So thrilled to have Betsy Sinclair on campus giving the annual Charles S. Hyneman lecture. Her talk is on how AI chatbots can “prebunk” election rumors.

I’m always happy to get feedback, but… 😬

Save the date! On Friday, 4/24, from 7-8:30, the IU Department of Political Science will host a reception at MPSA to honor the career and life of our late colleague, Ted Carmines. Room announcement to come. Earlier in the day (3:20), some of Ted’s former students will host a panel in his honor.

Anger, Negative Partisanship, and Joy in the Suffering of Political Others Forthcoming at JEPOP, w/ Mary Adams Plooster. Mary is a top-notch IU PhD candidate working on abstract mental representations and how they shape partisan animosity. stevenwwebster.com/research/ang...

Featuring some of my latest research, w/ @nickbichay.bsky.social and Mary Adams Plooster.

New working paper w Mary Adams Plooster (a fantastic IU grad student) and @nickbichay.bsky.social. We draw on two survey experiments to investigate the effect of partisan anger on partisan dehumanization. We also examine heterogeneous f.x. by trait dogmatism. www.stevenwwebster.com/research/ang...

Old Dominion played IU closer than Alabama is playing them.

"The Indiana Statehouse is tense this week. Republicans on both sides of the redistricting debate have faced threats and swatting attempts. Most senators never wanted to vote on this." www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/u...

After 3 years and 5,322 emails (and counting) our Encyclopedia of Political Communication is finally out at @elgarpublishing.bsky.social 📚 Three volumes ⭐ 431 entries 🎓 581 wonderful authors from across the world A very short 🧵

‼️ New working paper ‼️ We find bipartisan appeals credibly signal policymaking intentions—on an issue-by-issue basis We show how and why bipartisan lawmaking persists amid congressional conflict: progress often comes through issue-specific pathways rather than broad consensus between Ds and Rs 🧵👇

Rage as a political strategy. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/o...

Anyone have quotes for non-opt in survey platforms? Asking for no reason, of course...

Sean presented this at the inaugural IU Center on American Politics conference. The mood in the room was ... grim.

Charles Higgins's Wikipedia page has already been updated. People move fast.

Is MSPA offering free registration for those who are only assigned to be a discussant? I seem to remember them doing this in the past, but perhaps I made this up.

Heart attack Hoosiers. 😳

Political inexperience in Congress has measurable effects on legislative outcomes. Our research finds that when districts elect political newcomers over career politicians, congressional dysfunction tends to increase. New explainer of our PNAS study: theconversation.com/amateur-hour...

Calm before the storm! Today is the day: the inaugural IU Center on American Politics Conference. Speakers: Mike Wagner, Marc Hetherington, Josh McCrain, myself, Julia Azari, Rachel Lienesch, Rachel Porter, Sean Westwood. Follow this thread for key points from talks. 🧵

This week. Bloomington, IN. 👇

First ever IU Center on American Politics conference is this week! Since it’s on Halloween, everyone gets treats.

New comprehensive exam question just dropped: do you agree or disagree with this article? www.nytimes.com/2025/10/20/o...

The fiercest squirrel hunter in all of Bloomington.

One month to go! Very excited for this event. www.iu-cap.com

This is so, so cool.

APSA panel 1: Affect and Emotions. First up is Fu and Lee, presenting on emotional reactions to foreign threats Three experiments from Taiwan, Lithuania, and Latvia. Threats elicit anxiety, anger, and fear. Can be attenuated by presence of allies and a shared sense of national identity.

Who's going to APSA?

Are we doing this again? www.nytimes.com/2025/08/29/o...

Cool paper.

Staring down the new semester.

Meaningful null findings!

Excited to announce the speaker lineup for the first ever IU Center on American Politics conference! October 31, 2025, Bloomington, IN. Guests welcome! More info available here: www.iu-cap.com/conference.h...

Unbothered.

A sad update: our colleague, Ted Carmines, has passed. He will be sorely missed.

Featuring some of my thoughts on the OBBB. An early political "win" for Trump, but the details—and the price tag—could come back to haunt him and Republicans in 2026. www.dw.com/en/donald-tr...

Trying to keep up with world events.

Accepted at POQ: "You’re Making Us Look Bad: Can Partisan Embarrassment Dampen Partisanship and Polarization?" w/ Liz Connors and Taylor Carlson elizabethchaseconnors.com/images/Embar...

"As we start to see violence overtaking American political life, the transition is more like a sunset than a light switch."

Sunday, 8 AM panel for APSA. 🫣

It’s not easy to work around here.

Big news! I have been named the new Director of the Center on American Politics at IU, which will soon be officially renamed after its founder, Ted Carmines. I've got some big plans in the works, so stay tuned.

I'm quoted in this piece from The Guardian about Democratic voters' anger at Trump—and their own leaders. www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

"It was all there at the Bernie rally: Dread, yes, but also an anger and appetite — a tremendous, largely untapped political energy looking, it seemed, for an outlet." www.nytimes.com/2025/03/24/o...

"Rage is now the defining characteristic of Trump’s Republican Party." Yes, yes it is. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/20/o...

Timeline cleanse.

Happy to be at the “Democracy and its Discontent in Europe and the US” conference at Texas A&M. Speakers: Alexa Bankert, Scott Clifford, Noam Gidron, Ariel Malka, Beth Simas, Rune Slothuus, myself, and Sean Westwood. First up is Sean Westwood: 1/🧵

Hello, Yale. What a pretty campus you have.

The most photogenic beagle.

"Campaigns of joy in an era of rage don’t win elections." www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

"... Trump has tapped into a deepening well of anger and frustration that has the potential to become the dominant force in American politics for years to come." www.nytimes.com/2024/12/11/o...