My main research interests concern political party instability in European democracies. I am a PI of the research project "INSTAPARTY: Party Instability in Parliaments" funded by the Norwegian Research Council (2021-2025). The project website provides more information.

My other research interests include party responsiveness, party coalitions and interest group politics in the European Union.

Academic article

• Bunea, Adriana; Ibenskas, Raimondas; Weiler, Florian (2025). Power, policy and national background: understanding interest groups-legislators ties on social media in the European Parliament. (external link)
• Belschner, Jana Birke; Ibenskas, Raimondas; Weiler, Florian (2024). When do voters reveal candidate gender preferences? Evidence from individual-level ballot data. (external link)
• Ibenskas, Raimondas; Polk, Jonathan (2024). Party responsiveness to public opinion in a multi-dimensional policy space. (external link)
• Ibenskas, Raimondas; van de Wardt, Marc (2023). One More Time? Parties’ Repeated Electoral Entry in Younger Democracies. (external link)
• Devine, Daniel J.; Ibenskas, Raimondas (2021). From convergence to congruence: European integration and citizen–elite congruence. (external link)
• Bunea, Adriana; Ibenskas, Raimondas; Weiler, Florian (2021). Interest group networks in the European Union. (external link)
• Ibenskas, Raimondas; Jonathan, Polk (2021). Party Responsiveness to Public Opinion in Young Democracies. (external link)
• Ibenskas, Raimondas; Polk, Jonathan (2021). Congruence and party responsiveness in Western Europe in the 21st century. (external link)
• Ibenskas, Raimondas; Bunea, Adriana (2020). Legislators, organizations and ties: understanding interest group recognition in the European Parliament. (external link)
• Ibenskas, Raimondas; Bolleyer, Nicole; Bischoff, Carina (2019). Perspectives on political party death: theorizing and testing Downsian and sociological rationales. (external link)
• Ibenskas, Raimondas (2019). Electoral competition after party splits. (external link)
• Ibenskas, Raimondas (2018). Forging enmities and friendships: Europarties, electoral coalitions and mergers in Central and Eastern Europe. (external link)
• Ibenskas, Raimondas; Bolleyer, Nicole (2018). Forms of Inter-party Cooperation: Electoral Coalitions and Party Mergers. (external link)
• Ibenskas, Raimondas; Sikk, Allan (2017). Patterns of party change in Central and Eastern Europe, 1990–2015. (external link)
• Bunea, Adriana; Ibenskas, Raimondas (2017). Estimating interest groups’ policy positions through content analysis: a discussion of automated and human-coding text analysis techniques applied to studies of EU lobbying.. (external link)
• Bunea, Adriana; Ibenskas, Raimondas (2017). Unveiling patterns of contestation over Better Regulation reforms in the European Union.. (external link)
• Ibenskas, Raimondas (2016). Understanding pre-electoral coalitions in Central and Eastern Europe. (external link)
• Ibenskas, Raimondas (2016). Marriages of convenience: Explaining party mergers in Europe. (external link)
• Bolleyer, Nicole; Ibenskas, Raimondas; Keith, Dan (2016). The survival and termination of party mergers in Europe. (external link)
• Bunea, Adriana; Ibenskas, Raimondas (2015). Quantitative text analysis and the study of EU lobbying and interest groups.. (external link)
• Ibenskas, Raimondas (2014). Activists or money? Explaining the electoral success and persistence of political parties in Lithuania. (external link)

Academic lecture

• Ibenskas, Raimondas; Golder, Sona Nadenichek (2024). Conflict in Parliamentary Parties: Workshop 9 of the 2024 Nordic Political Science Association (NOPSA) conference. (external link)
• Salek-Lipcean, Paulina Maria; Golder, Sona Nadenichek; Ibenskas, Raimondas et al. (2024). Gender and Parliamentary Party Switching . (external link)
• Ibenskas, Raimondas; Golder, Sona Nadenichek; Salek-Lipcean, Paulina Maria et al. (2024). Popular party preferences and legislative party switching. (external link)
• Salek-Lipcean, Paulina Maria; Ibenskas, Raimondas; Golder, Sona Nadenichek et al. (2024). Popular party preferences and legislative party switching. (external link)
• Salek-Lipcean, Paulina Maria; Golder, Sona Nadenichek; Ibenskas, Raimondas et al. (2024). Gender and Parliamentary Party Switching. (external link)
• Sikk, Allan; Golder, Sona Nadenichek; Ibenskas, Raimondas et al. (2024). DOES SWITCHING PAY OFF? The impact of parliamentary party instability on individual electoral performance . (external link)
• Salek-Lipcean, Paulina Maria; Golder, Sona Nadenichek; Ibenskas, Raimondas et al. (2024). Gender and Parliamentary Party Switching. (external link)
• Sikk, Allan; Salek-Lipcean, Paulina Maria; Golder, Sona Nadenichek et al. (2024). Parliamentary party instability and party evolution. (external link)
• Golder, Sona Nadenichek; Ibenskas, Raimondas; Salek-Lipcean, Paulina Maria et al. (2024). Popular party preferences and legislative party switching. (external link)
• Sikk, Allan; Salek-Lipcean, Paulina Maria; Golder, Sona Nadenichek et al. (2024). Parliamentary party instability and party evolution. (external link)
• Ibenskas, Raimondas; Salek-Lipcean, Paulina Maria; Golder, Sona Nadenichek et al. (2024). Popular party preferences and legislative party switching. (external link)
• Salek-Lipcean, Paulina Maria; Sikk, Allan; Golder, Sona Nadenichek et al. (2023). Does switching pay off? The impact of parliamentary party instability on individual electoral performance. (external link)
• Salek-Lipcean, Paulina Maria; Ibenskas, Raimondas; Golder, Sona Nadenichek et al. (2023). Independence vs. Affiliation: What Determines Entry into, and Creation of, Parliamentary Party Groups? . (external link)
• Ibenskas, Raimondas; Golder, Sona Nadenichek; Salek-Lipcean, Paulina Maria et al. (2023). Independence versus Affiliation: What Determines Entry into Parliamentary Party Groups?. (external link)
• Golder, Sona Nadenichek; Ibenskas, Raimondas; Salek-Lipcean, Paulina Maria et al. (2023). Independence vs. Affiliation: What Determines Entry into, and Creation of, Parliamentary Party Groups?. (external link)
• Sikk, Allan; Golder, Sona Nadenichek; Ibenskas, Raimondas et al. (2023). Does switching pay off? The impact of parliamentary party instability on individual electoral performance. (external link)
• Sikk, Allan; Golder, Sona Nadenichek; Ibenskas, Raimondas et al. (2023). Does switching pay off? The impact of parliamentary party instability on individual electoral performance. (external link)
• Ibenskas, Raimondas; Salek-Lipcean, Paulina Maria; Golder, Sona Nadenichek et al. (2023). Independence vs. Affiliation: What Determines Entry into, and Creation of, Parliamentary Party Groups? . (external link)
• Sikk, Allan; Ibenskas, Raimondas; Golder, Sona Nadenichek (2022). Party Instability in Parliaments (INSTAPARTY) Inaugural workshop. (external link)
• Sikk, Allan; Golder, Sona Nadenichek; Ibenskas, Raimondas et al. (2022). Understanding the Complexity of Party Instability in Parliaments. (external link)
• Sikk, Allan; Golder, Sona Nadenichek; Ibenskas, Raimondas et al. (2022). Understanding the Complexity of Party Instability in Parliaments. (external link)
• Golder, Sona Nadenichek; Ibenskas, Raimondas; Sikk, Allan et al. (2022). Understanding the Complexity of Party Instability in Parliaments. (external link)
• Ibenskas, Raimondas (2022). Understanding the Complexity of Party Instability in Parliaments. (external link)

Interview

• Ibenskas, Raimondas (2024). Interview with Rasmus Svaneborg, Ritzau news agency https://www.kristeligt-dagblad.dk/danmark/med-markant-flere-partiskift-rykker-danmark-mod-oesteuropaeiske-niveauer. (external link)

Lecture

• Sikk, Allan; Ibenskas, Raimondas; Golder, Sona Nadenichek et al. (2024). How to tame the parliament?. (external link)

Website (informational material)

• Ibenskas, Raimondas; Sikk, Allan; Salek-Lipcean, Paulina Maria et al. (2021). Observatory of Parliamentary Party Switches https://instapartyproject.com/opps/. (external link)

See a complete overview of publications in Cristin.

Bunea, Adriana, Raimondas Ibenskas and Florian Weiler (2021). "Interest group networks in the European Union". European Journal of Political Research. https://ejpr.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1475-6765.12471?af=R

Devine, Daniel and Raimondas Ibenskas (2021). "From convergence to congruence: European integration and citizen-elite congruence". European Union Politics. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/14651165211024936

Ibenskas, Raimondas and Jonathan Polk (2021). "Party Responsiveness to Public Opinion in Young Democracies". Political Studies. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0032321721993635

Ibenskas, Raimondas and Jonathan Polk (2021). "Congruence and Party Responsiveness in Western Europe in the 21st century". West European Politics.  https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01402382.2020.1859756

Ibenskas, Raimondas and Adriana Bunea (2020). "Legislators, organizations and ties: Understanding interest group recognition in the European Parliament". European Journal of Political Research. https://ejpr.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1475-6765.12412

Ibenskas, Raimondas (2020). "Electoral Competition after Party Splits." Political Science Research & Methods 8(1): 45-59.

Ibenskas, Raimondas (2020). "Forging Enmities and Friendships: Europarties, Electoral Coalitions and Mergers in Central and Eastern Europe." Party Politics 26(1): 69-81.

Bolleyer, Nicole, Raimondas Ibenskas and Carina Bischoff (2019). "Sociological versus Downsian Visions of Party Politics: Theorizing and Testing Rivalling Accounts of Political Party Death. European Political Science Review 11(1): 19-35.

Ibenskas, Raimondas and Nicole Bolleyer (2018). "Forms of Inter-Party Cooperation: Electoral Coalitions, Party Mergers and Party Systems". East European Politics & Societies 32(3): 451-472.

Bunea, Adriana and Raimondas Ibenskas (2017). "Unveiling patterns of contestation over Better Regulation reforms in the European Union". Public Administration 95(3): 589-604.

Ibenskas, Raimondas and Allan Sikk (2017). "Patterns of party change in Central and Eastern Europe, 1990-2015". Party Politics 23(1): 43-54.

Bunea, Adriana and Raimondas Ibenskas (2017). "Estimating interest groups' policy positions through content analysis: A discussion of quantitative and qualitative text analysis applied to EU lobbying studies". European Political Science 16(3): 337-353.

Bolleyer, Nicole, Raimondas Ibenskas and Dan Keith (2016). "The survival and termination of party mergers in Europe." European Journal of Political Research 55(3): 642-659.

Ibenskas, Raimondas. "Marriages of Love or Convenience? Party Mergers in Europe." Journal of Politics 78(2): 343-356.

Ibenskas, Raimondas. "Understanding Pre-Electoral Coalitions in Central and Eastern Europe." British Journal of Political Science 46(3): 743-761.

Bunea, Adriana and Raimondas Ibenskas. "Quantitative Text Analysis and the study of EU lobbying and interest groups." European Union Politics 16(3): 429-455.

Ibenskas, Raimondas. "Activists or Money? Explaining the Electoral Success and Persistence of Political Parties in Lithuania." Party Politics 20(6): 879-889.

INSTAPARTY: Party Instability in Parliaments (funded by the Norwegian Research Council, project no 325141)

Elected representatives are widely expected to remain affiliated with the political parties that got them elected. However, party switching in parliaments is common, if not endemic, in many established and young democracies. By changing their affiliation, elected representatives create party instability: new parties form, existing parties dissolve, and the size of parties in parliament changes. Party instability may have important effects on election and government formation outcomes, public policy and voter representation.

INSTAPARTY examines party instability in parliaments in European democracies. It has three objectives: to map out diverse forms of instability, to explain why instability occurs, and to understand whether and how instability affects voter support of parties. The project aims to provide detailed information about each instance of party switching in eight European countries (Estonia, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Romania) and will establish the Observatory of Parliamentary Party Switches (OPPS) that records ongoing instability in a wider range of countries.

The INSTAPARTY research team is led by PI Raimondas Ibenskas (Department of Comparative Politics, University of Bergen) and co-PIs Sona Golder (Department of Political Science, Pennsylvania State University) and Allan Sikk (School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London).