My undergrads are so damn good. Not in their taste in music so much, but in their dedication to social science and moral commitments. Really tired of how they get unfairly maligned by the punditry.
Brand new book by my W&M colleague, Kelly Zvobgo. Will have a major impact on scholarship about comparative politics, human rights, and international relations. And accessible to nonspecialists too.
Steering the senate cover image and political cartoon
"A tour de force-a strikingly original and ambitious account of the partisan evolution of the U.S."
Steering the Senate: The Emergence of Party Organization and Leadership, 1789–2024 by Gerald Gamm & @profstevensmith.bsky.social | Out Now
#BookSky #PoliSci 🗺️ 🗃️
https://cup.org/3VARhGK
Remarkable stats from @ronbrownstein.bsky.social www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
William & Mary is conducting a search for a tenure track assistant professor in comparative politics, with a focus on Europe. Deadline for applications is early October, although there's some flexibility. Reposts appreciated. williammary.wd12.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/WM/det... .
Ditto
STAGGERING: This new study of 133 countries is the first to estimate the impact of all USAID’s work. In 2 decades, it has saved *92M* lives. Current cuts, if not reversed, are forecast to cost up to *14M* lives thru 2030. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
This is one of the best tributes to Justice Souter I've read, in part because it quotes at length from Justice Souter's own account of the processes of judging.
On the Librarian: Pub. L. 114–86, §2, Nov. 5, 2015, 129 Stat. 675
(a) The President shall appoint the Librarian of Congress, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.
(b) The Librarian of Congress shall be appointed for a term of 10 years.
Now Congress should go to court.
From our new issue: "Senate Countermajoritarianism" by C. Lawrence Evans. #APSRNewIssue www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
The use of evidence-based language in congressional speeches has been declining since the mid-1970s for both parties
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Lots of people at Rochester going way back - Lynn Vavreck, Wendy Schiller, John Wilkerson, me
Thank you for this plug, Matt! 🙏
Everywhere. Used to be cheaper than water and uniformly excellent. But be sure to visit the Parachutist Memorial in New Town. Unforgettable. Likewise the Mucha Museum.
Tomorrow there will be a summit in London where Starmer, Macron, and Zelenskyy will have to face the reality that flattery and deals will not get Ukraine security guarantees. This piece for @goodauth.bsky.social explains why it was worth a try, but likely doomed. goodauthority.org/news/trump-a...
Variation in poverty by cong. districts-- between and within parties. Swing district GOP wary of slashing Medicaid/SNAP, but poverty rates are higher in GOP-held safe red districts. Still, poverty rates vary markedly across the 20 most competitive GOP-held districts-- from <4% to >15% of families
America has turned on its triends Trump's abandonment of his country's allies is real and will endure Winston Churchill is credited with saying that America does the right thing after exhausting the alternatives. Donald Trump has turned that aphorism on its head. In the past 10 days, he has all but incinerated 80 years of postwar American leadership. Those who thought America was a friend or ally, notably Ukraine and Nato, are dropping once safe assumptions to cope with a world in which America is an unabashed predator. Countries that were treated by Washington as adversaries, notably Vladimir Putin's Russia, are suddenly America's friend. There were hinge moments in history when the US displayed its character as global leader, such as Dwight Eisen-hower's repudiation of Anglo-French imperialism in the 1956 Suez crisis, or Ronald Reagan's 1987 exhortation to the Soviet Union to tear down the Berlin Wall. They defined the world's idea of America. Trump's assertion this week that Ukraine "should have never started" the war is the dark version of those. His account of Russia being provoked to invade Ukraine came straight from Putin's talking points. So too was JD Vance's Valentine's Day speech in Munich in which the US vice-president identified liberal democracy as Europe's real threat from within. These moments will live in infamy. What do they tell us about what is com-ing? First, there should be no doubt that Trump's contempt for allies and admiration for strongmen is real and will endure. During his first term, Trump's instincts were curbed by the more traditional Republicans around him. Trump 2.0 is the real article. It is entirely possible that figures like Marco Rubio, his secretary of state, or Mike Waltz, his national security adviser, still believe in the US-led alliance that each once championed. Their private thoughts are irrelevant. Each displayed fealty to Trump's predatory vision of America at talks with Russian counterparts in Saudi Arabia this week. Uk…
Brilliant but devastating editorial in the Financial Times.
“In the past 10 days, he [Trump] has all but incinerated 80 years of postwar American leadership. If you are not at the table, you are on the menu. America has turned.”
If you blow up the middle portion where Harris support at the district level ranged from 45-55 percent, you can see how difficult taking the House back will be for D's in 2026. A lot more D's in majority Trump districts than R's in majority Harris districts.
Surprising how well Harris support within a House district predicts the percent of the vote for the Democratic House candidate within that district. Much tighter fit around the 45 degree line than was the case a decade or more ago.
William and Mary, 1989, a great writer and political analyst.
www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2...
A superb chapter that is taking on enhanced relevance, big time!
Grateful for the opportunity to contribute a chapter on "Congress, the President, and the Constitutional Order" to the 13th edition of 'Congress Reconsidered.'
collegepublishing.sagepub.com/products/con...
Aran Islands sweaters from Ireland-order on line and they ship. Remarkably warm outside, but not hot inside. Something about the Irish wool.
New paper with Ryan Mundy on the advantage of *candidate* wealth in US elections. Our rich Congress comes from rich candidates: they raise far more early money and especially more large-dollar donations, scare off competitors, and are more likely to be elected. Link below. @ryanmundy.bsky.social
