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Reposted by Erik Bleich

Political Studies @polstudies.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

IN NEW ISSUE: Politicized pejoration - @erikbleich.bsky.social, Husam AlZubaidy, Andrey Cao, Abigail Chang, Nikki Sadat, Abby Ward & A Maurits van der Veen develop the concept through a case study of the term “woke” in the US. Read more: buff.ly/lqoCtN7 @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social #polsky #polsci

Abstract
Politicized semantic change occurs when ideological actors strategically alter the meaning of existing terms to undermine opponents and to strengthen allies. We develop the concept of politicized pejoration through a case study of the term “woke” in the United States. This word originated in the US Black community as an encouragement to stay aware of social and racial injustices; it was subsequently transformed by the political right to indicate what it perceived as the left’s hypersensitivity and oppressive tendencies. We illustrate the process of pejoration by tracking usage of “woke” in mainstream media outlets, on Twitter and in Google searches from 2010 through 2022, combining quantitative text-as-data analyses with qualitative readings of media stories. Conceptualizing politicized pejoration as a form of politicized semantic change extends scholarly and public understanding of the politics of language.

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Hasher Nisar @hnisar.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Pleased to share our new open-access article in Politics & Religion, co-authored with @profpjones.bsky.social: “Believing like a state? Official Islam and public opinion in Kyrgyzstan.”

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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

🚨New Bright Line Watch report🚨 brightlinewatch.org/a-partial-de... Key findings: -Expert ratings of US democracy up to 60, highest of 2nd term -But 41% say US has unfair, tilted elections & weak checks -Public mostly confident in 2026 election; Ds higher but party gap smaller than past 🧵 below

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Sam Ulmschneider @samulmschneider.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Normally I just appreciatively read @jamellebouie.net 's columns-sharable video content just isn't my bag. But this is a very, very, very trenchant piece of commentary that captures a lot of how I increasingly understand the disjunction between the commentary environment and on-the-ground politics.

youtube.com

The pundits have completely lost the plot

YouTube video by Takes™ by Jamelle Bouie

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Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Many myths debunked in this paper. Paper finds that: -faculty partisanship has no effect on students -students ideologically sort into majors; majors don’t affect partisanship -faculty partisanship is uncorrelated with how left/rightwing course content is micah-baum.github.io/files/baum-e...

DO FACULTY AFFECT STUDENT PARTISANSHIP?*
Micah Y. Baum*
Joaquín Endara
Annaliese Paulson®
Abstract
We study whether Democratic college professors make their students more liberal. We link voter data to salary records from 33 state flagships and show that faculty skew Democratic, especially in the humanities and social sciences. We then use student transcripts from one flagship to estimate causal effects. Students become more liberal during college regardless of major and sort toward ideologically similar instructors. Exploiting plausibly random variation in when instructors teach courses, we find no effect of faculty partisanship on student partisanship. Text analysis shows exposure to liberal topics reflects student demand rather than instructor supply, leaving little room for indoctrination.
JEL Codes: 123, D72, H75

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kim yi dionne (she/her) @dadakim.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

A great job for a scholar who studies African Politics -- and the bonus is you get to have @ajayverghese.bsky.social as a colleague!

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Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

👇🎯 I'd only amend (& to @jamellebouie.net's credit, the rest of the video makes this clear) that this isn't the "B Plot" but the A Plot: there is nothing an 🇺🇸 POTUS could do to more endanger national security & int'l credibility than threaten 🇨🇦 with conquest & this should have instantly ended it all

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Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Feels like I may as well post this long-read again just to remind the incoming government that their support base, and indeed the population, are that most horrible and cringe of things - middle class. Actually, even worse, the Professional Managerial Class. benansell.substack.com/p/british-po...

benansell.substack.com

British Politics' Midlife Crisis

Why British Parties Can't Make Peace with Their Actual Voters

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maura quint @mauraquint.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

I respect France's commitment to not working on a holiday.

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Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

@jamellebouie.net is smarter & more serious & more talented than ~everyone else in the National Conversation™️. But also, one reason he's been so successful is that he speaks/writes hard truths simply & clearly instead of pretending 🇺🇸 & our politicians are something other than what they actually are:

youtube.com

What is there to say about Lindsay Graham?

YouTube video by Takes™ by Jamelle Bouie

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Reposted by Erik Bleich

Political Studies @polstudies.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Politicized pejoration - @erikbleich.bsky.social, Husam AlZubaidy, Andrey Cao, Abigail Chang, Nikki Sadat, Abby Ward & A Maurits van der Veen develop the concept through a case study of the term “woke” in the US. Read more: buff.ly/dIWpziD @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social @sagepub.com #polsky #polsci

buff.ly

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

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Reposted by Erik Bleich

Daniel Drezner @dandrezner.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

"We had a good run — some eight decades or so — but it is clear by now that the United States has ceased to be the leader of the free world." www.nytimes.com/2026/03/24/o...

nytimes.com

Opinion | The U.S. Is No Longer the Leader of the Free World

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Reposted by Erik Bleich

Political Studies @polstudies.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

Politicized pejoration - @erikbleich.bsky.social, Husam AlZubaidy, Andrey Cao, Abigail Chang, Nikki Sadat, Abby Ward & A Maurits van der Veen develop the concept through a case study of the term “woke” in the US. Read more: buff.ly/E9Cra12 @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social @sagepub.com #polsky #polsci

buff.ly

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

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Reposted by Erik Bleich

Political Studies @polstudies.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

Politicized pejoration - @erikbleich.bsky.social, Husam AlZubaidy, Andrey Cao, Abigail Chang, Nikki Sadat, Abby Ward & A Maurits van der Veen develop the concept through a case study of the term “woke” in the US. Read more: buff.ly/lviFdJO @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social @sagepub.com #polsky #polsci

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Erik Bleich @erikbleich.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

Throwback Tuesday. An analysis by Will DiGravio from the bygone days (2018) when it looked like MBS was a bad guy. www.mediaandminorities.org/MBS/

mediaandminorities.org

Media Portrayals of Minorities Project

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Reposted by Erik Bleich

Ajay Verghese @ajayverghese.bsky.social · 07/11/2025

Check out my review of some exciting new books in qualitative methods!

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Cas Mudde @casmudde.bsky.social · 07/11/2025

I wish more schools had money to organize book workshops. I have attended one today that was intellectually so stimulating. As any good book workshop, it will not only make the manuscript that was being discussed better, but it will make the future work of all the participants better.

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Reposted by Erik Bleich

Political Studies @polstudies.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

Politicized pejoration - @erikbleich.bsky.social, Husam AlZubaidy, Andrey Cao, Abigail Chang, Nikki Sadat, Abby Ward & A Maurits van der Veen develop the concept through a case study of the term “woke” in the US. Read more: buff.ly/zc4rybp @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social @sagepub.com #polsky #polsci

buff.ly

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

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Erik Bleich @erikbleich.bsky.social · 13/10/2025

Every wonder what happened to "systemic racism" in the news? It had its day, and now it has all but disappeared. Andy Cao shows us the trends: www.mediaandminorities.org/systemicraci...

mediaandminorities.org

Media Portrayals of Minorities Project

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Erik Bleich @erikbleich.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

Our study on the politics of language in @polstudies.bsky.social looks at how terms like woke get strategically transformed and weaponized.

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Erik Bleich @erikbleich.bsky.social · 16/06/2025

Lab members Ting Cui and Eva Janairo examined the effect of Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric on media coverage. They show that words like "criminal", "murderer", and "invasion" spiked in his first term and never went down to pre-Trump levels. www.mediaandminorities.org/immigration/

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Erik Bleich @erikbleich.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

The last of my lab's three-part series on media coverage of DEI is by Eva Janairo and YiJun Kim. They examine what happens when "DEI scandals" hit the news. They show the real costs to men and women of color who are stigmatized as "DEI hires". www.mediaandminorities.org/DEIscandals/

mediaandminorities.org

Media Portrayals of Minorities Project

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Reposted by Erik Bleich

Kartik Raj @kartikraj.eurosky.social · 01/05/2025

Interesting research on what exactly happened with DEI and its framing and representation in the media to end up where we are now, by a research project led by @erikbleich.bsky.social, with whom I first studied about race and ethnicity, all those years ago.

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Erik Bleich @erikbleich.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

The second in my lab's series on DEI is by Andrey Cao and Ting Cui. They look at which groups are linked with DEI in the media. Race/ethnicity are mentioned far more than religion or disability--Black Americans most of all. Discussions of DEI are attached to some groups more than to others.

mediaandminorities.org

Media Portrayals of Minorities Project

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Kye @gxldsociety.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

BREAKING: ICE raided a home with 20 armed agents, ripped a mom & her 3 daughters out of bed in their underwear, held them in the rain for hours at gunpoint—with ZERO charges. They’re U.S. citizens. This isn’t immigration enforcement. It’s state-sanctioned terror.

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Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

No other democracy has electoral institutions that make the least informed individuals in randomly important geographic locations the pivotal voters. This isn't a problem of democracy. It's a problem of single member districts, presidentialism/Electoral College, and statehood/federalism.

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Erik Bleich @erikbleich.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

My Media Portrayals of Minorities Project lab is analyzing coverage of DEI in US newspapers in three contributions over the coming days. Here, Daniza Tazabekova and Abby Ward explore how DEI became embroiled in the culture wars between 2020 and 2024: www.mediaandminorities.org/DEIhistory/

mediaandminorities.org

Media Portrayals of Minorities Project

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Brian Wasik @brianrwasik.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

There seems to be a conspiracy to make people mad online, cause @whstancil.bsky.social keeps being right. Opinion and politics in the social media age is increasingly just social construction and peer validation.

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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

"the most brazenly corrupt thing a President has ever done"

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David Carroll @davidcarroll.org · 25/04/2025

‘Competitive authoritarianism is a political system where elections occur, but the ruling party uses state power to unfairly disadvantage opposition parties, making the competition real but not fair.’

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Dare Obasanjo @carnage4life.bsky.social · 07/04/2025

At this rate MAGA will only be able to afford to rent the libs.

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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 06/04/2025

A new high: 62% chance of a recession this year. For no reason. A self-inflicted wound. Basically Trump is Cheddar Bob waving a gun around and shooting himself in the ****.

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Maarten Vink @maartenpvink.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

A reminder that B2 level French is advanced intermediate level. It is of course good to master the language as well as possible, but requiring applicants for naturalisation to speak, listen and write at this level means that you're basically selecting by educational background.

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Ellie Margolis @elliemargolis.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

Over 80K people currently watching on Youtube. www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCUK...

youtube.com

LIVE: Cory Booker speaks on the Senate floor

YouTube video by Associated Press

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Szabolcs Panyi @szabolcspanyi.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

💥🇭🇺 Police have given up guarding Budapest’s Liberty Bridge as anti-government protesters shut down traffic on four major bridges, rallying against Viktor Orbán’s new law curbing freedom of assembly and banning the Pride march. They vow to escalate with a 24-hour shutdown next week.

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 01/04/2025

Booker: "I confess that I have been imperfect. I confess that I've been inadequate to the moment. I've confess that the Democratic Party has made terrible mistakes that gave a lane to this demagogue. I confess we all must look in the mirror and say 'we will do better.'"

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 01/04/2025

what booker is doing right now is an example of what i mean when i say things like “we need more ambition right now.” there is room in american politics right now for people with ambition to take big stands and reap the rewards. he’s doing it!

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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

Another cowardly institution bends the knee

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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

To his great credit

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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

Nyhan's leadership lesson for university presidents and law firm partners - don't be Lando cc: @harvard.edu

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Kathy Stanchi @katstanchi.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

Now that’s how you do it. Bravo @wilmerhale.bsky.social! Also that’s big law speak for “we’re going to kick your ass to hell and back and smile while doing it”

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laura olin @lauraolin.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

I keep watching this clip with something approaching yearning and I’m realizing it’s because we don’t hear this level of strategic realism—that the old world is gone and the old rules don’t apply—from anyone in leadership in the Democratic Party.

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Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

Really feel like I’m losing my mind: government OBVIOUSLY cannot punish an individual law firm for hiring someone it disfavors! It’s ludicrously unconstitutional and I feel like without a day of law school I could argue the case. And yet the best paid lawyers in the country are folding?

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Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

This feels like an opportunity for Canada or the UK to grant this scientist asylum.

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 27/03/2025

Carney: "The old relationship we had with the United States based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military cooperation is over."

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Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

If you accept that non-citizens have no right to due process, you are accepting that citizens have no right to due process. All the government has to do is claim that you are not a citizen; without due process you have no chance to prove the contrary.

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