Nick Carnes

Rep. Delia Ramirez to DHS officials: "I have as much respect for you as I do for the last white men who put on masks to terrorize communities of color. I have no respect for the inheritors of the Klanhood and the slave patrol. Those activities were criminal and so are yours."

400 years ago, and this very moment, all at once.

For so many reasons - not least that a lot of poor and working class people see that politicians are mostly well-off and mostly don't have any real connections to repair regular people ... And that is a big part of why a lot of people don't vote.

American Journal of Political Science | MPSA Journal | Wiley Online Library When elected officials gain power, do they use it to provide more constituent service or affect policy? The answer informs debates over how legislator capacity, term limits, and institutional positio....

Thrilled to share that my paper with @judgelord.bsky.social and Justin Grimmer:"How shifting priorities and capacity affect policy work and constituency service: Evidence from a census of legislator requests to U.S. federal agencies" is out at the AJPS!

With apologies for the spam . . .

Strongest possible agree. We just finished college admissions for one of ours, and it was very difficult, but a cake walk compared to getting our younger kids into summer camps.

I wonder if there's, like, a Common Core or Khan Academy module or something similar pushing the "polarization" frame. I've been very surprised by how widespread this outlook is among my freshmen -- I regularly hear "things are so divided" and I wonder why and how that consensus took hold.

@noamlupu.bsky.social

* Please repost and share *

Call for Papers (due March 1st)
Workshop on "Frontiers in Representation: Citizen Assemblies, Deliberative Mini-Publics, and Participatory Democracy," August 14, Vanderbilt University

more info: docs.google.com/document/d/1...

submit papers: forms.gle/k7BH4so2QJxQ...

I am just a small-town political scientist, & it’s a long way to November, but allow me to again note that it doesn’t appear that The Democrats actually need to do any of the things that Ezra Douthglesias or the Deciding To Win folks or the Crypto-Enabling Word-Policing Senators insist they Must Do.

Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people.

Judge William Young ends his order protecting noncitizen students targeted for deportation for their activism or speech with this quotation.

It’s by Ronald Reagan, who appointed him to the bench four decades ago.

What America will read this weekend while in line at the grocery checkout:

@peoplemag.bsky.social #ICE
people.com/ice-detains-...

As if old comics weren't magical enough, sometimes you find a Mark Jeweler's insert. Congrats.

This is the political movement that spent decades whining about participation trophies.

An enduring problem for those of us who regularly code politicians' occupational backgrounds.

Because they axolotl questions.

what asshole assigned all this work to my students #evergreen

This is a big exception, because I generally don't like axolotls.

Spoiler alert!

Finishing up a book manuscript with @noamlupu.bsky.social and my 7yo designed this incredible cover. The book isn't about axolotls PER SE but I'm sure we can figure out how to make this work.

Incredible.

For First Time in Decades, Child Deaths Will Rise This Year Almost a quarter of a million more children around the world are projected to die in 2025 than in 2024.

"About 243,000 more children under 5 years have died or will die this year than in 2024" due mostly to DOGE's illegal dismantling of USAID

The Furor Over Trump’s Boat Attacks and a Particular Follow-Up Strike, Explained

MURDER!
Ryan Goodman, a New York University law professor & former Pentagon lawyer: “Even under a law of armed conflict, they were all civilians, & we are not actually in armed conflict. Either way, it was all murder.” @rgoodlaw.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/04/u...

My initial reaction was to admire the skill needed to paint such a beautiful gas rationing sign. Look at it -- it's expertly designed and hand-painted, practically a work of art. You never see that any more. Maybe I *do* miss the 70s!

A corrupt president pardons a corrupt member of Congress for corrupt reasons. With multiple guilty pleas establishing a bribery-laundering scheme, Hakeem Jeffries still called the case “thin” and sought cover in a bribery-plagued Supreme Court.

A lesson in squandering potential inroads with voters.

OK I’ve put together the list. Shame on all of them:

Ford CEO Jim Farley
Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa
General Motors plant manager John Urbanic
National Auto Dealers Association Chairman Tom Castriota
Transportation Sec Sean Duffy
Deputy transportation Sec Steven Bradbury
1/2