Still smiling a lot from last week's @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social's Annual Conference in Birmingham. Always a joy to hear about friends and colleagues‘ work, get into amicable fights, then solve empirical differences at the pub - all fairly deliberative, of course! Do I have pics? Well of course

📣 Event reminder! 📚 Join us for TOMORROW’s Global Citizens Assembly Citizen Selection and Recruitment Workshop, co-hosted with @iswe-foundation.bsky.social! 👏 📆 April 23 ⏰ 12:00pm EST 📍 Virtual via Zoom ✍️ Click here to register: www.eventbrite.ca/e/global-cit...

Global Citizens Assembly Citizen Selection and Recruitment Workshop

Co-hosted by Iswe Foundation and Participedia, this open virtual workshop will explore methods for global citizen assembly selection.

eventbrite.ca

Can the idea of "civic lotteries" (random selection for empowered citizen deliberation) gain as much traction in the US as it has elsewhere? We'll see. Here's hoping the anti-democratic moment we're in now spurs a more powerful pro-democratic movement. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/04/22/o...

It’s time for a fourth branch of government - The Boston Globe

When politicians fail to solve thorny policy issues, they should put the question to a House of the People.

bostonglobe.com

2 petitions. Govt will probably ignore, but let's get numbers up anyway. Legally enshrine the right of adults to physically transition using NHS services - petition.parliament.uk/petitions/70... Allow transgender people to self-identify their legal gender - petition.parliament.uk/petitions/70...

Petition: Legally enshrine the right of adults to physically transition using NHS services

Introduce a law to legally protect the right of those aged 18 and over to transition using NHS services. This should specifically cover physical transition, including hormone treatment and surgery, as...

petition.parliament.uk

(1/2) 💥 Final Day at #PSA2025 💥 Catch us for one last round of convos on global deliberative democracy. ⏰ 11:30 | ICC – Hall 8b 🔑 KEYNOTE: How Can Democracy Survive the Broligarchy? @nicolecurato.bsky.social makes the case for global deliberative democracy.

Yesterday, we sent a historically big message to Trump, Musk, and the GOP — and we also sent a signal to all those who agree with us but have spent the last few months feeling shaken, hopeless, and afraid. #handsoff

This weekend, we will start to see the power of Resistance 2.0 with the HandsOff day of action on April 5th. This map doesn’t do the mobilization justice—there are over 1000 events scheduled in All 50 states. For details, see www.mobilize.us/handsoff/map/

Interested in innovative recruitment methods for the #GlobalCitizensAssembly? Join @iswe-foundation.bsky.social and @participedia.bsky.social for the Global Citizens’ Assembly Selection and Recruitment Workshop. April 23, 12pm EDT. CFP and registration here: www.eventbrite.ca/e/global-cit...

Global Citizens Assembly Citizen Selection and Recruitment Workshop

Co-hosted by Iswe Foundation and Participedia, this open virtual workshop will explore methods for global citizen assembly selection.

eventbrite.ca

"For no liberty can subsist where there is such a power" - Algernon Sidney, Discourses (1698), III.21

Joshua J. Friedman@joshuajfriedman.com · last yr.

NEW: Tufts graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk had already been transferred out of state before a federal judge ordered that she not be removed from Massachusetts, federal officials told the court today www.bostonglobe.com/2025/03/27/m...

Misinformation isn't random - it's strategic. 🧵 In the first cross-national comparative study, we examine 32M tweets from politicians. We find that misinformation is not a general condition: it is driven by populist radical right parties. with @julianachueri.bsky.social doi.org/10.1177/1940...

Hello world! We're now on BlueSky too. Follow us for all things global citizens' assemblies and transnational public deliberation. We have things to say!

This obsession is unhealthy. Our horizons are fine. Also social media, for most, is not a job. It is not school. It is socializing. And it’s fine to say “I don’t want to hang out with Nazis, homophobes, transphobes etc in my free time.”

The Globe and Mail@theglobeandmail.com · 2y ago

Opinion - The problem with Bluesky: It won’t broaden our horizons: In the wake of Donald Trump’s election win, the social-media platform has enjoyed a surge of new users looking for an alternative to Elon Musk’s X. But will it be useful, if it just creates an echo chamber for the left?