Sirianne Dahlum

• Goldstein, Daniel A. N.; Bakke, Kaja Sparre; Dahlum, Sirianne & Wig, Tore (2026). Elites as Democratic Gatekeepers: Theory and Evidence from Norway. Open Science Framework (OSF). doi: 10.31235/osf.io/2rwgt_v2. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Numerous studies have examined voters’ support for democracy and reactions to democratic violations by elites. Yet, we know less about the democratic preferences of political elites. This gap matters because elites may act as ``democratic gatekeepers'' by blocking autocratic colleagues from power. We develop a theory of elite gatekeeping and test it using pre-registered survey experiments on a sample of approximately 2,000 national, regional, and local representatives and party officials in Norway. Using multiple experimental designs, we measure internal gatekeeping -- the willingness to punish anti-democratic colleagues within one's own party -- and external gatekeeping -- the willingness to block a governing coalition with anti-democratic parties. Elites engage in both, but neither is absolute: the penalty for anti-democratic behavior is no larger than for ordinary misconduct, and roughly 70% would accept an anti-democratic coalition partner when it secures a governing majority. Democracy's gatekeepers may be less steadfast than they appear.

• Dahlum, Sirianne & Knutsen, Carl Henrik (2025). The State of Norwegian Democracy. I Kolltveit, Kristoffer; Allern, Elin Haugsgjerd; Braut-Hegghammer, Målfrid & Rasch, Bjørn Erik (Red.), The Oxford Handbook of Norwegian Politics. Oxford University Press. ISSN 9780198888581. s. 173–192. doi: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198888581.013.0010. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Abstract Norway is a high-quality democracy, almost regardless of how democracy is conceptualized or operationalized. Yet, Norwegian democracy is far from perfect; it has room for improvement, and more so in some areas than in others. Our chapter overviews the historical development of democracy in Norway since 1814, before detailing the system’s current characteristics. Regarding the latter, we address the overall high quality of the system along several dimensions—notably the electoral, liberal, and deliberative dimensions of democracy—but also several democratic deficiencies. The latter are highlighted in a recent analysis of the state of Norwegian democracy, which we review in this chapter. Examples of democratic deficiencies are inequalities in both political influence and participation across different groups of citizens, lacking voting rights in parliamentary elections for the large (and growing) share of the population without citizenship, and limited autonomy for elected politicians in some policy areas.

• Neundorf, Anja; Dahlum, Sirianne; Frederiksen, Kristian Vrede Skaaning & Öztürk, Aykut (2025). Elections Without Constraints? The Appeal of Electoral Autocracy Across the World. British Journal of Political Science. ISSN 0007-1234. 56. doi: 10.1017/S0007123425101129. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  What democratic institutions and practices do citizens prioritize, and how responsive are their preferences to competing concerns such as economic and physical security? We explore this through a conjoint experiment with over 35,000 respondents across thirty-two countries – spanning democracies and autocracies – who evaluate hypothetical countries varying in democratic features, cultural characteristics, economic prosperity, and physical security. Our findings reveal that citizens consistently prioritize free and fair elections, highlighting their salience as a core democratic value. However, executive constraints appear less central to citizens’ preferences, especially when set against the promise of economic prosperity. These patterns hold across a wide range of national and individual contexts. The results suggest that while elections remain symbolically and substantively important, many citizens are responsive to appeals that frame strong, unconstrained leadership as a pathway to economic prosperity – an emphasis often seen in electoral authoritarian regimes.

• Knutsen, Carl Henrik; Dahlum, Sirianne; Rasmussen, Magnus Bergli & Wig, Tore (2025). Who Rules? Support Coalitions and Regime Survival, 1789–2020. Comparative Political Studies. ISSN 0010-4140. s. 1–37. doi: 10.1177/00104140251369338. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  All political regimes rely on coalitions of supporters to govern and remain in power. We discuss, specify, and test arguments pertaining to how the numerical size as well as social diversity of regime support coalitions influence regime longevity. We use recently collected data on support coalition characteristics, with global coverage and time series exceeding 230 years, and find that larger as well as more diverse regime support coalitions are positively related to regime longevity. Both patterns hold up in different time periods and in sub-samples including only autocratic regimes. We also discuss and find indications that increased coalition size may limit certain types of regime breakdown (e.g., from popular uprisings) but not others (e.g., coups). Coalition diversity is negatively related to different types of regime breakdown, and these patterns may reflect that diverse coalitions offer regimes access to variegated power resources that enable them to mitigate different threats.

• Dahl, Marianne; Dahlum, Sirianne; Fjelde, Hanne; Gjerløw, Haakon; Knutsen, Carl Henrik & Strøm-Sedgwick, Carina [Vis alle 7 forfattere av denne artikkelen] (2025). Mass Mobilization in the Modern Era: Introducing the Opposition Movements and Groups (OMG) Dataset, 1789–2019. Comparative Political Studies. ISSN 0010-4140. doi: 10.1177/00104140251369330. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  The nature and consequences of mass mobilization are core topics in the social sciences. How have mass mobilization movements evolved over time? How do key characteristics of such movements, including their social composition or ideology, influence their ability to overthrow or alter political institutions? We introduce the Opposition Movements and Groups (OMG) dataset, which – due to its unique contents and extensive coverage – will help researchers to better address these and many other questions about mass mobilization movements. OMG includes information on the stated goals, duration, size, tactics, ideology, and social and organizational composition of 1452 mass mobilization movements, globally, from 1789 to 2019. We discuss OMG’s contents, construction, validity and reliability issues, and how it complements existing datasets. We showcase the data, first, by documenting several key trends in movement characteristics since the French Revolution, and, second, by shedding new light on the much-discussed relationship between nonviolent movements and democratization.

• Dahlum, Sirianne; Langsæther, Peter Egge & Wig, Tore (2025). New evidence on citizens’ reactions to democratic norm violations in an advanced democracy. Electoral Studies: an international journal on voting and electoral systems and strategy. ISSN 0261-3794. 97. doi: 10.1016/j.electstud.2025.102971. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  We investigate citizens’ commitments to democratic norms in a democratic “posterchild”, using the case of Norway. Previous research suggests that citizens often accept elite violations of democratic norms. We distinguish between more subtle infractions and explicit rejections of democracy, and we assess how citizens respond when democratic violations are framed as necessary to achieve pressing societal goals. We find that concrete democratic-norm violations, such as accepting violent rhetoric, meet only weakly punitive reactions among citizens. Policy disagreement or party identification are not important moderators. This may suggest significant opportunity space for elite-driven democratic backsliding even in highly advanced democracies. Yet, citizens heavily punish the most outright rejections of democracy, that question democracy itself, even when justified in order to reach desired political and social outcomes. These findings are consistent with the notion that citizens tolerate specific anti-democratic actions because these are not necessarily considered as violating democracy, while statements clearly violating democracy are punished more.

• Dahlum, Sirianne; Hanson, Torbjørn; Johnsen, Åshild Auglænd; Kotsadam, Andreas & Wuttke, Alexander (2025). Is support for authoritarian rule contagious? Evidence from field and survey experiments. American Journal of Political Science (AJPS). ISSN 0092-5853. doi: 10.1111/ajps.70067. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  The increasing popularity of strongman rule in democratic societies underscores the need to explore how authoritarian regime preferences might spread socially. We assess the role of social influence on support for leaders with authoritarian inclinations through preregistered field and survey experiments in the Norwegian Armed Forces. The field experiment randomly assigned soldiers to different rooms during boot camp, so soldiers lived among peers with varying levels of openness to authoritarian rule. We found that many individuals adjusted their privately reported support for authoritarian rule to align more closely with their peers. Further survey-experimental evidence among soldiers and the general Norwegian population confirms that learning about others’ level of support for authoritarian rule changes both perceptions and own support. Our results suggest that support for authoritarian rule can have a social basis and could potentially spread through social contagion in established democracies.

• Wig, Tore; Knutsen, Carl Henrik; Dahlum, Sirianne & Rasmussen, Magnus Bergli (2025). Cui bono? business elites and interstate conflict. European Journal of International Relations. ISSN 1354-0661. 31(2), s. 280–310. doi: 10.1177/13540661251327116. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  We examine how regime support coalitions influence interstate conflict by revisiting the classic debate over the role of business elites in shaping states’ conflict behavior. While imperialist theories argue that business elites promote military expeditions to access new foreign markets, capitalist peace perspectives contend that these elites favor peace due to their economic interests. We reconcile these views by proposing that countries become more belligerent when business elites are part of their regime-support coalitions but only when their potential adversaries are not similarly supported by business elites. To test this argument, we use a novel dataset on the composition of regime support coalitions covering 200 polities over two centuries. Our findings indicate that regimes backed by business elites are more likely to initiate armed conflict but not against other countries with business-elite-supported regimes. In addition, we uncover that the aggressive tendencies of business-elite-supported regimes are moderated by pre-existing trade relationships. These results contribute to our understanding of how domestic elite groups shape international conflict, offering new insights into the interplay between economic interests and state behavior.

• Knutsen, Carl Henrik; Dahlum, Sirianne; Rasmussen, Magnus Bergli & Wig, Tore (2025). Behind the Throne: Regime support coalitions around the world, 1789-2020. British Journal of Political Science. ISSN 0007-1234. 55, s. 1–23. doi: 10.1017/S0007123424000656. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  All regimes require supporters to govern and survive. We discuss the concept of a ‘regime support group’ and present and validate measures from an extensive dataset recording different features of such groups. This Regime Support and Opposition Groups (ReSOG) dataset covers approximately 2,000 political regimes from almost 200 countries, across 1789–2020. Drawing on the knowledge of about 1,000 country experts, we estimate the size and main geographical location of regime support coalitions and key opposition actors. We also map the social basis of regime support coalitions and opponents, using a 14-category scheme covering various social groups. These data provide a unique quantitative history of the social underpinnings of regimes in the modern era. Using them, we show and discuss the broadening of support coalitions over time, especially in autocracies, the rise of major urban groups, and the relative decline of rural elites in politics, globally

• Claassen, Christopher; Ackermann, Kathrin; Bertsou, Eri; Borba, Lucas; Carlin, Ryan E. & Cavari, Amnon [Vis alle 22 forfattere av denne artikkelen] (2024). Conceptualizing and Measuring Support for Democracy: A New Approach. Comparative Political Studies. ISSN 0010-4140. doi: 10.1177/00104140241259458. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Much of what we know about public support for democracy is based on survey questions about “democracy,” a term that varies in meaning across countries and likely prompts uncritically supportive responses. This paper proposes a new approach to measuring support for democracy. We develop a battery of 17 survey questions that cover all eight components of liberal democracy as defined by the V-Dem project. We then ask respondents from 19 national samples to evaluate these rights and institutions. We find considerable heterogeneity across countries in how our items cohere, especially in less developed contexts. Yet, those items that are more weakly connected with general support for liberal democracy tend to reveal the influence of political events and actors, arguably indicating weaknesses in political cultures. We further identify a concise subset of seven items that provide a reliable and valid measure of support for liberal democracy across our different samples.

• Dahlum, Sirianne (2023). Joining forces: Social coalitions and democratic revolutions. Journal of Peace Research. ISSN 0022-3433. 60(1), s. 42–57. doi: 10.1177/00223433221138614. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  When are mass protest movements able to overthrow authoritarian regimes and promote democratic transitions? This article considers whether socially diverse protest movements are more conducive to democratization than movements restricted to one or a few social groups. Coalitions across social groups should impose higher costs on authoritarian regimes through access to a wide range of resources, strategies and sources of leverage. Heterogenous protest coalitions are also more likely to socially overlap with regime supporters and the security forces, which should encourage regime splits and defections. But, diverse protest movements may also be more vulnerable to fragmentation and in-fighting, which may particularly threaten prospects of democracy in the aftermath of an authoritarian regime breakdown. Analyzing new global data mapping the social group composition of anti-regime protest campaigns from 1900 to 2013, the article finds consistent evidence that socially diverse protest movements are more likely to overthrow authoritarian regimes, and this is not driven by protest size. Socially diverse movements are also more likely to end in the short- and long-run establishment of more democratic institutions, suggesting that heterogenous protest movements’ potential for bringing about democracy is more promising than expected. These findings speak to the importance of securing broad and not only large mass movements to promote democracy.

• Knutsen, Carl Henrik & Dahlum, Sirianne (2022). Economic Determinants, Why Democracies Develop and Decline. Cambridge University Press. ISSN 9781316514412. s. 119–160. doi: 10.1017/9781009086974.005. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Several prominent debates on causes of democratization or democratic decline, concern different features of the economy. Yet, many of these debates lack in robust, conclusive evidence. We revisit the links between various economic factors and (electoral) democracy, drawing on global data extending from 1789 to 2018. First, we consider how economic development influences democracy, and democratic upturns and downturns more specifically. Second, we consider structural features of the economy related to types of production and assets as potential determinants of democracy. Third, we assess indicators of short-term economic performance. Fourth, we consider different economic inequalities. Our analysis shows several null-results or non-robust results, for instance, between income inequality and democracy (both upturns and downturns), or between (various aspects of) economic development and democratic upturns. We also find several robust relationships. For example, a high share of agricultural production in the economy mitigates democratization, whereas strong short-term economic performance and high income levels hinders democratic decline.

• Dahlum, Sirianne; Pinckney, Jonathan & Wig, Tore (2022). Moral Logics of Support for Nonviolent Resistance: Evidence From a Cross-National Survey Experiment. Comparative Political Studies. ISSN 0010-4140. 56(3), s. 326–362. doi: 10.1177/00104140221100198. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Mechkova, Valeriya; Dahlum, Sirianne & Petrarca, Constanza Sanhueza (2022). Women's political representation, good governance and human development. Governance. An International Journal of Policy, Administration and Institutions. ISSN 0952-1895. doi: 10.1111/gove.12742. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  As women's political inclusion has become the international norm, many countries have implemented gender quotas or actively tried to increase women's political representation. Women's inclusion is also expected to bring positive development outcomes, as women, both as voters and politicians, may prioritize policies conducive to development. Yet, previous research has shown that descriptive representation does not automatically improve governance, and that various contextual factors influence (female) politicians' ability to shape policy outcomes. In this article, we examine how political corruption affects the dynamics of women's representation. We argue that while the presence of women in politics has the potential to increase development, it can also be used as “window-dressing” to legitimize rule where in reality male patrons continue to dominate policy decisions. Thus, women representatives recruited from the same corrupt networks as these male patrons may be used to perpetuate the status-quo or even decrease development outcomes. Building on previous research, we argue that patriarchal gender norms and relatively weaker standing of women in corrupt environments can explain why women in these societies may support policy decisions that go against their preferences and interests as a group. We conduct a quantitative analysis drawing on time-series cross-sectional data on 182 countries from 1900 to 2014 to shed light on the linkage between women empowerment, corruption, and development. We find that women's representation only promotes human development if corruption is at low levels, while under high level of corruption women's inclusion is associated with worsened development outcomes. This finding suggests that women political empowerment might not always be a silver bullet to increasing substantive representation, and especially not under very poor levels of governance and prevalent corruption.

• Dahlum, Sirianne; Knutsen, Carl Henrik & Mechkova, Valeriya (2022). Women's political empowerment and economic growth. World Development. ISSN 0305-750X. 156. doi: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2022.105822. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  We investigate whether and how women’s political empowerment relates to technological change, the main driver of long-term economic growth. We argue that three aspects of empowerment – descriptive representation, civil liberties protection, and civil society participation – advance technological change and thereby economic growth through (a) increasing the number and variability of new ideas introduced in the economy and (b) improving the selection of more efficient ideas. Drawing on data from 182 countries and 221 years, we test various implications from our argument. Women’s political empowerment is positively related to subsequent economic growth. This relationship persists across various model specifications and when accounting for different potential confounders. The three sub-components of empowerment are also, individually, related to growth, although not as strongly as the aggregated concept. The relationship is retained across different contexts, but is clearer for “Non-Western” countries and in earlier time periods. We also find evidence that women’s political empowerment enhances technological change.

• Moen, Ole Martin; Dahlum, Sirianne & Korsvoll, Nils Hallvard (2021). Ukens spørsmål: Når er det riktig å kalle noen rasist? Morgenbladet. ISSN 0805-3847. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Dahlum, Sirianne & Wig, Tore (2020). Chaos on Campus: Universities and Mass Political Protest. Comparative Political Studies. ISSN 0010-4140. doi: 10.1177/0010414020919902. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  History suggests universities are hotbeds of political protest. However, the generality and causal nature of this relationship has never been quantified. This article investigates whether universities give rise to political protest, drawing on geocoded information on the location and characteristics of universities and protest events in the 1991–2016 period, at the subnational level in 62 countries in Africa and Central America. Our analysis indicates that university establishments increase protest. We use a difference-in-differences and fixed-effect framework leveraging the temporal variation in universities within subnational grid-cells to estimate the effect of universities on protest. Our analysis indicates that localities with increases in number of universities experience more protest. We suggest a causal interpretation, after performing different tests to evaluate whether this reflects confounding trends specific to locations that establish universities, finding no support for this. We also provide descriptive evidence on the nature of university-related protests, showing that they are more likely to emerge in dictatorships and that protests in university locations are more likely to concern democracy and human rights. These findings yield important general insights into universities’ role as drivers of contentious collective action.

• Dahlum, Sirianne & Wig, Tore (2020). Peace above the glass ceiling: The historical relationship between female political empowerment and civil conflict. International Studies Quarterly. ISSN 0020-8833. 64(4), s. 879–893. doi: 10.1093/isq/sqaa066. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Abstract We investigate whether female political empowerment is conducive to civil peace, drawing on global data on female political empowerment over a 200-year period, from the Varieties of Democracy database. We augment previous research by expanding the temporal scope, looking at a novel inventory of female political empowerment measures, attending to reverse-causality and omitted variable issues, and separating between relevant causal mechanisms. We find a strong link between female political empowerment and civil peace, which is particularly pronounced in the twentieth century. We find evidence that this relationship is driven both by women’s political participation—particularly the bottom-up political participation of women, e.g., in civil society—and the culture that conduces it. This is the strongest evidence to date that there is a robust link between female political empowerment and civil peace, stemming from both institutional and cultural mechanisms.

• Dahlum, Sirianne (2019). Students in the Streets: Education and Nonviolent Protest. Comparative Political Studies. ISSN 0010-4140. 52(2). doi: 10.1177/0010414018758761. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Dahlum, Sirianne; Knutsen, Carl Henrik & Wig, Tore (2019). Who Revolts? Empirically Revisiting the Social Origins of Democracy. Journal of Politics. ISSN 0022-3816. 81(4), s. 1494–1499. doi: 10.1086/704699. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Several prominent accounts suggest that democratic transitions are more likely to take place when opposition to the incumbent regime is led by certain social groups. We further develop the argument that opposition movements dominated by industrial workers or the urban middle classes have both the requisite motivation and capacity to bring about democratization. To systematically test this argument, we collect new data on the social composition of antiregime opposition movements, globally from 1900 to 2006. We find that movements dominated by one of these urban groups more often result in democracy, both when compared to other movements and to situations without organized mass opposition. As expected, the relationship is stronger in urban than rural societies, and in more recent decades. When further differentiating the groups and accounting for plausible alternative explanations, the relationship between industrial worker campaigns and democratization is very robust, whereas the evidence is mixed for middle-class campaigns.

• Lührmann, Anna; Mechkova, Valeriya; Dahlum, Sirianne; Maxwell, Laura; Olin, Moa & Petrarcha, Constanza Sanhueza (2018). State of the world 2017: autocratization and exclusion? Democratization. ISSN 1351-0347. 25(8), s. 1321–1340. doi: 10.1080/13510347.2018.1479693. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Dahlum, Sirianne & Knutsen, Carl Henrik (2017). Do Democracies Provide Better Education? Revisiting the Democracy-Human Capital Link. World Development. ISSN 0305-750X. 94, s. 186–199. doi: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2017.01.001. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Dahlum, Sirianne & Knutsen, Carl Henrik (2017). Democracy by Demand? Reinvestigating the Effect of Self-expression Values on Political Regime Type. British Journal of Political Science. ISSN 0007-1234. 47(2), s. 437–461. doi: 10.1017/S0007123415000447. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  The notion that cultural characteristics influence political regimes remains popular, despite mixed supporting evidence. In particular, democracy is argued to emerge and thrive in countries where liberal or freedom-oriented values (so-called self-expression values) are widespread. Inglehart and Welzel, for instance, report such an effect, mainly drawing inferences from cross-country comparisons. Yet cross-country correlations between self-expression values and democracy could stem from different processes. Reinvestigating this relationship, this article finds no empirical support when employing models accounting for sample-selection bias, country-specific effects and the endogeneity of values to democracy. Self-expression values do not enhance democracy levels or democratization chances, and neither do they stabilize existing democracies. In contrast, this study finds indications that a country’s experience with democracy enhances self-expression values.

• Dahlum, Sirianne & Knutsen, Carl Henrik (2017). What Counts as Evidence? Panel Data and the Empirical Evaluation of Revised Modernization Theory. British Journal of Political Science. ISSN 0007-1234. 47(2), s. 473–478. doi: 10.1017/s0007123416000107. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Dahlum, Sirianne & Wig, Tore (2017). Educating Demonstrators: Education and Mass Protest in Africa. Journal of Conflict Resolution. ISSN 0022-0027. 63(1), s. 3–30. doi: 10.1177/0022002717721394. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Dahlum, Sirianne & Knutsen, Carl Henrik (2017). Do Democracies Provide Better Education? Revisiting the Democracy–Human Capital Link. World Development. ISSN 0305-750X. 94, s. 186–199. doi: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2017.01.001. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  We investigate whether democracy enhances the skills and knowledge of citizens through improving education quality. This, in turn, could have ramifications for other development outcomes such as economic growth. We offer the first systematic cross-national study on democracy and education quality. Democracy is widely regarded as superior to autocracy in terms of providing access to education, and several studies find that democracy enhances educational enrollment and years of schooling. Yet, we do not know whether democracies provide better education. We argue that democracies should not too readily be expected to outperform autocracies on education quality. First, it is inherently difficult to implement quality-enhancing education reforms, even for well-intentioned (democratic and autocratic) governments with ample resources. Second, education quality is less visible to voters than, e.g., expanding education enrollment, making quality-enhancing policies a less attractive option for office-seeking democratic politicians. We employ a recent dataset comparing international student tests for 128 countries, from 1965 onward. While democracies typically provide “more” education than autocracies, we find no systematic evidence that democracies offer better education. The result is very robust and holds in both cross-section and panel specifications. The null-relationship is not explained simply by democracies providing education access to more (and different types of) children than autocracies, and it appears both in rich and poor and in low- and high-capacity states. We also present relevant nuances: for instance, autocracies display more variation in education quality outcomes than democracies, and we find some evidence that democracy may be associated, more specifically, with better reading skills. In sum, this study provides new insights to the democracy and education literature, where extant studies often report strong links between democracy and various education outcomes not directly related to education quality, and informs literatures linking democracy to development outcomes such as growth via effects on human capital.

Se alle arbeider i NVA

• Goldstein, Daniel Alexander Novick; Bakke, Kaja Sparre; Dahlum, Sirianne & Wig, Tore (2026). Elites as Democratic Gatekeepers: Theory and Evidence from Norway. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Goldstein, Daniel Alexander Novick; Dahlum, Sirianne & Wuttke, Alexander (2025). The Social Dynamics of Democratic Preferences. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Goldstein, Daniel Alexander Novick; Wig, Tore; Dahlum, Sirianne & Bakke, Kaja Sparre (2025). Elites as Democratic Gatekeepers: Theory and Evidence from Norway. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Studies of democratic backsliding suggest that political elites can, but often fail to, serve as ``democratic gatekeepers'' by punishing autocratic colleagues to protect democracy. While there is a substantial body of literature examining voters' preferences for democracy and their reactions to democratic violations by elites, we know less about elites' preferences for democratic gatekeeping in contemporary democracies. We develop a theory of democratic gatekeeping among political elites in democracies, examining the practice within and between parties. We then tested the implications of this theory in a pre-registered survey targeting approximately 11,000 national and local elected representatives and party officials in Norway, which is widely considered a stable, consolidated democracy. Using various experimental approaches, we reveal the preferences of Norwegian political elites regarding gatekeeping when exposed to anti-democratic party colleagues and anti-democratic political parties as potential coalition partners.

• Dahlum, Sirianne (2025). Democracy under pressure: How and why are democracies undermined”, invited talk at the Reuter’s Institute of Journalism, Oxford University. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Dahlum, Sirianne (2025). Social norms and democracy: Evidence from Lab Experiments”, invited talk at Department of Politics and International Relations (DPIR) Politics Colloqium, Oxford University. doi: https:/www.politics.ox.ac.uk/event/social-dynamics-democracy-insights-laboratory-experiments. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Dahlum, Sirianne (2025). The Social Transmission of Authoritarianism: Evidence from Field and Survey Experiments, invited talk at the Nuffield College Political Science Seminar, Oxford University. doi: https:/www.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/news-events/events-and-seminars/political-science-seminar-ht25-week-7/. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Dahlum, Sirianne (2025). KI og valg - Universitetet i Oslo. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Valgdagen er over – men spørsmålene om KIs påvirkning lever videre. Dagen etter stortingsvalget inviterer vi til fersk kaffe og debrief: Hvilken rolle spilte kunstig intelligens – hvis noen?

• Dahlum, Sirianne (2025). Hvor sterk er vår demokratiske ryggmargsrefleks? Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Dahlum, Sirianne (2025). UiOs prisar 2025: – Norsk ungdom har for liten kunnskap om kva demokrati er - Uniforum. [Journal]. Uniforum. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Professor i statsvitskap Sirianne Dahlum gir skulen ansvaret for dårleg opplæring om demokrati. No er ho tildelt UiOs pris for yngre forskarar for 2025.

• Dahlum, Sirianne (2025). Demokratiet i fare: Hvorfor roper ingen varsko? - Universitetet i Oslo. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Les denne saken på UiOs nettsider.

• Dahlum, Sirianne (2025). (+) – Valget i Polen bidrar med momentum til en bevegelse med klare anti-demokratiske tendenser. [Journal]. Minerva. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Sirianne Dahlum fikk nylig pris for sin demokratiforskning. Hun er ingen optimist på Europas vegne.

• Dahlum, Sirianne; Langsæther, Peter Egge & Wig, Tore (2024). Meninger: Norske statsvitere: – Også i Norge er den autoritære trusselen reell. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Forskningen viser at autoritære politikere kan vinne frem i demokratiske valg selv om de truer demokratiet. Også i Norge er denne trusselen reell.

• Dahlum, Sirianne (2024). Statusrapport om det norske demokratiet. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wig, Tore; Dahlum, Sirianne; Goldstein, Daniel Alexander Novick & Bakke, Kaja Sparre (2024). Elite commitments to democracy: Experimental evidence from Norway. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Dahlum, Sirianne (2024). Intervju om unges forpliktelse til demokrati i Norge på Nyhetsmorgen. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Goldstein, Daniel Alexander Novick; Wig, Tore; Dahlum, Sirianne & Bakke, Kaja Sparre (2024). Elite Commitments to Democracy: Evidence from Norway. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Goldstein, Daniel Alexander Novick; Wig, Tore; Dahlum, Sirianne & Bakke, Kaja Sparre (2024). Elite Commitments to Democracy: Evidence from Norway. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Dahlum, Sirianne (2023). Interviewed at Dagsnytt 18 on Norwegian citizens support for democracy, NRK P2. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Dahlum, Sirianne; Neundorf, Anja; Aykut, Ozturk & Frederiksen, Kristian Skaaning (2023). Security over democracy? A cross-country study of citizens' trade-offs between societal characteristics. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Dahlum, Sirianne (2023). Interviewed in a 3-episode series on global democratic backsliding, NRK P2. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wuttke, Alexander; Dahlum, Sirianne; Kotsadam, Andreas & Johnsen, Åshild Auglænd (2023). Peer effects on authoritarianism: Evidence from Norway. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Dahlum, Sirianne (2023). Hvordan er demokratiet i krise? Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Dahlum, Sirianne; Neundorf, Anja; Frederiksen, Kristian Skaaning & Aykut, Ozturk (2023). Security over democracy? A cross-country study of citizens' trade-offs between societal characteristics. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Dahlum, Sirianne (2023). Hvordan er demokratiet i fare? Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Dahl, Marianne; Dahlum, Sirianne; Wig, Tore; Gjerløw, Haakon; Knutsen, Carl Henrik & Metternich, Nils W. (2023). The role of collective social groups in democratization: Evidence from two centuries of mass protest. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Dahlum, Sirianne (2022). Hvordan og hvorfor forvitrer demokratiet? Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Rasmussen, Magnus Bergli & Dahlum, Sirianne (2022). Educated to Democratize? Education and Elite support for Universal suffrage. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Dahl, Marianne; Fjelde, Hanne; Rudolfsen, Ida & Dahlum, Sirianne (2022). Sivilsamfunnet jobber i motbakke for å forsvare demokratiet. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Dahlum, Sirianne; Dahl, Marianne; Fjelde, Hanne & Rudolfsen, Ida (2022). The Dark Side of Mobilisation: Global Evidence on Authoritarian Protests. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Dahlum, Sirianne (2022). How deeply rooted is mass support for democracy? Evidence from Norway. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wig, Tore; Dahlum, Sirianne; Gjerløw, Haakon & Nilsen, Eric Gabo Ekeberg (2022). The Autocratic Threat to Science. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wig, Tore; Knutsen, Carl Henrik; Dahlum, Sirianne & Rasmussen, Magnus Bergli (2022). The Social Groups Supporting or Opposing Political Regimes. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Dahlum, Sirianne (2021). Et blaff av demokrati? Issa, Wahab og Dahlum. Panelsamtale på Litteraturhuset. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Solheim, Marte Cecilie Wilhelmsen; Korsvoll, Nils Hallvard; Dale, Ragnhild Freng & Dahlum, Sirianne (2021). Bli kjend med fire UWC alumni i akademia. [Internet]. https://uwc.no/bli-betre-kjend-med-fire-uwc-alumni-innan-aka. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Dahlum, Sirianne (2021). The Case for Democracy: Do democracies provide better education? Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Grønmo, Sigmund; Dahlum, Sirianne & Wæhle, Espen (2020). Case-studie. Store Norske Leksikon (Nettutgaven). Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Wig, Tore; Dahlum, Sirianne & Knutsen, Carl Henrik (2020). Erna som diktator. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Nygård, Håvard Mokleiv; Dahlum, Sirianne; Østby, Gudrun & Rustad, Siri Camilla Aas (2019). Slik fanges mange land i en «ulikhetsfelle». Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Dahlum, Sirianne; Knutsen, Carl Henrik & Wig, Tore (2019). We checked 100 years of protests in 150 countries. Here’s what we learned about the working class and democracy. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Dahlum, Sirianne & Knutsen, Carl Henrik (2017). Democracies are no better at educating students than autocracies. This is why. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Hegre, Håvard; Nygård, Håvard Mokleiv; Dahlum, Sirianne & Karlsen, Joakim (2015). Forecasting Regime Type, 2014‐2100. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Knutsen, Carl Henrik; Dahlum, Sirianne; Allern, Elin Haugsgjerd; Hagfors, Sara Bjønness; Klausen, Jan Erling & Søyland, Martin [Vis alle 7 forfattere av denne artikkelen] (2023). Tilstandsanalyse av det norske demokratiet. Kommunal- og distriktsdepartementet. doi: https:/www.regjeringen.no/contentassets/b242728c615c40f3a720a56acd56971a/tinde_2023_rapport_endelig_versjon.pdf. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Dahlum, Sirianne; Nygård, Håvard Mokleiv; Rustad, Siri Camilla Aas & Østby, Gudrun (2019). The conflict-inequality trap? How internal armed conflict affects horizontal inequality. United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Report Office. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv

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