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Francisco Garfias

@fgarfias

Associate Prof of Political Science at Duke University http://franciscogarfias.com/

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20.09.2023
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Latest posts by Francisco Garfias @fgarfias

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UC San Diego Launches Nonpartisan Center to Build Trust in US Elections The Center for Transparent and Trusted Elections, with the support of a $2.5 million grant from the Election Trust Initiative, will test new ways to strengthen public confidence in U.S. elections acro...

Excited to share the launch of my new center at UCSD focused on trust and transparency in U.S. elections. We will be supporting research on election administration and voter confidence through research-practice partnerships. More to come! today.ucsd.edu/story/uc-san...

09.10.2025 18:01 πŸ‘ 21 πŸ” 8 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

Some schools will be starved of resources. Other schools will be offered bribes. The end goal is the same. To make the universities an extension of the Trump administration. Shame on any of these institutions willing to take the bribes.

02.10.2025 01:37 πŸ‘ 2040 πŸ” 747 πŸ’¬ 50 πŸ“Œ 57
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Columbia Expels, Suspends Student Protesters The move comes during reports that the institution is nearing a deal with the Trump administration to restore hundreds of millions in federal funding.

An incredible embarrassment for an educational institution: www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

01.08.2025 17:10 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Best thing I’ve read on the assault on higher education.

For the history books, whoever will be writing them.

24.07.2025 21:03 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Opinion | Columbia’s Administrators Are Fooling Themselves

A timely and trenchant piece by Suresh Naidu. When future generations sift through the wreckage of our era, they’ll find it strewn with the institutional and personal failures of leaders both great and small.

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/o...

24.07.2025 03:16 πŸ‘ 122 πŸ” 46 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 9
Home Page - A Political Science Experiment

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🚨 A new kind of political science textbook has arrivedβ€”and it might just disrupt the entire textbook industry. It’s called A Political Science Experiment, and here’s why you should care. πŸ‘‡
πŸ”— politicsexperiment.com

16.07.2025 14:06 πŸ‘ 38 πŸ” 11 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

At the same time, saying goodbye to UC San Diego is bittersweet. I will miss amazing colleagues and close friends, to whom I’m very grateful.

01.07.2025 16:23 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1

I officially start at Duke today. I am thrilled to join and look forward to new collaborations and to engaging with colleagues and students.

01.07.2025 16:23 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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The Making of America: migration in colonial times By Leticia Arroyo-Abad (CUNY) and Jose-Antonio Espin-Sanchez (Yale)

Check out our article in Broadstreet about our ambitious project!

www.broadstreet.blog/p/the-making...

14.04.2025 14:20 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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The Attack on International Students New surveillance and punishment systems are a warning to us all

New, from me: Marco Rubio used to boast that he was banned from China, calling it a totalitarian state.

Now he combines a) new surveillance capabilities to monitor and punish international students, with b) little accountability or due process. 🧡
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-attack...

13.04.2025 14:46 πŸ‘ 2058 πŸ” 646 πŸ’¬ 101 πŸ“Œ 67

β€œIf universities are not willing to stand up for the free speech and academic freedom of their students and faculty, then what, if any, values do they stand for?”

cc @ucsandiego.bsky.social @ucnewsroom.bsky.social

13.04.2025 23:27 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Universities Should Challenge Trump's Speech-Based Deportations of Students in Court [Updated] The Trump administration has been detaining and trying to deport immigrant and foreign students for their First-Amendment protected speech. That

@ucsandiego.bsky.social should follow the Tufts Fletcher faculty recommendation that universities join forces to file a class action suit against this administration.

reason.com/volokh/2025/...

05.04.2025 04:14 πŸ‘ 69 πŸ” 22 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
Excerpt from Rutgers University Senate resolution calling for a Mutual Academic Defense Compact. The excerpt reads:

"BE IT RESOLVED THAT, the Rutgers University Senate urges the President of Rutgers University to formally propose and help establish a Mutual Academic Defense Compact (MADC) among all members of the Big Ten Academic Alliance;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT, under this compact, all participating institutions shall commit meaningful funding to a shared or distributed defense fund. This fund shall be used to provide immediate and strategic support to any member institution under direct political or legal infringement;"

Excerpt from Rutgers University Senate resolution calling for a Mutual Academic Defense Compact. The excerpt reads: "BE IT RESOLVED THAT, the Rutgers University Senate urges the President of Rutgers University to formally propose and help establish a Mutual Academic Defense Compact (MADC) among all members of the Big Ten Academic Alliance; BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT, under this compact, all participating institutions shall commit meaningful funding to a shared or distributed defense fund. This fund shall be used to provide immediate and strategic support to any member institution under direct political or legal infringement;"

This exciting resolution from Rutgers University Senate is exactly the kind of model I think higher ed needs: a mutual defense pact of, in this case, Big 10 schools. They call for member institutions to create a joint defense fund and make resources available to any member institution under attack.

30.03.2025 14:47 πŸ‘ 4722 πŸ” 1538 πŸ’¬ 66 πŸ“Œ 270

I completely agree with this, no enabling in advance (looking at you Johns Hopkins)

31.03.2025 00:57 πŸ‘ 18 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

NEW: Senior polisci colleagues @ Columbia endorse our letter on how we would respond to the Trump attack. For expidiency we 5 did not ask for other signatures. Grateful for strong show of unity. @vickymurillo.bsky.social @pagefortna.bsky.social
Letter: danieldrezner.substack.com/p/guest-post...

21.03.2025 17:48 πŸ‘ 198 πŸ” 46 πŸ’¬ 5 πŸ“Œ 9
From Territorial Consolidation to Bureaucratic Dominance: The Long Arc of State Development | Annual Reviews Our understanding of state developmentβ€”a term that encompasses both state formation and state buildingβ€”has grown significantly in the last two decades. In this review, I outline the foundations of the...

🚨New pre-print! It builds on the State Formation seminar that I teach at Yale, benefiting from rich conversations with brilliant students. The piece tackles state formation, state building, and outlines 3 paths of future research: civil wars, international constraints, and bureaucratic capacity.

13.03.2025 15:58 πŸ‘ 23 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Mahmoud Khalil’s Detention Is a Trial Run The pro-Palestine student was arrested without due process for exercising his right to free speech. He will not be the last.

The detention of Mahmoud Khalil puts all Americans fundamental rights at risk. And if you can’t see that because you oppose his politics, well that’s exactly the reaction Trump and his cronies are counting on. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

11.03.2025 17:21 πŸ‘ 6502 πŸ” 2612 πŸ’¬ 96 πŸ“Œ 174
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Diary Week 1

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.

19.02.2025 15:56 πŸ‘ 444 πŸ” 164 πŸ’¬ 16 πŸ“Œ 58
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ΒΏQuiΓ©n abogarΓ‘ por la reelecciΓ³n? ComenzΓ³ la cuenta regresiva para dinamitar la reelecciΓ³n municipal consecutiva

emagar.github.io/Elites-munic... Nuevo post (1/2)

14.02.2025 17:33 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Check out my new paper w Brenton and Emiel. Just out at World Politics: muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl...

27.01.2025 19:15 πŸ‘ 11 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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After years work assembling and organizing it, together with Bruno CalderΓ³n, John Marshall and JosΓ© Luis Perez Castellanos, we present you the "Electoral precinct-level database for Mexican municipal elections" osf.io/6jteh/ dropbox.com/scl/fi/3kqnb...

27.12.2024 16:24 πŸ‘ 17 πŸ” 7 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
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The Fiscal Contract up Close: Experimental Evidence from Mexico City Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

Link to the paper: www.nber.org/papers/w32776

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05.08.2024 19:39 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

In short, we find no evidence to support for the idea that tax evaders would reciprocate by complying if the government provided valuable infrastructure.

Fiscal contracts, if they exist among regular taxpayers, do not appear to be fostered by the provision of public goods.

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05.08.2024 19:39 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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In addition, we find:
> No heterogeneity in the effects of infrastructure.
> No effect even when taxpayers are randomly reminded via mail of the connection between their property taxes and the provision of local infrastructure.

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05.08.2024 19:38 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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We confirm that HΓ‘bitat improved infrastructure, particularly piped water and sewerage, and increased program recall by residents.

Despite large benefits/recognition, we find no changes in tax compliance using administrative tax data. We can rule out even small effects.

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05.08.2024 19:38 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Past/ongoing research finds large effects of HΓ‘bitat on access to infrastructure, property values, and local economic development. These benefits are not surprising given the magnitude of the investments.
> www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...
> gps.ucsd.edu/_files/facul...

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05.08.2024 19:37 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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We study HΓ‘bitat, a program that made large investments in low income neighborhoods to provide urban infrastructure like piped water, sewerage, electrification, and other amenities. Investments were substantial and co-funded between federal and local governments.

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05.08.2024 19:36 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Can the provision of public goods increase tax compliance?

In a new working paper with Anne Brockmeyer & Juan Carlos SuΓ‘rez Serrato, we study a large public investment experiment and find that local public infrastructure does not improve property tax compliance in Mexico City. #polisky #econsky

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05.08.2024 19:35 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Gunpowder-Empire Fiscal Legibility & State Development: Economic History/Political Economy Seminar Francisco Garfias & Emily A. Sellars: "Fiscal Legibility & State Development" :: 2024-03-04 12:30 PST :: Philosophy 223, U.C. Berkeley...

Gunpowder-Empire Fiscal Legibility & State Development: Economic History/Political Economy Seminar
Francisco Garfias & Emily A. Sellars: "Fiscal Legibility & State Development" :: 2024-03-04 12:30 PST :: Philosophy 223, U.C. Berkeley……
< braddelong.substack.com/p/gunpowder-... >
2024-03-04 Mo

04.03.2024 23:43 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0