Dan Slater

International law has obviously never been the rule. But we’re hurdling into an era when it might not even be the exception.

Along with wonderful colleagues @jeanhong.bsky.social, @dnsltr.bsky.social, @yuhuawang.bsky.social, and Ann C. Lin, we would like to call your attention to the Asian Political History Workshop to be held on May 4– 5, 2026 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Apply here by Jan. 20, 2026. forms.gle/H9zPa6r2H1Ke...

Amid a Global Democratic Recession, There Are Reasons for Hope My interview with University of Michigan Professor Dan Slater on the current landscape of democracy and authoritarianism

My interview with @umich.edu professor Dan Slater on the current landscape of democracy and authoritarianism in the US & abroad. "Short-term extremely pessimistic and long-term at least somewhat optimistic"; watch out for weak authoritarians; fire up the non-cooperation & more
@dnsltr.bsky.social

Stackable syllabus!
The State in Comparative & World Politics
Autumn 2025, @umichpolisci

Question: Why are many people under the impression that Trump and the awful things he’s doing are popular, even though they’re not?

Answer: America is still a mostly free country where dissent against Trump’s dictatorial ambitions is widespread, but media keeps making it appear as if it’s not.

Popular youth-led resistance to collusive elite rule is being rejuvenated through mass protest in Indonesia and being strangled through judicial and military repression in Thailand.

Curious then that the dominant narrative is that Indonesia, and not Thailand, is in “crisis.”

Indonesia’s protests over lawmakers’ perks reveal frustration: Three decades after the fall of the Suharto dictatorship, political and economic power remain in the hands of the elite. The protests may have died down but the fury is unlikely to fade www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

Polishing Off Populism in Authoritarian Thailand | Journal of Democracy Thailand’s current crisis may finally end the cycle of populism and polarization that has crippled its democratic aspirations. But it is also revealing that there are far worse forces undermining Thai...

Notable new piece by @dnsltr.bsky.social‬ just out in @jodemocracy.bsky.social /provides a nuanced though brief sketch of Thailand's turbulent political history--& has astute comments on implications of the Thai story for thinking about global trends www.journalofdemocracy.org/online-exclu...

Polishing Off Populism in Authoritarian Thailand | Journal of Democracy Thailand’s current crisis may finally end the cycle of populism and polarization that has crippled its democratic aspirations. But it is also revealing that there are far worse forces undermining Thai...

Thailand's current crisis may finally end the cycle of populism and polarization that has crippled the country's democratic aspirations. But it is also revealing that there are far worse forces undermining Thai democracy.

@dnsltr.bsky.social explains: www.journalofdemocracy.org/online-exclu...

Honored to have contributed to this unfortunately timely @apsa.bsky.social Democracy and Autocracy newsletter edited by @rebeccawai.bsky.social with a piece on Immigration Policy as a “Biomarker” for Political Regime Transformation.
📌 Read all contributions here: lsa.umich.edu/content/dam/...

🧵 THREAD: A fascinating newsletter looks at Trump’s breakthrough with voters of colour, and it reveals something far more significant than conventional politics – the emergence of a new sort of reactionary coalition that cuts across race lines 👇

Immigration and authoritarianism are tightly entangled features of our contemporary political condition. We hope this issue gives you new analytical insights to think about in the difficult days before us. 6/6

You can find links to their books with @CambridgeUP and @PrincetonUPress here www.cambridge.org/core/books/u... and here press.princeton.edu/books/hardco.... 5/6

Wrapping it all up is an amazing author exchange between @vcharnysh and dynamic duo @tariqthachil and @adam_m_auerbach on their recent books, UPROOTED and MIGRANTS AND MACHINE POLITICS. 4/6

@rebeccawai_ serves both as our guest editor and as an expert essay contributor. Also see excellent contributions by @leydydiossa, Alexandra Filindra, and @k_natter. 3/6

This new issue draws on the @umichDemocracy public roundtable “Immigration, Authoritarianism, and Democracy” we held in the immediate aftermath of November’s US election. You can watch that event here myumi.ch/5yEEx. 2/6

The connections between IMMIGRATION and AUTHORITARIANBISM are becoming more obvious and tragic by the day. Our latest issue of Democracy & Autocracy @umichDemocracy tackles these connections head-on, from multiple comparative angles: 1/6

ii.umich.edu/emerging-dem...

Authoritarian Waves Crashing: Dan Slater Reinterprets the Third Wave of Democratization | Review of Democracy In the new episode of our monthly special in cooperation with the Journal of Democracy, Dan Slater discusses the authoritarian origins of the third wave of democratization.

🔉 NEW! Podcast from @revdem2020.bsky.social featuring @dnsltr.bsky.social on his essay "The Authoritarian Origins of the Third Wave" from our latest issue!

👂 Listen here: revdem.ceu.edu/2025/05/05/a...

💡🧵 3 takeaways from @dnsltr.bsky.social dramatic rethinking of the Third Wave of democratization...

Read "The Authoritarian Origins of the Third Wave": muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/a...

Another year of programming to be proud of @umichDemocracy!

ii.umich.edu/emerging-dem...

💡🧵 3 takeaways from @dnsltr.bsky.social dramatic rethinking of the Third Wave of democratization...

Read "The Authoritarian Origins of the Third Wave": muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/a...

NY public schools tell Trump administration they won’t comply with DEI order | CNN New York state officials have told the Trump administration that they will not comply with its demands to end diversity, equity and inclusion practices in public schools, despite the administration’s ...

“We understand that the current administration seeks to censor anything it deems ‘diversity, equity & inclusion,’” he wrote. “But there are no federal or State laws prohibiting the principles of DEI.”

Mar-CHI-ng! #50501 #HandsOff

South Korea’s president removed from office over martial law bid Yoon Suk Yeol’s shortlived attempt to impose military rule triggered political crisis

Bravo South Korea. This is what proper democracy looks like 👏
on.ft.com/3E7kvI7 South Korea’s president removed from office over martial law bid

What if the 3rd Wave of Democratization (1974-1991) didn't begin with democratization at all?

The only global regime wave of the mid-1970s was a wave of communist, peasant-based revolutions.

By reinterpreting our past we might reimagine our present.

muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl...

My effort in 2022 to apply the “democratic careening” framework to US politics in the Biden years

journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

Cancer research hasn’t cured cancer.

Anti-corruption commissions haven’t eliminated corruption.

DEI policies haven’t fixed inequality.

Why? Because they’re tackling some of the thorniest problems humanity faces.

None of these efforts should end.

The University of Michigan is now occupied territory.

Title: Both Liberal and Conservative Judges Rule Against Trump Description: A scatter plot showing the rulings of judges against or in favor of Trump, categorized by ideology using the DIME score. The x-axis represents Judge Ideology (DIME Score), ranging from liberal (-1) to conservative (1), and the y-axis represents the case outcome (against or for Trump). • Blue dots represent liberal judges, purple dots represent moderate judges, and red dots represent conservative judges. • Some judges are labeled, including Rudolph Contreras, Lauren King, John Coughenour, and James Emanuel Boasberg on the liberal to moderate side, and Carl Nichols, Richard J. Leon, and Joseph N. Laplante on the conservative side. • A note mentions that Boasberg, though slightly right-leaning, was initially appointed by George W. Bush. • The visualization suggests that judges from both ideological backgrounds ruled against Trump.

1/🧵 Judges across ideological lines are ruling against Trump at strikingly similar rates (84% liberal, 86% centrist, 82% conservative). This isn't partisan opposition to Trump—it's the judiciary functioning as intended by cutting across partisan lines to uphold the Constitution.

"BACKLASH" understates how fiercely dominant forces respond to challengers. "SLINGSHOT" better captures how even a slight tug by challengers can lead to an enormous swing against them by the dominant. I raise the idea in this @NationalitiesP symposium:
homsy-staging.cambridgecore.org/core/journal...