Hey #poltheory and #polisky folks, check out this new book on Democracy and Competition from @britishacademy.bsky.social and @livunipress.bsky.social, which I edited with @alfredmoore.bsky.social - www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10....

The new V-Dem report was released today. There are dramatic declines in democracy in the US. Much worse than during Trump I.

He knows he can't say the truth, but it's slipping out anyway and that's the whole thing; "DEI"—like wokeness, like critical race theory before it, and political correctness before that—has always and only ever meant "establishing equality by leveling traditional ascriptive hierarchies"

This is how our government has been corrupted: 1) Donors give huge sums to elect politicians 2) Elected officials rewrite rules in donors' favor 3) Donors make huge profit 4) Repeat We must get big money out of politics. It’s the root of all evil in Washington.

"No politically correct wars". To what wars is he referring?

A great idea for a workshop, organised by a great group of people in York, on the challenges of designing political theory curricula: philevents.org/event/show/1.... Of interest I would guess across @psapolthought.bsky.social @biapt.bsky.social @ecpr-nptmethods.bsky.social

Democracy dies in billionaire's hands

Putin pioneered this. No opposition is legitimate. Regular, decent, “ordinary” people cannot possibly be against us because only we represent “the real people.” Tell-tale sign of authoritarianism.

V. informative piece on the total entwinement of the digital content creation & physical force wings of Trumpist authoritarianism. Things aren’t as elaborated in the U.K. but elements of a bespoke version are taking shape: digital & mainstream amplifying & police protest powers radically enhanced.

The USSR invaded Czechoslovakia in 1968, kidnapping the country’s leaders. In 1956, the Soviet Union invaded Hungary and had its leader executed. Of course, the Soviet Union was not a democracy, but a single party regime ruled by elderly hypocrites.

Wie wird Europa digital souverän? Philipp Hacker von der @europeannewschool.bsky.social an der #Viadrina warnt: „Es gibt noch massiv Luft nach oben.“ Im SWR-Interview spricht er von mehr Investitionen, einer nachhaltigen Infrastruktur und eine Talentstrategien – damit Europa unabhängiger wird 👇

Paper suggests users are “unaware of the extent of the AI’s influence, rendering them more susceptible to it … a mechanism wherein AI systems amplify biases, which are further internalized by humans, triggering a snowball effect where small errors in judgement escalate into much larger ones.” (2024)

📢 CfP 2026 ECPR Joint Sessions! Curious how normative theory and empirical research can inform each other — and keen for thorough feedback? Join our #ECPRJS26 workshop “Between Norms and Evidence” in beautiful Innsbruck, 7–10 April 2026 🌄 🔗 shorturl.at/BZbC0 📬 Deadline: 3 Dec 2025 @ecpr.bsky.social

Slobodian on places like The Line is good www.dezeen.com/2025/10/22/q...

"The AI Con reminds us that the fight over AI is not only about technology. It’s also about language, labor, and the stories we choose to tell about the future, which we can humanize rather than surrender to the myriad ways mass automation dehumanizes." lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-...

I am in Bristol this evening (15 September) if anyone wants to join!! www.headfirstbristol.co.uk/whats-on/boo...

Interesting keynote by @claesdevreese.bsky.social at the @weizenbauminstitut.bsky.social #WIConf2025. Something to follow: consequences of combination of AI and social media for election transparency - a boost in the creation and spread of misinformation.