Corruption and perversion of the public trust do not serve any “side”. They harm all Americans. Tolerating this from “your” people poisons future efforts to stop it by “their” people. And that cripples the institutions that nourish sustained prosperity for all Conservatives and all Liberals.

NBC News@nbcnews.com · last mo.

Investment accounts owned by President Trump engaged in more than 300 previously undisclosed stock purchases on April 8, 2025, one day before his surprise announcement that he would pause a number of his “Liberation Day” tariffs, his financial disclosure report says.

I shared some thoughts on the broader significance of Colombia’s presidential election - voters decide this Sunday

Michael Albertus@mikealbertus.bsky.social · 2mo ago

With Colombians voting this weekend in a very polarized election, I turned to @oliverkaplan.bsky.social to explain what is at stake, and what comes next for Colombia's long-running conflict. My latest post at The Good Society 👇 michaelalbertus.substack.com/p/colombia-a...

The World Cup starts tomorrow! With WorldCups.ai, you can ask any question about the World Cup — about tournaments, matches, countries, players, managers — in plain English and get a data-backed answer with an intuitive, interactive visualization.

Had fun gaming out w @fgenovese.bsky.social, @lorenzocrippa.bsky.social and @davidrvetter.bsky.social what effect Pope Leo's AI encyclical coming out Monday might have on markets. Have a watch/listen! youtu.be/pTCcM2uEkOI

Pope Leo XIV on AI: Can Popes Move Markets?

YouTube video by Wicked Problems - Climate Tech Conversations

youtu.be

The word you are looking for is “corruption.”

Axios@axios.com · 3mo ago

With each passing month, Trump is weaving the financial interests of his family, his allies and his political movement more tightly than ever into the fabric of the American presidency.

This @iojournal.bsky.social article from @lorenzocrippa.bsky.social et al. is one of the most important recent pieces on corruption, American politics, and democratic backsliding. It is an empirical research note, but I think its theoretical implications are much bigger. 1/n🧵

Lorenzo Crippa@lorenzocrippa.bsky.social · 8mo ago

🚨 Excited that "Making Bribery Profitable Again? The Market Effects of Suspending Accountability for Overseas Bribery" by Eddy Malesky, Lucio Picci, and me has been published in FirstView at @iojournal.bsky.social! Open Access: doi.org/10.1017/S002... 1/n

My new essay, with Rabah Arezki and Rick van der Ploeg, in @foreignaffairs.com. For all the benefits of the energy transition, the world isn't ready to rely on critical minerals

Foreign Affairs@foreignaffairs.com · 3mo ago

“Without strong governance, mineral booms will not only replicate the familiar symptoms of the resource curse but also generate entirely new forms of volatility,” warn Rabah Arezki, Frederick van der Ploeg, and Michael Ross.

Given the Callais decision, resharing our (w @corymccartan.com) "Individual and Differential Harm in Redistricting" piece which tries to tackle estimating group harm, including separating partisan and racial effects of maps... osf.io/preprints/so... (conditionally accepted at Nature Human Behavior)

Public support has often been treated as a backdrop to global governance. But in a review article with @the-peio.bsky.social, @jonastallberg.bsky.social and I argue that what the public thinks matters for how (well) international organisations operate: link.springer.com/article/10.1... #poliscisky

Public opinion and international organizations - The Review of International Organizations

Public opinion has become an increasingly important issue for international organizations (IOs) in the wake of growing politicization and contestation of global governance. This special issue aims to ...

link.springer.com

ENSURED@ensured.bsky.social · 3mo ago

🆕📝 | Does public opinion impact international organisations? Turns out: More than you might think. In our latest ENSURED blog, @lisadellmuth.bsky.social unpacks her research on how citizens’ attitudes can both enable and constrain multilateral cooperation. @stockholm-uni.bsky.social

Second, "Experiments on Taxes, Corruption, and Prejudice." Sat, April 25, 11:40am to 1:10pm CDT. Meta-analyses, lab experiments, field experiments! convention2.allacademic.com/one/mpsa/mps...

I am chairing two supercool panels this year at @mpsa.bsky.social. First, "Machine Learning Applications." Fri, April 24, 3:20 to 4:50pm CDT. Lots of stuff about LLMs. Love them, hate them, don't miss them. convention2.allacademic.com/one/mpsa/mps...

My article on purging & leader survival in rebel groups is now out in @jpeaceresearch.bsky.social! Open access: doi.org/10.1093/jopr... How do rebel leaders stay in power? While we often study "decapitation" by state forces, internal actors (coup plotters, spies) also threaten leader survival.

Rebel purges and leader survival: maintaining power through purges in rebel organizations

Abstract. How do rebel leaders maintain power? In rebel groups, leaders face threats to their survival in office from dissatisfied subordinates, internal r

doi.org

Cool day of book discussions happening at MPSA, if you're looking for something to attend on Friday:

Thanks, Ingo! Graham Goff and I have put a lot of work into this package. {DAGassist} can estimate a wide range of models and classify covariate roles after you make your DAG either with {ggdag} or {daggitty}. We hope that the package can make DAG-consistent estimation a little easier for everyone!

Ingo Rohlfing@ingorohlfing.bsky.social · 9mo ago

{DAGassist} let's you process a DAG and estimate models giving {dagitty} input and baseline model #CausalSky #rstats cran.r-project.org/web/packages... I think {ggdag} has more to offer for analysis of a DAG, while {DAGassist} is a one-stop package for classifying variables and getting estimates

We're hiring a Research Support Associate at MIT Political Science. Work with me, In Song Kim, Rich Nielsen, and Naoki Egami on methods and political economy. Great opportunity for those considering a PhD in the social sciences. One-year position with possible extension.

Thanks to @rbreich.bsky.social for sharing our article/ interview in @us.theconversation.com 🙏 ... We offer some helpful lenses for making sense of the social movements taking shape in the U.S. theconversation.com/what-america...

What Americans can learn from other civil activism movements against authoritarian regimes

The US may be experiencing democratic backsliding. Around the world, nonviolent civil movements exist to support democracy and protect fellow citizens.

theconversation.com

Robert Reich@rbreich.bsky.social · 4mo ago

From time to time, I post here transcripts I’ve come across of particularly insightful conversations. Here’s one that’s particularly relevant to this past weekend's No Kings Day protests. https://robertreich.substack.com/p/what-americans-can-learn-from-other

If you use #QuartoPub for any PDF documents for teaching and you need to meet impending PDF accessibility rules, upgrade to v1.9, add format: typst: pdf-standard: ua-1 to the YAML front matter, and it'll work!

⏳One month left to nominate papers for APSA's Experimental Research Section’s Best Paper Award! We’re excited to read creative experimental work tackling big political questions. Self-nominations welcome (and discussants, please nominate your panelists)!

Chagai Weiss@chagaiweiss.bsky.social · 9mo ago

🏆APSA's Experimental Research Section Best Paper Award🏆 Did you present an experiment at APSA2026? Submit your conference paper for the Experimental Research Section's best paper award by April 15, 2026. @sumitra.bsky.social @talbotmandrews.bsky.social and I are excited to read your work!

Five more days to submit nominations for the Margaret Levi Award for the Advancement of Comparative Methodology! A broad and unusual call. Feel free to self-nominate or to submit a nomination on behalf of work that has inspired you.

🎉I'm excited to share my new article with @cjschneider.bsky.social, now online at International Organization @iojournal.bsky.social: “International Financial Institutions and the Promotion of Autocratic Resilience.” Open access: doi.org/10.1017/S002... ✨🧵thread🧵✨

The anti-Trump coalition is a negative coalition, defined by what it opposes. Durable political change requires a positive coalition, defined by what it believes and the principles that will defend. Here is my outline of those principles... and the stakes. www.liberalcurrents.com/the-republic...

Excited to share a new piece, co-authored with Eddy Malesky and Lucio Picci, at @foreignaffairs.com! We return to the Trump administration's decision to suspend (and reform) the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. 🧵: "How Washington Is Weaponizing Anticorruption Law." 1/

How Washington Is Weaponizing Anticorruption Law

The era of neutral enforcement is over.

foreignaffairs.com

New Blog for CGD: US Aid Cuts Fueled Conflict in Africa www.cgdev.org/blog/us-aid-...

🚨 I’m hiring a Harvard-based Predoctoral Fellow. If you’re excited about development, political economy, and public finance, apply! ✅ Full-time (July 1 start) 🗓️ Rolling deadline 🎓 Great fit for candidates considering a PhD Apply ➡️ academicpositions.harvard.edu/postings/15884

Come work with me! Two postdoc positions open in @erc.europa.eu project PROTECT, examining how local change shapes public support for protectionist policies in areas like trade and finance. @stockholmuni.bsky.social su.varbi.com/en/what:job/... su.varbi.com/en/what:job/... #polisky #academicsky

This is tragic. The World Factbook was a useful resource to make sense of the world as a comparative politics scholar. The dismantling of the US state and its resources will leave a less knowledgeable world.

CIA ends publication of its popular World Factbook reference tool

The CIA is ending the publication of its popular World Factbook reference manual. The agency announced the decision Wednesday but gave no reason for it.

apnews.com

As President Trump withdraws the US from intl agreements - including the Paris Agreement and WHO - Lotem Bassan-Nygate and I ask how this affects public opinion towards cooperation? We descibe our recent findings in @goodauth.bsky.social : tinyurl.com/goodauth @harvardkennedy.bsky.social 1/4

When Trump withdraws from global agreements, will the public follow?

When Trump withdraws from global agreements, will the public follow? New evidence shows that Trump’s actions can change minds, but there are limits.

tinyurl.com

A reminder that the deadline for the Political Economy of Aid and International Development meeting (at Georgetown U) is next Friday (30 January). Come to hear and discuss some of the best new work on the political economy of aid and international development.

Already some excellent submissions in for #PEADS2026 from May 22-23 at Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy. Don't have yours in yet? Don't worry there's still time - deadline January 30th! Please "re-sky" to spread the word!

We are happy to release the Paths to Power Dashboard. It is the perfect tool for politics nerds! You can find it here: ptp.isv.sv.uio.no/ptp/ It allows you to explore governments from 1966-2021 using the PtP and WhoGov datasets. See examples below. The app has been programmed by Stuart Bramwell.