Tyler Simko

Texas was already arguably the biggest Republican gerrymander in the nation, according to this PNAS paper by @chriskenny.bsky.social @corymccartan.com @simko.bsky.social @shirokuriwaki.bsky.social www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...

Measuring Conflict in Local Politics Mirya Holman1 , Rebecca Johnson2 , and Tyler Simko3

It’s publication day!!🎊 In a new Urban Affairs Review @urbanaffairsreview.bsky.social piece, Rebecca Johnson, Tyler Simko @simko.bsky.social & I ask: How do you measure conflict in local politics in the United States?
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Are School Board Meetings Really Getting More Heated? What a New Study Says Researchers analyzed video of 100,000 school board meetings to track conflict in education politics.

If a paper seems like too much for you right now, Tyler talked to @evieblad.bsky.social at @edweek.org about the project and you can read it here!

I'm really excited that my paper with Rebecca Johnson and @simko.bsky.social has been awarded APSA Education Politics and Policy Best Paper Award. Huge thanks to @apsaedpolitics.bsky.social for this honor - we are so thrilled! 🎉🎉

In Michigan, conspiracy thinking can be rooted in real historic harm Conspiracy thinking may result from paranoia or misinformation -- but it's often rooted actual harms and well-earned mistrust in government.

Is government suspicion based on real lived experiences and historic harm? #ISRNextGeneration scholar Franshelly Martinez-Ortiz writes on the case of Michigan, where events like the Flint Water Crisis give rise to lasting mistrust. @maraceci.bsky.social #MPSA2025 ➡️
cpsblog.isr.umich.edu?p=3434

A picture of a slide that says Tabling Debates how local officials use agenda control to Stifle Conflict Mirya Holman and Tyler Simko There are flames on the bottom of the slides

Had a fantastic time presenting Tabling Debates How Local Officials Use Agenda Control to Stifle Conflict (paper w @simko.bsky.social) at Cornell today. Huge thanks to @talbotmandrews.bsky.social for the invite and everyone for showing me such a good time!

Urban–rural cleavages are seen as a defining political divide. But does this polarization hold worldwide? My new working paper tests this question using an original dataset of granular, geocoded election returns from 106 countries (polling station-level in 70). (1/8)

This sounds amazing. The summary is like one of these Facebook targeted t-shirt ads, but aimed at my research interests.

Exploring Music with Bill McGlaughlin | WFMT Exploring Music is an adventure — an expedition through the world of classical music. We pick a theme each week and follow the music wherever it leads us.

Maybe not exactly what you're looking for, but online radio is great for this kind of thing (WQXR is really good). I like this show — every day has a theme (e.g. first masterpieces, a specific composer, concertos, etc.) which is fun for learning and making connections: www.wfmt.com/programs/exp...

Example of cli R package for status messages.

Yes! And compatible with emojis for when you really need that extra energy...

How can state and local government partnerships help to safeguard US official statistics when they are under assault? Find out in my @univpressofkansas.bsky.social book, "Counting Like a State".

Preorder for a 30% discount with code 24COUNTING here: kansaspress.ku.edu/9780700639687/

As a first-generation college student, I found it difficult to adjust to university academics and the “hidden curriculum.” How can universities help students ease this transition?

In a new RCT, we (Rebecca Johnson, Kosuke Imai) show “summer bridge” programs can be valuable tools: shorturl.at/WS9Kf

Woah, congrats Stefan! What a cool honor, and well deserved.

Abstract of article titled "The partisanship of mayors has no detectable effect on police spending, police employment, crime, or arrests"

Are Democratic leaders making cities more dangerous than Republicans? Trump + others have repeatedly made claims like this. New paper in Science Advances w/ @chriswarshaw.bsky.social, Dan Jones & Matt Harvey shows that, in short, the answer is no.

Oh excellent! Thank you.

📚🏫🗳️🙏

Still need a New Year’s resolution? Study school boards! About 100k (and growing) school board meetings over the last decade + text transcripts, with access to raw audio and video data. From us (@mirya.bsky.social + Rebecca Johnson) to you — coming your way soon. 🫡

Public officials influence policymaking by choosing which items receive atten- tion and action – and which do not. Accounts from national legislatures typically explain agenda control in terms of party leadership and discipline. But, do politi- cians exert agenda control outside highly professionalized legislatures? We bring the agenda control discussion to school boards, which generally lack strong party control and feature few restrictions on agendas. We argue that local officials will use procedural rules in conflictual settings to avoid making decisions with potentially negative electoral consequences. We test our argument by construct- ing measures of both agenda control and conflict in a dataset of nearly 65,000 school board meeting transcripts. Consistent with our theory, we document an increased use of procedural control in highly contentious meetings. Responses from these school board members to a novel survey experiment confirm that they use tabling to avoid making decisions on conflictual issues.

Agenda setting power in politics means controlling which issues get attention. But who sets the agenda in environments without political parties or low barriers which items get attention? In "Tabling Debates" @simko.bsky.social & I study school boards to find out!
osf.io/bzne2

Thanks @mirya.bsky.social! See descriptives on when / where nationally salient partisan language appears in local politics (“climate change,” “gun control,” etc.). Identifiably partisan language is (1) common, (2) especially in larger cities, and (3) local D / R “slant” correlates with pres. vote.

Thank you @mirya.bsky.social !!