D. Stephen Voss

A Matter of Words | The Point Magazine Over the course of the past two years, university committees focused on the impact of artificial intelligence have assembled across the country.

"If we can generate valid arguments, beautiful art and compelling novels at the level of human experts—possibly better!—by entering a simple prompt into a text box, is there any point in continuing to do these things ourselves?"

thepointmag.com/examined-lif...

One person's waste is another person's policy priority.

Out: Nationalization of politics
In: Internationalization of politics

How is the U.S. Senate race shaping up? Does it create an opening for Dems? We talk with a UK political analyst With Sixth District Congressman Andy Barr officially joining the race for U.S. Senate, two big names are in — and they're both seeking a Trump endorsement.

How is the U.S. Senate race shaping up? Does an incumbent-free Sixth District contest create an opening for Dems? We talk with UK political analyst @dstephenvoss.bsky.social.

Less White than Ever? Using Ecological Inference to Probe the Trump Coalition’s Diversity in Louisiana Pre-election polls in 2024 showed former President Donald Trump performing relatively well with African-American voters, especially males. Now that Trump has beaten Vice President Harris to retake the...

Did Trump swing Black voters his way in 2024? In the electorate as a whole, maybe not - but my analysis of Louisiana voting patterns using ecological inference does support the idea Trump saw gains in heavily Black areas.

www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...

Everyone Wants to Raise Chickens, but Egg-Layers Can Be Bad Neighbors Cities are asking hard questions about a fad that can bring messes, rats and unexpected costs; ‘We put the kibosh on it.’

“Feeding yourself is a basic human right,” said Jim DeSana, a Republican state representative in Michigan who has a farm and recently introduced legislation to allow more people to raise backyard chickens.

www.wsj.com/lifestyle/eg...

Less Than Half in U.S. Now Sympathetic Toward Israelis More Americans express sympathy for the Israelis (46%) than the Palestinians (33%) in the Middle East situation, but the margin has shrunk to a new low.

"Republicans broadly sympathize with the Israelis (75%) over the Palestinians (10%), while Democrats sympathize with the Palestinians over the Israelis by a nearly 3-to-1 ratio (59% vs. 21%)."

news.gallup.com/poll/657404/...

Bardstown junior to study at Oxford on English-Speaking Union Scholarship

Political Science major Olivia Walton has won a nationally competitive award to study at Oxford, where she will take courses intended to advance her other major (English). Congrats, Olivia!

uknow.uky.edu/student-news...

Sexual violence in the shadows: Private military contractors and the perpetration of sexual violence How do private military contractors (PMCs) influence the perpetration of sexual violence? In providing the first empirical assessment of PMCs’ impact on conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV), I a...

Cool piece by Kentucky Poli Sci Ph.D. @bayleeharrell.bsky.social challenging the expectation that use of private military contractors would lead to increased sexual violence. If anything, their professionalism (& desire for business) may reduce risks.

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Unreal Tournament?

El Salvador offers to house violent US criminals and deportees of any nationality in unprecedented deal | CNN El Salvador has agreed to house violent US criminals and receive deportees of any nationality, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Monday, in an unprecedented – and legally problematic deal – ...

"El Salvador has agreed to house violent US criminals..."

Someone please tell me that this is obviously unconstitutional? The idea of citizens being shipped outside U.S. jurisdiction for detainment feels like dystopian sci fi.

www.cnn.com/2025/02/03/a...

Few Major U.S. Political Figures Rated Positively on Balance Marco Rubio, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Hakeem Jeffries are among a few of the key U.S. political figures Americans rate more positively than negatively.

I've been teaching in PS101 that the presidential honeymoon is dwindling away, but Dems better hope these numbers are caused by the newness of the Trump Administration (or by polling error).

Meanwhile, wow, independents hate Nancy Pelosi.

news.gallup.com/poll/656111/...

Here you go, @pmmcdaniel.bsky.social ... He's at @alcrossky.bsky.social

Sent Al an email to see if he's on Bluesky. Will let you know.

Beshear at Davos: Kentucky governor to speak at high-powered World Economic Forum ‘We’ve worked hard to secure historic economic wins for our families and our state, and we will keep that momentum going by building new, strong partnerships through opportunities like the World Econo...

Beshear to speak at Davos www.kentucky.com/news/politic...

One reason we understimate the importance of elections is that when the public mood shifts, policy often will shift with it even before an election can reset the political leadership.

My analysis of Kentucky's Republican realignment from the Nineties to the Twenties, coauthored with Corrine Elliott & @drsherelleroberts.bsky.social, now appears in the Commonwealth Review of Political Science. It's available for download:

digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/crps/vol7/is...

Trump need not fear the BRICS currency, as it is not happening anytime soon Donald Trump has warned BRICS countries against developing an alternative currency to replace the US dollar, threatening heavy tariffs. His comments follow growing efforts by countries like Russia and...

A Financial Express piece on the threat of a BRICS currency coauthored by a former graduate student, @RajanKumarJNU.

www.financialexpress.com/opinion/trum...

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear voted 'chair-elect’ of Democratic Governors Association Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear continues to national rise with selection as 'chair-elect' of the Democratic Governor's Association for 2026.

"Almost no Democrat will outrank Andy Beshear in the next couple of years," @dstephenvoss.bsky.social said.

www.courier-journal.com/story/news/p...

If they archived the data from my now-broken phone and they're willing to give it back, then they're welcome to keep spying on me.

If you live in Jessamine County, KY, or nearby ... we're having an interdisciplinary discussion about the Electoral College: the history, the empirical record in the recent past, the future.

Democratic senators say they bungled border security in 2024 Democratic senators are privately acknowledging that their party committed “political malpractice” by bungling the issue of border security, which they view as a driving factor behind President-ele…

"Many Senate Democrats think that voters’ sour views about Biden’s record was driven by their anger over rising costs ... But there’s a growing feeling among Democratic lawmakers that the Biden administration completely mismanaged the huge surge of migrants..."

thehill.com/homenews/sen...

‘We’re Not Dead Yet.’ Baby Boomers’ Good Times Drive the Economy. Sky-diving, concerts, classic cars. An influx of older Americans bolsters the nation’s fastest-growing city. ‘We have more fun than our daughter.’

"Today, Americans 55 and over control nearly 70% of U.S. household wealth..."

I wonder how many former students remember the line I used to employ in my PS 101 Domestic Policy lecture: "Your grandparents are stealing from you." It was tongue in cheek, & yet...

www.wsj.com/us-news/baby...

Political arguments at Thanksgiving are much less common than you think If you’re tempted to bring your ideology to the table along with the stuffing, maybe just don’t.

"17 percent of Americans say it’s very or somewhat likely that they will argue over politics at Thanksgiving (only 6 percent say it is very likely), compared to 11 percent last year..."

Democrats (23%) are more likely to say this than Republicans (18%).

tinyurl.com/59d7nfce

I've decided to make my X/Twitter background black & my Bluesky background white, because what I might be witnessing here is the next step in divergence between the eloi and the morlocks.

We may have passed the point when the herd's willing to move en masse (the way communities inexplicably anoint a bar as hot spot for a while but then abandon it for another arbitrary choice). I'm guessing we're entering a period with a bad Tower of Babel effect, lasting until a paradigm shift hits.

Yep, that was the main catalyst. It struck me then, and still strikes me now, as an overreaction. But that's old news. I saw a huge spike in left-leaning Facebook activity - including a slew of friend requests - after Musk bought Twitter.

November 22, 2024 | Kentucky Edition State House Democrats vote for a new leadership team. Secretary of State Michael Adams pushes for mandatory civics classes in Kentucky public schools. A Thanksgiving byproduct that would normally go d...

From Kentucky Edition, @ReneeKET talks with Univ. of Kentucky political scientist @DStephenVoss about the process for vetting and confirming the individuals selected for key positions in President-Elect Trump's new administration. ow.ly/nfhu50Uefhh