Michael Albertus

Q&A With Senior January 6th Prosecutor Sonia Mittal We discuss the increasingly critical gap between the current practice of law and the reality of democratic erosion – and what can be done about it

With the #DOJ being cleared out over #January6, I interviewed senior J6 prosecutor and co-director of Yale's rule of law clinic Sonia Mittal on her work and on the practice of law now

michaelalbertus.substack.com/p/q-and-a-wi...

Q&A With Senior January 6th Prosecutor Sonia Mittal We discuss the increasingly critical gap between the current practice of law and the reality of democratic erosion – and what can be done about it

My interview with a senior January 6th prosecutor on the increasingly critical gap between the current practice of law and the reality of democratic erosion – and what can be done about it. Sonia now co-leads a rule of law clinic at Yale Law School.

michaelalbertus.substack.com/p/q-and-a-wi...

Columbia University Bends Its Knee to the Trump Administration Its agreement to onerous punishment without credible resolution will only embolden the administration’s authoritarian approach to higher education

Columbia's agreement with the Trump administration will only embolden its heavy-handed approach to higher education. My latest post 👇

michaelalbertus.substack.com/p/columbia-u...

The Foundations of Trumpism Are in Place. What Will Determine its Fate? Political science offers a range of insights into the present moment

From trade to immigration & the Big Beautiful Bill, the foundations of #Trumpism are now in place. What will determine its fate? Insights from political science
👇

michaelalbertus.substack.com/p/the-founda...

The importance of public lands to conservation in the United States We're talking about what the Trump administration wants to do with public lands across the U.S.

My conversation on the importance of #PublicLand – and why selling it off was dropped last-minute from the Big Beautiful Bill – with @npr.org affiliate WOSU.

www.wosu.org/show/all-sid...

Land Power: Who Has It, Who Doesn’t, and How That Determines the Fate of Societies Land Power: Who Has It, Who Doesn’t, and How That Determines the Fate of Societies [Albertus, Michael] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Land Power: Who Has It, Who Doesn’t, and How That Determines the Fate of Societies

More coverage in my new book, Land Power

www.amazon.com/Land-Power-D...

The fight for Australia’s soil

Australia's first-ever truth commission for First Nations peoples just delivered its report to Victoria's parliament. A watershed moment. Land was at the core of dispossession and is key to justice today. My piece in @unherd.com.

unherd.com/2025/07/the-...

The Big Beautiful Bill Will Spike Inequality and Favor the Rich It also moves the US away from the policies in other major advanced democracies

The "Big Beautiful Bill" is a boon for the rich at the expense of the poor. It will spike inequality and diminish opportunity for those less advantaged. That's part of a bigger, important trend in the US

michaelalbertus.substack.com/p/the-big-be...

For sale by the GOP: Our public land — and our shared history Trump's "big beautiful bill" puts millions of acres in the West at risk

Under immense pressure, Senate Republicans dropped public land sales from their budget bill. A relief!

www.salon.com/2025/06/21/f...

Today's Landmark Supreme Court Case Will Rewire American Democracy The ruling that limits nationwide injunctions by federal judges eliminates another check on executive authority

Link to the piece here

michaelalbertus.substack.com/p/todays-lan...

Today's bombshell ruling at the Supreme Court limiting nationwide injunctions amounts to a major expansion of executive power and a blow to the protection of Constitutional rights. #SCOTUS

Land Power In this "fascinating" (Thomas Piketty, New York Times–bestselling author of Capital in the Twenty-First Century) book. an award-winning political scienti...

Book here: www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/micha...

Your Land Is Our Land Property, power, and the coming age of territorial conflict.

A new review of my book Land Power is out in the current issue of @foreignaffairs.com 🎉

www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/your...

For sale by the GOP: Our public land — and our shared history Trump's "big beautiful bill" puts millions of acres in the West at risk

The Senate's version of the 'Big Beautiful Bill' would put vast amounts of public land up for sale – with few exemptions. My piece @salonnewsroom.bsky.social on what's at stake

www.salon.com/2025/06/21/f...

The Big Questions in the Growing Israel-Iran War The outcome hinges on Iran's nuclear capacities and the specter of regime change

The big questions in the Iran-Israel war: (1) Will Israel push back Iran's nuclear program MANY years or deter it from a bomb? (2) Will there be 'regime change'?

Stakes are huge

michaelalbertus.substack.com/p/the-israel...

Land access, land rights, and land tenure institutions are all implicated in these outcomes. We conclude with reflections on promising research frontiers in the study of land and politics, including climate change, migration, and urbanization.

We focus on the formation of political preferences and identities, the forms and dynamics of political violence, and the long-term structure of society, ranging from patterns of settlement and dispossession to inequality, state capacity, and economic development and urbanization.

That land is inextricably intertwined with politics makes it a crucial driver of a wide range of social, political, and economic outcomes. We explain and survey these rich and complex relationships

Excited to share a new article with Kathleen Klaus in @annualreviews.bsky.social: "Land and Politics" 🎉 Land shapes politics through its material nature and distribution, by serving as a mechanism of control and state-building, and by imbuing identity & belonging 🧵

Los Angeles is the Latest Front in the Crisis of American Democracy Immigration and protests have become fodder for power struggles

The ICE raids, troop deployments, and protests in LA are the latest front in the crisis of American democracy

michaelalbertus.substack.com/p/los-angele...

Land power: who has it, who doesn't, and how it will shape our future - ABC listen Over the past two centuries, nearly every society has reallocated land ownership and property rights. If humanity is to flourish over the next century, Michael Albertus says we need to entirely rethin...

My interview at the Australian Broadcast Company with the journalist David Marr on my new book Land Power. At a time when Australia is grappling with its treatment of Aboriginal communities

www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

The research is available here:
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

The Global Trend in Indigenous Community Recognition Lessons from my new research on how recognition impacts indigenous identity, welfare, and inclusion across generations

My latest post on the global trend in #INDIGENOUS community recognition, with lessons from my new research @cpsjournal.bsky.social on how recognition impacts indigenous identity, welfare, and inclusion across generations

michaelalbertus.substack.com/p/the-global...

Thanks to Ricardo Fort, Mauricio Espinoza, Thad Dunning, Aníbal Pérez-Liñan, Guillermo Trejo, Chris Carter, Scott Mainwaring, Pablo Beramendi, Guadalupe Tuñón & many others for comments & feedback.

Younger generations born into recognized communities are less tied to their communities but also fare better economically, suggesting shifting intergenerational effects.

Experiencing state recognition increases community self-identification and membership. But effects vary by generation. They're strongest among adults and near-adults at recognition time, who are best able to quickly access scarce community resources and invest in community life.

Excited to have a new paper forthcoming @cpsjournal.bsky.social – Indigenous Community Recognition and Identity: Evidence from Peru. A first individual-level analysis of a key, widespread public policy, based on years of mapping, data & conversation with colleagues

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Michael Albertus on Land Power, Climate Change, and Trump’s Claims of White Genocide The Foreign Report · Episode

Audio only here or other major pod platforms

open.spotify.com/episode/4XhD...

YouTube video by The Foreign Report Land, Power, and Inequality: A Deep Dive with Michael Albertus

Here's a fun (and funny) interview with @seena.me
of The Foreign Report on how land ownership infiltrates society in surprising ways, the buzz about South Africa, climate change, and hope for future land equity.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vT5H...

The Trump Administration Makes an Example of Harvard It's a case study of coercion and resistance in the exercise of power

Trump's attempts to bring Harvard to its knees in the last 10 days is a case study in coercion and resistance in the exercise of power, with broad implications. My take here.

michaelalbertus.substack.com/p/trump-make...