thurner et al.'s reply to our critique to their "connectivity causes polarization" claim. At first sight, this looks like a solid rejoinder, perhaps even justifying the mildly sarcastic tone. Upon closer inspection, not so much. So, another thread... 1/

Rense Corten 🟥@rensec.bsky.social

Earlier, I voiced my doubts here about a recent PNAS paper claiming that an alleged "rise in connectivity" explains an increase in polarization. PNAS was kind enough to publish our comments this week: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

pnas.orgMore social interactions, more polarization? The evidence is not there | PNASMore social interactions, more polarization? The evidence is not there

Jona de Jong reposted

BK Lee

@letitbk.bsky.social

19 Feb

Happy to share our new paper published in PNAS! Using epigenetic clocks and egocentric network data, we find each additional "hassler" in your close social network is associated with ~9 months of extra biological age and 1.5% faster pace of aging.

Jona de Jong reposted

Teresa Völker

@tevoelker.bsky.social

16 Feb

NEW PUBLICATION “How the Media Cordon Sanitaire Crumbles: Lessons from Germany” now out in @prxjournal.bsky.social 🔓 doi.org/10.1080/2474736X.2026.2621808 I’m very happy that this paper is out – this project is particularly important to me.

Jona de Jong reposted

Lauren Leek

@laurenleek.eu

16 Feb

My brother wanted a London pub crawl. The result? My new Substack post: "Britain Lost 14,000 Third Places. They were Called Pubs. Is Your Local Next?" How private equity reshaped the local, which pubs are most at risk and most importantly what to do about it. open.substack.com/pub/laurenle...

open.substack.comBritain Lost 14,000 Third Places. They Were Called Pubs. Is Your Local Next?How private equity reshaped the local and the postcode tool that shows the pubs most at risk.

Jona de Jong reposted

Rense Corten 🟥

@rensec.bsky.social

12 Feb

📢WORK! At the Sociology department of @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social we are hiring a postdoc who will work on applications of AI in sociological research. Join our vibrant-yet-cohesive research community doing cutting-edge research. Please share or apply! www.uu.nl/en/organisat...

uu.nlPostdoctoral researcher on applications of AI in sociological researchAre you able to lead sociological research into the AI age?

Jona de Jong reposted

Rense Corten 🟥

@rensec.bsky.social

11 Feb

pnas.orgMore social interactions, more polarization? The evidence is not there | PNASMore social interactions, more polarization? The evidence is not there

Rense Corten 🟥@rensec.bsky.social

This is a very interesting paper but the empirical evidence presented for an increase in connectivity (in their Fig. 1E) is rather problematic. A little thread 👇(1/7):

Jona de Jong reposted

Joe Noonan

@joenoonan.se

5 Feb

This is paper is a good reminder that political scientists all too often think people care as much about politics as they do.

Jona de Jong@jonadejong.bsky.social

Jona de Jong reposted

Linus Westheuser

@lwestheuser.bsky.social

4 Feb

The US is often seen as an extreme case where polarization erodes democracy bc partisanship now permeates all everyday sociability and affects. But this is now being contradicted by a whole number of studies. Besides the really interesting new work by @jonadejong.bsky.social, there is... (quick 🧵)

Jona de Jong@jonadejong.bsky.social

Jona de Jong reposted

Danbischof

@danbischof.bsky.social

Nice to see this shown empirically. I suppose many colleagues had this prior. Spot on.

Jona de Jong@jonadejong.bsky.social

I close with two caveats. First, our results do not downplay polarization at the level of elites and the media, nor do they speak to political radicalization or political violence. But fears of excessive partisan division at the level of interpersonal relationship formation are misplaced. 15/16

Second, the situation may change in the future. We do find evidence of a subset (19%) of socially radicalized respondents, who do avoid out-partisans. A small group of radicals can have destabilizing effects, even if society at large remains moderate. 16/16

Our results suggest that the interpersonal consequences of partisanship have been exaggerated. While partisan labels consistently evoke real feelings of hostility, ordinary people who happen to be out-partisans do not do so at scale (caveats below) 13/16

Moreover, results offer scope conditions to the external validity of using group labels to assess relationship formation, discrimination, or cooperation. Intended behavior towards abstract categories should not necessarily be taken as indicative of real-world behavior towards actual people. 14/16

We close with conjoints, where explicit information of partisanship is provided. A setting which, we maintain, remains rare in everyday life. Here, people express a wish to avoid profiles with out-partisan labels. Though note that strong out-partisans are avoided much more than moderates. 11/16

We conclude that partisanship plays a limited role in relationship formation. This may explain why despite decades of elite and media polarization, individuals still entertain relationships with numerous out-partisan close ties and acquaintances (see: sociologicalscience.com/articles-v12...) 12/16

Next, we move to experimental evidence. First, we test whether people look for partisanship when it is invisible. We ask them about the relative importance of various characteristics of potential coworkers, neighbors or sports club partners, and run pairwise comparisons. 9/16

In each setting, partisanship is deemed relatively unimportant. Almost any other characteristic, from personality, to setting-specific traits, to most demographics, is considered more important than knowing whether a potential partner is a Republican or a Democrat. 10/16

As the relationship unfolds, some people find out - at the same rate as religion. But 42% still don't know today, several months, or even a year after meeting for the first time. If partisanship drove relationship formation, you'd expect people to know and learn about it instantly. 7/16

If they find out that their new acquaintance is an out-partisan, most people indicate not to care, or to avoid talking politics. In other survey questions, they indicate to be surrounded by out-partisans in various social environments, but to mostly not avoid them. 8/16

To test the role of partisanship in the process of relationship formation in the US, we ran two surveys (N = 5900), in November 2022 and July 2025. First, we introduce a novel survey module to trace knowledge and relevance of partisanship in the unfolding of new social relationships. 5/16

Invited to think about the last friend or acquaintance they made in real life, only 15% of respondents knew the partisanship of their new acquaintance during their first encounter. This is statistically indistinguishable from religion, another often invisible trait. 6/16

When confronted with an out-partisan label in a survey, people often imagine stereotypical others – ideologically extreme and very politically involved. No wonder they express a strong desire to avoid them. 3/16

In contrast, when meeting a real person, partisanship may be invisible, or ambiguous. People can hide their politics, be moderately political, politically moderate, or cross-pressured. They may not care about politics, nor look for it. Therefore, partisanship may remain in the background. 4/16

tinyurl.comSage Journals: Discover world-class researchSubscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

In surveys and experiments, US citizens express a wish to avoid fictitious out-partisans. This is often taken as evidence of actual avoidance of fellow citizens. However, we believe that expressed behavior towards partisan labels differs markedly from actual behavior towards out-partisans. 2/16

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Delia Zollinger

@dpzollinger.bsky.social

6 Nov 2025

Replying to @dpzollinger.bsky.social

We stress the importance of social structure for polarization along a new cleavage --> policies shaping network segregation matter! Also see this paper by @jonadejong.bsky.social @jonnekamphorst.bsky.social who come to similar conclusions based on different data/countries. tinyurl.com/47edtwtc

Jona de Jong reposted

Delia Zollinger

@dpzollinger.bsky.social

6 Nov 2025

How are contemporary cleavage structures stabilized in times of declining mass social and political organizations? In this new paper with @davidattewell6.bsky.social @bjpols.bsky.social, we suggest that homogeneous social (educational) networks provide part of the answer. tinyurl.com/49cs8jwp

tinyurl.comEducational Networks, Social Closure, and Cleavage Stabilization | British Journal of Political Science | Cambridge CoreEducational Networks, Social Closure, and Cleavage Stabilization - Volume 55

Jona de Jong reposted

Lauren Leek

@laurenleek.eu

27 Oct 2025

It's Monday morning, so time to share my new Substack: open.substack.com/pub/laurenle... (caution: I'm very far from being a sociologist so pls do provide feedback)

open.substack.com“We All Ended Up in Islington”: The Hidden Multi-Dimensionality of UK SegregationThis post introduces a new Composite Segregation Index combining ethnicity, class, and education to capture spatial sorting - and shows why UK's census architecture hides the social dynamic beneath.

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David Attewell

@davidattewell6.bsky.social

7 Oct 2025

@dpzollinger.bsky.social and I are thrilled "Cleavage Politics in Western Democracies" is out as an SI at @wepsocial.bsky.social! Its papers explore the foundations of the cleavage pitting new left against radical right parties, and how it compares to the classic cleavages of Lipset & Rokkan: 🧵⬇️

Jona de Jong reposted

EUI Department of Political and Social Sciences

@eui-sps.bsky.social

16 July 2025

🎉 Congrats to @jonadejong.bsky.social for winning the 2025 Linz‑Rokkan Prize for the best EUI thesis in Political Sociology! His work sheds new light on how social networks shape divides and reduce partisan hostility. 👏 Read more 👉 www.eui.eu/news-hub?id=...

eui.euJona de Jong awarded 2025 Linz Rokkan PrizeThis years Linz Rokkan Prize for the Best EUI Doctoral Thesis in Political Sociology was awarded to Jona de Jong during the EUI Degree Conferring Ceremony on

New publication in @sociologicalsci.bsky.social with Delia Baldassarri. We show that in the US, social relationships remain politically heterogeneous, and that heterogeneous close ties and acquaintances lower partisan animosity through distinct mechanisms. A thread on the main findings:

Moreover, we show that 'seeing the other side', casual exposure to a politically diverse set of acquaintances, contributes to correcting the misperceptions that partly fuel animosity. We find both cross-sectional and experimental evidence in favor of this complementary mechanism

Taken together, politically heterogeneous social relationships remain common and reduce partisan animosity. Our findings nuance worries about partisan echo chambers and suggest that partisan division, at the interpersonal level, might not be as widespread and constitutive as previously thought.

Both out-partisan close relationships and out-partisan acquaintances are associated with lower partisan animosity. In the paper, we complement traditional measures of affective polarization with a behavioral-incentived experiment where expressing animosity costs respondents actual money.

Traditionally, close relationships are thought to buffer partisan animosity by exposing citizens to cross-cutting political discussion. We find that heterogeneous discussions still take place frequently, even during a contentious election, and still reduce partisan animosity

@arnoutvanderijt.bsky.social

Nuancing worries about partisan echo chambers, we first show that both close relationships and acquaintances remain politically heterogeneous, even in today's polarized political climate. Especially acquaintance networks expose US citizens to more diverse political contexts

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Arnout van de Rijt

2 July 2025

Where's Wally? No, that's me proudly celebrating four great PhD students flying out! @awaldendorf.bsky.social @jonadejong.bsky.social Pedro Martin and Anna Clemente @eui-eu.bsky.social @eui-sps.bsky.social

Jona de Jong reposted

Julian Garritzmann

@garritzmannj.bsky.social

23 June 2025

I have a new paper out in @wepsocial.bsky.social: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... The paper situates discussions about the Educational Cleavage in a longer temporal context (back to the Medieval time) to show that there have ALWAYS been conflicts between educational groups. (1/3)

tandfonline.comFrom educational conflicts to an educational cleavage? The multiple transformations of educational conflicts from medieval to post-industrial timesMajor socio-economic transformations can create new cleavages, altering politics forever. The crucial contemporary transformation is the shift towards post-industrial knowledge economies, placing e...

West European Politics@wepsocial.bsky.social

Education is king in today's societies - socially, economically, & politically. @garritzmannj.bsky.social shows how conflict between educational groups transformed multiple times since the Middle Ages. doi.org/10.1080/0140... Part of the SI "Cleavage Politics in Western Democracies"