The pace at which US wealth concentration is rising is simply staggering
The concentration of AI wealth into the hands of a few tech barons + plutocratic capture ==> unchartered territory
This @bostonreview.bsky.social piece by @adambonica.bsky.social and @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social is an absolute must-read, as are many of the responses to it.
Spread this one far and wide.
In a gloomy time, this is a fabulous piece by my (much younger) colleague, Adam Bonica--and more evidence why Stanford Poli. Sci. is the top-ranked department, bar none (though entre nous I also think those kinds of rankings are a tad goofy).
data4democracy.substack.com/p/the-wall-l...
Study after study shows campaign ads barely move the needle. So where does money’s real power come from? I ranked the five ways money corrupts politics—from least to most corrosive. What I’ve learned from 15 years of tracking political money:
Zohran Mamdani’s victory was rooted in organizations that took up the base-building and mobilization functions that once fell to parties. dissentmagazine.org/online_artic...
NYT pushed its “Dems must go moderate” take again yesterday. In a new piece out today, @adambonica.bsky.social shows even more clearly why the data don’t support it. It also shows what a skilled empiricist and teacher Adam is.
Very proud of my pal’s public work.
open.substack.com/pub/data4dem...
Great paper that captures the main effect of US constitutional institutions: minority veto power.
"Most representational failures occur because Congress failed to pass a popular bill, rather than because it passed a bill that the public did not want."
Just published in @jpube.bsky.social:
"Old money: Campaign finance and gerontocracy in the United States"
By @adambonica.bsky.social & @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#econsky #publiceconomics
Excellent piece from @gelliottmorris.com explaining why Matt Yglesias' insistence on the importance of political moderation by Democratic candidates is so off-base.
The bottom line: The effect is small and uncertain, and it's *far* outweighed by other factors, like just being a good fundraiser!
@adambonica.bsky.social and I are economists now (economist salary coming soon, I imagine)
Ungated until the end of September: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Even as small donors flooded in, campaign finance inequality hit record highs in 2024. For the first time, the top 0.01% (1 in 10K voters) share exceeds 50% of $s. The top 400 donors now exceed 25%.
Citizens United opened the door, but soaring wealth inequality is what's driving these extremes.
Glad to share a symposium on my book "How the Radical Right Has Changed Capitalism and Welfare" with SER: academic.oup.com/ser/advance-....
Featuring @alexandreafonso.bsky.social, @vapunkt.bsky.social, @ankehassel.bsky.social, @danielk24.bsky.social, @gscheiring.bsky.social, & rejoinder by myself 👇
The painting "La liberté" (c.1793-1794) by Nanine Vallain
1/2 Out now! "Independence, Globality, and the Battle of Ideas: A Dialogue on Liberty" by Quentin Skinner (@qmul.bsky.social) & @tomaashby.bsky.social (@utokyoofficial.bsky.social), a wide-ranging, scholarly, & full-length discussion article - the first at GIH! www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
New blog post about Lords reform. How ideas about semi parliamentary systems can give a clear purpose to change alexparsons.co.uk/blog/posts/s...
In 2013, I argued that social democracy must be reinvented outside of the current “social democratic” parties and the past decade has only strengthened my beliefs.
We need a Gramscian approach, which is neither opposed nor subservient to party politics!
Title of the convening with an image of a donkey superimposed over maps of Massachusetts and California
Really excited about this online convening May 19-20 to better understand the contemporary challenges and opportunities of Democratic governance in blue trifectas. Important for housing, climate, inflation, and so much more -- especially today! Register: t.co/Pm4bIJHn1O
Plutopopulism: Wealth and Trump’s Financial Base SEAN KATES, ERIC MANNING, TALI MENDELBERG and OMAR WASOW Comparative scholarship suggests authoritarian candidates often rely on backing from the wealthy. The wealthy are also said to play an important role in American campaign finance. Studies of Donald Trump, however, found that he drew significant support from white Americans with less education and privilege. We evaluate wealthy and non-wealthy Americans’ financial support for Trump, compared to other candidates, by constructing a comprehensive dataset of property values matched to contributions and voter files. We find Trump underperformed among wealthy Republican donors while mobilizing new non-wealthy donors. Trump also diversified the donorate, especially by education. That is, Trump built an unusual coalition of wealthy and non-wealthy donors. Our results support an alternative, “plutopopulist” model of Trump’s financial base.
Is America an oligarchy?
Bernie and AOC say yes, touring the country to “Fight Oligarchy.” Other Democratic leaders aren’t so sure.
With the debate heating up, I wanted to share a few insights from our recent paper on who’s funding American politics. 🧵 cup.org/4cfm0Az
🗳️ Populism is a warning sign.
English local elections show it again: People feel abandoned & look scapegoats.
Drawing on own research & others, I argue 👇🏽
💡 To counter populism: We need to reinvest in citizens, e.g. housing, health & dignity.
Short 🧵
📖 www.socialeurope.eu/to-counter-p...
We're in an age of surging right-wing populism here in the US and around the globe, threatening democracy and growth. Should policymakers care? And how should they respond? In an essay for @equitablegrowth.bsky.social, Shayna Strom and I answer these questions: equitablegrowth.org/designing-ec... 1/
Graphic for the Roosevelt Institute featuring text "Restoring Economic Democracy: Progressive Ideas for Stability and Prosperity" on a two-tone teal background.
NEW: Americans need a government that delivers stability and security—not chaos.
Our new essay collection brings together great minds to imagine how democracy can better deliver the economy Americans need and want. rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...
An entertaining (and broadly correct) piece on "equality vs equity" from Joe Heath.
I may use this as a short intro reading next time I teach "luck egalitarianism versus relational egalitarianism".
(I don't think he's fair to relational egalitarianism towards the end, but ... that's unsurprising.)
Are lobbyists influential? The public sure thinks so, but applied political science since lobbying registration data emerged (late 90s) struggled to produce evidence that it does. In new review @wmjunk.bsky.social @heathbrown.bsky.social and I chart a wave of research showing that lobbying matters.
We use the newly released 2024 CES preliminary release data to show that non-voters are majority Democratic and majority for Harris.
3/n
"Trump underperformed among wealthy Republican donors while mobilizing new non-wealthy donors. Trump also diversified the donorate, especially by education. That is, Trump built an unusual coalition of wealthy and non-wealthy donors."
1/🧵 "More voters help Republicans" is reshaping Dem strategy after 2024. We put this claim to the test with a deep dive into voter files and survey data. Results? Non-voters remain disproportionately Democratic while GOP simply turns out their base better.
4 pp of screenshots of table of contents: 1Introduction: Of Constitutions and Constitutional TheoryRichard Bellamy and Jeff King Part IValues 2Human DignityJeremy Waldron 3RightsRowan Cruft 4EqualityAnnabelle Lever 5LibertyPhilip Pettit 6Well-BeingSarah Conly 7Self-GovernmentThomas Christiano 8Justice: Procedural and SubstantiveRainer Forst 9RecognitionHelder De Schutter Part IIModalities 10ImpartialityMatthew H. Kramer 11Constitutional LegitimacyNomi Claire Lazar 12SovereigntyDavid Dyzenhaus 13Constituent PowerMartin Loughlin 14RepresentationNadia Urbinati 15DeliberationSimone Chambers 16OppositionGrégoire Webber 17The Separation of PowersJacob T. Levy 18The Rule of LawJeff King 19Constitutional ConventionsJon Elster 20SecularismCécile Laborde 21Constitutional ReviewChristoph Möllers 22Constitutional InterpretationTimothy Endicott 23ProportionalityGeorge Letsas 24Civil DisobedienceCandice Delmas 25Constitutional EntrenchmentN. W. Barber 26Emergency PowersKarin Loevy 27RegulationJulia Black 28Cost–Benefit AnalysisMatthew Adler 29RevolutionNimer Sultany continued in alt text of #2
4 pp of table of contents , divided into the alt text of first two screenshots Part IIIInstitutions AThe State 30The StateAnna-Bettina Kaiser 31The Material ConstitutionMarco Goldoni 32FederalismStephen Tierney 33ConsociationalismJoseph Lacey and Nenad Stojanović 34CorporatismSteven Klein 35Guarantor (or the So-called “Fourth Branch”) InstitutionsTarunabh Khaitan 36Central BanksJens van ’t Klooster BThe Executive 37Presidentialism, Parliamentarism, and Their HybridsSteffen Ganghof 38PrerogativeThomas Poole 39The Administrative StateBlake Emerson 40Executive RulemakingSusan Rose-Ackerman CThe Democratic System 41Constituent AssembliesJoel Colón-Ríos 42CitizenshipElizabeth F. Cohen and Cyril Ghosh 43ElectionsDaniel Weinstock 44Political PartiesJonathan White and Lea Ypi 45LegislaturesRichard Ekins 46ReferendumsSilvia Suteu 47Citizens’ Juries/MinipublicsCristina Lafont DThe Legal System 48Constitutional Courts and Supreme CourtsChristine Landfried 49Judicial IndependenceDavid Kosař and Samuel Spáč 50Bills of RightsRichard Bellamy 51Administrative LawFarrah Ahmed 52Horizontal EffectOliver Gerstenberg EThe Global System 53Global and National ConstitutionalismCarmen E. Pavel 54Regional IntegrationTurkuler Isiksel 55International OrganisationsAnne Peters Part IVChallenges for Constitutional Democracy 56InequalityRoberto Gargarella 57PopulismPaul Blokker 58Climate ChangeJocelyn Stacey 59MigrationSarah Song 60Constitutional HardballMark Tushnet
www.cambridge.org/core/books/c...
The Cambridge Handbook of Constitutional Theory is now available electronically.
@rbellamy.bsky.social @nomiclairelazar.bsky.social @alixabeth.bsky.social inter alia
My book is now officially out! How Politicians Polarize introduces and documents the concept of "negative representation" – when representatives focus on the other side rather than their own.
Some key findings: 🧵
www.amazon.com/How-Politici...
"Centre-left parties have to be resolutely focussed on the lives of ordinary working-class voters."
#BlogVersion of @claire-ainsley.bsky.social's article on the lessons drawn from the challenges that centre-left parties have faced around the world.
God knows we all need solidarity cocktails! Friends of Theory&Event, it's time for our Annual Cocktail Party at the @wpsa.bsky.social conference. Friday April 18 5:30-7:30, Art Marble 21 in Seattle.
Now out!!
The ethics of asylum with
@rebeccabuxton.bsky.social www.politicalphilosophypodcast.com/asylum
The politics of immigration with
@robfordmancs.bsky.social www.politicalphilosophypodcast.com/ukim
