November 2025 - Cluster_ecr - mailman.uni-konstanz.de

Dinner with Meghan Condon
by Nadja Wehl 02 Dec '25

02 Dec '25

Dear all, Meghan Condon (https://meghancondon.weebly.com/) will be at the cluster. First, for a workshop from PerFair (details will follow) and then for her talk in the cluster colloquium. In the evening of December 09 there will be a joint dinner with Meghan. (Location is not yet clear). If you want to join, let me know until Tuesday, December 2nd. Best wishes, Nadja -- *Dr. Nadja Wehl* Postdoctoral Researcher University of Konstanz Cluster of Excellence "The Politics of Inequality" Project: Students' Perceptions of Inequality and Fairness (PerFair) <https://www.exc.uni-konstanz.de/ungleichheit/forschung/projekte/students-pe…> https://sites.google.com/view/nadjawehl/about Bluesky: @na-wehl <https://bsky.app/profile/na-wehl.bsky.social>

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Bilateral meetings with Stephan Lewandowsky
by Frank P. Wehinger 27 Nov '25

27 Nov '25

Dear all, Stephan Lewandowsky will speak at the In_equality Colloquium next Tuesday (details below). He is available for bilateral meetings in Y203. Please book your time slots by Monday noon and make sure to note down your selected time slot. Please use the time slots around the Colloquium (11:45–13:15 in Y213) first and avoid creating gaps. *Choose your time slot here: https://terminplaner6.dfn.de/en/b/3112590043f92940af7abf1f95b01c1b-1502296* Best regards, Frank In_equality Colloquium "Honest Liars and the Threat to Democracy" Tuesday, 2 December 2025 11:45 - 13:15 Y213 & online *Organized by* Cluster of Excellence "The Politics of Inequality", chaired by Eda Keremoglu (University of Konstanz) *Speaker* Stephan Lewandowsky (University of Bristol) Is it possible to lie more or less openly and still be perceived as sincere? Yes, says Stephan Lewandowsky. In his lecture, the cognitive psychologist shows that “belief-speaking” – the sincere expression of one’s convictions, even when they are factually wrong – can be an effective strategy for politicians. But what does that mean for the political system? In his talk, Stephan Lewandowsky will certainly engage in “fact-speaking” to answer that question. Please find the details below. *Join us on Tuesday, 2 December 2025, from 11:45 - 13:15 in Y213 or online on Zoom:* https://uni-konstanz-de.zoom.us/j/99645527345?pwd=CXBQ14bRmoSCoYCafGa5TCdeK… Meeting ID: 996 4552 7345 Meeting code: 270524 *Title: Honest Liars and the Threat to Democracy* *Abstract*: Fact-checkers documented over 30,000 false or misleading claims by Donald Trump during his first presidency, yet most Republican voters still considered him honest throughout. This paradox can be understood through the lens of two distinct psychological conceptions of honesty: “fact-speaking,” which prioritizes factual accuracy, and “belief-speaking,” which values sincere expression of belief and authenticity. A politician may state falsehoods but still be perceived as honest if their followers see them as sincerely expressing their beliefs. We analyze political communication on Twitter/X to explore these conceptions. Using computational methods, we show that politicians who engage in belief-speaking are more likely to spread low-quality information. Additionally, in conversations with the public, responses mirror the honesty framework of the original political statements, demonstrating a “contagion” effect. Experiments further support these findings, showing that people’s conceptions of honesty and truthfulness shift based on the conversational context. Individuals can also be explicitly asked to adopt either a fact-speaking or belief-speaking perspective when evaluating politicians and political content. Encouraging fact-speaking reduces the acceptance of misinformation and decreases tolerance for democratic norm violations by politicians. These findings suggest that the way people define honesty is critical to democratic health. Promoting fact-based honesty may help counter the spread of misinformation and reinforce democratic norms. *Stephan Lewandowsky* is a Professor of Cognitive Psychology with an interest in computational modeling. He examines the persistence of misinformation in society, and how myths and misinformation can spread. He is particularly interested in the variables that determine whether or not people accept scientific evidence, for example surrounding vaccinations or climate science. He is a highly-cited researcher and member of numerous advisory boards and expert panels. *Eda Keremoglu* will chair this event. She is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Politics and Public Administration and a Cluster-PI. Her main research area is comparative authoritarian politics, with a focus on inequality, digital politics, and societal cooptation. <#top> Upcoming In_equality Colloquia at the cluster *09 December*, In_equality Colloquium with Meghan Condon, Cluster *14 January*, In_equality Colloquium with Alexander Wright Cappelen, Cluster *27 January*, In_equality Colloquium with Daniela Grunow Please find the full list of events in the winter term 2025/26 here <https://www.exc.uni-konstanz.de/en/inequality/news-and-events/events/>. * Imprint <https://www.uni-konstanz.de/impressum> powered by phpList 3.6.16, © phpList ltd <https://www.phplist.com/poweredby?utm_source=pl3.6.16&utm_medium=poweredloc…>

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Postdoc for ERC Project
by Frank P. Wehinger 26 Nov '25

26 Nov '25

*From: *Florence So <florence.so(a)gu.se> *Date: *Wednesday, 26 November 2025 at 10:28 *To: *Florence So <florence.so(a)gu.se> *Subject: *Postdoc for ERC Project Hi everyone! Hope all of you are doing well! I wanted to bring to your attention a new postdoctoral fellowship position at my department. I’m hiring one for my ERC project ECONENGAGE. The project investigates the impacts of national economic improvement affects individuals’ political behavior. As part of the project, we will also examinehow the national economy affects different individuals’ economic wellbeing. Would you mind sharing this information with those whom you think would be interested? I would really appreciate it! 😊 The call: https://web103.reachmee.com/ext/I005/1035/job?site=7&lang=UK&validator=9b89… <https://web103.reachmee.com/ext/I005/1035/job?site=7&lang=UK&validator=9b89…> More information below: _The position is for 2 years, with 90% research (up to 100% if the postdoc does not wish to teach).__ The __application__ deadline is January 7th_. The position is currently advertised with an ideal (but negotiable) starting date of August 2026. I’m looking for candidates with expertise in political economy, political behavior, and survey methodology. However, the best candidates will be junior scholars who are theoretically creative and empirically innovative, have excellent collaboration and communication skills, and are committed to the project’s success and value a supportive academic community. Thus, scholars who have conducted research in other fields are encouraged to apply if they fit the above criteria. The tasks of the postdoctoral fellow will include, but are not limited to, analyses of large-N survey data on individuals’ perceptions of the economy (going far beyond partisanship), as well as constructing innovative surveys on how the national economic condition affects individuals' perceived and actual financial wellbeing. The postdoctoral fellow will be _guaranteed a solo paper that fits within the project’s aims and equal co-authorship in all collaborative work_. I know there are several new positions open at various universities right now, but I wanted to highlight that our department at the University of Gothenburg is among the most international and congenial political science departments, with a diverse set of experts in various political science fields, a strong record in publications in top political science outlets as well as receiving grants, and equally important, a supportive and welcoming working environment - ideal for fostering the talents of junior scholars. Case in point: our lunchroom is also filled with conversations (in English!) and many people stay for post-lunch coffee. Not to mention that our seminars are always well-attended - self-promoting comments are _always_ frowned upon! Not to mention, everyone is willing and happy to read and comment on paper drafts. Last but not least, I’m deeply committed to _fostering academic villages and mentoring_. Thus, the postdoc will receive plenty of feedback on their working papers and will enjoy plenty of opportunities to network with other scholars. That is to say, the fellowship will greatly enhance the postdoc fellow’s chances of landing in a tenure-track position after. Thanks so much in advance! And please don’t hesitate to let me know if you can personally recommend someone who would fit the position! My very best regards/Med vänliga hälsningar, Flori Florence (Flori) So, Associate Professor Department of Political Science, the University of Gothenburg www.florenceso.org

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Bilateral meetings with Bertil Tungodden
by Frank P. Wehinger 20 Nov '25

20 Nov '25

Dear all, Next Tuesday, Bertil Tungodden will speak in the In_equality Colloquium. Are you interested in a bilateral meeting? If so, please reserve a time slot until Monday: https://terminplaner6.dfn.de/p/6974248a40008ab415faba108f6604a8-1491116 (If you open the webpage on your mobil phone: use the slider to move to available time slots: No free time slots? Join us for lunch after the colloquium or contact me for other options. Best regards Frank -------- Weitergeleitete Nachricht -------- Betreff: [Inequality] In_equality Colloquium Bertil Tungodden | 25 November | Moral Acceptability of Consumer Exploitation Datum: Tue, 18 Nov 2025 09:49:09 +0100 Von: Frank P. Wehinger <frank.wehinger(a)uni-konstanz.de> An: inequality(a)mailman.uni-konstanz.de In_equality Colloquium "The Business of Mistakes: Moral Acceptability of Consumer Exploitation" Tuesday, 25 November 2025 11:45 - 13:15 Y213 & online *Organized by* Cluster of Excellence "The Politics of Inequality", chaired by Maj-Britt Sterba (University of Konstanz) *Speaker* Bertil Tungodden (NHH Norwegian School of Economics in Bergen) We have all likely experienced this: purchasing something we do not truly need and later realizing we may have been influenced by the producer’s claims. In his lecture, Bertil Tungodden examines how our moral judgments of corporate behaviour develop and what this means for consumer protection policies. *Join us for Bertil Tungodden's talk on Tuesday, 25 November 2025, from 11:45 - 13:15 in Y213 or online on Zoom:* https://uni-konstanz-de.zoom.us/j/99645527345?pwd=CXBQ14bRmoSCoYCafGa5TCdeK… Meeting ID: 996 4552 7345 Meeting code: 270524 *Title: The Business of Mistakes: Moral Acceptability of Consumer Exploitation* *Abstract*: The rise of behavioral economics has revealed that consumers often make systematic mistakes that businesses can exploit. This raises a fundamental moral question: Is it morally acceptable for firms to sell products that consumers would be better off not buying? In a global study across 40 countries, we show that a large majority of respondents view such consumer exploitation as morally wrong, yet at the same time believe that businesses routinely engage in these practices. Moral preferences and beliefs about firm behavior strongly predict attitudes toward consumer regulation, both across individuals and across countries. We identify three distinct moral types—Libertarians, Substantialists, and Proceduralists—and show that their prevalence at the country level is closely linked to support for consumer regulation. In a second large-scale study in the United States, we examine how moral acceptability depends on the nature of firm behavior—whether the firm manipulates information, exploits a behavioral bias, or provides all relevant information—and on beliefs about whether consumers can avoid mistakes through effort. Finally, we relate moral preferences to real-world political and market behavior. Taken together, the results provide novel global evidence on how people evaluate firm behavior that takes advantage of consumer mistakes and how these moral views shape support for consumer protection policies. *Bertil Tungodden* is a Professor of Economics at the Department of Economics at NHH Norwegian School of Economics in Bergen, Norway. He is a Scientific Director of the Centre of Excellence, FAIR- Centre for Experimental Research on Fairness, Inequality and Rationality, and co-director of the research group The Choice Lab. His research interests are experimental and behavioural economics, development economics, distributive justice and social choice theory. *May-Britt Sterba* will chair this colloquium. She is a postdoctoral researcher at the Cluster of Excellence "The Politics of Inequality" at the University of Konstanz. She is an economist by training, and did her PhD at the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods with a focus on fairness attitudes towards economic inequality. Her research interests include experimental economics, perceptions of fair and unfair inequalities and political philosophy. <#top> Upcoming In_equality Colloquia *02 December*, In_equality Colloquium with Stephan Lewandowsky *09 December*, In_equality Colloquium with Meghan Condon Please find the full list of events in the winter term 2025/26 here <https://www.exc.uni-konstanz.de/en/inequality/news-and-events/events/>. * Imprint <https://www.uni-konstanz.de/impressum>

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Brown Bag: Tyler Brown on Nov. 21
by David Alexander Knoll 19 Nov '25

19 Nov '25

Hello everyone, we would like to invite you all to the next exciting talk of the Brown Bag seminar series: On November 21, we will host Tyler Brown, who will present his working paper titled “Corruption and candidate entry: votebuying in Polish local elections”. Here is the abstract: “This paper examines the impact of privileged access to state resources on electoral outcomes in Poland. Past work has found that, when national parties target state resource to copartisan local officials with the aim of buying votes, the electoral payoffs for the national party are meager or nonexistent. I propose that electoral competition for local office can help explain this effect. While other authors have shown that competition influences parties’ choice of non-programmatic distribution strategy, I aim to reframe competition as an endogenous feature. More specifically, I posit that conditional access to state resources loosens competition constraints at the local level by reducing the number of candidates who enter elections. In turn, I argue that access to state resources reduces incumbents’ incentive to invest in targeted local distribution, accounting for limited electoral returns to the national party. Using data on Polish municipal finance and voting behavior in the period between 2013 and 2020, I am able to replicate the positive effect of PiS copartisanship on receiving transfers in a novel setting, identify a negative effect of transfers on candidate entry in local elections, and demonstrate the failure of state resources to win political support.” We are looking forward to seeing you on Friday! As usual, we meet at noon in D351 and go for lunch afterwards :) All the best, David -- David Knoll PhD Student Graduate School of the Social and Behavioural Sciences Department of Politics and Public Administration University of Konstanz https://www.polver.uni-konstanz.de/zuber/team/david-knoll/

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Early Career Rescue Fellowship
by Alexandra Frasch 18 Nov '25

18 Nov '25

Dear all, The Zukunftskolleg and the Centres of Advanced Studies in Freiburg and Tübingen have launched a call for 14 postdoc positions for researchers who cannot conduct or continue their work in the USA appropriately because of actual political pressure. Please feel free to spread the call in your networks. You can find more details here <https://www.uni-konstanz.de/zukunftskolleg/fellowships/early-career-rescue-…>. Deadline: 9 January 2026. Best, Alexandra -- *Alexandra Frasch * Coordinator Early Career Support *#GernePerDu* Universität Konstanz Exzellenzcluster "The Politics of Inequality" Universitätsstraße 10 D-78464 Konstanz Raum Y212 Tel.: +49 7531 88-5624 E-Mail: alexandra.frasch(a)uni-konstanz.de inequality.uni.kn @EXCInequality *In_equality magazin 07* **"In_klusion und Diversität" // "In_clusion and Diversity" Download & Subscription: https://inequality.uni.kn/magazine/

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Konstanz Methods Excellence Workshops 2026
by eva.thomann＠uni-konstanz.de 13 Nov '25

13 Nov '25

Dear all There are a couple of good reasons why PhD students and early career researchers in the social sciences would want to sign up for a course at the Konstanz Methods Excellence Workshops, taking place from 19.-27.2.2026: Excellence: Cutting-edge courses on quantitative, computational, set-theoretic and case-oriented empirical research methods. Inclusiveness: Diverse faculty and highly affordable early bird fees: * Short 2-day: €180 * Compact 3-day: €270 * Main 5-day: €440 * Free for PhD students from the University of Konstanz Sustainability: in-person courses taught by local University of Konstanz faculty, online courses taught by international experts. We don’t fly in instructors! More information about KOMEX: <https://afww.uni-konstanz.de/en/komex/konstanz-methods-excellence-workshops> https://afww.uni-konstanz.de/en/komex/konstanz-methods-excellence-workshops Brose and register directly for courses: https://afww.uni-konstanz.de/en/view/komex/3seminars Thank you for disseminating this information among your institution and networks—please share widely! Best wishes Eva Thomann KOMEX academic convenor Follow us on Social Media: Bluesky: <https://bsky.app/profile/komex.bsky.social> @komex.bsky.social LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/konstanz-methods-excellence-workshops/?vi…> Konstanz Methods Excellence Workshops Instagram: <https://www.instagram.com/komexmethods/?next=%2F> @komexmethods Eva Thomann | Department of Politics and Public Administration | University of Konstanz| E-Mail: <mailto:eva.thomann@uni-konstanz.de> eva.thomann(a)uni-konstanz.de | <https://www.polver.uni-konstanz.de/thomann/> https://www.polver.uni-konstanz.de/thomann/ Academic convenor, <https://afww.uni-konstanz.de/en/komex/konstanz-methods-excellence-workshops> Konstanz Methods Excellence Workshops New books: Thomann, E, Weaver, K. and T. Zgaga. 2025, Forthcoming. Policy Dynamics in the European Union. Cambridge Elements in European Politics. Cambridge University Press New publications: Thomann, E. 2025. Explaining regulatory intermediaries’ compliance through the Accountability Regimes Framework. <https://doi.org/10.1093/polsoc/puaf029> Policy & Society, DOI 10.1093/polsoc/puaf029. Thomann, E. and S. Eckhard. 2025, forthcoming. Disrupting administrative inequality: citizen-clients’ “voice” and “loyalty”. Perspectives on Public Management and Governance. Thomann, E., James, O. and T. Deruelle. 2025. Interventions to Reduce Bureaucratic Discrimination: a Systematic Review of Empirical Behavioural Research. <https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2024.2322163> Public Management Review <https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2024.2322163> 27(8): 1959-1986. Zgaga, T. and E. Thomann. 2025. Understanding literal compliance in the European Union’s multilevel fiscal governance. Regulation & Governance, <http://doi.org/10.1111/rego.70025> http://doi.org/10.1111/rego.70025. Thomann, E., Ioannidis, G., Zgaga, T. and F. Schwarz. 2025. Explaining Public Sector Corruption: The Hexagon Model. <https://doi.org/10.1111/gove.70000> Governance <https://doi.org/10.1111/gove.70000> 38(2): 1-18. Thomann, E. 2025, forthcoming. Europeanization. In: Daniel Stockemer, Stephen W. Sawyer and Audrey Gagnon (Eds). Open-access political science encyclopaedia. Springer. Thomann, E. and J.Ege. 2025. Estudiando la implementación en el nivel de la calle por medio del marco del régimen de rendición de cuentas. In Mauricio I. Dussauge Laguna & Alberto Casas Benítez (eds.). <https://www.jstor.org/stable/jj.31761188> Debates emergentes sobre administración y políticas públicas. Flacso México, 167-188. Zgaga, T., Ioannidis, G. and E. Thomann. 2025. Mixed Methods. In Meyer, O. and S. Wolf (Eds.) <https://link.springer.com/rwe/10.1007/978-3-658-42592-0_27-1> Handbuch Korruptionsforschung. Springer VS.

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Travel Cost Reimbursement
by Iris Hespeler 12 Nov '25

12 Nov '25

Dear Colleagues, The Human Resources department requests that travel expense reports for all trips that have already taken place be submitted by this *Friday, November 14*. For trips that are still to take place, we kindly request that you submit your reports as soon as possible after the trip has concluded. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. Best, -- Signatur *Iris Hespeler* Administration und Finanzen // Administration and Finances #GernePerDu Universität Konstanz Exzellenzcluster "The Politics of Inequality" Universitätsstraße 10 D-78464 Konstanz Raum Y 212 Tel.: +49 7531 88-5772 E-Mail: iris.hespeler(a)uni-konstanz.de inequality.uni.kn @EXCInequality *In_equality Podcast* Jetzt reinhören // Tune in now *In_equality magazin 08* **"7 Jahre Forschung. Ein Rück- und Ausblick" // "7 Years of Research. Looking Back and Ahead" Download & Subscription: https://inequality.uni.kn/magazine/

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