Excited to see Contours of Israeli Politics (@templeunivpress.bsky.social) included in the Middle East Institute book list this year! 🧿 t.co/6DT1MFcSU6

New Publication Alert! Check "Holidays, Religiosity, and Democratic Attitudes" by @hmridge.bsky.social doi.org/10.1163/1876...

ChapmanU Professor Hannah Ridge (Political Science) published a journal article, "Holy day surveys and political attitudes in Israel," using European Social Survey data in Politics and Religion. @hmridge.bsky.social www.cambridge.org/core/journa...

📓 New paper examining the effect of religious cues on (non)democratic attitudes. Jewish Israelis who answer questions on the Sabbath expressed more openness to non-democratic governance The effect was strongest among the 'secular' respondents (@ESS_Survey @ElectionStudyIL) doi.org/10.1163/1876...

📘Excited to see this at the Temple University Press table at #APSA2025

Tried to explain this to a senior colleague recently, who suggested I was overreacting - thanks to @abuaardvark.bsky.social for saying it more clearly and eloquently

"Figures from a classified Israeli military intelligence database indicate five out of six Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza have been civilians, an extreme rate of slaughter rarely matched in recent decades of warfare." www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...

Dear universities, I am begging you to stop requiring letters of recommendation for master's programmes. You and I both know you don't read them, so stop asking for them. Instead, have applicants list a name and get in touch if it's a borderline case. Signed, Everyone.

The trick to getting a PhD is to be the first person ever to find fascination in a deeply, insanely boring thing.

"The WHO said that both its staff residence & its main warehouse in Deir al-Balah had been attacked by Israeli forces, with soldiers detaining two staff & two of their family members before releasing three of them...which it said was “part of a pattern of systematic destruction of health facilities"

“But they didn’t do that. They lied. Repeatedly. They claimed that they didn’t see evidence of systemic abuses. They resorted to strange formulations such as “too many Palestinians have been killed,” as if there was some acceptable number that had been exceeded.” Excellent by @mattduss.bsky.social

Feeling really grateful and thankful to the Polarization Research Lab at Stanford for agreeing to fund my study with Hannah Ridge on democratic backsliding! More details to come soon.

Asymmetric Polarization: The Perception that Republicans Pose Harm to Disadvantaged Groups Drives Democrats' Greater Dislike of Republicans in Social Contexts eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/22...

When a journal reviewer says political science articles should not talk about politics, what should you talk about? Comparativesky MenaSky

Medical journals like the Lancet have been publishing articles a/b the Gaza Ministry of Health numbers’ reliability since fall 23. Given scale of destruction & recording methods, they were always undercounts. Outside numbers underestimate civilian death b/c they treat all adult men as combatants.

“Massive #s of students are going to emerge... who are essentially illiterate. Both in the literal sense and in the sense of being historically illiterate + having no knowledge of their own culture, much less anyone else’s.” This isn't the only reason AI is bad, but it's why it is bad for students.

Excellent new paper on the psychological trait of authoritarianism on political attitudes and voting 🚨

Every day the question, “If he was intentionally trying to kill people and destroy the economy, what would he being doing differently?” goes unanswered.

An important takeaway from our research is that people are more likely to discount (or downplay) extreme messages (such as: we are going to install a dictatorship) when the party is normalized. Let's not normalize radical parties; stigmatization works.

Politics and Religion - Volume 18 - Issue 1 - cup.org/4lCxO4s #OpenAccess w/ papers by @joribreslawski.bsky.social, @jpsteinmann.bsky.social, @hmridge.bsky.social, @lordrichie.bsky.social, @gertpickel.bsky.social & more

King: listen, if I have to, you know, *prove* stuff against each person I want to deprive of liberty, then I won’t be able to deprive as many people of liberty! American Founders: Exactly. And, just to be clear, we’re going to write this part down.

Websites tracking the student visa revocations and ICE abductions on college campuses www.wearehighered.org/campus-abduc...

“The tariffs, like the shuttering of USAID before it, are going to disproportionately hurt not only American allies — but precisely the sectors and companies (like Tunisian olive oil) which American development aid has spent years supporting and promoting” writes @abuaardvark.bsky.social

Muslim ≠ Arab and vice versa...but for many, ethnicity and religion become conjoined in what's termed "ethnodoxy." Do people who share this view more strongly have different attitudes about immigration? @hmridge.bsky.social explains her findings in this video: youtu.be/Sz6417k0nGE?...

Many “savvy” folks argue protests can’t work. Evidence suggests otherwise. “Muslim ban set off a fury of protests across US, garnering tremendous media attention and discussion… Portraying ‘Ban’ at odds with inclusive elements of American identity prompted some citizens to shift their attitudes…”

There goes the Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) program. Because why would it be important for students to learn critical languages and gain experiences and understanding of other countries? 😭

They’re detaining and deporting lawful residents for engaging in free speech they disagree with. It’s tyranny zeteo.com/p/breaking-d...

Using ESS survey data, this study shows that people (*even "secular" people*) have different opinions on issues like women's rights and immigration during holidays t.co/KiyVSIR4mQ

To say that past year was a watershed moment in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is an understatement.

U.S. states with higher state capacity had better Covid-19 outcomes PolDataSky behavioursky www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

"'This year’s restrictions are different, said Lieberwitz, who previously described the new rules as 'a resurgence of repression on campuses that we haven’t seen since the late 1960s.'"

My new book (Contours of Israeli Politics, w/ Temple University Press) will officially be released in November 2024. It shows that Ashkenormativity influences public opinion on a wide array of issues. tupress.temple.edu/books/contou... (promo F24NEW)

What do survey takers hear when we say democracy? Using BrightLineWatch data and Blackbox transpose analysis, this article shows that Americans' democracy evaluations reflect liberal democracy more so than institutional democracy. tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... Regimesky behaviorsky

Some people believe that being Arab and being Muslim are inherently related identities (ethnodoxy) This article identifies a short survey scale to measure that belief "Measuring Ethnodoxy in Egypt and Morocco" www.religjournal.com/articles/art...

Back at UChicago to discuss my book "Defining Democracy" (Lynne Rienner Publishers) with my former home, the Pozen Family Center for Human Right

Dictatorsky Comparativesky MenaSky

While public opinion on wasta varies, many see it as corrupt(ing). Widespread wasta decreases citizens' gov't satisfaction & increases interest in democracy (dimuqratiyya) (Arab Barometer, MELG) Wasta and Democratic Attitudes in the Middle East doi.org/10.1163/1876...

***ASREC Graduate Student Workshop*** February 29-March 2, 2024 Chapman University Orange, CA An excellent introduction to the economics of religion by Jared Rubin, Jeanet Bentzen, Jean-Paul Carvalho & Avital Livny Apply here by November 10: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Hey my paper on Arab Israeli normalization and illiberal peace has a link! academic.oup.com/isagsq/artic...

Thanks for the shout-out @victorasal.bsky.social! This piece offers lots of advice for making an UG research experience work in a variety of settings. Even more in the supplementary materials. Plus evidence of the positive impact the program can have on students! And it's Open Access! polisky

Newly released from Lynne Rienner Publishers "Defining Democracy: Democratic Commitment in the Arab World"