Neon Liberalism #62: Samantha and guest Professor Xavier Márquez talk the nature of non-democratic politics, and why the concept of "personalism" is the key to understanding the dynamics and dysfunctions of the second Trump administration. www.liberalcurrents.com/neon-liberal...

Read @adamgurri.liberalcurrents.com applying @marquezxavier.bsky.social’s insights to Trump, published in December 2024 www.liberalcurrents.com/americas-pat...

You are required to listen to this @sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com interview of @marquezxavier.bsky.social, the Liberal Currents High Council has issued the order, you cannot understand our Party Line without doing so.

New version (0.6.0) of my #rstats package {democracyData} xmarquez.github.io/democracyData/ with @freedomhouse.bsky.social data to 2024, as well as several other sources, plus minor improvements all around

New version (0.6.0) of my #rstats package {democracyData} xmarquez.github.io/democracyData/ with @freedomhouse.bsky.social data to 2024, as well as several other sources, plus minor improvements all around

"how do you show your loyalty? By paying the costs of humiliation. The more grotesquely over the top your praise, the more credible it is as a signal of support for Dear Leader." www.programmablemutter.com/p/short-post...

On the Political Roots of Academic Freedom open.substack.com/pub/digressi...

To @jonrauch.bsky.social, @jeffkopstein.bsky.social, and @frankfukuyama.bsky.social, I say: not *just* patrimonialism, but all the facets of personalism (drawing on @marquezxavier.bsky.social) www.liberalcurrents.com/americas-pat...

I am keeping a diary of daily events, as they unfold open.substack.com/pub/adamprze... It is available to everyone. I am new to Substack, so please let me know if something is wrong with the link or the file.

Everyone needs to know @marquezxavier.bsky.social theory of 'flattery inflation' (short version here - abandonedfootnotes.blogspot.com/2011/12/flat..., academic version papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... )

Two books I recommend right now: -Non-Democratic Politics by @marquezxavier.bsky.social -Waging a Good War by Thomas E. Ricks I am following the daily coverage though. I try to focus on coverage that talks in detail about what specific things they are doing vs simply repeating what they're saying

“These regimes are characterized by high levels of de-institutionalization, where formal authority is no longer a good guide to the location of power.” - @marquezxavier.bsky.social on patrimonial regimes, in “The Mechanisms of Personalization” www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

This is now officially published open access!

#OpenAccess from The Review of Politics - Ancient Tyranny and Modern Dictatorship - cup.org/4hxkLyk - @marquezxavier.bsky.social

And now this is actually officially out, over a year later, open access here: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Trump’s threats and actions are not subtle but per @marquezxavier.bsky.social we can treat the authoritarian threat component distinctly from the risk of expanding his personal power in office, the most proximate risk right now www.liberalcurrents.com/americas-pat...

Today I draw on @marquezxavier.bsky.social’s recent work on how individuals can turn political systems into systems of personal rule. It provides valuable lens for understanding how Trump operates.

And now the paper is officially published, free eprint here: www.tandfonline.com/eprint/V8C8T...

Pairs with www.programmablemutter.com/p/how-chaoti...

And now the paper is officially published, free eprint here: www.tandfonline.com/eprint/V8C8T...

New paper! "The Mechanisms of Personalization", forthcoming in Democratization. #polisky #dictatorsky papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

New paper! "The Mechanisms of Personalization", forthcoming in Democratization. #polisky #dictatorsky papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

polisky

This paper is now officially out, open access here journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

New paper! "Max Weber, Demagogy, and Political Representation" , now accepted at the European Journal of Political Theory (on my birthday!) ssrn.com/abstract=469... Polisky

New paper! "Max Weber, Demagogy, and Political Representation" , now accepted at the European Journal of Political Theory (on my birthday!) ssrn.com/abstract=469... Polisky

Snarking on OpenAI here is fun and does little harm. But in real life, copyright maximalism a) will not stop corporate AI (they have work-arounds) b) will make it harder for academics and open-access people to do all kinds of culturally necessary work. So we need to think about other solutions.

dictatorsky as well

New polisky paper! "Ancient Tyranny and Modern Dictatorship", now forthcoming at the Review of Politics: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Interesting piece on the illusion of explanatory depth and the development of science by Adam Mastroianni www.experimental-history.com/p/on-the-imp...

I’d be here even if Elon hadn’t ruined Twitter, because I believe ppl deserve power over the algorithms that structure their worlds. In that spirit, three current favorite feeds. “For You” is a personalized feed that seems to give you posts from several “circles” it detects you belong to. 1/3

This week on the blog: The Senate! We take a look at the Senate of the Roman Republic (particularly in the third and second centuries, the height of its auctoritas) and its membership, procedures and prerogatives. acoup.blog/2023/09/22/c...

Hi @salahbhpolisci.bsky.social could I be added to dictatorsky? Thanks!

Hi polisky! I am happy to share good news. We are Good Authority, a blog that brings insights from political science to a broader audience–from the team that brought you The Monkey Cage (TMC). Our free, independent website will launch in late September. Sign up to be notified: goodauthority.org

https://programmablemutter.substack.com/p/fully-automated-data-driven-authoritarianism?sd=pf Fully automated data driven authoritarianism ain't what it's cracked up to be.