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Maxwell Palmer

@maxwellpalmer.com
498 followers 517 following 68 posts

Political scientist at Boston University. Institutions + local politics + voting rights. www.maxwellpalmer.com / www.housingpolitics.com

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Reposted by Maxwell Palmer
Maxwell Palmer @maxwellpalmer.com · 01/09/2026
Boston University Political Science is hiring an assistant professor with a focus on Artificial Intelligence (the intersection of artificial intelligence and politics or who use artificial intelligence applications as a methodology). @bupolisci.bsky.social academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/32578
academicjobsonline.org
Boston University, Department of Political Science
Job #AJO32578, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, US
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Maxwell Palmer @maxwellpalmer.com · 01/09/2026
Boston University Political Science is hiring an assistant professor with a focus on Artificial Intelligence (the intersection of artificial intelligence and politics or who use artificial intelligence applications as a methodology). @bupolisci.bsky.social academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/32578
academicjobsonline.org
Boston University, Department of Political Science
Job #AJO32578, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, US
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Reposted by Maxwell Palmer
American Journal of Political Science (AJPS) @ajpseditor.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Durable majority gerrymanders: Where partisan gerrymandering can displace democracy by Maxwell Palmer and Benjamin Schneer is now available in Early View. @maxwellpalmer.com @benschneer.bsky.social ajps.org/2026/08/11/d...
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Reposted by Maxwell Palmer
Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
"The best kind of Masshole. Smart, smarmy, compassionate." www.bostonglobe.com/2026/05/06/b...
bostonglobe.com
Marblehead man goes viral for comments on town housing plan: ‘Are we kind of being pricks?’ - The Boston Globe
David Modica’s remarks at Town Meeting on Marblehead’s plan to comply with the controversial MBTA Communities Act have exploded online.
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Maxwell Palmer @maxwellpalmer.com · 22/04/2026
Partisan gerrymandering is a race to the bottom. Yesterday, Virginia voters narrowly approved (51–49) a constitutional amendment letting the state legislature redraw its congressional map through 2030 — bypassing the bipartisan commission voters created just a few years ago.
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Reposted by Maxwell Palmer
Jessica Trounstine @trounstine.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
Come join us for the Local Political Economy (pre) Conference in Boston on September 2nd!! This year we'll have papers AND posters. Indicate your interest in presenting, discussing, or just attending by 4/30/26 here: forms.gle/bP16UPzRxfsk....
forms.gle
Local Political Economy Conference
APSA pre-Conference Wednesday September 2nd, 2026 (tentatively) 10am-6pm at the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Campus Happy Poster Hour reception 6-8pm to follow at the Bloomberg Center for Cities at H...
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Reposted by Maxwell Palmer
Initiative on Cities @buoncities.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
🏘️🏗️🏙️ Today, we release findings from the 2025 #MeninoSurvey, the only nationally representative survey of American mayors that explores what mayors see as the main drivers of rising housing costs, housing policy, and political barriers they face to building more homes. surveyofmayors.com 🧵⬇️
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Reposted by Maxwell Palmer
Initiative on Cities @buoncities.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Read the full report, supported by @arnoldventures.bsky.social, titled, “Unlocking Housing Supply: Mayors’ Views on the Politics of Housing” at surveyofmayors.com. Co-authored by @katherineeinst.bsky.social, @davidmglick.bsky.social, @maxwellpalmer.com
surveyofmayors.com
Menino Survey of Mayors
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Maxwell Palmer @maxwellpalmer.com · 05/03/2026
So many regulatory processes, from local zoning to federal rule-making, rely on public comment, and comments are treated as submitted in good faith. I've heard anecdotal cases of comments being written by AI, but not astroturfing-as-a-service.
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Reposted by Maxwell Palmer
Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Consistently, in survey after survey, housing availability and affordability is THE number one issue facing Massachusetts voters. A ‘status quo’ approach to housing from any elected official, of any political party, should be considered malpractice today.
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Reposted by Maxwell Palmer
Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
A new poll from @abundanthousingma.org & YouGov finds 58% of voters support legalizing starter homes on 5,000sf lots. Just 21% oppose it. Legalizing smaller homes, instead of locking communities into 40,000sf+ mansion zoning, makes the American Dream more attainable in Massachusetts.
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Maxwell Palmer @maxwellpalmer.com · 14/01/2026
It's only two weeks into 2026, but I'm pretty sure The Raven Scholar is going to be the one of the best books I read this year.
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Maxwell Palmer @maxwellpalmer.com · 21/09/2025
Is there an incompleteness or impossibility theorem about this? It's impossible to prevent hallucinations, and any model that reviews models to detect hallucinations is also vulnerable to hallucinations?
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Reposted by Maxwell Palmer
Maxwell Palmer @maxwellpalmer.com · 14/08/2025
How to fix America's gerrymandering problem? @benschneer.bsky.social and I wrote in Time today about a solution we developed (with @cantstopkevin.bsky.social). time.com/7309565/amer...
time.com
How to Fix America’s Gerrymandering Problem
As Trump pushes states to redraw districts in favor of Republicans, this solution could help stop gerrymandering.
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Maxwell Palmer @maxwellpalmer.com · 14/08/2025
How to fix America's gerrymandering problem? @benschneer.bsky.social and I wrote in Time today about a solution we developed (with @cantstopkevin.bsky.social). time.com/7309565/amer...
time.com
How to Fix America’s Gerrymandering Problem
As Trump pushes states to redraw districts in favor of Republicans, this solution could help stop gerrymandering.
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Reposted by Maxwell Palmer
Ben Schneer @benschneer.bsky.social · 14/08/2025
I've been thinking through the implications of extreme gerrymandering for several years now. Today I wrote an article in Time that lays out the problem and describes one solution. We think that we need a "partisan" solution to partisan gerrymandering. time.com/7309565/amer...
time.com
How to Fix America’s Gerrymandering Problem
As Trump pushes states to redraw districts in favor of Republicans, this solution could help stop gerrymandering.
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Reposted by Maxwell Palmer
Ben Schneer @benschneer.bsky.social · 08/08/2025
You may have noticed things are happening fast in the world of redistricting… I along with @maxwellpalmer.com and @simko.bsky.social wrote an article last week (though published today) that analyzes the changes to the congressional district map in Texas, and particularly San Antonio.
expressnews.com
Republicans are seeking to create a durable gerrymander in Texas
Short-term tactical gains in Texas could ultimately yield a race to the bottom.
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Reposted by Maxwell Palmer
Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 05/06/2025
Blocking new development doesn’t “preserve” your town—it drains your wallet. No new homes = no new taxpayers… but guess what does grow? School budgets, potholes, annual maintenance costs and legacy pension requirements. Fewer people to split that bill = higher taxes for you.
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Reposted by Maxwell Palmer
Ben Schneer @benschneer.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
Please check out the thread and paper @jamesfeigenbaum.bsky.social, @maxwellpalmer.com, and I wrote below. We started this project a LONG time ago, and could never have anticipated exactly how timely it would be when it finally was published.
blogs.lse.ac.uk
Legislators who descend from immigrants historically supported more permissive immigration policies | USAPP
Recent years have seen dramatic shifts in Americans’ attitudes towards immigration, with a majority now favoring decreasing immigration levels. But in what is often called a “nation of immigrants”, ho...
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Reposted by Maxwell Palmer
James Feigenbaum @jamesfeigenbaum.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
What happens when immigrants and their descendants enter the halls of power? Does family history matter for policy on a contentious topic like immigration? @benschneer.bsky.social, @maxwellpalmer.com, and I wrote a post for the LSE United States Centre about our forthcoming @qjeharvard.bsky.social
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Maxwell Palmer @maxwellpalmer.com · 07/05/2025
Really?
NYT spelling bee, rejecting the word “monotonic.”
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Reposted by Maxwell Palmer
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 06/05/2025
A truly depressing account of the enormous time, effort, & resources that go into building *anything* in blue cities. Can not be exaggerated how much this phenomenon is crippling blue politics in the US. www.inquirer.com/real-estate/...
inquirer.com
How many meetings does it take in Philadelphia to build 57 affordable homes? A lot.
The Philadelphia Housing Authority and developer Pennrose have been trying to get project approval since 2019. The cost has risen, and federal funding could be at risk.
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Reposted by Maxwell Palmer
becca laurie @imbeccable.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
bill de blasio in park slope, ordering his breakfast sandwich as “mi sandwich especial” and quoting the onion headline omg www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Screenshot from The New Yorker: One morning a few weeks ago, I met de Blasio at his regular coffee shop in Park Slope. He had just come from the gym—the same one that he’d insisted on commuting to every morning from Gracie Mansion, no matter how much grief the press gave him for it—and was wearing sweats. He held forth among his fellow-patrons with a spirit of magnanimous, possibly unreciprocated camaraderie, greeting a startled man by the door with a familiar “How you doing, brother?” and ordering his breakfast (scrambled egg whites, cheddar, ham, and tomato on multigrain toast) as “mi sandwich especial.” These days, de Blasio most often makes the news for his love life or for such momentous moves as dyeing his salt-and-pepper crewcut. But he’s sensed a bit of de Blasio nostalgia creeping into town. “Since I left office, the No. 1 thing that people come up to me on the street and talk about is pre-K,” he told me, lacing his iced espresso with a heavy pour of simple syrup. “The No. 2 thing that people talk about is that Onion headline.” He quoted it for me, savoring every word: “Well, well, well, not so easy to find a mayor that doesn’t suck shit, huh?”
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Reposted by Maxwell Palmer
Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
Boston's Zoning Board of Appeals, in a 5-2 vote, rejected plans for 70-units of new housing, just 0.3mi to the MBTA's Andrew Square station, to replace a 2-story industrial building. US Congressman Stephen Lynch (D) sent an aide to read a letter opposing the development for lack of parking...
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Reposted by Maxwell Palmer
Christopher Gavin @chrisgavin.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
New: Johnston, R.I., has formally taken ownership of 31 acres of land through eminent domain as it moves forward with plans to build a new Town Hall and police and fire stations there, thwarting a proposal seeking to build affordable housing at the site. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/03/17/m...
bostonglobe.com
Johnston, R.I., follows through on seizure of land by eminent domain, halting 250-unit affordable housing project - The Boston Globe
Town officials are facing a lawsuit alleging they abused the law to block the housing “simply because they don’t want that kind of thing in their town.”
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Maxwell Palmer @maxwellpalmer.com · 25/02/2025
Local politics is the best politics. www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...
wsj.com
The Missing $25 Gift Card That’s Rocking the Hamptons
Mystery has prompted a disciplinary trial with 1,400 pages of testimony and derailed a school principal’s career; 38 surveillance cameras
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Maxwell Palmer @maxwellpalmer.com · 07/02/2025
I am confident that this will be the best thing I read today.
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Reposted by Maxwell Palmer
Katherine Levine Einstein @katherineeinst.bsky.social · 06/01/2025
This story underscores just how much communities are willing to spend to avoid building more housing. @maxwellpalmer.com and I find that communities buy land, sometimes to block affordable housing, with no plan or capacity to maintain/redevelop the property. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/01/05/m...
bostonglobe.com
After eight years, Northborough has no purpose for historic White Cliffs estate - The Boston Globe
Northborough has poured millions into the White Cliffs estate. It still is unused.
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Maxwell Palmer @maxwellpalmer.com · 30/12/2024
I just completed all 25 days of Advent of Code 2024! #AdventOfCode adventofcode.com
adventofcode.com
Advent of Code 2024
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Maxwell Palmer @maxwellpalmer.com · 11/12/2024
I just completed "Hoof It" - Day 10 - Advent of Code 2024 #AdventOfCode adventofcode.com/2024/day/10
adventofcode.com
Day 10 - Advent of Code 2024
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Maxwell Palmer @maxwellpalmer.com · 02/12/2024
I just completed "Red-Nosed Reports" - Day 2 - Advent of Code 2024 #AdventOfCode adventofcode.com/2024/day/2
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Maxwell Palmer @maxwellpalmer.com · 30/11/2024
The Thanksgiving stuffing waffle is the platonic ideal of leftovers.
A perfect waffle, made from Thanksgiving stuffing.
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Maxwell Palmer @maxwellpalmer.com · 26/11/2024
Nothing says "climate emergency" like "policies to slow down addressing the climate emergency."
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Maxwell Palmer @maxwellpalmer.com · 26/11/2024
How much money is going to be spent from the "Intervenor Trust Fund" on lawsuits brought solely to delay clean energy infrastructure?
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Maxwell Palmer @maxwellpalmer.com · 25/11/2024
Great callout from @bostonglobe.com from our new report with The Boston Foundation:
"Ashland and another dirty dozen Greater Boston communities were identified in a recent report published by the research arm of the Boston Foundation as places where 'Public opposition to housing is so extreme. . . that public land has become weaponized as a tool to stop housing development, rather than an opportunity to subsidize affordable housing.'"
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Katherine Levine Einstein @katherineeinst.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
Excited to see @maxwellpalmer.bsky.social and my research in this @bostonglobe.com op-ed this morning. The use of public money to actively block much-needed affordable housing is appalling, and shows the strength of opposition to new housing in Greater Boston. www.bostonglobe.com/2024/11/25/o...
bostonglobe.com
Using tax dollars to block new housing is bad policy - The Boston Globe
More than a dozen communities have been accused of ‘weaponizing’ the sale of public land to stop housing development.
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Maxwell Palmer @maxwellpalmer.com · 12/11/2024
The Boston Foundation released the 2024 Greater Boston Housing Report Card today, including a report on the potential use of publicly owned land for building housing by me and Katie Einstein. www.tbf.org/-/media/tbf/...
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Maxwell Palmer @maxwellpalmer.com · 11/11/2024
There's no better way to procrastinate than trying out a new task manager.
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Maxwell Palmer @maxwellpalmer.com · 06/09/2024
New Job: BU Political Science @bupolisci.bsky.social is hiring a tenure-track AP in Environmental Politics. academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/28327 #APSA2024 #polisky
academicjobsonline.org
Boston University, Department of Political Science
Full service online faculty recruitment and application management system for academic institutions worldwide. We offer unique solutions tailored for academic communities.
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Maxwell Palmer @maxwellpalmer.com · 03/09/2024
Has anyone seen my HDMI adapter? Last seen in May. #FirstDayOfClass
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Maxwell Palmer @maxwellpalmer.com · 31/01/2024
Thanks @ispsyale.bsky.social for a great summary of my work with Ben Schneer and @cantstopkevin.bsky.social on partisan gerrymandering. isps.yale.edu/news/blog/20...
isps.yale.edu
Cutting the Gerrymandering Cake: “Define-Combine Procedure” Reduces Partisan Bias in District Ma...
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Maxwell Palmer @maxwellpalmer.com · 13/12/2023
Excited to share that "A Partisan Solution to Partisan Gerrymandering: The Define–Combine Procedure" is now out at Political Analysis. With @cantstopkevin.bsky.social and Ben Schneer. t.co/sc5Tt5wpYq
t.co
A Partisan Solution to Partisan Gerrymandering: The Define–Combine Procedure | Political Analysis ...
A Partisan Solution to Partisan Gerrymandering: The Define–Combine Procedure
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Maxwell Palmer @maxwellpalmer.com · 10/12/2023
Great NYT crossword theme today for #polisky. “Political pun-ditry.”
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Maxwell Palmer @maxwellpalmer.com · 16/11/2023
Happy to see Arlington, Lexington, and Brookline go beyond the minimum for new multi-family housing zoning. I hope other towns follow. www.bostonglobe.com/2023/11/16/o...
Still, it’s notable that in its plan to allow four-story buildings on much of Harvard Street, Brookline went beyond the bare minimum to meet the law’s requirements. It’s not alone in that regard: Lexington and Arlington also did more than the law required (and sooner than required). Brookline’s proposal also passed overwhelmingly: 207 to 33, with 7 abstentions. NIMBYs get the most attention, but there is clearly a pro-housing constituency in the Massachusetts suburbs, and those housing advocates are effectively capitalizing on the opportunity the law has created for communities to reexamine decades-old zoning.
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Maxwell Palmer @maxwellpalmer.com · 30/10/2023
The NYT map of New York City neighborhoods is amazing, and the article on how neighborhoods are defined and changed is great too. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
nytimes.com
An Extremely Detailed Map of New York City Neighborhoods
More than 37,000 New Yorkers told us where their neighborhoods start and end. We mapped them all.
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Maxwell Palmer @maxwellpalmer.com · 17/10/2023
How many hours of research time have political scientists lost in 2023 watching votes for Speaker of the House? How many more hours are we going to lose?
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Maxwell Palmer @maxwellpalmer.com · 03/10/2023
I am both happy and sad that I’m not teaching a course on Congress right now.
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