I hope you'll join us on Tuesday, October 6 (4:30 PM ET online) for the next conversation in the Scholars Strategy Network's Defending U.S. Democracy series, featuring Colin Woodard and Jennifer McCoy. See flyer for details. Register: scholars.my.salesforce-sites.com/event/home/d...

It's good to know that there is one additional problem with "the AI industry being run by apocalyptic millenarian cultists" that had not yet made my list.

ve, the ghost of info past@vortexegg.com · 4w ago

One of the problems with the AI industry being run by apocalyptic millenarian cultists isn’t that their end of the world scenarios are made up; it’s that like other similar millennialists, they think their desired end of the world is a utopia and they’ll do whatever they can to make it real.

Please help my student, Sayna Kaushik, who is working on an amazing AI-driven app that helps voters get accurate information about the voting process in each of the 50 states. She needs volunteers to spend about 15 minutes trying out two versions of the app for her research. Link is in the comments.

Many of you have seen the viral clip wherein Steven Bartlett says that '3 glasses of wine' disabled him for three days, and his Whoop fitness sensor says so. It's an ad. Here's the backstory of a complex influence campaign funded by major tech investors. america2.news/the-anatomy-...

The Anatomy of an Influence Operation

The popular podcast Diary of a CEO has become a hit, but most people don't know it is part of a sophisticated influence network.

america2.news

This is an important thing to understand about the 1-2 step the Supreme Court engaged in to gut the VRA: they first said that partisan gerrymandering was bad, but there was nothing they could do about it in 2019. That paved the way for Callais. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/power-demo...

Power, democracy, and clarity

What does the end of the Voting Rights Act mean?

donmoynihan.substack.com

The Upshot@upshot.nytimes.com · 5mo ago

Our simulations show that the act isn’t needed for minority representation in the South, if partisan gerrymandering were checked. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/17/u...

You can apply lots of normalizing frameworks or you can just make a timeline of his calls with Putin. We don’t have a sovereign foreign policy. We have superpower suicide.

Rachel Maddow@maddow.bsky.social · 6mo ago

"Trump’s initial post about removing US troops from Germany came just hours after he spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has long sought to reduce the number of NATO troops in Europe... "The Pentagon 'was not expecting it'... www.politico.com/news/2026/04...

Here they are: our two top Iran negotiators. No diplomatic experience. In way over their head. Both with massive financial conflicts of interest, their fortunes tied to the Middle East dictators that make them rich. What a disaster.

Highlights from the MPSA "Town Hall" on US democratic collapse, featuring leading scholars in political science. 🧵 (1) Moderator, @nazita.bsky.social , starts off with a plain description of democratic decline in the US with an impressive list of illiberal activity and rapid decline. 1/

11/ Lester Spence anchors the program with an impassioned call for political scientists to be the teachers in our communities--give Americans the language they need to describe and observe democratic decline, injustice, and hte integral relationship between racial injustice and democratic governance

I'm excited to announce this webinar on Wednesday April 29th (4:00PM EST) called "Protecting the Midterm Elections in a Time of Democratic Backsliding." You can learn more about the event and register by following this link: scholars.my.salesforce-sites.com/event/home/d...

Nope. Nope. Nope. This post is just two false statements.

Yes, I'm cautiously optimistic here. The two-thirds majority is basically absolute power in the Hungarian system; if Magyar is capable of maintaining party unity, Tisza has the capability to undo Orbánism and bring back democracy. But it still won't be easy. bsky.app/profile/saur...

Jon Saur@saurpower.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Magyar seems to understand this, right? If his victory speech is any indication. Demanding resignations regime wide, announcing constitutional reform.

Magyar's defeat of Orban in Hungary today illustrates perfectly the concept I describe here: repolarize to depolarize. Shifting the line of conflict from L-R or Urban-Rural to Nation vs Oligarchs was a winning move, and lesson for U.S. Repolarize to Depolarize open.substack.com/pub/betterco...

Repolarize to Depolarize

And other ways forward for America from our talk with polarization scholar Jennifer McCoy - BCB #162

open.substack.com

i will vote for any candidate who offers up this slogan

András Tóth-Czifra@minczifra.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Perhaps Magyar's most important promise, and the one that certainly resonates with voters: "never again a country without consequences!" The crowd chants: "To prison! To prison!" [with the corrupt officials of the outgoing government]

Lessons that all Americans should contemplate about the road ahead for Hungary and for us

A lot of Orbán's American fans are saying that this election proved he was never an authoritarian in the first place. This is completely wrong — and, in fact, betrays a complete misunderstanding of both Hungarian politics and modern authoritarianism. Here's why.

Orbán's best bet for regime survival — for returning to power — wasn't staging a doomed January 6-style putsch in the face of overwhelming defeat. It was retreating, and doing everything he can to preserve regime elements that would allow for a return to competitive authoritarianism in the future.

The victory of the opposition in Hungary yesterday, like the Polish election in 2023, is a victory for democracy, not just in Europe but around the world.

As someone who researches and teaches comparative democracy/authoritarianism you have no idea how happy it makes me to see people like Zack and @jamellebouie.net who have read the polisci

Zack Beauchamp@zackbeauchamp.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Hungary under Orbán was not a classic fascist or monarchical regime. It was a species of what political scientists call "competitive authoritarianism" — where elections are generally free, meaning not formally rigged, but held under extremely unfair conditions.

There are good lessons to learn about voting, organizing etc. But I worry people will learn the wrong lesson about concessions. Orban conceded. Trump never will. We cannot get lulled into a false sense of security for 2026. More tomorrow…

Kudos to all the movement organizers and organizations in Hungary who have pushing back against the Orban regime and showing the world a path away from autocracy. The jury is still out on Magyar but this is a huge step forward. Gratitude and congratulations are due.

Dannagal Goldthwaite Young@dannagal.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Amazing work by voters of Hungary today. Ending democratic backsliding requires a public that chooses to embrace democratic norms and reject autocracy - and the Hungarian people did just that. Since my recent work explores authoritarianism, thought I'd share some observations from the literature:

This is the paragraph I re-read a few times.

The New York Times@nytimes.com · 6mo ago

Breaking News: Prime Minister Viktor Orban conceded defeat on Sunday in a high-stakes general election in Hungary. His defeat is a blow to the global nationalist revival promoted by President Trump.

The SAVE Act goes beyond voter ID. It would require a passport or birth certificate to register to vote, which would block millions of American citizens from voting.

Really smart point by @jonathanbernstein.bsky.social "Indeed, it’s quite possible that when all is said and done it will turn out that this war will be seen as a case of a hawkish faction rolling Trump, rather than something that Trump did because he wanted to." open.substack.com/pub/goodpoli...

Who Is Responsible? The GOP.

They have several options way short of impeachment if they don't like what's happening.

open.substack.com

A potential consequence of populists’ hyper-mediatized approach to politics is they create evidence for their own future indictment. Here’s to hoping.

Jacob Bogage@jacobbogage.bsky.social · 7mo ago

🎥 Donald Trump posts a video that appears to show the aftermath of a U.S. attack on civilian infrastructure in Iran.

More corrupt than all other administrations in American history combined, and it’s not close.

Justin Wolfers@justinwolfers.bsky.social · 7mo ago

In what world is it okay for the Defense Secretary to make multi-million dollar investments in defense companies: a) Ever; b) In the run-up to starting a war in the Middle East FT has the scoop: www.ft.com/content/744e... In a functional democracy, he would offer his resignation tonight.

I’ve been studying civil rights protests for 20 years. With new mobilization against Trump’s agenda, I’m sharing a thread summarizing my research on how nonviolent & violent actions by 1960s activists and police influenced media, elites, public opinion & voters. 1/ www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Resistance as a Framework for Combating Cognitive Offload The post discusses the necessity of resistance in using AI for education, comparing it to physical training. While generative AI can lead to cognitive laziness, integrating resistance can help maintain learning integrity. The author…

Resistance as a Framework for Combating Cognitive Offload

The post discusses the necessity of resistance in using AI for education, comparing it to physical training. While generative AI can lead to cognitive laziness, integrating resistance can help maintain learning integrity. The author proposes a framework exploring expertise, evaluation, metacognition, cognitive stretch, and feedback to ensure beneficial AI usage.

leonfurze.com