Michael Hankinson
@hankinson.bsky.social
Political Scientist at George Washington University; How can we build things society needs, but few want nearby? www.mhankinson.com
Districting has been the standard remedy for minority vote dilution in local government for over 40 years. Does it work? It requires a map that would actually improve minority representation and a council willing to draw it. As we show, the first is impossible in most cities. 1/
In Philly, I have seen vague orange signs warning about irresponsible development ("Their Profit. Your Loss!"). The Inquirer traced them to the Carpenters union, working to mobilize residents into zoning meetings. My work w/ Asya Magazinnik & Anna Weissman helps explain their logic.
@buildssrc.bsky.social grantee @hankinson.bsky.social says that the way to get a NIMBY to say yes is to pay them. Most have a price.
Michael Hankinson@hankinson.bsky.social · 3w agoCan you pay NIMBYs to say yes to housing? Rogé Karma covers my ongoing work with Glaeser, Gyourko & Davis in The Atlantic. Most people have a price — it rises with proximity, project scale, and suburbia. And cash beats parks funding, though local legislators prefer the reverse. Gift link below.
A few clarifications on what this paper does and does not say. We estimate willingness-to-accept: what payment would move residents from opposing nearby housing to supporting it. That's not an endorsement of paying any off any specific group. 1/
Michael Hankinson@hankinson.bsky.social · 3w agoCan you pay NIMBYs to say yes to housing? Rogé Karma covers my ongoing work with Glaeser, Gyourko & Davis in The Atlantic. Most people have a price — it rises with proximity, project scale, and suburbia. And cash beats parks funding, though local legislators prefer the reverse. Gift link below.
Can you pay NIMBYs to say yes to housing? Rogé Karma covers my ongoing work with Glaeser, Gyourko & Davis in The Atlantic. Most people have a price — it rises with proximity, project scale, and suburbia. And cash beats parks funding, though local legislators prefer the reverse. Gift link below.
A Perfectly Crude Solution to America’s Housing Shortage
If you can’t beat the NIMBYs, pay ’em.
theatlantic.com
As stigma returns to pub. health, @jdbk.bsky.social & I assess its role in re opioids. People favor of their own racial group re treatment v. punishment, but these biases are likely moderated by blame via one's pathway to addiction. Article: tinyurl.com/7pmt96ze NYT www.nytimes.com/2026/06/01/w...
Very cool! Especially as local electoral reforms come on the menu via state VRAs
Jack Santucci@jacksantucci.bsky.social · 3mo agoPilots announcing the visibility and wind direction at the destination to the entire cabin == me describing the identification strategy of a paper cited in my slides to my undergrad lecture.
This is an excellent paper, very happy to see it in the AJPS!
Michael Hankinson@hankinson.bsky.social · 5mo agoBuilding affordable housing ➡️ support for funding housing. Nearby homeowners ⬆️ support; renters ⬇️ support. Both are “the policy adjacent”—secondhand recipients & drivers of policy feedback. Forthcoming @ajpseditor.bsky.social ( doi.org/10.1111/ajps...) w/ A. Magazinnik & @msands.bsky.social 1/9
Beautiful paper, read, set in your classes, think about, cite, extend, etc.
Michael Hankinson@hankinson.bsky.social · 5mo agoBuilding affordable housing ➡️ support for funding housing. Nearby homeowners ⬆️ support; renters ⬇️ support. Both are “the policy adjacent”—secondhand recipients & drivers of policy feedback. Forthcoming @ajpseditor.bsky.social ( doi.org/10.1111/ajps...) w/ A. Magazinnik & @msands.bsky.social 1/9
Building affordable housing ➡️ support for funding housing. Nearby homeowners ⬆️ support; renters ⬇️ support. Both are “the policy adjacent”—secondhand recipients & drivers of policy feedback. Forthcoming @ajpseditor.bsky.social ( doi.org/10.1111/ajps...) w/ A. Magazinnik & @msands.bsky.social 1/9
Next week, I will be at the #2025APPAM Annual Fall Research Conference in Seattle. I will be presenting new work on the local politics of renewable energy siting as well as updates on building a national housing permits database. If you want to connect, please reach out: hankinson@gwu.edu
A great overview of an important local gov’t reform! Ties together many different literatures and shows how the unexpected can happen in implementation. Thanks @jacksantucci.bsky.social !
Jack Santucci@jacksantucci.bsky.social · 10mo agoHere is a short piece on the proportional representation exercise in Portland (OR), what might be needed to make it a success, and the nationwide implications. www.city-journal.org/article/port...
I'm excited to share that we're running a junior faculty search in American politics. Proud to see GWU continue to invest in political science. Link: www.gwu.jobs/postings/122...
Assistant Professor of Political Science
The Department of Political Science invites applications for a tenure-track position in American Politics at the rank of assistant professor beginning as early as Fall 2026. This position is pending f...
gwu.jobs
On Friday at #APSA, I'll be presenting new research on how political geography shapes the siting of collective goods. We use the consolidation of municipalities in Denmark to show how the distribution of entire electorate affects where wind energy is politically viable.
In Vancouver for the APSA Annual Meeting. First time visiting the city and I rented a bike for a 2-hour spin. Blown away. Bike infrastructure on par with Denmark plus miles of trails in the middle of UBC’s campus (4 miles from downtown).
So proud of my wife, Rui Gao! Her dissertation research has led to a breakthrough in understanding ecDNA-amplified cancers, opening paths for better treatments in the future. And a co-first author publication in Nature is a nice outcome as well :) www.linkedin.com/posts/ruigao...
Rui Gao on LinkedIn: Engineered extrachromosomal oncogene amplifications promote tumorigenesis…
Happy to share that a significant research project from my PhD is finally out in 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 today! 🎉🧬 For the first time, we show that gene amplifications…
linkedin.com
I'm on two 📘 award committees for APSA, deadlines March 1, 2025 Robert Lane Award (with Nichole Bauer and Markus Prior) connect.apsanet.org/s28/nominati... Converse Award (with @wzcmarsh.bsky.social, @jfdaoust.bsky.social, @hmridge.bsky.social) connect.apsanet.org/s32/awards/ pls nominate & share
We're hiring in American Politics at the junior level. Position will be affiliated with GW’s Institute for Data, Democracy and Politics. Applications due January 2nd. I'm on sabbatical, but I am happy to answer questions about the dept., broadly. DM me. www.gwu.jobs/postings/116...
Assistant Professor of Political Science
The Department of Political Science invites applications for a tenure track professor (Assistant Professor) in American Politics. The position will start in Fall 2025 and is pending final budgetary ap...
gwu.jobs
“Harris’s [supply-increasing] housing plan responded to an urgent crisis with reforms whose benefits would be felt slowly if at all.” It is worse than that: Renters tend to oppose supply increases, as @hankinson.bsky.social has shown. www.nplusonemag.com/online-only/... LIST 01%2F06%2F2020
The Renters’ Republic | Charlie Dulik
In a majority-homeowner nation, the rental crisis alone cannot explain Harris’s defeat, especially since the concentration of renters in cities means that as a group they likely still tilted toward he...
nplusonemag.com
Excited to see @maxwellpalmer.bsky.social and my research in this @bostonglobe.com op-ed this morning. The use of public money to actively block much-needed affordable housing is appalling, and shows the strength of opposition to new housing in Greater Boston. www.bostonglobe.com/2024/11/25/o...
Using tax dollars to block new housing is bad policy - The Boston Globe
More than a dozen communities have been accused of ‘weaponizing’ the sale of public land to stop housing development.
bostonglobe.com
I’m adding a day on path dependence to my undergrad Intro to Policy Analysis class. Would love recommendations for favorite podcasts/news articles/etc that illustrate the concept!
Facing a cost of living crisis, mayor are (finally) promising to build more housing. Can they deliver? I discuss both the political obstacles, but also opportunities for success with @apmresearch.bsky.social at American Public Media. www.apmresearchlab.org/10x/mayors-a...
Can mayors keep their affordable housing promises? — APM Research Lab
Mayors across the Sun Belt and beyond have promised to build housing and reduce costs. But they face obstacles – including “Not in My Backyard” sentiment from their constituents.
apmresearchlab.org
Astead Herndon’s “The Run-Up” is the most informative politics podcast. He interrogates an interviewee’s beliefs while warmly inviting them to define the framework. From party loyalists to undecideds, he extracts depth where others flatten/abstract away. I could build my Intro Amer. syllabus via it
When do interest groups — like organized labor — use the housing entitlement process to secure benefits? Now published in JPIPE, A. Magazinnik, Anna Weissman, and I find a relationship with big implications for the housing supply & attempts to reform local permitting. 1/10
🚨 How should we design surveys to capture opinion in fast-changing contexts like elections or within hard-to-reach communities? 🚨 My paper, conditionally accepted at Political Analysis, develops a method that leverages LLMs and adaptive algorithms to construct surveys that evolve with user input.
A new interesting article by @hankinson.bsky.social and @jdbk.bsky.social is now available on our FirstView page. It is entitled “How self-interest and symbolic politics shape the effectiveness of compensation for nearby housing development”. Enjoy it here: t.ly/-0IQO
