A realist perspective on small donors in US Politics from me and @zalbert.bsky.social podcast interview by @mattgrossmann.bsky.social @niskanencenter.bsky.social www.niskanencenter.org/the-rise-of-...

The rise of small donors is mostly making politics worse - Niskanen Center

Ray La Raja and Zach Albert find that small donors are just as advantaged, partisan, and extreme as larger donors.

niskanencenter.org

Now out in @igajournal.bsky.social: my review of 2 recent books -- 📖 @ejfagan.com's The Thinkers (Oxford UP, 2024) 📖 @zalbert.bsky.social's Partisan Policy Networks (Penn, 2025) Read the review here: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Think tanks' role in polarization politics - Interest Groups & Advocacy

Interest Groups & Advocacy -

link.springer.com

Really excited to have this book in print. Thread on what we found when we studied small donors in American elections — much of which challenges popular understandings

Ray La Raja@raylaraja.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Small donors are often portrayed as the antidote to big money in politics. In Small Donors in U.S. Politics (@uchicagopress.bsky.social), @zalbert.bsky.social and I show the story is more complicated. They broaden participation—but aren't typical Americans, amplifying the most partisan voices.

Really glad to get to publish this overview of my new book (Partisan Policy Networks) with Roro Toko. Including some excerpts below. www.rorotoko.com/11/20251106-...

Bold strategy to tell everyone to pay attention to the rallies specifically designed to draw attention to your party’s unpopular abuses of power.

Kevin M. Kruse@kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 10mo ago

"You'll see how much they hate America! Tune in to see how much they hate America! Better yet, get out there and see for yourself! Maybe take an American flag with you so everyone knows you're not really one of the America Haters? But we urge every American to watch these rallies very closely!"

Really cool feeling to open a box of your own book! For sale starting august 26. www.pennpress.org/978151282802...

I’m just a simple guy begging Google Docs to not log me out when I’m in the middle of typing a sentence

With @raylaraja.bsky.social: Are small donors the solution to democracy’s problems? www.brookings.edu/articles/are...

Are small donors the solution to democracy’s problems? | Brookings

Campaign finance regimes that increase the number of small donors may not be a solution to America's democracy woes.

brookings.edu

Could easily replace “academics” with “partisans” and explain a lot about politics

Jay Van Bavel, PhD@jayvanbavel.bsky.social · last yr.

An analysis of ~100,000 academics finds that a small subset of academics generate majority of social media posts. That vocal minority can skew how the public—and even journalists—infer “academic consensus,” potentially fueling false perceptions. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Worth noting this is due mostly to people thinking he isn’t serious or disciplined enough to stick to one of his most sincere, central policy goals. Which is one of the many reasons these tariffs will only have negative effects

Carl Quintanilla@carlquintanilla.bsky.social · last yr.

WASHINGTON (AP) - US consumer confidence rebounds in May after five straight months of declines due to anxiety over Trump tariffs.

Need some parenting advice. My four year old has been rampaging through the house smashing things with a baseball bat. He finally agreed to pause for 90 days. My instinct is to lavishly praise him for his foresight and restraint. But what would you do?

I bounce back and forth (much like trump on tariffs) between “there is no plan” and “the plan is self-enrichment via market manipulation”. The truth is probably that trump is dumb and likes tariffs (no plan) + those around him see opportunities in that to make money

Jeff Tiedrich@jefftiedrich.bsky.social · last yr.

do I have this right? Donald Trump is just going to crash the world economy every three months — and then pretend to save it, over and over, while his cronies rake in untold billions on his shameless market manipulation, is that it? fucking hell

I’m sure everyone will have a different favorite but “definition” really stands out to me

PEN America@penamerica.bsky.social · last yr.

A growing list of words and materials are being scrubbed from government websites and documents in an attempt by the Trump administration to remove all references not only to DEI, but also to climate change, vaccines, and a host of other topics. More: pen.org/banned-words...

Are you a PhD in Political Science? #polisky Have you signed the statement against basic changes to government and democracy? 1200 people have signed (ranging in many ideologies). If you wish to sign, go here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F....

Political scientists' statement on recent events

Please use this form to add your signature to the following statement. Note that we are only soliciting signatures from individuals with PhDs in political science. We, the undersigned, are political ...

docs.google.com

Political scientists: please consider signing, and sharing with other political scientists, this petition, which expresses urgent concerns about threats to the balance of powers in the U.S. today. Hundreds have already signed.

Political scientists' statement on recent events

Please use this form to add your signature to the following statement. Note that we are only soliciting signatures from individuals with PhDs in political science. We, the undersigned, are political ...

urldefense.proofpoint.com

The Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics, a great org, asks individuals & orgs to sign their letter requesting Congress act to restore data that has been removed & ensure a similar purge does not reoccur. #EconSky #PolicySky #sociology #PoliSky docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

New piece today in @theconversation.com on how the Project 2025 playbook is guiding Trump's early actions and how the Heritage Foundation is cashing in on decades of subsidizing the GOP (and Trump in particular) theconversation.com/trumps-admin...

Trump’s administration seems chaotic, but he’s drawing directly from Project 2025 playbook

Many of Trump’s executive orders mirror plans laid out in Project 2025, a conservative policy plan developed in part by the Heritage Foundation.

theconversation.com

Not at all the most important part but note how the “$50 million on condoms to hamas” lie is suddenly “$100 million”

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2y ago

REPORTER: Why is it important for Elon Musk to have access to the payments systems at Treasury? TRUMP: Well, he's got access only to letting people go that he thinks are no good, and it's only if we agree with him

Ok but why have colleagues been doing this in meetings for a decade?

Jason Koebler@jasonkoebler.bsky.social · 2y ago

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a declassified World War II-era CIA guide to sabotaging fascism in the workplace has become one of the most popular free ebooks on the internet: www.404media.co/declassified...

The caricature that Republicans painted of Biden lawlessness isn’t even 1/10th of the actual lawlessness of the *first 9 days* of Trump 2.0

Violating 2, 3, 5 and 6 (at least)

Judd Legum@juddlegum.bsky.social · 2y ago

Trump's proposal is to save TikTok is to give the federal government, run by him, direct control over TikTok. What could go wrong?

TRUMP: “I’m sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with them. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”

I focused heavily on heritage in my forthcoming book and, while this is pretty gross, it doesn’t surprise me. They have long focused on shaping public opinion and popular perceptions, more so than any other think tank I examined. They are always advocating and only sometimes researching

Arno Rosenfeld@arnorosenfeld.bsky.social · 2y ago

Scoop: I obtained a confidential presentation outlining how a major conservative think tanks plans to go after volunteer editors on Wikipedia who it says are "abusing their position" and promoting antisemitism forward.com/news/686797/...

Opened up an article with this photo and my 3 year old said “poor buddy”. Summarized his whole Speakership in two words.

This but for my dream job (which happened to be my only offer).

Dan Quintana@dsquintana.bsky.social · 2y ago

What's the moment of luck that's had the biggest impact for your academic career? For me, it was how I wouldn't have gotten a PhD fellowship if it wasn't for the 1st-ranked person declining, which meant that I was awarded the fellowship as 2nd-ranked applicant. That was my last shot at a PhD.

New @polbehavior.bsky.social paper with @miacosta.bsky.social. We show that voters with more negative views of the other party (negative partisans) are more likely to care about candidate electability & even willing to give up representation for better chance to win link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Winning At All Costs? How Negative Partisanship Affects Voter Decision-Making - Political Behavior

Do voters who dislike the other side prefer candidates who can win, even if they are less representative? Negative partisanship is an important feature of American politics, but few scholars have exam...

link.springer.com

A few thoughts… 1) Genuinely impressive they spent that much that fast 2) There’s likely no way this could’ve been spent that would’ve changed the outcome. Spreading around to down ballot races maybe would’ve helped but there are stingy limits ($2k) on those transfers (except party cmtes) 1/2

The New York Times@nytimes.com · 2y ago

Vice President Kamala Harris spent a remarkable $1.5 billion in her hyper-compressed presidential campaign. But in the days since losing to Donald Trump, her operation has faced questions internally and externally over what exactly the money went toward. nyti.ms/3YW7rM9

Bluesky academics… Quote this & tell me: 1) a project you are working on & 2) an odd idea/theory you aren’t working on but keep thinking about 1) who are small donors, who do they support, & what are likely effects of reform? 2) ppl always been poorly informed but it’s now much worse/more impactful

Really good primer on recess appointments for those (like me) who don’t know much

Walter Olson@walterolson.bsky.social · 2y ago

My colleague @thomasberry.bsky.social, guestposting at @volokhc.bsky.social, explains why Trump's recess appointments plan is flawed on legal and other grounds.

Important to remember that voters are rarely able to penalize in this way. But elites and institutions used to do a better job