It’s striking how high Republicans are right now—like Rs are TWICE as happy with Trump now as Dems were with Biden a year ago.
Political Scientist at George Mason U. studying US politics, congressional networks, parties, campaign finance, and other broken systems. Cat person, dog owner. Take my class: https://shorturl.at/jqJFo Read me: https://substack.com/@misofact
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It’s striking how high Republicans are right now—like Rs are TWICE as happy with Trump now as Dems were with Biden a year ago.
cc #apsa2025
The extent to which ICE is ignoring all civil rights and due process is astounding — and indicative of a culture where they’ve been told they can do literally no wrong. Agency and admin leaders must face sanctions and legal consequences.
New, from me: The CDC shitshow is a microcosm of the mismanagement of the Trump era. It also demonstrates some extraordinary courage among principled public servants, who were willing to lose their jobs to draw attention to damage being done to public health donmoynihan.substack.com/p/your-gover...
My list says otherwise, Zack saideman.blogspot.com/2025/08/was-... as Trump may not have turned the US into a totalitarian regime, but the rule of law is gone, and Trump is doing stuff that is not allowed by the Constitution and facing little resistance on that stuff. He is acting as a dictator now
I agree with both you and Don. The US is not yet fully consolidated as a competitive authoritarian regime, but that is the trajectory. As I described it to my students this week, the US is a “democratically elected republican rule in the process of consolidating a competitive authoritarian regime.”
Must read, from @donmoyn.bsky.social. This is an outstanding summary of the collapse of the pillars of US democratic government. As I told my students this week, the US is a consolidating competitive authoritarian regime now. How long will it endure? open.substack.com/pub/donmoyni...
If RFK Jr. will not resign, he must be impeached and removed, for the sake of the nation's health and safety.
A new piece I wrote appearing in FOREIGN AFFAIRS today www.foreignaffairs.com/germany/warn...
It also desperately needs healthy political parties that value democracy.
Once you have multimember districts and PR the incentives are properly set for the state-level reforms for ballot access, etc. to fall in line. Until we rid ourselves of single member districts and first-past-the-post elections, state laws about parties and ballots are meaningless.
I know parties are persona non grata right now, but hear me out. It's super problematic that we have a system designed to check and balance itself as if parties don't exist--but they do, and they've effectively nullified the checks & balances. Better to bake them into the cake.
Righto. We should all teach classes on US democracy reforms where the assignments are to make Tik Toks or whatevs. Our students are crazy talented, brave, and motivated.
You are correct, but 1 can be accomplished with a change in law--no Constitutional amendment required. On 4, the Senate is hopelessly malapportioned. Representative democracy would be better off if that body was less influential. House of Lords, style.
I'm for no colonialism and full voting rights for all adult citizens.
They failed, primarily because the Constitution was written as if political parties would not exist as counters to the formal checks and balances. The USA desperately needs institutional reform that acknowledges political parties as part of the political infrastructure.
These would: - improve representation - generate more political parties 3/3
My five things are: 1. Multimember districts with proportional distribution of House seats by party. 2. Expand the House. 3. Guarantee voting rights for all (DC and PR included) 4. Reduce authority of the Senate. 5. Increase pay and professional staff for House members. 2/3
There’s a Tik Tok circulating that I don’t want to link to with a guy proposing five things to fix Congress and they are all terrible (and mostly unconstitutional) ideas that would make things worse. Congress peeps, we need to find ways to elevate discourse about reforms that would improve things.
Excellent post from Dr. Jacob Smith @misofact.bsky.social using a little Founding Fathers’ wisdom to explain Gavin Newsom. @jacobfhsmith.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/misofact...
It’s like we’re so trapped in our folk theories of democracy that we cannot fathom the fascist project or its sensible counters.
Yes!
I think these people should be staying and making Kennedy fire them
The mantra for this era is "fuck you, make me."
Abbe Lowell and I represent CDC Director #SusanMonarez. Contrary to govt statements, Dr. Monarez has neither resigned nor yet been fired. She will not resign. We have issued the following statement:
“Healthy people don’t get (too) sick and therefore don’t need vaccines” is some real selecting on the dependent variable logic.
The hollowing out of expertise, professionalism, and experience is one of the worst and most jarring aspects of the authoritarian project underway. The damage is utterly devastating.
🚨 The CDC as we know it is being severely altered tonight. In addition to the CDC director being ousted, the Post is reporting that several senior leaders are leaving as well. Here are from two of the resignations:
NEW: More than 199,000 federal workers have left their jobs or have been forced out by the Trump admin since Jan. 2025, per a new report. That’s nearly 10% of the entire federal civilian workforce. “We’re seeing the arson of our government." www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...
Turns out it's not really true that Democrats want to fall in love (with their candidates) while Republicans fall in line. Great post at @misofact.bsky.social by @bcburden.bsky.social using cool data he, et al collected by talking to party convention delegates. misofact.substack.com/p/democrats-...
It’s becoming clearer: the real fight against Trump isn’t going to come from party leadership in DC; it’s going to come from blue state governors.
To be clear, this is the ball game for Federal Reserve independence. If Trump can decide what constitutes "for cause" basis for firing, then every Fed board member can be fired until he has a Board that is completely acquiescent to his every demand. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/trump-uses...
For folks not in DC: - There are full-on police checkpoints most nights - Gangs of 30+ federal agents roam DC - National Guard folks w/ guns patrolling a Harris Teeter - Every day, multiple friends see ICE kidnapping ppl - Daycares are scared to have kids go on walks due to ICE
This is the way.
Yes, the stakes here are large. Very large.
SCOTUS thought they could ride the tiger and get what they wanted ideologically. In exchange, they would give him everything he wanted except the Fed. Just leave the Fed alone and you can ignore all federal law. But it ended the same way it has for everyone who tried to ride the tiger since 2016.
Wait until I tell you about elections.
There's always Wednesday. ;-) Would you believe I put zero guardrails on this and they all behaved very responsibly! ~100 students total.
The kids are alright.
1. Fight him on everything. Get him to back down wherever we can. It won't always work, but sometimes it does. 2. DC has limited ability to fight this because they're not a state and the federal government has more control over them than it does states. DC statehood is an absolute necessity.
Day 1 teaching American politics in fall 2025 at @georgemasonu.bsky.social. I used PollEverywhere and asked students to describe the state of US politics and govt today. Left cloud is from the Intro students; Right is from the senior seminar. It's going to be a great semester.
this is not a deportation, they are disappearing him
But I was told Biden/Harris were the socialists. I’m confused. (I’m not confused at all.)
Following.
Obviously few on the left (or in the centre) are going to want to dash to the defence of John Bolton, but this is still a hell of a threshold that’s being crossed. Trump critic getting raided on the personal orders of a political appointee…
In November 2024, I made a list of things I thought the fascism theory of Trumpism predicted could happen.
"Show me your papers," in the US capital, enforced by federal officers of law. We are mid-collapse, people.
Elected representative in Texas left locked in the House chamber because she refused a DPS escort. I know there's a lot going on, but if this isn't a front page story in every US newspaper tomorrow, our press is massively failing us. And yes, I know that they already are.
Every negotiation between WH and universities Hitler: I’d like to discuss some features of the Treaty of Vers- Chamberlain: Here take all of Czechoslovakia
The President is demanding that a state release a convicted felon or face consequences
“.. Bessent is wrong about a potential big new source of demand for US government debt — again. .. Any dollars invested into stablecoins come from somewhere else, and those other places are typically already owners of Treasuries.” @opinion.bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
The number of people, now in positions of authority, whom I've never heard of before, who have wholesale bought into the authoritarian project and talk about it casually, like it's normal, is utterly mind-blowing.
Take a deep dive into the anti-democratic practice of gerrymandering in @samwang.bsky.social's Electoral Innovation Lab. It's impossible to read this and have confidence that the US is great democracy. Yes, Texas 2025 is the worst gerrymander. Ever. samwang.substack.com/p/the-worst-...
YOU DON’T NEED THE EPSTEIN FILES TO PROVE TRUMP IS A CRIMINAL. The authoritarian acts aren’t a “distraction,” they’re the ball game, the whole enchilada, the thing.
ICYMI: the White House, AKA “the people’s house,” is no longer open to the public. Classic authoritarian move, and this one will go almost unnoticed. wapo.st/3JvsbGt
I’m organizing 50+ GMU students to teach their peers about voting rights, registration, & voting. They now have to be volunteers. There’s a big election in VA this year, and students are eternally mixed up about their rights. Any funders out there who are interested in helping to fill this need? 2/2
🚨The Trump administration has reversed prior Dept of Ed guidance that encouraged universities to hire students to do voting work 🗳️ (registration, GOTV, etc.) paid through Federal Work Study. Students can still do this work on campuses, but can’t be paid with fed. funds. www.ed.gov/media/docume...
The most important histograms you'll see this year. @adambonica.bsky.social is doing incredibly important work in revealing the ills of our campaign finance system. Beyond dysfunction, SPAM PACs approach criminality. data4democracy.substack.com/p/spam-pacs-...
In an effort to summarize two weeks of Trump actions in August, which is typically a sleepy time in Washington, @mattngreen.bsky.social creates a helpful typology to identify the political pathologies at work. Now at @misofact.bsky.social misofact.substack.com/p/two-weeks-...
Thanks for the endorsement and letting me know the link was broken. I think I fixed it!
Nate Silver thinks academic journals are a lost cause. But they aren't. If anything, the real problem is that these journals are *too* profitable. Which means no one bothers to dream up other ideas, only variations on the theme. 🧵
I'm very excited to see @opensecrets.org on this list of top 25 non-profit news websites from @niemanlab.org! OpenSecrets has truly unparalleled integrity in reporting on money in politics. Let's go! www.niemanlab.org/2025/07/nonp...
Quick reminder that the US Congress has the authority to remove this dictator from office and can do so at anytime. Messing with election administration is the KEY to consolidating authoritarian control.
If this reporting is correct---2.5 million Israelis protesting--that represents more than a quarter (25%) of the population of the country. In protest. Incredible. Israel is the size of New Jersey, both in land mass and population.
To insist anything is a distraction from the Epstein files is to imply transparency on the Epstein files would devastate Trump's hold on power. Maybe. Maybe not. People have been waiting for the "one thing" that will end Trump, but his end is unlikely to be one thing. It's a multi-front conflict.
This is the moment. If Trump succeeds in meddling in election administration, authoritarian control of the US will be solidified for generations. The US is already at competitive authoritarian status, but the "competitive" part means we still have real elections. 🚨 www.nytimes.com/2025/08/18/u...
HAPPENING NOW: Thousands of protesters chant “Fuck Donald Trump!” as they march through the streets of DC (Video: DRM News)
Now passing the executive office building
Crowd leaving DuPont now
BREAKING: Massive protest in Washington DC against Donald Trump right now.
I hear you saying “The Showdown at Gucci Gulch” is no longer fashionable. 😉 Check our “Networks in Contention” by Jennifer Hadden. Or the Tea Party book by Theda Skojpol. Or stuff from Michael Heaney.
While masked agents were violently attacking a delivery worker this morning, bystanders repeatedly asked to see their badge numbers but they refused. Bystander: You guys are ruining this country, you know that, right? Agent: Liberals already ruined it.
The federal government’s deployment of the National Guard in DC to respond to crime violates the centuries-old principle against using the military as a domestic police force — a principle critical to democracy. bit.ly/4oxXJLN
This is how it's done. In July, the Office of Civil Rights in Dept. of Ed. told Ffx Public Schls to update its bathroom policies or lose $160 million in fed funds. Today, FCPS responded to OCR. There is a lot of legalize here, so let me translate: "Fuck you. Make me." 👏 www.fcps.edu/news/update-...
Randy, I can probably get you access to old MOF at Vox pieces. Shoot me an email with what you're looking for.
Why does a lame duck president need $240 million? It's not normal for a term-limited politician to be so cash flush. Is Trump preparing to lead Republicans through another election cycle? Or is this a sign of something more sinister about his own ambition? www.opensecrets.org/news/2025/08...
Is that what he is doing? Fighting crime? Phew. I thought he was using federal power to assert power over the country’s capital
Very helpful post from @juliaazari.bsky.social today, putting the "urban panic" into appropriate historical context. open.substack.com/pub/goodpoli...
Happy to have been wrong—for now— about Gavin Newsom on redistricting. He’s made it clear that he is a defender of democracy and he doesn’t relish breaking CA’s independent commission. He’s providing much needed opposition and voice to growing US authoritarianism.
Today in "You can't unplug 1/4 of the budget of research universities & do the same things, & there doesn't seem to be any backup plan other than to cancel things, & WHERE ARE THE UNIVERSITY PRESIDENTS SPEAKING OUT LOUDLY & COLLECTIVELY ABOUT THIS EXISTENTIAL CRISIS?" bsky.app/profile/mcop...
More Dems should post like Trump, it's genuinely more effective than what they usually do.
Burchett represents Tennessee. Over the last few years, Nashville, Memphis, and Chattanooga have all had higher crime rates than D.C. Knoxville, where Burchett was mayor, is lower, but still among the most violent 10 percent of cities in the country.
6 days after Soviet troops invaded Czechoslovakia in 1968, a Prague paper published these “10 Commandments”: ‘When a Soviet soldier comes to you, YOU: 1. Don’t know 2. Don’t care 3. Don’t tell 4. Don’t have 5. Don’t know how to 6. Don’t give 7. Can’t do 8. Don’t sell 9. Don’t show 10. Do nothing’
Update from George Mason University. 🔥 ✊💯🎯🎓🇺🇸 #StandWithMason Check this out: youtu.be/S3IxCWqGt-E?...
Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA08)'s Deputy CoS @fritschner.bsky.social: "Conservatism once espoused the belief that government decisions were best made locally...Any Washingtonian could tell you the crime in DC isn't at the Mall. But this isn't really about stopping crime." bluevirginia.us/2025/08/va11...
Thanks for inviting me. I learned a lot and always enjoy collaborating with you.
It was great to collaborate with Mark on this piece.
The most important day of the election cycle is the day you vote. Tomorrow is the second most important. National Poll Worker Recruitment Day. We are facing a shortage. Your participation ensures safe, accessible elections. Democracy! Sign up for it: www.powerthepolls.org/lwv @lwvus.bsky.social
Trump's attempt to militarize and federalize D.C. is an incredibly dangerous acceleration of his fascist takeover of the nation AND It's clear he's pursuing it to distract from the Epstein Files His craven personal self-preservation is driving this escalation and that makes it all the scarier.
If this proposal includes eliminating all speed bumps, I’m all in.
Drug Enforcement Administration officers patrolling the National Mall. If you know DC you understand how tremendously goofy this is (h/t @lorenzohall1.bsky.social)
It can be normal to deploy National Guard troops for domestic law enforcement, it is typically only done in extraordinary circumstances. Trump’s justification for this is transparently false. An autocrat is deploying forces in the capital. LA was a dry run. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
lol. NH has two seats, right?
Emory University is on lockdown as police respond to an active shooting near campus. Students are being urged to “RUN, HIDE, FIGHT.” This is NOT what the American college experience should be. Our hearts are with Emory as we await more information.
The entire business model of R1 public universities rests on 4 revenue sources: 1. Federal grants 2. Private gifts/endowments 3. Tuition (esp. from foreign students) 4. State $ For decades, 📈 in 1-3 offset a secular 📉 in 4. Now, 1 & 3 are being decimated & 4 ain't coming back. The math is clear.
There's going to be a significant undercount anyway because by 2030, everyone will be so terrified from five years of disappearances and torture that they won't respond to the Census Bureau even if it tried to count them.
The aspects of machine politics that apply are: - Party is indistinguishable from the government ✅ - Government jobs are distributed as spoils based on loyalty, not merit. ✅ - The party/govt head is a boss and runs a tight, hierarchical ship; dissenters are booted. ✅ - The machine enriches itself ✅