Steven W. Webster

One month to go! Very excited for this event.

www.iu-cap.com

This is so, so cool.

It was a cool paper. Affective nationalism helps reduce negative emotions in all countries; alliance reassurance only worked in the Taiwanese sample.

Paper 2 is Eric Hamilton, presenting on research focusing on depolarization and methodological advancements in the study of political rhetoric and “dysfunctional discourse”

APSA panel 1: Affect and Emotions. First up is Fu and Lee, presenting on emotional reactions to foreign threats

Three experiments from Taiwan, Lithuania, and Latvia. Threats elicit anxiety, anger, and fear. Can be attenuated by presence of allies and a shared sense of national identity.

Who's going to APSA?

Opinion | Politicians Are Polarized. American Voters, Not So Much.

Are we doing this again?
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/29/o...

Cool paper.

What's odd is that the Democratic Party is more underwater with Independents than either Trump or the GOP in that poll.

Staring down the new semester.

Meaningful null findings!

Excited to announce the speaker lineup for the first ever IU Center on American Politics conference! October 31, 2025, Bloomington, IN. Guests welcome!

More info available here: www.iu-cap.com/conference.h...

Remembering Professor Ted Carmines Remembering Professor Ted Carmines

polisci.indiana.edu/news-events/...

Unbothered.

A sad update: our colleague, Ted Carmines, has passed. He will be sorely missed.

How will Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' impact Americans? – DW – 07/02/2025 The battle for President Donald Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" appears to be nearing an end. But Trump's signature tax and spending policy isn't popular, even within his own party.

Featuring some of my thoughts on the OBBB. An early political "win" for Trump, but the details—and the price tag—could come back to haunt him and Republicans in 2026.
www.dw.com/en/donald-tr...

She's adorable.

Trying to keep up with world events.

Accepted at POQ: "You’re Making Us Look Bad: Can Partisan Embarrassment Dampen Partisanship and Polarization?" w/ Liz Connors and Taylor Carlson
elizabethchaseconnors.com/images/Embar...

Ignoring the context here, I know, but this gif is legitimately funny.

"As we start to see violence overtaking American political life, the transition is more like a sunset than a light switch."

American rage.

Sunday, 8 AM panel for APSA. 🫣

It’s not easy to work around here.

Big news! I have been named the new Director of the Center on American Politics at IU, which will soon be officially renamed after its founder, Ted Carmines.

I've got some big plans in the works, so stay tuned.

Democrats have never been so angry. Who will step up and lead them? At rallies, town halls and protests, voters are unleashing their fury with Donald Trump, stoking what some believe is a populist backlash

I'm quoted in this piece from The Guardian about Democratic voters' anger at Trump—and their own leaders.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

Such a cool cover!

Opinion | Bernie Sanders, A.O.C. and the Surging Politics of Anger Struggling working class voters fear that the country they’ve always counted on is sliding away because of President Trump.

"It was all there at the Bernie rally: Dread, yes, but also an anger and appetite — a tremendous, largely untapped political energy looking, it seemed, for an outlet."
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/24/o...

Opinion | The Last Thing Democrats Need Is Their Own Tea Party One was plenty.

"Rage is now the defining characteristic of Trump’s Republican Party."

Yes, yes it is.
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/20/o...

Timeline cleanse.