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Dan Slater

@dnsltr.bsky.social
3.9K followers 734 following 89 posts

James Orin Murfin Professor of Political Science and Director of Center for Emerging Democracies @ University of Michigan (@umichDemocracy). SE Asia, authoritarianism, democracy, history. Personal heroes include Thomas Mann, Michael Mann, & Aimee Mann.

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Dan Slater @dnsltr.bsky.social · 03/01/2026
International law has obviously never been the rule. But we’re hurdling into an era when it might not even be the exception.
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Xiaobo Lü | 吕晓波 @xiaobolu.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
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...
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Michael Albertus @mikealbertus.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
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
michaelalbertus.substack.com
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
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Dan Slater @dnsltr.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
Stackable syllabus! The State in Comparative & World Politics Autumn 2025, @umichpolisci
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Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 07/09/2025
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.
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Dan Slater @dnsltr.bsky.social · 07/09/2025
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.”
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Andreas Harsono @andreasharsono.bsky.social · 03/09/2025
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...
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Jeff Wasserstrom @jwassers.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
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...
journalofdemocracy.org
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...
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Journal of Democracy @jodemocracy.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
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...
journalofdemocracy.org
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...
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Katharina Natter @knatter.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
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/...
lsa.umich.edu
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Adrian Monck @amonck.bsky.social · 21/06/2025
🧵 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 👇
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Dan Slater @dnsltr.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
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
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Dan Slater @dnsltr.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
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
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Dan Slater @dnsltr.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
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
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Dan Slater @dnsltr.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
@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
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Dan Slater @dnsltr.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
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
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Dan Slater @dnsltr.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
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...
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Journal of Democracy @jodemocracy.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
🔉 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...
revdem.ceu.edu
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.
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Journal of Democracy @jodemocracy.bsky.social · 20/04/2025
💡🧵 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...
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Dan Slater @dnsltr.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
Another year of programming to be proud of @umichDemocracy! ii.umich.edu/emerging-dem...
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Journal of Democracy @jodemocracy.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
💡🧵 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...
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Bruno J. Navarro @brunojnavarro.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
“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.”
cnn.com
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 ...
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Dan Slater @dnsltr.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
Mar-CHI-ng! #50501 #HandsOff
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Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
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
on.ft.com
South Korea’s president removed from office over martial law bid
Yoon Suk Yeol’s shortlived attempt to impose military rule triggered political crisis
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Dan Slater @dnsltr.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
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...
muse.jhu.edu
Project MUSE - The Authoritarian Origins of the Third Wave
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Dan Slater @dnsltr.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
My effort in 2022 to apply the “democratic careening” framework to US politics in the Biden years journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
journals.sagepub.com
Threats or Gains: The Battle over Participation in America’s Careening Democracy - Dan Slater, 2022
Modern democracies comprise multiple institutions and diverse principles. This can make them vulnerable to “democratic careening,” as polarized actors emphasize...
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Dan Slater @dnsltr.bsky.social · 29/03/2025
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.
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Dan Slater @dnsltr.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
The University of Michigan is now occupied territory.
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Adam Bonica @adambonica.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
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.
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.
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Dan Slater @dnsltr.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
"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...
homsy-staging.cambridgecore.org
Wars Make Laws and Laws Make States | Nationalities Papers | Cambridge Core
Wars Make Laws and Laws Make States - Volume 53 Issue 1
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Dan Slater @dnsltr.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
College students endanger no one. Authoritarian states endanger everyone.
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Kori Schake 🎃 @kschake.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
The US won the geopolitical lottery having Canada and Mexico as neighbors. This kind of offensive nonsense is doing so much damage, not just to America's standing in the world, but to our security.
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Dan Slater @dnsltr.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
Universities are us, not just them
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Dan Slater @dnsltr.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
How much universities cave like big corporations will speak volumes about how much universities have (or hopefully haven’t) become like big corporations.
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Dan Slater @dnsltr.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
The Trumpist project is fundamentally destructive rather than constructive, and it’s hard to think of a destructive autocrat who would look back at the world they left behind with delight. It seems unlikely to me that Trump will be the first. 8/8
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Dan Slater @dnsltr.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
Autocrats can’t predict much less control the whirlwinds of unintended consequences they whip up. All manner of structural constraints mean that autocrats, like the rest of us, can’t simply make history as they choose. 7/8
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Dan Slater @dnsltr.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
And it’s not just on the far political right. Stalin’s totalitarian push for Soviet greatness was followed by a thaw and Soviet decay. Mao’s Cultural Revolution was followed by Deng’s market revolution. 6/8
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Dan Slater @dnsltr.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
Imagine Hitler seeing how democratic, multicultural, and pro-US postwar Germany became. Imagine Japanese militarists seeing Japan’s postwar democracy dedicated to peace and distrusted by the neighbors they tried to subdue. Similar story in post-fascist Italy, Portugal, Spain. 5/8
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Dan Slater @dnsltr.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
History shows that far-right leaders don’t get their way. Their projects have backfired spectacularly. 4/8
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Dan Slater @dnsltr.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
Don’t ask if boycotts of billionaire-run businesses or protest gatherings numbering in the mere hundreds will derail or even curtail the Trumpist project. Do what you think is right because you think it’s right. 3/8
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Dan Slater @dnsltr.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
Protest is an ends in itself. It makes living in an autocratizing context more tolerable. It keeps our democratic energies and spirit alive, today and for the future. Even when you can’t defeat an autocrat you can’t let an autocrat defeat you. 2/8
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Dan Slater @dnsltr.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
I’m not confident that protests will defeat Trumpism (though protest we must), but I’m confident that Trumpism will be defeated. 1/8
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 15/02/2025
my take is that your willingness to accept this gulf of america nonsense is an indicator of your willingness to accept much worse things coming from this administrator
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Dan Slater @dnsltr.bsky.social · 15/02/2025
Any research out there on whether expressing outrage over truly outrageous policy proposals tends to expand or shrink the Overton window?
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Paul Gowder @gowder.io · 12/02/2025
THIS. An executive order is literally just the president telling executive branch employees "as your supervisor, do X." They are only meaningful if the president has the legal authority to implement X, which must be granted by some ACTUAL LAW either in a statute or the constitution. Period.
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 12/02/2025
i mean, the president's executive order isn't a goddamn law! as far as this doctor is concerned, who cares what the president says!
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Adrian Daub @adriandaub.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
From Michael Roth, president of Wesleyan University: slate.com/life/2025/02...
slate.com
Dear Fellow College Presidents: We Need to Do More Than Wait This One Out
Why civil society needs university leaders to speak up.
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Dan Slater @dnsltr.bsky.social · 03/02/2025
DEI should have always been called *DEIO*. Its goal is Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion in *OPPORTUNITY*. That makes it as 🇺🇸 as apple pie. We need to mend it and defend it, not end it.
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