My new JOD piece arguing against the “cure polarization” approach to saving democracy.

Journal of Democracy@jodemocracy.bsky.social · last wk.

Americans have never been angrier with one another. But polarization is not the disease—it is the response to a revanchist movement seeking to roll back sixty years of social progress. 🆕 by @lilymasonphd.bsky.social muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/a...

And if you are not on campus, check out our #teachout on what democracy is, how it really works, and what it takes to keep it: www.coursera.org/learn/democr...

Josh Pasek@joshpasek.com · 4w ago

We are hosting #DemocracyWeek here at @umich.edu -- Hosting a series of amazing events all week across campus to highlight what Democracy means and why it matters: democracyweek.umich.edu

We are hosting #DemocracyWeek here at @umich.edu -- Hosting a series of amazing events all week across campus to highlight what Democracy means and why it matters: democracyweek.umich.edu

Democracy Week

democracyweek.umich.edu

What shapes who runs for office, who becomes a viable candidate, and how does class influence who ultimately governs? Join @noamlupu.bsky.social, @nickcarnes.bsky.social, and @robertocarlos.bsky.social for “Who Runs? Candidacy & Class." Sept. 17, noon–1:30 p.m. Free and open. RSVP: bit.ly/whoruns

National Jewish Survey, Sep 1, 2026 Generic congressional ballot: 67% D, 26% R Approvals JD Vance: -68 MAGA: -59 Donald Trump: -53 ICE: -50 Benjamin Netanyahu: -40 Marco Rubio: -33 "Israeli policy in Gaza": -30 Barack Obama +32 jewishvoters.org/wp-content/u...

Are you sure its not just a very literal understanding of jaw dropping - you see the two times that you really do drop your jaw is when you have to open your mouth to eat and when you finally get to relax into a bed.

Dan Sohege@danielsohege.bsky.social · 2mo ago

I can only, personally, assume that Jon King and the Express editors are now actively supporting far right violence when they consider pillows, bedding and toilet rolls as "jaw dropping" to provide to people seeking safety after fleeing war and persecution.

Sweet Jesus, watch this until the end. After he says "what's new?" it's like he realizes that he's sold off the last bits of his integrity and there's just no point to talking anymore.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2mo ago

Cassidy: "I will vote for Mr Blanche. I will be criticized for this vote. What's new?"

The big problem though is that weighted inferential statistics are no longer BLUE - there are reasonable approaches to figuring out how big and consistent the difference is after weighting, but I very rarely see them used. Running the weighted regression, however, is usually not appropriate.

Drew Engelhardt@amengel.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Love puzzles with survey weights. There's a well cited paper in a top 3 political science journal that uses an unweighted YouGov sample. When you actually weight, the takeaway isn't that clear. I also know of a paper that "weighted" by using the weights a predictor variable in its regressions.

🚨New Cambridge Element🚨 "American Presidential Campaigns in the Attention Economy" by @cerenbudak.bsky.social, Jonathan M. Ladd, @joshpasek.com, Lisa Singh and Michael W. Traugott, part of the Campaigns and Elections series, is out now and #OpenAccess https://cup.org/4bvBXUg #PoliSky #Elections

American Presidential Campaigns in the Attention Economy

Cambridge Core - American Studies - American Presidential Campaigns in the Attention Economy

cup.org

Just to be clear, this is what happens in a town that prides itself as being liberal when the DSA candidate is also the NIMBY candidate.

Polling USA@usapolling.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Michigan - Ann Arbor Mayoral Primary: Rabhi: 51% (DSA Endorsed) Taylor: 38% Data for Progress / July 20, 2026

The critical question of US politics right now is whether the reticence of normally solid Republican voters to pick up the phone and talk to pollsters signals a general disengagement with politics (and thus low turnout in November), or is limited to polling.

Now they’re saying “exaggerates”??? Who changed that? Coward.

Dan Froomkin/Press Watch/Heads Up News@froomkin.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Not too shabby

“Prebunking” has been found to be very effective in neutralizing disinformation

capitolhunters@capitolhunters.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Journalists: please, please get ready for this in ADVANCE. We know Trump's going to claim "new evidence shows the 2020 election was stolen". You've got 3 days to write a story that confronts that lie head-on before he says it - pre-write this like an obit. America is begging you: plan ahead. 1/

“Weaponized his vehicle” sounds like the ICE version of “It’s coming right at us” www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vr0b...

How To Get Around Hunting Laws - SOUTH PARK

YouTube video by South Park Studios

youtube.com

Eric Umansky@ericumansky.bsky.social · 3mo ago

ICE agents under Trump have shot at least 20 people who were inside their cars They did it again today, killing a father ICE said he "weaponized his vehicle" -- a claim they've often made & that often has turned out to be BS. The FBI is investigating...the dad. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/07/u...

1/ So as is my tradition, I was reading the Declaration of Independence today and I was thinking that instead of asking what it says about King George, it might be more interesting to think about what kind of country the founders were envisioning. A 🧵

To celebrate a rebellion is to know that, from a flawed world, we can make new things. We can hold on, we can find each other, and not just imagine but create a much better America. It is a special 250th – it is ours. Video in link: snyder.substack.com/p/on-tyranny...

On Tyranny — Special 250th Edition

With friends, on video, to recall and to rebel

snyder.substack.com

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights" "to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed"

There’s something quite fitting and ironic about celebrating the nation’s 250th birthday with a two day long power outage. An inspiring anniversary dashed by degraded infrastructure…

Just inadvertently discovered that a whole bunch of research on AI responses may be invalid. Apparently, even with memory off, ChatGPT is still giving contextual information, including the name of the user! It used my full name casually in conversation; which means that data is in the model.

Or maybe it’s his goal: Recall that “Third World” as a term was developed to refer to unaligned nations in the Cold War And Yugoslavia was the original “Third World” country Now, somehow, 2/3 of the official residents of the White House have Slovenian citizenship!

Greg Sargent@gregsargent.bsky.social · 3mo ago

no sign of racial animus here, no sirree from less than two weeks ago

You almost wonder if this was the strategy on Iran all along… youtu.be/njMR9K5BKbA?...

It Could Always Be Worse: A Yiddish Folk

YouTube video by OCPublicLibraries

youtu.be

Alex 🫩@lengau.net · 4mo ago

This is bullshit. Oil prices are down 3% since yesterday and much of that movement happened before the deal was signed. They're still significantly higher than they were in February. Don't carry water for that madman.

The distinction between the right parading around masculinity and their desire to masculinize Michelle Obama seems out of left field and self conflicting until you understand the stereotypes at play… as @stewartcoles.bsky.social and I found in our paper. psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?d...

Mona Burns@monaburns.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Full quote: "Shout out to Trump for having the balls to put some shit like this on ... There's only one person more incredible than the Incredible Hulk, and that's my lord and savior Jesus Christ ... Michelle Obama is a man, am I right America?"

Have to give AI some cred on this prediction:

Josh Pasek@joshpasek.com · 4mo ago

As an experiment, I asked AI what it made of the lineup — it sounded like a Maureen Dowd column.

And the grift is so deep everywhere right now that this was more than halfway down the full news scroll on the New York Times homepage.

The New York Times@nytimes.com · 4mo ago

A senior CIA official was arrested last week after investigators found hundreds of gold bars worth over $40 million stashed in his Virginia residence, a small fortune that he apparently brought home from work, according to court papers.

Definitely telling that this character seems to be one of the more authentic folks that will be showing up…

Vanilla Ice MTV Interview

YouTube video by Thrivers

youtu.be

Phil Lewis@phillewis.bsky.social · 4mo ago

The featured performers for The Great American State Fair on the National Mall: -Vanilla Ice -Martina McBride -Young MC -C+C Music Factory -Milli Vanilli -The Commodores - Morris Day & The Time - Flo Rida -Bret Michaels

Here are 3 essential takeaways from our latest episode with political communication scholar @joshpasek.com. 🎧 Listen now on your fave podcast platforms here: captivated.buzzsprout.com/2569769/follow #CAPTIvatedPodcast #PodcastRecommendations #DigitalDemocracy #MediaLiteracy #SelectiveExposure

New in @polbehavior.bsky.social: over the first half of this decade, people came to believe that white people experienced more discrimination and black people less. And Republicans now think that whites are more discriminated against than Black folks (though partisan trends are ~ parallel)

In our latest episode, we sit down with @joshpasek.com, professor of Communication and Media and Political Science at the University of Michigan, to unpack two of the most important concepts in media psychology: selective exposure and motivated reasoning. 🎧 captivated.buzzsprout.com/2569769/follow

Can’t amplify this sentiment enough.