John Kastellec

@jkastellec.bsky.social

Professor of Politics at Princeton University @Princeton . http://www.makingthesupremecourt.com

These are still some of the most amazing graphs ever published in a political science book. From: Edward Tufte. 1978. Political Control of the Economy. Princeton University Press.

Critique of state-level measures of democracy www.nationalaffairs.com/publications... I agree with many criticisms of existing measures, but mixes in various shots at the left & downplays the most serious concerns about state-level backsliding like power-stripping (NC/WI), extreme gerrymanders (WI)

The Myth of Democratic Backsliding in the States

Progressive critics charge that democracy is declining in Republican-led states. But a careful analysis of state-level democratic health shows that red and blue states actually score comparably, and t...

nationalaffairs.com

I see a lot of effort to relentlessly mobilize uncertainty, measurement difficulty, ambiguity, etc in a one-sided way as if it all points in the direction of left-wing position taking being costless when all these considerations could equally point in the opposite direction.

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The US President's new proposal to tax international students has been approved by the White House for release this week. It's an unprecedented $100,000 tax on int'l grads who stay to work after graduation on Optional Practical Training (most grads do), a crucial bridge to remaining by any channel.

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Here's my report at Law Dork, which includes the latest news: The Missouri Supreme Court issued an order tonight to MO SOS Hoskins to show cause why he shouldn't be held in contempt. His brief is due Wednesday. Arguments are Thursday. He ordered is to attend in person. Read it all at Law Dork:

Dueling rulings cause chaos over Missouri maps

By Tuesday night, Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins faced an order from the Missouri Supreme Court to show cause why he should not be held in contempt.

lawdork.com

Just as a descriptive matter, here's a projection of what the number of seats on the Supreme Court would look over time if each party added 2 seats every time there's a change from divided to unified government.

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Hey all! We’re hiring at Mount Holyoke. If you are on the market this year and have a specialty in American Public Law, we’d love to hear from you. If not, please forward to someone you think is interested. Available for questions via this app, email, or in person at APSA. Thanks!

Assistant Professor of Politics

Job no: R-0000003578 Position Title: Assistant Professor of Politics Work Type: Faculty Full time In-Person Start Date: 07/01/2027 Job Description: The Department of Politics at Mount Holyoke College ...

mtholyoke.wd504.myworkdayjobs.com

Here's my AI policy for Parties and Elections this semester, plus a link to my substack where I explain how I came to it in the next reply. Every assignment in my course is AI-encouraged with required disclosure or AI-prohibited (the in-person exams). Disclosure of use is never penalized.

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So I get that there's (yet again) a big debate going on about AI on Bluesky. I am turning off replies to this post because I don't want to have notifications flooded one way or the other on this one. I just want to share what I've heard multiple times in just the past two weeks.

It really is amazing how researchers and journal editors will avoid showing even the most basic courtesy or gratitude to sleuths who point out errors in their work. I get that it's embarrassing, but guess what: that sleuth has read your work more closely than anyone else ever will! For free!