My unfashionable take is that it is possible for civil service systems to learn, and most of the things we could do to improve that capacity are being undermined right now. www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...
27.02.2026 15:55 —
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"At 1 p.m., the storm had dumped 32.8 inches on Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport, according to the National Weather Service, obliterating the prior-record 28.6-inches that fell there during the Blizzard of 1978."
23.02.2026 19:57 —
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Understanding the U.S. judicial system & Supreme Court decision-making has never been more important. A big thank you to @stevevladeck.bsky.social for sharing his insights yesterday with @brown.edu students at the @taubmancenter.bsky.social's Politics & Policy lunch. @watsonschoolbrown.bsky.social
19.02.2026 16:24 —
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Trump's Schedule F Rule Finalized
A bizarro rule formally justifies politicizing public services
New, from me: Trump finalized his Schedule F policy, allowing him to remove job protections from career civil servants.
The new rule is dishonest and unmoored from reality in its effort to formalize the politicization of the federal government 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/trumps-sch...
06.02.2026 04:16 —
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Democrats Refuse to Fund ICE After Shooting, Imperiling Spending Deal
Policy backlashes gain strength when they join elite leadership with grassroots protest. We have seen less of this combination in Trump 2.0 than under Trump 1.0 but it is starting to happen more.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/24/u... 1/2
25.01.2026 00:40 —
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Videos From Minnesota Show How Aggressive ICE Has Gotten During Arrests and Encounters With Protesters
For weeks, residents have documented the impact of President Trump’s mass deportation campaign and captured many violent confrontations on camera.
Most policy backlash has come from reactionary groups since the 1960s. However, as I argued in my book, as "threats to the policy status quo increasingly emanate from the right, the incentives for liberal countermobilzation will likely strengthen." 1/2
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
24.01.2026 16:26 —
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American Political Science Association > Sign In
.@watsonschoolbrown.bsky.social @taubmancenter.bsky.social is searching for a postdoc in American politics and public opinion. Please circulate.
members.apsanet.org/CAREERS/eJob...
15.01.2026 13:41 —
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"A dismal scenario for the year 2100, even lacking any formal constitutional changes, would be a U.S. Congress...diminishing to city-council status, deprived of talent, media coverage, public attention, and real power as the executive branch expands to conduct an imperial role."
3/3
03.01.2026 21:07 —
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"On the record, that kind of activity, however well-advised on policy grounds, is not auspicious for a balanced constitution. Congress, the courts, and popular rule all tend to pale before it... 2/3
03.01.2026 21:07 —
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Remarkable quote from David Mayhew, writing in 2005:
"For the twentieth-first century, a good bet for the chief menace to the American institutional mix is the White House's continuing flexing of military muscle in imperial enterprises abroad... 1/3
03.01.2026 21:07 —
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Table of Contents for Publius: The Journal of Federalism 56 (1, 2026): The Future of Federalism in the United States
Articles
Introduction: The Future of Federalism in the United States Paul Nolette and Philip Rocco
Can Federalism Protect Subnational Liberal Democracy from Central
Authoritarianism?
James A. Gardner
Tools of Subnational Democratic Subversion: A Taxonomy and Research Agenda
Andrea Louise Campbell and Andrew Karch
Money Is Not Enough: The Temporary Impact of Pandemic-Era Aid on American Fiscal Federalism
Amanda Kass
Federalism and the Future of US Minimum Wage Policy
Shanna Rose
Climate Federalism at a Crossroads: From Compensatory to Coercive and Mitigation to Adaptation
Scott Moore
Who Benefits From Federalism Claims in Federal Court?
Lisa L. Miller
US Federalism and the Political Economy of Territorial Status: Evidence from Puerto Rico
Mariely Lopez-Santana
Federalism and Polarization: How Can Research Be More Relevant?
Carol S. Weissert
Is the Picket Fence Still Standing? Tracing Administrative Federalism in the States Matthew J. Uttermark
From Variables to Mechanisms in Federalism Research
Scott L. Greer
It has been a bracing moment for American federalism, with both unprecedented efforts to extend executive control over state and local govts, novel forms of subnational resistance. Where is federalism going? Paul Nolette and I have edited a new issue of Publius on that question. Short thread:
26.12.2025 16:03 —
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Shutdown politics, gerrymandering, and the role of Congress as Trump enters his lame-duck phase
Quickly and easily listen to Trending Globally: Politics and Policy for free!
New Trending Globally #podcast: Shutdown politics, gerrymandering, and the role of Congress as Trump enters his lame-duck phase — @ericpatashnik.bsky.social & Rep. Kathy Manning discuss GOP resistance, Dem strategy, & why approval of Congress is so low ahead of midterms.
12.12.2025 15:10 —
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This is good. Enough with the Wilsonian crap that there's a single national will and that the president has some mystical connection to it. The Framers were wiser than that, and the Constitution they wrote makes no sense unless we accept that.
09.12.2025 16:20 —
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“It’s the logical endpoint to unitary executive theory,” said Don Moynihan, a professor of public policy at the University of Michigan. “Their desired end goal would be to arrive at a completely ‘at-will’ workforce. ... I think the administration is going to push the unitary executive idea as far as it can, and all of the signals it has been getting from the Supreme Court is to push further and push faster.”
This guy gets it
www.politico.com/news/2025/12...
07.12.2025 19:36 —
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School Groups Sue to Stop Dismantling of the Education Department
If the executive can unilaterally shift all functioning out of an congressionally established agency, then what is left of Congress’ lawmaking?
Why should Congress authorize executive agencies to do anything at all, ever?
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/u...
26.11.2025 14:00 —
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Founders Would Be Horrified by Congress's Surrender of its Power of the Purse to POTUS
The shutdown is testimony to how a subservient legislature makes governance dysfunctional
I wish I could take credit for the phrase "new heights of flouting" but that came from the team at @theunpopulist.net who gave me the space for this take on the current landscape of congressional vs. executive power over spending. www.theunpopulist.net/p/founders-w...
13.11.2025 21:48 —
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Lessons from Pandemic Era Medicaid Automation for Work Requirements
Small tech capacity investments offer big returns
New at Can We Still Govern? New Medicaid work requirements will see an estimated 5 million lose coverage.
Small investments in in-house tech capacity could allow states to start preparing now to expand automatic renewal of clients. Here is the evidence 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/how-a-van-...
10.11.2025 14:22 —
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You have to read between the lines here to imagine what President Trump is proposing. But, it sounds like it may be a plan for health accounts that could be used for insurance that doesn’t cover pre-existing conditions, which could create a death spiral in ACA plans that do.
08.11.2025 18:14 —
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YouTube video by Watson School of International and Public Affairs
Understanding the Government Shutdown: Causes and Consequences
Video of my conversation on the government shutdown with Kathy Manning, former member of Congress & Senior Fellow @watsonschoolbrown.bsky.social
youtube.com/watch?v=nEIf...
06.11.2025 22:57 —
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