@chenoweth
Political scientist & part-time farmer. Books: 'On Revolutions' (2022), 'Civil Resistance' (2021), & 'The Politics of Terror' (2019). Coming soon: 'Bread & Roses' & 'The End of People Power.' https://www.ericachenoweth.com. What a time to be alive.
The report highlights the grim state of freshwater ecosystems, degraded marine and terrestrial ecosystems, and the risk of extinction for many species. But it also emphasizes the potential for improvement through conservation, restoration, and renewed connections between people and nature.
Bernard LaFavette, voting rights advocate, non-violence theorist, & teacher has died. Another mighty oak has fallen whose legacy will fertilize the aspirations of future generations rising from the forest floor. May his memory be a blessing.
"The Trump administration on Monday abandoned its attempts to impose potentially crippling executive orders against law firms that refused to capitulate to the president, walking away from its appeal of victories the firms had won against the White House."
Sen. Tammy Duckworth: "If there was ever a time for Republicans to find their spines, it's now, when the Commander in Chief readily admits that he is choosing to put our troops' lives at risk without a legitimate imminent threat to our homeland or our citizens."
OCASIO-CORTEZ STATEMENT ON TRUMP'S COMBAT OPERATIONS IN IRAN "The American people are once again dragged into a war they did not want by a president who does not care about the long-term consequences of his actions. This war is unlawful. It is unnecessary. And it will be catastrophic. "Just this week, Iran and the United States were negotiating key measures that could have staved off war. The President walked away from these discussions and chose war instead.President Trump flippantly acknowledged the possibility of American casualties, stating "that often happens in war.' "Mr. President: this was not an inevitability. This is a deliberate choice of aggression when diplomacy and security were within reach. Stop lying to the American people. "Violence begets violence. We learned this lesson in Iraq. We learned this lesson in Afghanistan. And we are about to learn it again in Iran. Bombs have yet to create enduring democracies in the region and this will be no different. "In moments of war, our Constitution is unambiguous: Congress authorizes war. The President does not. I will do my part to uphold our Constitution by voting YES on Representatives Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie's War Powers Resolution. Every member of Congress must join us in rejecting this aimless war.
My statement on President Trump’s combat operations in Iran⬇️
Important thread from @profsaunders.bsky.social.
Call your reps about this. Every time a book ban has been overturned or shut down, it's because the vast majority of people who believe in the freedom to read spoke up.
Find your reps' info at reps.fyi.
Is it any wonder Anthropic didn't trust this Admin to decide what constitutes a "lawful use" of its products given how flippantly and egregiously the Administration is abusing its lawful authorities to now try to put Anthropic out of business?
The irony is stark: a private AI company is holding the line on guardrails against mass surveillance and autonomous weapons—while the federal government pushes to remove them. After revoking Biden's AI safety policies, the Trump administration is now pressuring Anthropic to abandon its own.
One thing each of us has the power to do to slow the backslide is determine what niches of society we have some influence over.
Ask: What kinds of people who share some overlapping characteristics/experiences with me are naturally inclined to trust or even follow me?
Start organizing there.
"We ask that the leaders of the business world in the US--some of whom it has been our privilege to teach--speak out now, act now, in defense of democracy....[T]here is no conflict between their responsibilities as CEO and their responsibilities as citizens. The cost of silence is incalculable."
Seven-year-old Mathias Bermeo, a detainee at Dilley wrote: “I’m writing this letter so that you can hear my story. I need you to help us I have been detained for 23 days with my mom and my 3-year-old sister. I cry a lot I want to get out of here go back to my school they don’t treat us Well here there are many children we are kidnapped help!”
“I’m writing this letter so that you can hear my story. I need you to help us... I cry a lot I want to get out of here go back to my school they don’t treat us Well here there are many children we are kidnapped help!”
- Mathias Bermeo, Dilley detainee, 7yo
www.propublica.org/article/dill...
Anthropic will not cave to the Pentagon’s demands.
The company’s restrictions on using Claude to spy on Americans and deploy fully autonomous weapons aren’t just its ethical red lines.
They are also what a good faith interpretation of the Fourth Amendment and the law of war require.
More in 🧵👇
FACT CHECK: It’s already illegal, difficult, and extremely rare for non-citizens to vote in federal elections, and there’s no proof of widespread voter fraud anywhere in this country.
The SAVE Act 2.0 is an attempt to make it harder for American citizens to vote. It’s as simple as that. #SOTU
Painful to read this and think about the 2021 coup attempt, which was as blatant as it gets. An utter failure of US elites to seize the moment when everybody saw the threat right in front of their eyes.
If we have history books in the future, they will be unkind.
And we are seeing a similar version of this in the United States right now.
Research by @chenoweth.bsky.social and the Crowd Counting Consortium suggests that the perception of democratic threat, from Trump's power grabs and ICE, have played a critical role in motivating a mass resistance movement
I have spent the past several months studying the cutting-edge research on modern democracies that have defeated authoritarian leaders.
I've learned that the conventional wisdom on the topic is wrong — in ways that have clear implications for the US going forward
THREAD www.vox.com/politics/479...
"More than 3,000 people attended the Mass and walked in the procession.
"Families affected by immigration enforcement were among the first to receive ashes from Cupich, in a highly symbolic reversal of the marking and tracking many say defines their daily lives."
www.ncronline.org/news/god-doe...
Her father fled China because he organized student protests during Tiananmen. He was a political refugee. The story of this family, and Alysa Liu, would have played out very differently today. This is what we're losing. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/19/w...
Good to get current with @stevelevitsky.bsky.social today, talking protest, politics, social capital, and more. Video here:
Join us tomorrow!
A crafting store in Minnesota protests ICE by selling patterns they designed similar to red hats worn by Norwegians in the 40s to protest occupation by the Nazis. The proceeds go towards helping immigrants that can’t leave their home, already raising $650K.
#ProudBlue
youtube.com/shorts/SYET0...
Hutchins TX mayor, on news that a local warehouse won't be sold to ICE for a Trump prison camp:
"Your concerns did not go unnoticed, and your professional decorum shown during our city council meetings, as well as the protest here at City Hall, is much appreciated..."
www.wfaa.com/article/news...
This thread is the we are going to win thread, is the kids are alright thread, is the STOP ICE thread, is the civil society rising thread; read it through.
with alt text, because everyone needs to be able to read this 😭
I'm teaching a few survey research courses live and online.
First, a free one hour seminar. Feb 20
instats.org/seminar/surv...
Then a set of two (half) day courses. Not free (sorry!).
-Intro Surveys (Feb 26-27):
instats.org/seminar/intr...
-Advanced Surveys (March 5-6):
instats.org/seminar/adva...
My team at the Crowd Counting Consortium (@djpressman.bsky.social, Soha Hammam, & Chris Shay) has shared a big data update, covering all recorded US protests through Jan 2026. Some key takeaways 🧵:
Join me and @stevelevitsky.bsky.social at our next session of The Breakdown, this Thursday 2/18 at 4pm ET. Register here: ash.harvard.edu/events/the-b...
The pace at which US wealth concentration is rising is simply staggering
The concentration of AI wealth into the hands of a few tech barons + plutocratic capture ==> unchartered territory