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zalbert.bsky.social
Polisci prof. @ Brandeis U. Research on parties and polarization and elections. Glad there’s finally hockey here. Go Leafs Go!
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Could easily replace “academics” with “partisans” and explain a lot about politics

Worth noting this is due mostly to people thinking he isn’t serious or disciplined enough to stick to one of his most sincere, central policy goals. Which is one of the many reasons these tariffs will only have negative effects

Need some parenting advice. My four year old has been rampaging through the house smashing things with a baseball bat. He finally agreed to pause for 90 days. My instinct is to lavishly praise him for his foresight and restraint. But what would you do?

I bounce back and forth (much like trump on tariffs) between “there is no plan” and “the plan is self-enrichment via market manipulation”. The truth is probably that trump is dumb and likes tariffs (no plan) + those around him see opportunities in that to make money

I’m sure everyone will have a different favorite but “definition” really stands out to me

Are you a PhD in Political Science? #polisky Have you signed the statement against basic changes to government and democracy? 1200 people have signed (ranging in many ideologies). If you wish to sign, go here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F....

Political scientists: please consider signing, and sharing with other political scientists, this petition, which expresses urgent concerns about threats to the balance of powers in the U.S. today. Hundreds have already signed.

The Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics, a great org, asks individuals & orgs to sign their letter requesting Congress act to restore data that has been removed & ensure a similar purge does not reoccur. #EconSky #PolicySky #sociology #PoliSky docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

New piece today in @theconversation.com on how the Project 2025 playbook is guiding Trump's early actions and how the Heritage Foundation is cashing in on decades of subsidizing the GOP (and Trump in particular) theconversation.com/trumps-admin...

Not at all the most important part but note how the “$50 million on condoms to hamas” lie is suddenly “$100 million”

Ok but why have colleagues been doing this in meetings for a decade?

The caricature that Republicans painted of Biden lawlessness isn’t even 1/10th of the actual lawlessness of the *first 9 days* of Trump 2.0

Violating 2, 3, 5 and 6 (at least)

TRUMP: “I’m sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with them. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”

I focused heavily on heritage in my forthcoming book and, while this is pretty gross, it doesn’t surprise me. They have long focused on shaping public opinion and popular perceptions, more so than any other think tank I examined. They are always advocating and only sometimes researching

Opened up an article with this photo and my 3 year old said “poor buddy”. Summarized his whole Speakership in two words.

This but for my dream job (which happened to be my only offer).

New @polbehavior.bsky.social paper with @miacosta.bsky.social. We show that voters with more negative views of the other party (negative partisans) are more likely to care about candidate electability & even willing to give up representation for better chance to win link.springer.com/article/10.1...

A few thoughts… 1) Genuinely impressive they spent that much that fast 2) There’s likely no way this could’ve been spent that would’ve changed the outcome. Spreading around to down ballot races maybe would’ve helped but there are stingy limits ($2k) on those transfers (except party cmtes) 1/2

Bluesky academics… Quote this & tell me: 1) a project you are working on & 2) an odd idea/theory you aren’t working on but keep thinking about 1) who are small donors, who do they support, & what are likely effects of reform? 2) ppl always been poorly informed but it’s now much worse/more impactful

Really good primer on recess appointments for those (like me) who don’t know much

Important to remember that voters are rarely able to penalize in this way. But elites and institutions used to do a better job

I’m skeptical that “voters who are truly undecided but care deeply about the details of policy proposals” is a very large constituency

One nice thing about this place compared to Twitter: I’m not constantly bombarded with posts telling me how stupid I am for being in academia, how much money I’m leaving on the table, and how many people are willing to help me leave the apparent hellscape that is my professional life

Finally made the jump from Twitter. Daunted by the task of rebuilding. But at least this app is nearly identical