Adria Lawrence

Just gave a public library talk on democracy and protest, and had no idea I’m finally on trend!

I made a rhubarb crumble! Still angry, though, about all kinds of stuff. But now I have crumble

The Yemen Model (Extreme Stupidity Era) Plus why I'm not renewing my APSA membership or attending the 2025 conference.

US has been bombing Yemen or supporting devastating Saudi-UAE blockades and wars in Yemen for decades — causing immense human harm, strengthening its targets, and failing politically. Biden campaigned against it, but quickly broke it like so many promises.

abuaardvark.substack.com/p/the-yemen-...

New publication at CPS! Acemoglu et al (2001), among others, have argued that precolonial factors explain colonial institutions, but they ignore the politics of the colonial state itself and the power of bureaucrats. Paper available on my website: adrialawrence.org/articles

NIH funding delivers exponential economic returns — Harvard Gazette Report finds all 50 states reap gains in patient health, job creation, research resources, business development.

In fiscal year 2024, the report found, NIH awarded more than $36.9 billion to researchers, supporting more than 408,000 jobs and generating over $94.5 billion in new economic activity nationwide.

news.harvard.edu/gazette/stor...

There goes the Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) program. Because why would it be important for students to learn critical languages and gain experiences and understanding of other countries? 😭

When I first visited the Seminary Co-Op Bookstore in Chicago, I did not dare to imagine that someday I’d have a book on its shelves (or that I’d have a twelve year old, for that matter, who was the one to spot it!)

Polarization versus Democracy | Journal of Democracy Why do ordinary people vote to return to office undemocratic incumbents? New survey experiments in several countries suggest that many voters are willing to put their partisan interests above…

Svolik is so useful for understanding why people support leaders who subvert democracy. It's not that they lack awareness, so pointing out that democracy is in decline doesn't work. People trade off democracy when it collides with their partisan interests.
www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/pol...

"You know just the thing for Musk to get back in everyone’s good graces? Acting like a coked-out Bill Lumbergh!"

Three things that make the U.S. the envy of the world:

1) Professionalized military with strong norm of civilian control

2) Higher education and cutting-edge scientific research

3) Ability to welcome immigrants and attract the “best and the brightest”

All three are under threat.

Good analysis, but I have to say, 15% of Canadians would be open to joining the US? Kinda larger than I expected - would love to know what that's about.

A university request prompts me to ask: what does the research say about the effectiveness of trigger warnings specifically for those who have experienced sexual assault? A highly politicized topic these days, but what does the research say?

Bad Sisters and Better Things

Anyone already working on the university response to the protests of the war in Gaza?

I’m going to use Milan Svolik’s Journal of Democracy article which is about polarization and how it can lead to support for populism. I think it will be good for an intro course

That’s that.

Be sure to nominate it for the AIMS book prize!

Inside the Yale Police Department’s War on Student Protesters Exclusive documents reveal the YPD’s use of counterterrorism tactics in suppressing pro-Palestine activism.

Repression on US campuses jewishcurrents.org/inside-yale-...

Anyone using an AI-detector? How good have those gotten?

Please, someone tell me I haven’t actually woken up yet this morning and this insanity is but a dream

New here, but happy to be included in a future round

@pkmacdonald.bsky.social is always excellent