Excited to share my latest publication out today at Theory and Social Inquiry! I use tools from cultural sociology to study the performance of nonpartisanship in local government. Check it out!: www.theoryandsocialinquiry.org/article/id/1...

Katherine Jensen, @bwitkovsky.bsky.social, and Monika Krause's article, “Human Rights as a Lay Category of Thought,” was the featured Socius article in the ASA Journals Newsletter. Listen to the accompanying podcast about the article here. www.asanet.org/publications... @asanews.bsky.social

As Jess says, @sadiemdempsey.bsky.social’s incredible work on the social and emotional dimensions of political participation is going to be critical to rebuilding our movements going forward!

Fascinating work in the WWI era on the weaponization of this new nonpartisanship. Nonpartisanship is a "capacious category and can be exploited by different actors."

@uwsoc.bsky.social team @bwitkovsky.bsky.social and Carter Burg present on the production of nonpartisanship in Prog Era Wisc. Benny's dissertation sheds even more light on how "nonpartisan local governance was always the product of political parties, partisan conflict, and partisan institutions."

Another outstanding @asapolisoc.bsky.social panel on Electoral Politics. #asa2025

In the aftermath of the Minnesota attacks, how can communities respond to the growing threat of political violence? @samajones.bsky.social and Roudabeh Kishi offer a range of ideas, from expanding access to security funding to collaborative threat monitoring www.justsecurity.org/114944/minne...

Cooperation agreements between Wisconsin Counties and ICE have nearly doubled since Trump's second inauguration. (In other news, I'm learning how to use Tableau).

💬 How do people think about #HumanRights? New #Socius research by Drs. Jensen, Krause, and @bwitkovsky.bsky.social finds #freedom of speech as a cognitive prototype, with civil & political rights leading in the U.S. Key insights for #CognitiveSociology: doi.org/10.1177/2378...

Interesting article on the perceptions of human rights. Studying the meanings of human rights for ordinary individuals is absolutely necessary for transnational advocacy.

New publication out today in @sociusjournal.bsky.social! In " Human Rights as a Lay Category of Thought," Katherine Jensen, Monika Krause, and I map how the American public think about what counts as a human right. journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

So happy this paper accepted to ASA! Get ready to hear all about a 1912 special election for Racine City Council and Progressive Era conflicts over nonpartisanship!

Working with Wisconsin Humanities the last few years has been such an honor. I don't know another organization with such deep commitments to serving, representing, and sharing the stories of every community in our state. Defunding humanities councils is such a self-destructive move.

I am thrilled to share that I’ve accepted a position as the Wisconsin State Lead/Senior Research Specialist at the Bridging Divides Initiative at Princeton University. Feeling incredibly lucky to get to do this work while still living in and serving the state that I love!

My recent paper provides a particular lens on the upcoming local elections in Wisconsin. Candidates for county office must contend with the increasing polarization between their rural and urban constituents.

Benny Witkovsky (@bwitkovsky.bsky.social) published "Cities and Their Neighbors: Examining Rural-Urban Polarization on A Local Scale" in @urbanaffairsreview.bsky.social. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

I start my Soc of Race classes asking students whether UW Madison "feels" diverse (a question I stole from @pamelaoliver.bsky.social). At 68% white, UW is by far the most racially mixed institution many in WI will encounter. That's why it can be the target of so much anti-DEI fear-mongering.

I have a paper with a whole section about backyard chickens and performative conservative politics! It checks so many boxes for the new conservative coalition: libertarianism (keep gov inspectors off my land), MAHA (don't trust store bought eggs), trad gender roles and self sufficiency.

Just submitted a paper to ASA co-authored with an undergrad and they were SO excited. Definitely the energy I needed this week.

It's election day in Wisconsin! I'm thinking today about all of the races that won't be on the ballot. Only a small fraction of local elections require a primary because no one runs for local office. That is a real threat to the health of local government: bennywitkovsky.com/2025/02/17/w...

We lost my mom’s partner this weekend. The Cap Times wrote a bit today about the legacy he leaves for Wisconsin, law, and politics.

Tomorrow are Wisconsin's nonpartisan primaries--sort of. Across Wisconsin cities, only 1 in 9 city council and mayors races require a primary. Check out my latest on how the lack of primaries threatens the nature of nonpartisanship: bennywitkovsky.com/2025/02/17/w...

This is one of my big questions for local government in the Trump Era. Many local governments now face deep internal divisions. Which sheriffs, mayors, school boards, etc. resist federal government demands and which capitulate will, I suspect, be shaped by this local geographic polarization.

I am so excited to share my new publication (my first solo-authored paper!) in @urbanaffairsreview.bsky.social! This piece documents the growing partisan divide between neighboring rural and urban communities in Wisconsin and its impact on local governments. 🧵 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

New article @urbanaffairsreview.bsky.social by @bwitkovsky.bsky.social, "Cities and Their Neighbors," a highly topical analysis of the urban-rural divide in Wisconsin. urbanaffairsreview.com/uar-archive/...

The volume on my hotel TV is broken and half the channels are paid advertisements for hearing aids. Greatest con ever.

I wrote in the recent @asatheory.bsky.social newsletter that the Second Trump administration will test Tocqueville's promise that local government can be a roadblock for domination, and of Wright's hope for building a better world in the cracks of this one. asatheory.com/current-news...

I had an amazing time presenting my research on county parties and nonpartisan elections to the Portage County Democratic Party last night. Great to see this work resonate with people on the ground. Would love to speak to more parties (Democrats and Republicans) and community groups this season!

Paper accepted at @urbanaffairsreview.bsky.social!! Best possible way to start the new year!

Wisconsin's nonpartisan election season officially begins today! Here are three things I'll be watching for as local candidates manage this new moment in partisan politics: bennywitkovsky.com/2025/01/06/t...

As we reflect on January 6th, re-upping this piece my coauthors (led by @sadiemdempsey.bsky.social) and I published last year on the role of local political parties in building the StopTheSteal movement, an infrastructure that remains almost entirely intact: journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

I have spent way too much time trying to figure out the structure of local government of Zootopia.

Who knows what will happen, but I'll always be grateful to the jobs that sent out interview requests the day before Thanksgiving and the day before Winter Break. Sending me into the holidays on a high note.

Wordle Bot was feeling the end of the semester yesterday...

Watching a school shooting unfold in a community I know so well, with leaders I’ve studied for years, I’m struck by their quiet rage today. There are responses to what happened in Madison today that have been foreclosed by state and federal leaders for decades.

Prosser was the last Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice to have been a state legislator: a jump from partisan to nonpartisan office that somehow feels both more and less likely going forward. www.wispolitics.com/2024/mon-am-...

Just to clarify, I am NOT Ben Wikler. I’m the OTHER Ben W who grew up on Madison’s west side, went to Wingra, and was West High student council president. Please don’t vote for me for DNC chair. Ben is great though.

Wisconsin politics friends -- With the April elections coming, I want to share my research on the history and current state of nonpartisan politics with local parties and community groups. I have a couple talks scheduled, but would love to do more. Reach out if you're interested!

R&R on a dissertation paper!!

Last spring I wrote a curriculum on hate crimes in Wisconsin. Today watched 500 high school students in a small town use it to start conversations about addressing hate and discrimination in their community. Any Wisconsin educators on here, check it out! communitypoweredwi.org/stand-up-to-...

At least in Wisconsin, the Democratic Party is stronger, more organized, and more engaged in local life than Republicans in most communities. Local civic organizations today are much closer to the Democratic Party. The problem for Democrats is that a lot of voters hate local politics too!

Revisions submitted before election results on Tuesday could disprove the findings of my paper!

Beyond this being excellent, worth noting that Petri is the daughter of a Republican who represented Wisconsin’s Fox Valley for nearly 40 years before retiring after a primary threat from the fringe Right. Tom Petri has also rejected Trump.

Fascinating look at how January 6 mobilization was not only done by national forces but local county parties also mobilized via Facebook by @sadiemdempsey.bsky.social @jianingli.bsky.social @bwitkovsky.bsky.social Wang @prowag.bsky.social @dvshah.bsky.social doi.org/10.1177/0032...

Local political parties can play major roles in spreading dangerous claims that can lead to political violence. Our piece in The Conversation, summarizing a new peer-reviewed publication.

Excited to share a new piece on how worrying claims of 2024 election fraud mirror patterns from four years ago, out today at @theconversation.bsky.social with @sadiemdempsey.bsky.social @prowag.bsky.social and @jianingli.bsky.social: theconversation.com/swing-state-...

🌟Publication Day🌟 Excited to share a new paper with @sadiemdempsey.bsky.social and the UW CCCR team on the local roots of Stop the Steal and January 6th out in Politics & Society: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

I write about similar policies in my dissertation on nonpartisanship. It becomes nearly impossible for institutions to draw lines around "matters of public concern or controversy." Does recognizing Pride Month violate this policy? Black History Month? Veterans Day?

Incredibly honored and excited to share that I received the ASA Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant for my dissertation on nonpartisan city politics in Wisconsin! www.asanet.org/academic-pro...

It’s my tradition to end Passover by baking bread. This year I am thinking about how war in Gaza has made bread a matter of life and death for so many Palestinians.