Jennifer N. Victor @jenvictor.bsky.social
@jennifernvictor
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Legacy Bluecheck. PoliSci professor US politics @ScharSchool. Working on a book about networks in Congress. Take my class @Wondrium https://t.co/8lo6Trk3qQ
Washington, DC
Joined June 2012
It’s the inequality, stupid.
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Don’t like Pelosi, but can’t quite articulate why? Felt the same way about Hillary Clinton? Time for some deep self-reflection about gender bias and leadership.
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Students: Here, Rep. Massie is showing us that institutions are effective for producing public goods.
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The notch below "weak democracy" is known as "competitive authoritarianism," where elections occur, but norms and institutions of democracy are not followed. That's where we are now. It's not where the US is going. This is now.
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Treating your political opponents as illegitimate and criminal is a standard strategy of authoritarian leaders.
Eric Trump brings up Hunter Biden and then says, "maybe 'lock her up' goes to 'lock him up.'" . "Lock them up!" chants then break out. Classy stuff.
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Political opposition is a normal part of democracy. Stripping your opponent of power is a normal part of fascism. #NorthCarolina.
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I suspect we won’t really know when the democracy is gone. There won’t likely be an aha moment. It will take perspective to know it for sure. Like a recession that isn’t official until we see the data 6 months later.
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I want GenZ to know that this boring shit is how it always used to be.
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This professor literally wrote the book (several actually) on the Senate. We need to start talking about this more and engaging people with these ideas. America can only be saved through big, institutional reform and the U.S. Senate is tops on the list.
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Political science studies of term provide clear conclusions: term limits reduce the institutional memory of a legislature and make it less competent and functional. When that happens power gets outsourced to lobbyists and resourceful advocacy groups. Term limits BAD!.
One thing is clear from the dysfunction of Washington over the last few weeks: we need term limits NOW! . RT 🔁 if you agree that career politicians are part of the problem in Washington. #TermLimits.
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Cool. Apparently, Space Force’s first mission will be on Endor.
The first #SpaceForce utility uniform nametapes have touched down in the.Pentagon. @EsperDoD @SecAFOfficial @SpaceForceCSO @GenDaveGoldfein @DeptofDefense.@usairforce
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@appoo_pratt Right. Do you see how women are required to be vulnerable to be liked? Do you think male leaders are held to this standard?.
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Well, that doesn’t seem like a very good idea.
President Trump's acting secretary of defense will step into the role with no foreign policy or military experience
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Dear Students: It's not a mystery novel. Preview the findings and results in your introduction. Tell me the end at the beginning. Thank you. -Professors of social science.
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Both political parties have prioritized their policy agenda (Dems) and future electoral prospects (Repubs) over reinforcing democratic institutions and using one of the only tools available for holding power accountable. Partisanship >>>> democracy.
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@aedwardslevy Twitter is on fire with MyPillow content right now. I wonder what the #thread count is.
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What Prof. Kruse is trying to say, is the design of the US govt assumes tyrannical power will be curtailed by the branches of govt checking one another. But in the modern system, checks and balances can't curtail abuses of power bc the system dominated by parties seeking power.
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SCOTUS was the last political institution in America that we’ve pretended was blind to ideology, for the sake of its legitimacy. The blinders are off and SCOTUS is quickly becoming an EXPLICITLY political body, like we’ve never seen. Democratic legitimacy is under threat.
KAVANAUGH smears Democrats: "The behavior of several of the Democratic members of this committee at my hearing a few weeks ago was an embarrassment. But at least it was just a good old fashioned attempt at Borking". This political operative wants to be on the Supreme Court? Yikes
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5 deaths.140 law enforcement injuries .640 people charged with trespassing .225 charged with assault.75 weapons charges.40 charged with conspiracy .350 at-large/wanted.50 congressional subpoenas .GOP: “legitimate political discourse”.
Breaking News: The Republican Party officially declared the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol “legitimate political discourse” and censured two of its own members, Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, for investigating it.
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This is an embarrassing charade in which Republicans are not actually defending the president, but purposefully breaking rules then complaining that Democrats enforcing the rules amounts to silencing the opposition. It’s ridiculous. And sadly, it will probably totally work.
Stefanik characterizes Adam Schiff trying to enforce the rules during today's hearing as "just more of the ridiculous abuse of power that we see from Adam Schiff." 🙃
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Stunning visualization of @Amy_Siskind’s documentation of weekly violations of democratic norms from Trump and his administration. Page B3 of this morning’s @washingtonpost #SaveDemocracy
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Remember: Democracy doesn't mean majority rules. It means we all agree on the rules.
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How rich are Republicans? This rich. Congressman Jim Jordan, while an assistant coach at Ohio State, has been accused of not reporting sexual misconduct that came to his attention. Today he accused administrative officials of not reporting misconduct properly.
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What if, just hear me out,. what if people are valuable not because they work, but because they’re people? What if honor, value, and worthiness wasn’t tied to a job? Maybe people are deserving because they’re human.
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1. It is illegal to vote twice. 2. The US Dept of Justice, which Barr leads, has absolutely nothing to do with election administration anywhere in the US. 3. Every election is a local election. All of them. Even President.
The attorney general of US just said he didn’t know if it was illegal to vote twice
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I read that Bolton's book will be released on March 17, and I just cannot understand how it's not two days earlier. Missed opportunity.
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@MikaelThalen "I'm here live. I'm not a cat.".I haven't laughed this hard all pandemic. Thank you, cat lawyer.
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The reason Republicans keep insisting US history’s racists were Democrats, is not to enrage modern Democrats. It’s to enrage modern Republicans at the injustice of being accused of things rightfully ascribed to Dems. It’s about defining your in-group by vilifying the out-group.
Fully agree that Wilson was an unmitigated racist. But how did you write an entire statement without mentioning which party Wilson led (as a so-called leftist “progressive”)?. Spoiler alert: he was a Democrat.
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In the 1780s, republicans argued the president should be checked by the legislature, or else the president would be like a king. In 2020, Republicans argue the president must have unchecked power, or else Congress would be like a parliament.
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This type of “people are saying…” statement followed by bullshit intended to provoke outrage or resentment among defined groups by suggesting a relative status threat, is propaganda. It stokes divisiveness, provokes anger, and can lead to violence.
(a friend who is a literary agent told me that he cannot even get editors to read first novels by young white male writers, no matter how good; they are just not interested. this is heartbreaking for writers who may, in fact, be brilliant, & critical of their own "privilege.").
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If Trump is not disqualified from elected office, 2024 is going to make 2020 look like a playground squabble. THE INSURRECTION IS STILL HAPPENING.
New @Politico/@MorningConsult poll asks Republicans & Republican-leaning voters for their choice to be nominee in 2024:. Donald Trump 40%.Mike Pence 18%.Ted Cruz 7%.Nikki Haley 6%.Donald Trump, Jr. 6%.
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Actually, the whole point of the US Constitution, heck any constitution, is to specify the *limits* of power of US federal institutions.
TRUMP: "Then I have an Article 2, where I have the right to do whatever I want as president.". (Article 2 does not in fact empower the president to do whatever they want.)
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The political party that brought us a violent insurrection at the behest of their leader would like to talk about "unity" and "healing" now, which means they're not talking about kicking the radicalized fascists out of their party. The insurrection is still happening.
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God, I love it when other disciplines discover social science.
Something fascinating has happened in every epidemiological peak of COVID-19. As media increases reports about growing cases, awareness of risk increases. This seems to change behavior, thus reducing contact rates. This opens an interesting avenue of mathematical inquiry.
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@yashar I ask as a colleague, please take down the video and the screenshots. I ask not just bc it’s horrific but because it so readily taps into humans’ instinct for empathy with violent entertainment in a way the is antithetical to democratic norms. Condemn loudly, without visuals.
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List of offensive, illegal, unconstitutional, unsavory, and harmful things Donald Trump has done as president, via @TheUpshotNYT
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Viral twitter lessons:.1. Haters are louder than lovers; both are a part of a virus. 2. Lots of “people” on twitter are in a permanent crouch, ready to pounce on things that spark emotions, even if misinterpreted. 3. No idea how @KevinMKruse does this every. damn. day.
Don’t like Pelosi, but can’t quite articulate why? Felt the same way about Hillary Clinton? Time for some deep self-reflection about gender bias and leadership.
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When you’re an elected official, a physician, and you see Black people as “dirty,” you say shit like this and draw attention.
Ohio State Sen. Steve Huffman(R):. “Could it just be that African Americans – the colored population — do not wash their hands as well as other groups? Or wear a mask? Or do not socially distance themselves?”.
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A majority of Americans support the impeachment inquiry, with big changes across all partisans since July: .Dems: +25.Repub: + 21.Indep: +20.New polling from @ScharSchool @washingtonpost .
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Political Science thanks you, Sen. Warren.
Warren is asked about term limits at town hall in Iowa and she rejects them on premise that it empowers lobbyists and k street. cc: @jbouie.
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@omar_lizardo This type of disingenuous, self-deprecating public assignment of “power” to women (wives, especially), has been part of the patriarchy playbook for a long time. He aims to maintain his position in the gender hierarchy by showing his generosity, and assigning her credit.
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Explain to me how we can't agree on collective action to end a pandemic but somehow Twitter is not filled with Wordle spoilers.
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If the proper functioning of the government remains disrupted from last week’s events it means THE INSURRECTION IS STILL HAPPENING.
We're now 5 full days since the Capitol riot began, and we're still have no info shared from the admin. When will we see a briefing from WH / FBI / DOJ / DHS / DOD/ USSS / USCP? I'd like to hear their assessment, progress, and plans. Complete and total abdication of public duty.
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FWIW, the average population size of a congressional district is 710,767.
New: Washington DC's population surpasses 700,000 for the first time since 1975, hitting 702,455 per @uscensusbureau.
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Never let anyone tell you that petitions, sunlight, and public scrutiny don't work. Nice work, everyone.
UF has now officially reversed its disapproval of my work in the voting rights lawsuit
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The challenge of being a political scientist in the USA right now, is that when all the rules break at once, it’s very difficult to tell people what happens now, because all we’ve done is study how the rules guide us.
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My students and I read these 9 books this term to understand political polarization, and now I'm smarter. Thanks @chrishachen @tanehisicoates @monkeycageblog @just_shelter @cmMcConnaughy @b_schaffner and others.
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Seriously, if it’s not apparent to you that Sesame Street is woke af and has been for 50 years then you’re making it clear to all that you’ve never watched a single episode of Sesame Street.
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This is your occasional reminder that all the mechanisms for removing the president from office are political ones, not legal ones. The investigation, its findings, even its convictions have no effect on the presidency until elected or appointed officers decide it does.
The grand jury investigating alleged collusion between Russia and Donald Trump's presidential campaign has issued a subpoena seeking all documents involving the president and a host of his closest advisers, according to a copy of the subpoena.
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Anyone wondering what life as a competitive authoritarian regime will look like in America can look at states like Nevada. @Milbank provides essential reporting about the state of election administration in NV. Every paragraph is mind blowing. Ungated.
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@RepThomasMassie Actual political scientist here. Poli sci is a social science, which means we use the same scientific method as natural science, but our objects of study are complex beings, like politicians. Typically, having a bachelors degree in any field doesn’t make one a scientist, anyway.
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There are 18 million more Americans in 2020 than in 2012. Trumpism continues to ask nonsense questions as a means of sowing distrust in the electoral process; I cannot think of a more unpatriotic act.
Does anyone believe that Biden got 15 million more votes than Obama in 2012? This from a candidate who would go days/weeks while hardly campaigning.
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It's nice to know some people take Senate tradition seriously. Way to stick to seersucker on #ComeyDay @SenFeinstein
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One standard measure of a democracy is the proportion of the adult population that has voting rights. By this measure, you might say peak US democracy was 1965-2013 (VRA -Shelby), when suffrage protections were highest.
All these voter purges are a fun reminder that the U.S. was more or less dragged into liberal democracy by the Warren Court and the civil-rights movement, and we can be dragged right back out of it.
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@TomCottonAR I've reported this tweet for violating Twitter rules about spreading false information about elections. RCV is not a scam, it's a decision rule for elections. It's just as valid and democratic as the majority rule election that elected you. Stop undermining faith in democracy.
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Wow. Have you seen this? I think we all know the real scandal here. WH staff prefer tequila to bourbon by more than 4 to 1. The irony is thick. Bourbon even loses to vodka by more than 3 to 1. Absolutely unamerican.
Trump staffers helped themselves to top-shelf liquor at a Mar-a-Lago bar. No one paid that night. Six days later, Mar-a-Lago billed the State Dept which refused to pay. The tab was then forwarded to the White House which paid for it w/ taxpayers' money.
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Preparing to teach US Government in 2021, here’s what I’m referencing.
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Wait. Really? .History, you echoing dog.
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Indeed, this will spawn many, many dissertations.
Political Scientists Baffled By Trump’s Ability To End Something He Had No Control Over Just Days Ago
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CRT isn't K-12 material for the same reason the theory of general relativity isn't. But lessons about racism are in the curriculum for the same reasons physic teachers drop stuff from buildings. CRT is a red herring for teaching about racism. Objecting to it reveals values.
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As an immediate threat to the nation, Trump needs to be removed from power, but impeachment is clearly the appropriate remedy to the current situation. The 25th is designed to remove an incapacitated president. Impeachment provides the institutional accountability we sorely lack.
The 25th Amendment provides a process for the vice president and a majority of officials who lead executive agencies — commonly thought of as the cabinet — to declare that the president is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.”.
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This is incredible. These scholars have mapped party factions using Twitter data, leveraging the Jan purge. You can see how large and integrated the Q-Anon faction is with Republicans. Excising the cancer with “clean margins” is not possible. We can draw many lessons from this 1/.
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@KatyTurNBC On display here, we have the current president of the United States treating women as sexual objects to be controlled, conquered, and commoditized.
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- The large crowd at the White House (mostly unmasked and closely seated) for a party convention;.- The federal employees campaigning;.- The deliberate conflation of governing and politicking;.Violating law, blatantly and callously, to lull people into thinking it doesn't matter.
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I remain in utter disbelief that this scandal doesn’t have a nickname yet. It’s a massive failure for Democrats, but also for politics twitter.
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In just 24 hours, there are now 75 political scientist volunteers engaged in an effort to place op-eds in local US papers to provide accurate information about voting and elections. An army of experts to shore up democracy, #polisci is stepping up. Email or DM me if you want in.
#polisc twitter: I’m chairing an @APSAtweets subcommittee on election assistance aimed at organizing political scientists to place op-eds in local papers to provide accurate information about voting and elections. Send me your email address if you’d like to help. #WeKnowVoting.
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Huge victory for voting rights in VA! The witness requirements were confusing and ludicrous. More people will be able to vote because of this. #vote.
🚨BREAKING🚨 A federal court APPROVED our agreement to waive the absentee ballot witness requirement for at-risk voters in this fall's election. No one should have to choose between their right to vote and their health/safety. Proud we could again protect Virginians' rights.
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He’s right. The US needs two political parties that live in reality, and right now there’s only one.
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Yep. President outright admitted to obstruction of justice. If Congress thinks it's saving democracy by NOT acting they've got it backwards.
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@yashar I appreciate the polite response and I understand the need to show people how awful this is, but have you considered that sharing it actually spreads the exact emotional response its creators seek to stoke?.
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@CopticChad @KamalaHarris @SenGillibrand I'm not saying that people cannot articulate reasons to oppose these pols. Clearly you can. I'm saying if it just seems like they're not right, but you CANNOT explain why, then you might have a gender bias filter to work on. Sexism exists and it's not lazy to raise awareness.
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I almost lost all credibility with my 100 Intro students on the very first day when I claimed, "I know most of you get your news from Facebook." I meant to say social media. A few students politely corrected me, "TikTok" they said. I only hope the damage isn't permanent.
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Thing I hate most about my new teaching medium: I ABSOLUTELY HATE TEACHING SITTING DOWN.
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Dear Georgia, . Please choose democracy. We’re counting on you. Love, America.
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BIG NEWS. This article shows illegal campaign practices between GOP campaigns and the NRA. It's also evidence for the political science theory that there is no distinction between a political party and the organized groups that align with it. THREAD 1/15.
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Successfully executed a "groupthink vs. wisdom of crowds" experiment in class this morning. This is the first time it's worked this well. Two groups of students were asked "What % of Americans believe Earth was created by God less than 10,000 years ago?" Results in thread. 🧵 1/4.
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Booker just won the debate. I laughed out loud. Univision Moderator: “You’re a vegan. Should everyone be?”.Booker: “No. I want to translate that into Spanish: No.”. #DemDebate.
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The president honestly believes that he’s supposed to use the power of his position to enrich himself and improve his political position. That’s how it’s always worked for him. He’s never been a public servant. The fact that he’s been given the power makes him feel worthy of it.
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Things that irk me #47: “Generous” drivers who violate right-of-way, in an effort to be kind to others, but who really disrupt the norms that keep our roads from being utter chaos. THE NORMS CREATE PREDICTABILITY; VIOLATING THEM ISN’T POLITE.
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It seems some pro-vaccine people who may now be locally eligible to begin their Covid inoculation are hesitating out of a sense of politeness or guilt about being at the front of the line. GET OVER YOURSELVES. It’s not about you. Your immunity protects others, too. Get shot! 💉.
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Unless 👏 the 👏 missing 👏 parts 👏 are 👏 distributed 👏 randomly, 👏conclusions 👏 dawn👏 from 👏 incomplete 👏 data 👏 are 👏 likely 👏 incorrect.
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If voting goes along party lines, Senators who represent 55.8% of the US population will have voted "NO" and Senators who represent 43.6% of the US population will have voted "YES," and the motion will pass. #Kavanaugh.
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You know what else isn’t in the Constitution? .- Voting rights .- Guarantees against enslavement.- Political parties.- How to structure the court system.- Women.- Children .- Size of the republic.- Size of the legislature .- Social welfare.- Civil rights.
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One major U.S. party thinks foreign interference in elections should be curtailed and punished. The other thinks doing so is biased against their candidate. 🤔 🤨
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Faculty, students, staff, administrators, parents: Do yourself a favor and lower your expectations now about how this school year is going to go. Resilience comes from flexibility and reasonable access to alternative paths. #Delta.
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.@maddow reporting that Trans Sec. Elaine Chao, wife of Mitch McConnell, is “thinking about” resigning. This seems remarkable and meaningful and I’d like to know more.
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All the political scientist warnings about democracy are coming true. Wisconsin is the canary in the coal mine. If parties cannot agree on rules to hold fair elections, democracy is done. This will play out at the national level in November if we don’t take steps now to avoid it.
Wow: Wisconsin’s Republican legislative leaders are not only refusing @GovEvers’s call to delay the election and mail every voter a ballot—they’re asking the Supreme Court to overturn two federal rulings giving voters extra time to return absentee ballots.
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It’s not just me, right? 9am meetings are incredibly, unreasonably early. Right?.
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This is HUGE. The American Political Science Association has selected an all-female, all-star team of scholars from 12 different universities to co-edit the flagship journal of political science. #leadership #progress #womenalsoknowstuff @womenalsoknow.
APSA Announces the New Editorial Team for the American Political Science Review
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Political science research makes it easy to explain a close election, but I can’t emphasize enough how hard it will be to explain an incumbent president winning when he’s never had approvals >50%, got impeached, and presided over a massive policy failure that killed thousands.
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This is a very bad tweet.
Chris Wallace is a good choice for first debate moderator. Known by the Fox News audience, and a respected and honorable journalist. #Debates2020.
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Did something today I've never done before. I've been teaching Intro American Government for 20 years for the first time today I explained "competitive authoritarianism," how democracies can evolve that way, and what it looks like. All paths from here are democratic decline.
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Important post, from Prof. Musgraves: If Trump “used foreign policy tools for private domestic political gain” and it goes unpunished, it “wouldn’t just hurt American democracy, it would devastate an earlier optimistic world order and undermine the foundations of global freedom.”.
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Andrew Yang has a plan to make the U.S. Congress significantly less functional and representative than it is now. But lobbyists would become more powerful under his plan, so there’s that.
I’m for 12-year term limits for members of Congress and I know how to get it passed - exempt current lawmakers. They would pass it immediately and we would have a more aligned and dynamic legislature in no time.
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