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Zack Albert

@zalbert.bsky.social
230 followers 316 following 59 posts

Polisci prof. @ Brandeis U. Research on parties and polarization and elections. Glad there’s finally hockey here. Go Leafs Go!

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Zack Albert @zalbert.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
New at @scholars.org: How to Design Small Donor Reform That Works. Based on research with @raylaraja.bsky.social. Small donor reform ideas are all around -- but they need to be designed responsibly to avoid making representational problems worse! scholars.org/contribution...
scholars.org
How to Design Small Donor Reform that Works
Americans are intensely concerned about the role of money in politics. The dominance of “big money” from wealthy donors and skyrocketing outside spending raises fears that political representation is ...
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Zack Albert @zalbert.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
When a student is right but for the wrong reasons...
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Ray La Raja @raylaraja.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
A realist perspective on small donors in US Politics from me and @zalbert.bsky.social podcast interview by @mattgrossmann.bsky.social @niskanencenter.bsky.social www.niskanencenter.org/the-rise-of-...
niskanencenter.org
The rise of small donors is mostly making politics worse - Niskanen Center
Ray La Raja and Zach Albert find that small donors are just as advantaged, partisan, and extreme as larger donors.
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Shamira Gelbman @shamiragelbman.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Now out in @igajournal.bsky.social: my review of 2 recent books -- 📖 @ejfagan.com's The Thinkers (Oxford UP, 2024) 📖 @zalbert.bsky.social's Partisan Policy Networks (Penn, 2025) Read the review here: link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com
Think tanks' role in polarization politics - Interest Groups & Advocacy
Interest Groups & Advocacy -
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Zack Albert @zalbert.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Really excited to have this book in print. Thread on what we found when we studied small donors in American elections — much of which challenges popular understandings
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Zack Albert @zalbert.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
Really glad to get to publish this overview of my new book (Partisan Policy Networks) with Roro Toko. Including some excerpts below. www.rorotoko.com/11/20251106-...
rorotoko.com
RORO
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Zack Albert @zalbert.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
Bold strategy to tell everyone to pay attention to the rallies specifically designed to draw attention to your party’s unpopular abuses of power.
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Zack Albert @zalbert.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
Really cool feeling to open a box of your own book! For sale starting august 26. www.pennpress.org/978151282802...
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Zack Albert @zalbert.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
I’m just a simple guy begging Google Docs to not log me out when I’m in the middle of typing a sentence
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Zack Albert @zalbert.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
With @raylaraja.bsky.social: Are small donors the solution to democracy’s problems? www.brookings.edu/articles/are...
brookings.edu
Are small donors the solution to democracy’s problems? | Brookings
Campaign finance regimes that increase the number of small donors may not be a solution to America's democracy woes.
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Zack Albert @zalbert.bsky.social · 04/06/2025
Could easily replace “academics” with “partisans” and explain a lot about politics
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Zack Albert @zalbert.bsky.social · 27/05/2025
Worth noting this is due mostly to people thinking he isn’t serious or disciplined enough to stick to one of his most sincere, central policy goals. Which is one of the many reasons these tariffs will only have negative effects
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Zack Albert @zalbert.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
Need some parenting advice. My four year old has been rampaging through the house smashing things with a baseball bat. He finally agreed to pause for 90 days. My instinct is to lavishly praise him for his foresight and restraint. But what would you do?
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Zack Albert @zalbert.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
I bounce back and forth (much like trump on tariffs) between “there is no plan” and “the plan is self-enrichment via market manipulation”. The truth is probably that trump is dumb and likes tariffs (no plan) + those around him see opportunities in that to make money
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Zack Albert @zalbert.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
I’m sure everyone will have a different favorite but “definition” really stands out to me
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Dr. Susan Liebell @drsusanliebell.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
Are you a PhD in Political Science? #polisky Have you signed the statement against basic changes to government and democracy? 1200 people have signed (ranging in many ideologies). If you wish to sign, go here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F....
docs.google.com
Political scientists' statement on recent events
Please use this form to add your signature to the following statement. Note that we are only soliciting signatures from individuals with PhDs in political science. We, the undersigned, are political ...
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taekulee.bsky.social @taekulee.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
Political scientists: please consider signing, and sharing with other political scientists, this petition, which expresses urgent concerns about threats to the balance of powers in the U.S. today. Hundreds have already signed.
urldefense.proofpoint.com
Political scientists' statement on recent events
Please use this form to add your signature to the following statement. Note that we are only soliciting signatures from individuals with PhDs in political science. We, the undersigned, are political ...
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Aaron Sojourner @aaronsojourner.org · 04/02/2025
The Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics, a great org, asks individuals & orgs to sign their letter requesting Congress act to restore data that has been removed & ensure a similar purge does not reoccur. #EconSky #PolicySky #sociology #PoliSky docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
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Zack Albert @zalbert.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
New piece today in @theconversation.com on how the Project 2025 playbook is guiding Trump's early actions and how the Heritage Foundation is cashing in on decades of subsidizing the GOP (and Trump in particular) theconversation.com/trumps-admin...
theconversation.com
Trump’s administration seems chaotic, but he’s drawing directly from Project 2025 playbook
Many of Trump’s executive orders mirror plans laid out in Project 2025, a conservative policy plan developed in part by the Heritage Foundation.
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Zack Albert @zalbert.bsky.social · 03/02/2025
Not at all the most important part but note how the “$50 million on condoms to hamas” lie is suddenly “$100 million”
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Zack Albert @zalbert.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
Ok but why have colleagues been doing this in meetings for a decade?
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Zack Albert @zalbert.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
The caricature that Republicans painted of Biden lawlessness isn’t even 1/10th of the actual lawlessness of the *first 9 days* of Trump 2.0
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Zack Albert @zalbert.bsky.social · 19/01/2025
Violating 2, 3, 5 and 6 (at least)
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Zack Albert @zalbert.bsky.social · 19/01/2025
TRUMP: “I’m sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with them. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
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Zack Albert @zalbert.bsky.social · 07/01/2025
I focused heavily on heritage in my forthcoming book and, while this is pretty gross, it doesn’t surprise me. They have long focused on shaping public opinion and popular perceptions, more so than any other think tank I examined. They are always advocating and only sometimes researching
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Zack Albert @zalbert.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
Opened up an article with this photo and my 3 year old said “poor buddy”. Summarized his whole Speakership in two words.
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Zack Albert @zalbert.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
This but for my dream job (which happened to be my only offer).
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Zack Albert @zalbert.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
New @polbehavior.bsky.social paper with @miacosta.bsky.social. We show that voters with more negative views of the other party (negative partisans) are more likely to care about candidate electability & even willing to give up representation for better chance to win link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com
Winning At All Costs? How Negative Partisanship Affects Voter Decision-Making - Political Behavior
Do voters who dislike the other side prefer candidates who can win, even if they are less representative? Negative partisanship is an important feature of American politics, but few scholars have exam...
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Zack Albert @zalbert.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
A few thoughts… 1) Genuinely impressive they spent that much that fast 2) There’s likely no way this could’ve been spent that would’ve changed the outcome. Spreading around to down ballot races maybe would’ve helped but there are stingy limits ($2k) on those transfers (except party cmtes) 1/2
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Zack Albert @zalbert.bsky.social · 16/11/2024
Bluesky academics… Quote this & tell me: 1) a project you are working on & 2) an odd idea/theory you aren’t working on but keep thinking about 1) who are small donors, who do they support, & what are likely effects of reform? 2) ppl always been poorly informed but it’s now much worse/more impactful
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Zack Albert @zalbert.bsky.social · 15/11/2024
Really good primer on recess appointments for those (like me) who don’t know much
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Zack Albert @zalbert.bsky.social · 08/11/2024
Important to remember that voters are rarely able to penalize in this way. But elites and institutions used to do a better job
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Zack Albert @zalbert.bsky.social · 11/09/2024
I’m skeptical that “voters who are truly undecided but care deeply about the details of policy proposals” is a very large constituency
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Zack Albert @zalbert.bsky.social · 02/11/2023
One nice thing about this place compared to Twitter: I’m not constantly bombarded with posts telling me how stupid I am for being in academia, how much money I’m leaving on the table, and how many people are willing to help me leave the apparent hellscape that is my professional life
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Zack Albert @zalbert.bsky.social · 17/10/2023
Finally made the jump from Twitter. Daunted by the task of rebuilding. But at least this app is nearly identical
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