Sign in

Kevin Elliott

@kjephd.bsky.social
33K followers 1.2K following 28K posts

Political theorist studying democracy, ethics, & institutions. Author of Democracy for Busy People (press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/c…); more at kevinjelliott.net. Generally poasting my way through this thing

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Kevin Elliott
Jan-Werner Mueller @jwmueller-pu.bsky.social · 5h
'Fukuyama has produced a book emblematic of a “centrism” still proudly fighting the last brushfires of the twentieth century long after the wildfires of the twenty-first have swept by them...'
newrepublic.com
Francis Fukuyama’s Failures of Imagination
As he looks back on a life in ideas, he is able to see the flaws in his system. But he cannot take seriously the type of politics that might address them.
0245
Reposted by Kevin Elliott
mtsw @mtsw.bsky.social · 6h
The "SI" thing is was intended to provoke this exact sort of sniveling response from the courtiers, to train the oligarchs to humiliate themselves for Trump so they'll do it again later when it really matters.
1072602463
Reposted by Kevin Elliott
Jonathan Bernstein @jonathanbernstein.bsky.social · 5h
Trump is basically claiming that he pardoned a crook who didn't deserve it for purely political resasons. This alone is worthy of impeachment and removal; overall, Trump's abuse of power pardons are easy calls for legitimate impeachment and removal. Whether he brags about it or not.
221865
Reposted by Kevin Elliott
Stephen Judkins @stephenjudkins.bsky.social · 8h
7812110
Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 8h
I'm not sure I'd use the term externalities. "Money spent in elections doesn't determine the outcome because structural factors do" is the core point.
120
Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 8h
Well put
040
Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 8h
A huge reason for doing Supreme Court reform in the US is that it's essential for re-empowering Congress to do literally *anything* to limit money in politics.
030
Reposted by Kevin Elliott
Mike Rothschild @rothschildmd.bsky.social · 13h
It is ominous, but also remember that big promises of special things that are about to happen have been a cornerstone of the decade-long prosperity scam Trump has been running. It's how QAnon works. You promise big, deliver nothing, and keep the marks on the hook for the next promise.
913822
Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 9h
I invite you to continue down the thread bsky.app/profile/kjep...
110
Reposted by Kevin Elliott
Max Fawcett @maxfawcett.bsky.social · 10h
Once again, for the politicians, business leaders, and journalists still actively posting on X/Twitter: why? You're using a platform that's owned by someone who's trying to break up your country. The juice isn't worth the squeeze.
37807327
Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 10h
A key reason this point matters is because believing money buys elections makes one erroneously think that a huge cash advantage means voting is futile & every election is predetermined by the balance of campaign cash. It robs us of political agency, in other words. But elections do in fact matter.
4282
Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 10h
Because believing the former makes one erroneously believe that a huge cash advantage means voting is futile & that every election is predetermined by the balance of campaign cash
010
Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 10h
We know framing can hugely shift public opinion, but it's extremely hard to force the adoption of a favored frame so long as there's any competition at all in the info environment.
120
Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 10h
Right, plus the effects come through shaping media frames, creating coordination cascades of what's acceptable/normal, & setting the discursive agenda (what people are talking about).
120
Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 10h
Yet their party's subservience to an anti-democratic leader leads to systematic selection effects for poor quality candidates since what matters is loyalty. Indeed, otherwise qualified candidates are likely deterred from running or defeated by a race to the bottom for the leader's endorsement.
110
Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 10h
I suspect that unprecedented corruption, plus ongoing near total deregulation of campaign finance spending, plus unprecedented political risk due to a dictatorial & economically interventionist administration, is driving huge sums to the incumbent's supporters.
120
Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 10h
I invite you to continue down the thread bsky.app/profile/kjep...
030
Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 10h
NB: A key reason for all this is that the vast, vast majority (80+%) of campaign spending is on advertisements, still mostly on TV but increasingly online. But if you spent vast sums on voter mobilization, perhaps that would have different effects; there is suggestive experimental evidence on that.
2292
Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 10h
Candidates & parties shape what they promise & say based on what (they think) pleases big donors mainly because they believe money is pivotal. But a big part of why it's pivotal is JUST BECAUSE EVERYONE BELIEVES IT IS. It plays a fairly minor direct mechanical role in winning elections.
1316
Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 10h
Now, this emphatically does not mean money doesn't 'matter' in a wider sense in campaigns. But probably the main way it matters is that *candidates & parties perceive it to be vital*. It operates as a proxy for candidate quality to party elites & (ironically) donors. That profoundly changes things.
1332
Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 10h
It's my understanding that the best evidence cannot show significant net effects of spending so long as your opponent spends above some fairly modest threshold. So...money isn't moving votes. It's mainly spent as an arms race so as not to be *too* outspent.
2282
Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 10h
But 'spending being lopsided' co-varies with other factors that are highly correlated with competitiveness. To wit: candidate quality. Terrible candidates (e.g. no experience; scandal; divisive) struggle to raise money & the parties don't send it their way. So do they lose because of $ or being bad?
2321
Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 10h
The usual retort is that, well, elections are often won in that margin. The money therefore matters! Sort of. But here you get into deep waters because ads from the other side offset the persuasive effects of your side's ads. It's only when spending is highly lopsided that your ads move the margin.
1332
Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 10h
If there was one lesson from political science I wish I could shotgun into the minds of everyone, it might that MONEY DOES NOT BUY ELECTIONS Elections are mainly determined by deep social & economic factors that a few TV & online ads can only affect at the margin.
Half a billion dollars in GOP spending does little to move polls

Republicans’ massive money advantage has yet to reshape the midterm map, as Democrats keep expanding their ambitions.
511525
Reposted by Kevin Elliott
Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 12h
"Call it “mom populism”—an appeal that centers a full-throated rejection of school privatization and presents the GOP’s increasingly aggressive interventions into local school districts as “corruption schemes” intended to benefit big donors, especially the right-wing oilmen who hold such sway here."
14431109
Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 11h
It is amazing what we believe can be achieved due to shoddy record keeping & exaggerated claims
030
Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 11h
static.klipy.com
Woman's Hilarious Spit Take Drink Reaction
Alt: Woman's Hilarious Spit Take Drink Reaction
020
Reposted by Kevin Elliott
Josh Zingher @zingherpolisci.bsky.social · 12h
We've probably learned more about American politics from the ANES than any other single data source. The same is true for the GSS and sociology. Both of these are gone if Congress acquiesces to these NSF cuts.
115792
Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 11h
Step 1: be a tortoise
2322
Reposted by Kevin Elliott
Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 12h
In the presidential immunity case, the court considered a hypothetical of a president ordering Navy Seals to assassinate an American political rival. Trump's lawyer argued unambiguously yes, since it'd be an "official act." The Roberts Court ruled in his favor, 6-3. Why wouldn't Trump believe this?
541726524
Reposted by Kevin Elliott
Greg Greene (he/him/his) @greene.haus · 27/09/2026
Trump v. United States, 603 U.S. 593 (2024).
57528
Reposted by Kevin Elliott
rax ‘levon honkers’ king @raxkingisdead.bsky.social · 12h
gregor samsa awoke one morning to discover he had been transformed into a sickass beetle. fuck yeah he said scuttling all over the walls and ceiling like no dumbfuck traveling salesman could ever do. this is the best day of my life he said
333045689
Reposted by Kevin Elliott
Jason Kuznicki @jkuznicki.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
It’s gotten a lot of attention already, but it’s well deserved. @lkatfield.bsky.social has done some excellent work:
press.princeton.edu
Furious Minds
“[An] excellent new book.”—Michelle Goldberg, New York TimesThe story of the radical conservative intellectual movement shaping Donald Trump’s agenda—and how it threatens American freedoms, values, an...
1172
Reposted by Kevin Elliott
Center for Media Engagement - UT Austin @engagingnews.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
What makes people trust answers from systems they don’t fully understand? @TheConversation explores the parallels between AI chatbots and ancient oracles—and how the opacity behind AI-generated answers may shape the authority people give them.
178
Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 13h
static.klipy.com
I Thought This Was America!
Alt: I Thought This Was America!
0132
Reposted by Kevin Elliott
Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 13/07/2026
For those interested in how we got here, I highly recommend this 2025 piece from @johnadearborn.bsky.social on @donmoyn.bsky.social's site. "A desire to change civil rights policies has long shaped the conservative legal movement’s vision for asserting presidential control over the gov't"
donmoynihan.substack.com
How Reagan-Era Battles over Affirmative Action Fueled Unitary Executive Theory
A desire to change civil rights policies has long shaped the conservative legal movement’s vision for asserting presidential control over the administrative state
44817
Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 17h
In the whole long history of the reception of Rousseau, there's got to be some poor benighted soul who's tried to reclaim him from France for Switzerland. I imagine a quixotic quest to construct a body of 'Swiss political thought' with Rousseau as a cornerstone
380
Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 17h
It will never cease to tickle me that perhaps the most consequential French thinker of all time was in fact, ostentatiously Swiss
260
Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 17h
When I say 'fundamental principles of constitutional govt,' I mean basic, intuitive ideas. For instance, why might it be bad if the executive could bar the military from talking to the legislature, which funds it? If you said, 'that'll limit the stupid an exec might do, including coups,' congrats
0261
Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 18h
As American democracy backslides, fundamental principles of constitutional government give way. Here, we see a dictatorial administration freezing out congressional oversight *of the military*, which represents a major step in an autocratic revolution of US-style civilian-military relations.
39940
Reposted by Kevin Elliott
Evan Sutton @evansutton.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
This money is absolutely meaningless to Elon Musk, but it has the potential to completely rewrite your future. He's spent over $36 million in about 4 weeks, and he's adding millions a day. All to corrupt our government to push his agenda. Let your friends know what's up.
241268394
Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
If you look closely, you can see that he is in fact NOT depicted with explosive diarrhea
1112
Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Avatar: The Last Airbender. Bluey. ...for the kids
170
Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Land of the FREE, home of the BRAVE indeed
3211
Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Want to get mad? Remember how good Game of Thrones was? 'Member that epic theme song? Now, remember how it ended
4140
Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
"Death recorded"
150
Reposted by Kevin Elliott
Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Downside: The US now has government goon squads, and deploys them to try to intimidate voters into voting the way the president wants. Upside: They don’t have nearly enough goons. Not even close. They’re hoping fear will make up for that big shortfall, but it won’t.
24626181
Reposted by Kevin Elliott
Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
This is a classic Voughtism: we have not eliminated the program - it still exists. It is just not distributing any resources.
13600145
Reposted by Kevin Elliott
Will Oremus @willoremus.com · 06/10/2026
Fun fact: Tesla went with a giant touchscreen instead of knobs for the Model 3 purely to save time and money. Knobs would have required spinning up a whole supply chain. The company spun it as a luxury feature and much of the industry followed suit. But it was always an inferior substitute.
421930365
Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
A key thing to remember about Kansas politics is that, under former Governor Sam Brownback, they went all in on Republican "slash taxes & spending—& growth will follow" fiscal/spending policy & it went down in flames like the Hindenburg, utterly discredited.
1256