We are making great progress with our special issue in Social Policy & Administration, which is scheduled to appear in volume 57, issue 2 in 2023. Next to the introduction, co-authored with Martin B. Carstensen, the special issue is to contain contributions by (in alphabetical order):

• Annatina Aerne and Christine Trampusch
• Giuliano Bonoli and Ihssane Otmani
• Marius Busemeyer and Elvire Guillaud
• Niccolo Durazzi, Emmanuele Pavolini, and Fabio Battaglia
• Timo Fleckenstein, Soohyun Christine Lee, and Mohun Himmelweit
• Julian L. Garritzmann, Silja Häusermann, and Bruno Palier
• Jane Gingrich and Anja Giudici
• Lukas Graf
• Cathie Jo Martin with Matthew Pastore and Peter Munk Christiansen
• Orestis Papadopoulos and Katy Jones
• Ilze Plavgo

Please check it out!

Comparative Political Studies just accepted our paper on “Ethnic Minorities, Interstate War, and Fiscal Capacity Development” (with André Walter). Here is the abstract:

Do ethnic majorities and minorities have diverging preferences for fiscal capacity? Do these preferences converge during national emergencies such as interstate war? In this paper, we provide evidence from a natural experiment to demonstrate that politically salient minority-majority divisions undermine the development of fiscal capacity. In addition, we show that the pressure of interstate war is insufficient to supersede differences in support for the expansion of state’s capacity for taxation between majority and minority groups. More specifically, we employ a regression discontinuity design using a natural border that separates linguistic groups and municipality outcomes of a popular vote on the introduction of direct taxation at federal level in Switzerland during the First World War. The findings suggest that salient minority-majority divisions have a negative effect on the expansion of states’ capacity for taxation even during periods of interstate war.

Our newest book on collective skill formation in the knowledge economy (together with Giuliano Bonoli) has now appeared in print. The volume contains contributions by, amongst others, Marius Busemeyer, Niccolo Durazzi, Christian Ebner, Philipp Gonon, Lukas Graf, Christian Lyhne Ibsen, Kathleen Thelen, and Christine Trampusch.

Great news. The Swiss Political Science Review just accepted our paper “International Trade, the Great War, and the Origins of Taxation: Sister Republics Parting Ways” (together with André Walter). Here is the abstract:

The First World War was a watershed moment for the development of the modern tax state. Yet whereas the tax yield strongly increased in this period, little is known about how the tax mix changed, in particular regarding the turn to direct taxation. Examining the two ‘Sister Republics’ Switzerland and the USA, this paper demonstrates that tax reforms in this critical period for modern tax systems were conditioned by coalitions among producer groups, which had already come into existence before the war. Most notably, farmers and their position on international trade were important in shaping coalitions on the turn to direct taxation. The Great War’s main role was to temporarily interrupt (Switzerland) or cement (USA) the tax system’s reorientation. The paper thus shows that war-induced tax reforms have a lasting impact on the tax mix only if powerful coalitions support these reforms independent of the war effort.

The Journal of Politics just accepted our article entitled “Designing Electoral Districts for New Proportional Representation Systems: How Electoral Geography and Partisan Politics Constrain Proportionality and Create Bias” (together with André Walter, conditional on successful replication). Here is the abstract:

Proportional representation (PR) electoral systems have grown widespread because they are expected to ensure the representation of interests with small or geographically inefficiently distributed voter bases. Yet in reality, most PR systems consist of a large number of districts that vary strongly in size and some have surprisingly low magnitude. Existing research shows that such differences matter greatly for political outcomes but offers no explanation for their origins. We argue that the design of electoral districts in newly adopted PR systems is systematically linked to electoral geography and partisan politics. If parties with concentrated voter bases can influence the design of the new electoral system, they will create a significant number of low magnitude districts. In general, parties involved in designing districts benefit from electoral disproportionalities under the new PR rules. Empirically, we use newly collected district-level data for several Western European countries in the early 20th century.

Am Politikwissenschaftlichen Departement der Universität St. Gallen, Lehrstuhl für Politikfeldanalyse und Vergleichende Politische Ökonomie (Prof. Patrick Emmenegger), suchen wir ab Juni 2022 (für sieben Monate)

eine Hilfsassistentin / einen Hilfsassistenten (30%)

für ein Forschungsprojekt zu Berufspräferenzen von Jugendlichen im Zeitalter der Digitalisierung. Folgende drei Fragen stehen im Vordergrund: Macht ein starker Informatikbezug eine Lehrstelle attraktiver? Besteht in diesem Zusammenhang ein Gender Gap? Und wenn ja, wie lässt sich dieser erklären? Um die Fragen zu beantworten, wird eine kantonsübergreifende Umfrage (Luzern und St. Gallen) lanciert. Die Stelle umfasst die Mitarbeit an einem vom Staatssekretariat für Bildung, Forschung und Innovation (SBFI) finanzierten Projekt zur Governance der Berufsbildung in der Schweiz.

Zu Ihren zukünftigen Arbeitsinhalten zählen:

• Kommunikation mit Schulleitungen und Lehren
  • Kontaktpersonen/-Schulregister erstellen
  • Umfrage ankündigen, Projekt erläutern und Termine koordinieren
• Begleitung des Datenerhebungsprozesses
  • Unterstützung des Teams bei Besuchen vor Ort
  • Organisation der Verlosung und Zustellung des Teilnahmepreises
• Feedbackbericht für Schulklassen entwerfen und zustellen
  • Erstellen deskriptiver Statistiken in Programmen wie Excel oder R

Wir erwarten von Ihnen:

• Fortgeschrittenes Studium (Bachelor oder Master) in International Affairs, Politikwissenschaft, Volkswirtschaftslehre, Soziologie oder einer anderen Sozialwissenschaft mit guten oder sehr guten Studienleistungen
• Affinität für Feldarbeit
• Organisatorisches sowie redaktionelles Geschick
• Hohe und situationsangepasste Ausdruckskompetenz in Deutsch (Muttersprache)
• Hohe Leistungsbereitschaft, Zuverlässigkeit und Flexibilität
• Interesse an Schweizer Bildungspolitik 

Wir bieten Ihnen:

• Einblick in die akademische Forschung und in ein spannendes Projekt
• Arbeitsplatz am Departement, kurzer Weg zum Bahnhof
• Arbeitssprache ist Deutsch

Bei Interesse senden Sie bitte Ihre Bewerbung (Bewerbungsschreiben, Lebenslauf und Leistungsausweise in einem PDF sowie eine schriftliche Arbeit (z.B. Seminararbeit) als zweites PDF) bis zum 15. Mai 2022 an Prof. Patrick Emmenegger (patrick.emmenegger@unisg.ch).

The special issue in the Journal of European Public Policy, entitled “The Politics of Taxing the Rich: Declining Tax Rates in Times of Rising Inequality” has now appeared in print (with Hanna Lierse) – Volume 29, Issue 5, 2022.

The “Handbuch der Schweizer Politik / Manuel de la politique suisse” is now out (7th edition). Special thanks to my co-editors Flavia Fossati, Silja Häusermann, Yannis Papadopoulos, Pascal Sciarini, and Adrian Vatter. The book can be bought at NZZ Libro. By the way, the book is also very helpful for people interested in (the practical experience of) weight lifting. Just saying.

A great way to start the new year. The European Political Science Review just accepted our paper “Setting the Terms of State Intervention: Employers, Unions and the Politics of Inclusiveness in Austrian and Danish Vocational Education Institutions” (with Martin B. Carstensen and Daniel F. Unterweger). Here is the abstract:

How do coalitional dynamics matter for the capacity of states to maintain social inclusion in coordinated models of capitalism? Taking its departure in scholarship emphasizing the influence of employers on the extent of state intervention in post-industrial economies, this paper argues that employer influence depends on which actors they team up with – unions or parties. If unions depend on employers for their organizational influence in a policy field, unions become a strong coalitional partner for employers in weakening demands for inclusiveness from the parliamentary arena. Conversely, if unions have influence independent of any coalition with employers, both unions and employers are likely to team up with political parties aligned with their preferences. This makes the level of inclusion resulting from increased state intervention more fluctuating, depending on who holds government power. A comparative study of reforms of Danish and Austrian vocational education institutions corroborates the empirical purchase of the argument.

We are inviting applications for a postdoctoral research fellowship position (3.5 years) at the University of St. Gallen’s School of Economics and Political Science and its GOVPET research center. Please apply by December 31 to work with Giuliano Bonoli, Christine Trampusch, Patrick Emmenegger, and the other members of the GOVPET team on how labor markets and skill formation systems adapt to a knowledge economy, with a particular focus on digitalization and skill-biased technological change.

Within the confines of the overall project, the successful applicant will have freedom to develop her/his own independent research. Next to research, the postdoctoral researcher is expected to join the research team’s activities such as the annual doctoral workshop or the regular meetings with our prestigious academic advisory board. There are no teaching obligations.

The successful applicant is expected to have:

• A PhD in political science or a related discipline
• Interest in theory-guided empirical research
• Excellent training in social science methodology
• Strong English language skills; additional German language skills are an advantage but are not considered necessary

We seek a candidate per mutual agreement (at earliest by February 1, 2022).

The GOVPET Leading House is a multi-disciplinary research center at the Universities of St. Gallen and Lausanne, conducting cutting-edge research at the intersection of labor markets and education/training policies. The center’s main goal is to develop knowledge about how labor markets and skill formation systems adapt to a knowledge economy, and how these processes are governed by political and economic actors. For more information on the GOVPET Leading House, please visit our website at http://www.govpet.ch.

The application should include a cover letter, statement of research, curriculum vitae, publication list, a job market paper, and contact information for two professional references that may be contacted. Candidates should submit their application to Prof. Dr. Patrick Emmenegger (patrick.emmenegger[at]unisg[dot]ch) at the latest by December 31. For further information, please also contact Patrick Emmenegger.