Just published my analysis of spending in the 2024 state supreme court election cycle. At $157 million, this was the most expensive cycle ever for judicial races…by a lot. Including in states where judicial elections probably weren’t on your radar.

If you are interested in the U.S. Supreme Court, but have never seen the justices in action, onthedocket.org provides a step in the right direction. We combine authentic audio with AI-generated video to show you the justices announcing opinions in some of the highest profile cases they decide!

Come work at Stanford! I'm hiring a post-doc who will work with me on projects about prosecutors and trial courts in the US. Feel free to contact me with any questions, or apply here: hoover.smapply.us/prog/postdoc...

As rights protections across the states diverge people may relocate to pursue more rights. @mjnelson.bsky.social and I find abortion rights spur moves and this very interesting report shows that attacks on LGBT rights are also interstate spurring migration. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Reviewing fast or slow: A theory of summary reversal in the judicial hierarchy by Alexander V. Hirsch, Jonathan P. Kastellec, and Anthony R. Taboni is now available in Early View. @jkastellec.bsky.social @anthonytaboni.bsky.social ajps.org/2026/01/09/r...

Just in time for your State Politics grad seminar, Berkman, Herlihy and I have some data on the development of the State Politics subfield (and SPPQ) over the past 65 years!

🚨 the best state policy & public opinion database is now online. ~200 (!!!) state policies and 80 public opinion series on abortion, labor, taxes, environment, guns, education… dynamicdemocracy.shinyapps.io Massive public goods provision from @devincaughey.bsky.social & @chriswarshaw.bsky.social

I’m hiring a predoctoral fellow for the 2026-2027 AY with possibility of a second year. This is a great position for someone interested in pursuing a Ph.D. or who wants more hands-on experience doing research. Please apply/share! Happy to answer questions! tobin.yale.edu/opportunitie...

Penn State published a nice article on my recent book with Amanda Driscoll and Jay Krehbiel about the public's support for the rule of law and why it matters: www.psu.edu/news/liberal...

Doctors are less likely to want a residency in states with abortion bans per research with @mjnelson.bsky.social Studies we cite shows high achieving women don’t want to go to college in states with bans. It goes beyond bans of course. Brain drain is real. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

A new article with @mjnelson.bsky.social in PRQ, using a conjoint, CPS ASES and medical residency application data, finds that abortion bans make states less desirable places to live for young women, college graduates and doctors. This law is more extreme. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Friends, my article w/ @silje-hermansen.bsky.social and @louisabo.bsky.social on how/why the "have nots" come out ahead in litigation @eucourtofjustice.bsky.social is out in @bjpols.bsky.social! We propose a theory of judicial leveling & spotlighting to explain these contrarian results: take a look!

Penn State Political Science is launching a new Semester in Washington program and we’re hiring a full-time on-site coordinator for the program, based permanently in Washington, D.C.

SPPC 2026 will be held in Chicago and has a website: www.luc.edu/politicalsci.... Hope to see you there!

NEW - Trust in the Judiciary and Partisan Reactions to Judicial Checks: Evidence from Argentina - https://cup.org/42BRe1j "judicial checks expose citizens to information that is primarily instrumental" - Martín Gandur #FirstView

#OpenAccess from @apsrjournal.bsky.social - The Path of Law: Legal Uncertainty and Issues of First Impression in the U.S. Courts of Appeals - https://cup.org/42XsrF0 - @anthonytaboni.bsky.social#OpenAccess #FirstView

Taught intro to hypothesis testing today in undergrad stats for the first time in a while and this activity is undefeated for giving the intuition for hypothesis testing: jse.amstat.org/v2n1/eckert..... Plus you can do it as a magic trick which makes it fun.

Taught intro to hypothesis testing today in undergrad stats for the first time in a while and this activity is undefeated for giving the intuition for hypothesis testing: jse.amstat.org/v2n1/eckert..... Plus you can do it as a magic trick which makes it fun.

colleagues in political science. the formal update to the Garand and Giles journal ranking survey is now live. many of you will receive an email momentarily inviting you to participate. in the event you do NOT receive an invitation, please see this website to self-enroll. thanks! sharing = caring!

More than you've ever wanted to know about the consequences executives face for defying courts, available for 20% off with discount code TEJR2025 at www.cambridge.org/core/books/e...!

JOB: psu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/PSU_Ac...

Penn State is searching at the Assistant Professor level in in American political behavior, broadly defined. We are seekign someone who can offer undergraduate and graduate courses in political methodology or social data analytics.

Penn State is searching in Comparative Politics or International Relations for someone with a focus on non-democratic politics who can offer undergraduate and graduate courses in political methodology.

📢 @davidkosar.bsky.social & Patrick Leisure introduce the concept of judicial overstay ⚖️ and argue that we should pay more attention to this transnational phenomenon 🌍. 📖 Read their new article on the IACL blog ✍️📰 🔗 blog-iacl-aidc.org/2025-posts/2...

It is that time of year where the handout I made about how to read a social science article comes in useful for faculty and students. In case it is helpful for you: mjnelson.org/Teaching/How....

Really pleased to announce that my paper "The Path of Law: Legal Uncertainty and Cases of First Impression in the U.S. Courts of Appeals" has been accepted at the APSR. The paper can be found here: anthonytaboni.com/wp-content/u...

Constitutionalism in a nutshell

Everything is awful, but a new paper with @profjvross.bsky.social provides new evidence that state court chief justices are much more like academic department chairs than ideologically-driven seekers of policy outcomes. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Attention #polisky! Apply for @utaustin.bsky.social LBJ School of Public Affairs with a focus on American Political Institutions. I'm on the committee, so please reach out with questions. See below: apply.interfolio.com/170943

@abbymatthews.bsky.social & Rachael Hinkle's analysis of judicial citations demonstrates that diversity in race, gender, *and* partisanship plays a critical role in the evolution of legal doctrine, with judges sharing all 3 salient traits experiencing a 25% increase in citation probability.

Thrilled that this book, with Driscoll and Krehbiel, is out this week. Its topic that become surprisingly relevant: under what conditions does the public punish presidents who ignore court decisions?

Historian friends: tell me about your favorite research & writing tools. As a bonus, would love to know where you learned how to use them & if you'd be interested in sharing your knowledge w/ others.

Explains when, where, and how constitutional courts help citizens hold executives to account and protect the rule of law The Efficacy of Judicial Review by Amanda Driscoll, Jay N. Krehbiel (@ubuffalo.bsky.social‬), & @mjnelson.bsky.social‬, Out Now #LawSky 💙📚 #Politics https://cup.org/4fbNxVd

Political science suggests liberals are more tolerant of the Supreme Court when it makes decisions they don't like. Kathryn Haglin, Soren Jordan, Alison Higgins Merrill and @joeura.bsky.social ask: does that still hold up with the new-look Court? Read more: journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

We are hiring at @opensecrets.org! If you are interested in working with and analyzing large datasets - and you care about government transparency and accountability - apply now to join our research team. www.opensecrets.org/about/jobs?1

For folks looking for some stats about the Court, Epstein, Martin, and I have a preliminary report on the term: static1.squarespace.com/static/60188.... Hopefully this will be useful for teaching. SCDB data update will be out in August.

New publication alert! @elizabethlane.bsky.social and I examine how the institutional interests of the Office of the Solicitor General shape its positions and the justices' reactions to them 1/3 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Voters in Mexico are going to the polls today to elect judges, from their national Supreme Court down to the local courts. This is the biggest implementation of simultaneous judicial elections anywhere.

Voters in Mexico are going to the polls today to elect judges, from their national Supreme Court down to the local courts. This is the biggest implementation of simultaneous judicial elections anywhere.

This is excellent background material on state supreme courts.

Driscoll, Krehbiel, and I have been polling with @today.yougov.com about Americans' support for defying the judiciary since the start of covid. Overall story has been stasis. But, since July, a 12% increase among Democrats in support for presidents obeying courts and a 17% drop among Republicans.

Partisan sorting, fatalism, and Supreme Court legitimacy by Nicholas T. Davis and Matthew P. Hitt is now available in Early View. @matthewhitt.bsky.social ajps.org/2025/04/28/p...

Heading your way in the July edition of the JOP! @jamilscott.bsky.social, @elizabethlane.bsky.social, and I started it as grad students. Seven years, multiple surveys, countless hours of work…we are delighted (and in mild disbelief) to see it in print! www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

its officially alive 😭 online-first: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... background: @matthewhitt.bsky.social and I struck out on an NSF in 2022, but later won a RAPID grant. the project doesnt happen w/o Reggie Sheehan at the NSF. winding journey but working w one of your best mates is a joy.

[Unnamed people, to me, circa 2009]: "Why would you study judicial elections? No one cares about them and they are not important" [Social media, circa 2025]: [Analyzing result of single spring off-cycle election in a midwestern state to generalize to the state of all contemporary American politics]

Unfortunately the public costs of contravening courts are substantively pretty small. Lots of this in Driscoll, Krehbiel's and my forthcoming CUP book (and some new data coming soon): www.cambridge.org/us/universit... (Would be happy for the public to prove us wrong!)

This was a great conversation about the implications of our upcoming book. Worth a listen!

This is dope, but courts aren't magic; their decisions aren't self-enforcing. Eisenhower sent the army to Little Rock to enforce court-ordered desegregation. Trump is poised to test whether anyone will make him abide by judicial decisions. Only substantial public pressure will hold the line.

Abortion bans and regulations have shifted to the state level of government, and the judges presiding over abortion lawsuits have become more important in determining how expansive or limited abortion rights are. @mjnelson.bsky.social #politics #abortion reprorights.substack.com/p/state-supr...

Here we go! Coming late spring (supposedly)