A new Heterodox Academy report shows that political science is less left-leaning in terms of faculty's personal political views than some other disciplines. I'm so sick of conservative activist academics in the humanities lying about us.
Your regular reminder that normal pro-democracy political parties do not make restricting suffrage the central pillar of their policy platform
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...
Some additional context: Cities and villages have the same powers (towns are different because they’re created under a different series of laws). The only functional difference is how the governing board is arranged (number of legislators, name of the executive, wards or no wards, etc).
Utterly unacceptable in a democracy. In a sane world, House Republicans would be drafting impeachment articles today and Senate Republicans would be preparing for a trial to convict and remove him from office
So what can be done about all of this? To begin with, state and local election officials need to be ready to go to federal court to seek injunctions barring the government from seizing voting machines or otherwise interfering with the process of tabulating ballots. Trump might even try to send troops to seize ballots without a search warrant, and if that threat is real, proactive judicial action is necessary. These threats are most likely to materialize in those areas around the country with contested congressional races. Particular targets may be in those states, such as California and Arizona, where the tabulation of ballots takes a long time, so there is more time for Trump and his allies to act. State officials and the public need to support, with dollars and volunteers, election administrators and those who would hold the line against interference. The greater the transparency of the work of these administrators in tabulating ballots, and the quicker a fair count can take place, the harder it will be for Trump to have a legal excuse to try to interfere with the balloting.
On what can be done, see my @slate.com piece from last week:
slate.com/news-and-pol...
I wrote my final book review column for the Washington Post a while back. (I didn't know it was the last one of course.) I was worried it might not even run since the book section is ending, but thanks to the heroic efforts of editor Jacob Brogan, here it is:
www.washingtonpost.com/books/2026/0...
The most important thing to me about my review of this week's A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is that I cite Tom Spurgeon in it by name. AKOTSK is a decency fantasy, a term Tom coined—a heroic narrative that puts kindness, cooperation, competence and fundamental humanity above all else. (Gift link)
In light of Trump’s post yesterday, some history:
“On Memorial Day 1927, 1,000 white-robed Klansmen marched through the Jamaica neighborhood, eventually spurring an all-out brawl in which seven men were arrested. One of those arrested was Fred Trump.” www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix...
Here's @rickhasen.bsky.social detailing the scenario in which Trump uses search warrant to seize ballot boxes in a contested 2026 locale. This is more worrisome than ICE at the polls. Hasen also suggests ways to act against this now.
It's harrowing stuff:
newrepublic.com/article/2062...
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
very fun to think that there are at least four votes for "the president can unilaterally rewrite a constitutional amendment"
![Voting in Authoritarian Elections
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 March 2025
TURKULER ISIKSEL
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and
THOMAS B. PEPINSKY
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Article
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Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]
Abstract
Democratic theorists hold that voting contributes to some political good: individual and collective autonomy, equality, justice, pluralism, stability, better policies, and many others. But elections are common under authoritarianism, and empirical research finds that holding elections can stabilize authoritarian regimes. This creates what we term the democrat’s dilemma, where citizens who vote in authoritarian elections may bolster the regimes they wish to unseat, even when they cast a vote for the opposition. We identify three major ways of thinking about the democratic value of electoral participation—justice-based, epistemic, and proceduralist approaches—and use them to examine the complex moral considerations that confront voters in authoritarian regimes. We contend that authoritarian elections’ residual democratic value can justify voting, even when doing so could further entrench the autocrat. Our argument also implies that the democratic principles that justify voting in authoritarian elections oblige citizens to choose the most democratic alternative.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2c4hmyxdfk4aky3jeoulhog5/bafkreig6uaxlnavb3rnzc65gpm4f7rlwassqjaqgx5spnhay25qlar6h2y@jpeg)
Voting in Authoritarian Elections Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 March 2025 TURKULER ISIKSEL Open the ORCID record for TURKULER ISIKSEL [Opens in a new window] and THOMAS B. PEPINSKY Open the ORCID record for THOMAS B. PEPINSKY [Opens in a new window] Show author details Article Figures Supplementary materials Comments Metrics Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window] Abstract Democratic theorists hold that voting contributes to some political good: individual and collective autonomy, equality, justice, pluralism, stability, better policies, and many others. But elections are common under authoritarianism, and empirical research finds that holding elections can stabilize authoritarian regimes. This creates what we term the democrat’s dilemma, where citizens who vote in authoritarian elections may bolster the regimes they wish to unseat, even when they cast a vote for the opposition. We identify three major ways of thinking about the democratic value of electoral participation—justice-based, epistemic, and proceduralist approaches—and use them to examine the complex moral considerations that confront voters in authoritarian regimes. We contend that authoritarian elections’ residual democratic value can justify voting, even when doing so could further entrench the autocrat. Our argument also implies that the democratic principles that justify voting in authoritarian elections oblige citizens to choose the most democratic alternative.
Alarmingly relevant new paper out in @apsrjournal.bsky.social by Turku Isiksel and @tompepinsky.com. They take on the question of whether citizens of authoritarian states should vote in their often unfair elections, & find reason to do so.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Wow: San Jose had zero market-rate multifamily starts in 2024. And this is a generally pretty pro-housing administration. Cities like San Jose urgently need the state to fix condominium presale and defect law to get more projects pencilling.
www.mercurynews.com/2026/01/26/s...
I voted against the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security and I was pleased to speak with Ta-Nehisi Coates @VanityFair about the mood surrounding that debate.
www.vanityfair.com/news/story/t...
U.S. government has lost more than 10,000 STEM Ph.D.s since Trump took office | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...
“San Francisco taxes new housing at about the same rate that it taxes cigarettes.” www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/open... by @dbroockman.bsky.social
add in there that the last time a Republican Senate majority confirmed a Democratic Supreme Court appointee was 1895
Former tech reporter Pranshu and I worked with his predecessor as India bureau chief, the fearless Gerry Shih, on a Pulitzer-finalist series about that country’s domination of US tech giants. Gerry now leads Israel coverage, and both of their jobs are at risk. #SavethePost, tell Jeff Bezos.
wrote about an apparent policy change in the payments industry www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
This is a really incredible piece. Share it widely 🎁https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/01/minneapolis-uprising/685755/?gift=C-rzmQ8PsUHt15odxTKJDn7xrpPNxSpotkNz_P27oI0
The DOJ demand for voter rolls is not about micro-targeting. That kind of voter data is already freely available between the public voter lists and data brokers. The difference in what they're demanding is more technical backend metadata so they can make spurious claims about list maintenance.
The Pohlad family, who own the Minnesota Twins, got asked at FanFest yesterday about what are doing to stop ICE violence in their community. After a wishy-washy 🤷 response, the fan suggested they call Trump because he listens to other billionaires. Worth watching!: www.reddit.com/r/minnesotat...
Let’s be clear about what the Trump regime is saying to Minnesota: “We will continue murdering your citizens unless you help us rig your election.”
Another thing I learned in the town hall is that the events in Minneapolis are being well-documented because of the thousands of people who trained to become legal observers after the murder of George Floyd
Reading the new Claude Constitution feels like an important moment.
blog.mattglassman.net/immediate-br...
Two things to remember about Jack Smith’s testimony:
1. The only people who question his objectivity are GOP politicians and members of the Trump-obeisant media.
2. No one has as complete a picture of the evidence as does Smith and his team. His critics, in fact, have usually willfully ignored it.
"This is why Judge Menendez’s ruling is so critical: it may be the last opportunity a federal judge has to intervene before matters spiral completely out of control."
