Partisan political actors are articulating---and playing out-- a lot of unusually-clear game theory right now---on gerrymandering, on court packing, and on filibuster-nuking. Stag Hunts everywhere you look! blog.mattglassman.net/partisan-sta...

Note that this proposal has nothing to do with multiparty democracy.

Governing Divided Societies, my new book with Tom Lorman and Dan Miller, is now up on the CEU Press/Amsterdam U Press website!! Start planning your pre-orders!! www.aup.nl/en/book/9789... @adriancollege.bsky.social @iwm.at @ceudeminst.bsky.social @iasceu.bsky.social

These readings cover the connection between wealth distribution and democracy (qua limited gov’t). How are they holding up? I’ve been away from this literature for a while. AJR: www.nber.org/papers/w10481 Bates: wwnorton.com/books/978039... Olson: doi.org/10.2307/2938...

New open access paper at @polcommjournal.bsky.social with @jsievert.bsky.social: we find that messages oriented towards national politics polarize people's views and evaluations of candidates and that messages stressing local matters sometimes do the opposite. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

“Stop letting candidates label themselves” cityjournal.substack.com/p/stop-letti...

now online! link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Good thread on the UK devolved nations results under two kinds of PR. Read all of it to see how they perform when one party is positioned to do well under FPTP.* The system described below is very similar to one simulated here for NYC: jacksantucci.com/nycpr. 1/2

Here is a neat film about the knowledge enterprise amidst sectarian conflict. www.imdb.com/title/tt1186...

A new ballot initiative for 2028 would repeal California’s top-two primary and revert to separate primaries by 2030. Labor unions appear supportive. This is long overdue. Top-2 creates needless chaos & often prompts parties to pick favorites to avoid getting locked out of winnable general elections

From our February Issue: How Cases Speak to One Another: Using Translation to Rethink Generalization in Political Science Research by ERICA S. SIMMONS and @nickrushsmith.bsky.social. doi.org/10.1017/S000...

(although we didn’t know then that such a system was already on the way in the US). I’ve always been haunted by that discussion and especially the below, where they note the problems of a system that doesn’t allow for institutional paths to compromise 7/

The basic idea in the current context is to ‘slice off’ the advantages coming from recent statewide actions. The proposal faces the same obstacles as any targeting partisan advantage. However, it does not ask the major parties to factionalize themselves.

Minority-party representation (MPR) to fix gerrymandering — www.voteguy.com/2025/09/25/m...

The occupational self-description labels on California's ballot are always funny. Steyer is a "climate advocate." Porter is a "consumer protection advocate." Villaraigosa is a "housing affordability advocate." Becerra is a "voting rights attorney." Hilton is a "small business owner."

Great new paper out at @ajpseditor.bsky.social. In old school terms, women have a more enhanced sense of the D term. This finding helps explain US women's higher relative turnout despite women still lagging in terms of engagement-encouraging resources. Likely esp important for Black women.

Is anyone familiar with this book? I need to get rid of stuff but am disinclined to pitch it.

#OpenAccess from @ejprjournal.bsky.social - How the coalition formation process and coalition preferences shape satisfaction with democracy - https://cup.org/4tJH2Q3 - David M. Willumsen, @simonotjes.bsky.social#OpenAccess& Michael Jankowski #FirstView

“Writing is hard.” Thrilled to share that this simple idea led to a new paper in Political Analysis! Where most text methods focus on content, I test if expression is also effortful action. I find simple measures like character counts reveal attitudes and predict voting. cup.org/4cUmoXi 1/

Will there ever be comprehensive immigration reform in the U.S.? Immigration reform remains popular, but Trump may have closed the window – for now. @egojunk.bsky.social breaks it down in his latest piece: goodauthority.org/news/will-th...

Very cool! Especially as local electoral reforms come on the menu via state VRAs

Many can learn from this current real-world situation - whether students or voters concerned about how the US gets out of its current political breakdown.

About 12 hours before the world fell apart last week, I found out that the press (not naming them yet) has agreed to send The New Lost Cause out for review when it is finished this fall. Can't wait to share it with you.

Interesting reading for fans of the ‘parliamentarism solution.’ www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edi...

My first article on politics & mental health w/ @mshepruralpolitics.bsky.social - onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/XP2QSA...

There is much to learn about how Callais is likely to play out from Shelby County. As "luck" would have it, our book on the history of the VRA and the effects of Shelby County v. Holder will be released in October. If I may be so bold, I'd encourage you to pre-order it and get yourself informed

In the last few months, several strangers have asked me to provide an expert review of their novel web applications on various political topics. This is presumably driven by AI lowering barriers to entry. I haven't had a high opinion of these apps. I need a consulting price sheet.

Institutions make their own history but not as they please. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Here are some “pracademic” thoughts on the decision from an electoral-systems nerd. open.substack.com/pub/jacksant... One key point is that I think we need to meditate on why the House does not already have 3+ parties in it.

I go back and forth on whether I should be reading drafts. Some colleagues are surprised I do this. Also, we spent several years making school too easy, and now there is a push to go in the opposite direction. 1/2

If you offer to give feedback on draft essays and find yourself making the same comments across drafts, this might be helpful. Alt text in link: www.voteguy.com/2026/04/29/h...

This is the most useful thing a person today could read on MMP. Extensive, clear explanation of basic mechanics, design variations, downstream effects, etc. @alexkeena.bsky.social, @oscarp.bsky.social, and Natasha Romero Moskala. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

We often ask who wins elections. But who decides to run? New @electoralstudies.bsky.social w/@mhayes.bsky.social: Multi-member districts ⬆️ Black candidate emergence—and political empowerment matters. We revisit assumptions about US electoral design and show who enters the pipeline—not just who wins.

A take on today’s news. Don’t shoot. It’s striking that the VRA and its amendments, etc grew out of low-polarization conditions. It’s also striking that VR degradation has grown 2x out of high-polarization conditions. No idea what’s coming, but we are headed into divided gov’t.

some grafs that are relevant to reform, drawn from our short book "supremely polarizing" (1/3)

Where I am on NPV these days. FWIW, I recently spoke with a liberal comparativist who said she’d retain presidentialism if she had a magic wand. We didn’t have time to get into the reason(s).

It’s good to see these ideas becoming more mainstream, even if the circumstances are less-than-ideal. There used to be stiff professional penalties for merely asking questions about such changes. 1/2

Oy vey Madonna

This is a big case for more than just partisan control of the House.

Polisky, if I’m not mistaken, someone once shared an overview of null findings on what does not drive far-right / radical right voting. If such a collection exists, or if you’re willing to share other important null results, I would greatly appreciate it!

Is there a good book length discussion in English about the 1989 negotiation and agreement on the original Belgian cordon sanitaire? Book chapters/long essays also welcome. Looking for details about how it played out in public at the time.

YES

Q for political theorists. Would reading Hume blow up my positivist research program? If so, why?

Stay tuned for a fun teaching tool for parties/elections-type courses…

Interesting news via Gabe Lerner's Substack. Mergers of the NCL (formerly NCL) with other local-politics advocacy groups have precedent in the 1st half of the 20th century. www.nationalcivicleague.org/the-league-i...

Some time back, at the request of @mullinmeg.bsky.social, I pulled together a whole host of maps derived from the Census of Governments that Census once published but seemingly no longer does. I’m currently sticking them in a lecture—the reason I assume most people want these maps—and so can you!