New post: those wanting Jason Arday to face 'justice' of some kind are not going to get what they want willd10.substack.com/p/how-the-ja...
How the Jason Arday affair will fizzle out
Truth is a social system. Sorry.
willd10.substack.com
Chris Hanretty
@chanret.bsky.social
I teach politics at a university in the UK. I'm interested in electoral systems, public opinion, and the politics of non-majoritarian institutions like courts and regulators. ORCID: 0000-0002-8932-9405
words that surprisingly come into english in/around the 1500s: information, refrigerate these words are more than 100 years older than the word tea is (sorry for my "tea </> england" obsession)
I think this paper in part reproduces a measure of "intra-party unequal representation" found in "A unified approach to measuring unequal representation" doi.org/10.1007/s111... which very unfortunately is not cited
A unified approach to measuring unequal representation - Public Choice
The concept of unequal representation is commonly understood through the lenses of disproportionality and malapportionment, pertaining to inter-party and inter-district aspects, respectively. Popular indices used to measure such features are analyzed separately despite being mathematically identical. District-level wasted votes are not measured in terms of unequal representation, even though they can be conceptualized as intra-district unequal representation. A new component, intra-party unequal representation, which measures unequal representation across districts for voters who support each party, has not been considered to contribute to unequal representation. We propose a unified approach for measuring these components—disproportionality, malapportionment, wasted votes, and intra-party unequal representation—by using $${\alpha }$$ α -divergence. We show mathematically that the total of disproportionality and intra-party unequal representation equals that of malapportionment and wasted votes. We apply this approach to the Japanese political system and demonstrate the role of intra-party unequal representation in sustaining disproportionality in favor of the Liberal Democratic Party.
doi.org
British Journal of Political Science@bjpols.bsky.social · last wk.NEW - Disproportionality in Geographic Representation - https://cup.org/4fLxlL5 - Orit Kedar, Yair Amitai & Gilad Hurvitz #OpenAccess
I realize some people have spent a lot of money on this Q, but where now is climatically most similar to Bordeaux during a great year (say, 1982)? (I realize climatically similar != Geologically or mineralogically similar)
Jeff Sharlet@jeffsharlet.bsky.social · 7d agoNYT: "Bordeaux never experienced a day w/ temps at or above 39 Celsius (102.2 degrees) between 1921 and 2000, according to Météo-France, the national climate and weather service. This summer, it has happened eight times, including on Wednesday, and the season is not even half over."
This seems important. India knocking down universities. #academicsky www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/...
‘Future at stake’: India moves to demolish university Muslim leader founded
Authorities in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh allege 38 of Mohammad Ali Jauhar University's 40 buildings were built illegally.
aljazeera.com
I was amused when I learned that when he was a European Commissioner Roy Jenkins was sometimes known as King John XV.
Dorian Lynskey@dorianlynskey.bsky.social · last wk.Yesterday I learned that during appeasement French journalists mockingly called Chamberlain Monseur J'aime Berlin, which is exceptional work. Well done France.
There's a plausible (but uncertain) argument that camera coverage contributed to congressional polarization & dysfunction. This new paper shows that camera coverage has no effect on state legislatures. And always love a cute paper title www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Lights, Camera, Inaction? The Effects of Gavel-to-Gavel Floor Coverage on U.S. State Legislatures | American Political Science Review | Cambridge Core
Lights, Camera, Inaction? The Effects of Gavel-to-Gavel Floor Coverage on U.S. State Legislatures - Volume 120 Issue 2
cambridge.org
After Arday enlisted Carter-Ruck, one of the United Kingdom’s leading defamation law firms, to send @timeshighered.bsky.social a letter, the publication spiked the story, according to three sources who spoke to Retraction Watch.
Exclusive: News outlet killed story on plagiarism allegations after Cambridge prof hired law firm
Jason Arday In September 2025, Times Higher Education had a bombshell story in the works: A star sociology professor at the University of Cambridge had allegedly plagiarized parts of his Ph.D. thes…
retractionwatch.com
Unbelievably, there are *two* academic jobs at Cardiff University. One in British politics (seemingly broadly defined) cardiffuniweb.eploy.net/vacancies/53... One in political behaviour/opinion 🙌 cardiffuniweb.eploy.net/vacancies/52...
Lecturer in Politics - Teaching and Research in Law Building | Internal & External Website
View details and apply for this Lecturer in Politics - Teaching and Research vacancy in Law Building. Lecturer in Politics - Teaching & Research School of Law and Politics The School of Law a...
cardiffuniweb.eploy.net
It's never been cheaper to run for parliament.
Tim Bale@timbale.bsky.social · last wk.JICYMI #Clacton by-election ballot paper
The social psychologist Solomon Asch once conducted an experiment. He presented participants with the results of a study of American soldiers. American soldiers are stoic and uncomplaining. They lack initiative.
Annual (and thusfar futile) plea to move Pi Day from March 14 to July 22 since 22/7 is closer to π than is 3.14.
Man from the council came round to do a safety check of the playground outside, incl a tree trunk walk. He kicked every one of the fake tree trunks to check they were stable. Did he do the walk himself? No, he did not. Shame!
In 2021, the Ortega-Murillo regime arrested all major opposition candidates for the presidency on trumped-up "treason" charges and forced hundreds of activists and journalists into exile. Now they have dropped all pretenses of electoral legitimacy. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
Nicaragua’s president says country will not hold any more elections
Daniel Ortega, the 80-year-old authoritarian leader, says move will ‘build a wall’ against the opposition
theguardian.com
The work for a PhD can often be done in 18 months. Unfortunately those 18 months are not usually spread over 18 months.
This is indeed the Reithian ideal. I try to live up to it.
Edward@fornbirkibeinn.bsky.social · 2w agoIt needs a wider remit than that. "You may not be a nerd, but you should be and we're going to give you the tools to become one!"
Messi is like the soft-spoken gang boss who says things like, “While I personally abhor violence, some of my associates may be less fastidious.”
Julianna 💎@batariangal.eurosky.social · 2w agoBBC panel talking about the post-whistle Argentina scrap taking a moment to talk about Messi being gracious in defeat and, ngl, as a tourist, I feel like that guys gets way too much of a free pass
So why does everyone think that 2024 was THE tactical voting election? it wasn't. 2019 was the high point of tactical voting. Using the @britishelectionstudy.com panel data to plot this over the most recent four elections.
Once again asking myself how small/niche a research "field" can be. My working hypothesis is "convinces enough academics to fill a special issue", but today this is being tested.
Went to see Frameless today (frameless.com) - and it was really good! It's all very "death of the author" (and death of their estate's ability to challenge this use of their work), but it had that wonderful "how did they do that" quality to it
FRAMELESS | London's Favourite Immersive Art Experience
FRAMELESS is London's favourite immersive art experience. We are the largest permanent multi-sensory experience in the UK of its kind.
frameless.com
The first is that PD, M5S and other minor parties on the centre-Left are headed towards an electoral pact. This means the two coalitions will be roughly evenly sized. This means that even if the Right comes first in 2027, the majoritarian component of MMM may not be enough for a majority. (5)
This is nerdy but important. A new Third-Party Courts and Tribunals Data Licence has just been launched, free of charge, letting approved orgs - including journalists (& researchers?) - analyse court data Potentially a big boost for open justice. Court listings have previously been an opaque mess.
The rollout of high speed internet in Uruguay worsended early childhood development. But not because the kids spent too much time in front of screens, because the parents did. cepr.org/voxeu/column...
High-speed internet and early childhood development: Causal evidence from a countrywide programme
The rapid expansion of high-speed internet has intensified concerns about how digital technologies affect early childhood. Using the staggered rollout of fibre optic to the home in Uruguay as a natura...
cepr.org
This research design looks sus. Instead of interacting individual employment status with employment rate, the authors subset just to unemployed respondents. Any know what to call such a strategy - and what might be wrong with it?
Toni Rodon@tonirodon.bsky.social · 3w agoThe unemployed are most likely to mobilize under conditions of high unemployment, particularly in countries with more generous welfare provision journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Neither of the World Cup finalists managed to beat Cape Verde in regulation. Hence, Cape Verde is among the top 3 teams in the world. #logic
An important read, even if I suspect the main claim (globalization reduces the chances of parties fulfilling promises) is an artefact of increases in the effective number of parties
Cambridge University Press Political Science & IR@cambup-polsci.cambridge.org · 3w agoPromises Made, Promises Kept? by Christina J. Schneider and Robert Thomson. Reveals why campaign promises are broken in a globalized world, how parties adapt, and what this means for democracy’s future. 📚 https://cup.org/4gHuMvL
