Jonathan Ladd
@jonathanmladd.com
I'm a political scientist in the @mccourtschool.bsky.social. I study trust in institutions & media effects on the public. Apologies for typos.
Web page: https://www.jonathanmladd.com/
Web page: https://www.jonathanmladd.com/
Pinned
Jonathan Ladd
@jonathanmladd.com
· Jan 22
Why do I post about the Constitution and the rule of law? Not because I think these things are self-enforcing! But because it is our duty to live up to them. And one goal of the Trumpist movement is to make such bold assertions of power that we are disoriented and forget our rights and liberties.
Reposted by Jonathan Ladd
Trump looks at a placard that reads "Kennedy Center DEMOLITION" as he lands at Joint Base Andrews tonight
(Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty)
(Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty)
September 17, 2026 at 3:16 AM
Trump looks at a placard that reads "Kennedy Center DEMOLITION" as he lands at Joint Base Andrews tonight
(Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty)
(Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty)
This goes beyond the worst person you know made a great point meme. We need an up-to-date example for saying "two entities are fighting that both deserve to lose." The Iran-Iraq War is now a 40-year-old reference.
September 16, 2026 at 10:44 PM
This goes beyond the worst person you know made a great point meme. We need an up-to-date example for saying "two entities are fighting that both deserve to lose." The Iran-Iraq War is now a 40-year-old reference.
Reposted by Jonathan Ladd
Industry is involved in producing a lot of dangerous products. (Private companies build weapons systems and nuclear power plants!) And the solution is pretty much always carefully written safety laws and regulations. If you aren’t working on that, your concerns about safety aren’t serious.
September 16, 2026 at 3:43 AM
Industry is involved in producing a lot of dangerous products. (Private companies build weapons systems and nuclear power plants!) And the solution is pretty much always carefully written safety laws and regulations. If you aren’t working on that, your concerns about safety aren’t serious.
Industry is involved in producing a lot of dangerous products. (Private companies build weapons systems and nuclear power plants!) And the solution is pretty much always carefully written safety laws and regulations. If you aren’t working on that, your concerns about safety aren’t serious.
September 16, 2026 at 3:43 AM
Industry is involved in producing a lot of dangerous products. (Private companies build weapons systems and nuclear power plants!) And the solution is pretty much always carefully written safety laws and regulations. If you aren’t working on that, your concerns about safety aren’t serious.
September 16, 2026 at 3:17 AM
Reposted by Jonathan Ladd
Since rationalism is the topic online here tonight, it seems, I highly recommend reading Adam Becker's More Everything Forever, which (in parts) serves as a useful rejoinder to some of the more ridiculous parts of that worldview (esp longtermism), and that's without getting into the sex cult stuff
September 16, 2026 at 1:09 AM
Since rationalism is the topic online here tonight, it seems, I highly recommend reading Adam Becker's More Everything Forever, which (in parts) serves as a useful rejoinder to some of the more ridiculous parts of that worldview (esp longtermism), and that's without getting into the sex cult stuff
Reposted by Jonathan Ladd
Reposted by Jonathan Ladd
Times/Sienna now finds Americans preferring the Democratic Party on immigration by 7 points. The pundit claim that Americans should acquiesce to ICE secret police murdering Democrats in the street and disappearing people to secret camps because it's what Americans want and will always want was wrong
September 15, 2026 at 3:44 PM
Times/Sienna now finds Americans preferring the Democratic Party on immigration by 7 points. The pundit claim that Americans should acquiesce to ICE secret police murdering Democrats in the street and disappearing people to secret camps because it's what Americans want and will always want was wrong
Reposted by Jonathan Ladd
So many vibe shift/realignment interpretations of the 2024 election have aged like cottage cheese.
I believe the correct interpretation is that it was an election result driven by national conditions/retrospective voting.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
I believe the correct interpretation is that it was an election result driven by national conditions/retrospective voting.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
September 15, 2026 at 2:36 PM
So many vibe shift/realignment interpretations of the 2024 election have aged like cottage cheese.
I believe the correct interpretation is that it was an election result driven by national conditions/retrospective voting.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
I believe the correct interpretation is that it was an election result driven by national conditions/retrospective voting.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
September 15, 2026 at 6:02 PM
Reposted by Jonathan Ladd
This Michelle Goldberg column is very good.
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/12/o...
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/12/o...
September 14, 2026 at 6:30 PM
This Michelle Goldberg column is very good.
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/12/o...
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/12/o...
So many vibe shift/realignment interpretations of the 2024 election have aged like cottage cheese.
I believe the correct interpretation is that it was an election result driven by national conditions/retrospective voting.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
I believe the correct interpretation is that it was an election result driven by national conditions/retrospective voting.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
September 15, 2026 at 2:36 PM
So many vibe shift/realignment interpretations of the 2024 election have aged like cottage cheese.
I believe the correct interpretation is that it was an election result driven by national conditions/retrospective voting.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
I believe the correct interpretation is that it was an election result driven by national conditions/retrospective voting.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
I'm glad to see acknowledgment that Yglesias and D. Shor were wrong in their main electoral advice for the past 7 years: American voting is not primarily Downsian (ideological and spatial). That is only one cause among many.
My motto is to always take yes for an answer. So I'm happy to hear this.
My motto is to always take yes for an answer. So I'm happy to hear this.
September 15, 2026 at 1:36 PM
I'm glad to see acknowledgment that Yglesias and D. Shor were wrong in their main electoral advice for the past 7 years: American voting is not primarily Downsian (ideological and spatial). That is only one cause among many.
My motto is to always take yes for an answer. So I'm happy to hear this.
My motto is to always take yes for an answer. So I'm happy to hear this.
Reposted by Jonathan Ladd
Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas are poster children for the attitudinal model
September 15, 2026 at 2:24 AM
Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas are poster children for the attitudinal model
This Michelle Goldberg column is very good.
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/12/o...
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/12/o...
September 14, 2026 at 6:30 PM
This Michelle Goldberg column is very good.
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/12/o...
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/12/o...
Reposted by Jonathan Ladd
I cannot recommend this story from @ejdickson.bsky.social enough - devastating and thorough reporting on a very upsetting corner of the internet:
There is a corner of the internet I had never heard of before I started reporting this story.
It’s called the “burnerverse”: a network of anon burner accounts ostensibly discussing college sports. But they have another goal: destroying young girls’ lives.🧵:
www.wired.com/story/burner...
It’s called the “burnerverse”: a network of anon burner accounts ostensibly discussing college sports. But they have another goal: destroying young girls’ lives.🧵:
www.wired.com/story/burner...
A College Girl Was Exploited on Camera. A Network of Anonymous Men Got to Work
Maddie Kowalski is one of countless young women who’ve had their lives destroyed by the burnerverse, a loosely connected online community of sports fans. Now she’s fighting back.
www.wired.com
September 14, 2026 at 3:52 PM
I cannot recommend this story from @ejdickson.bsky.social enough - devastating and thorough reporting on a very upsetting corner of the internet:
Reposted by Jonathan Ladd
The king says "ah, but I'm creative and can extract revenue that isn't called a tax. And, neat trick, now I can spend it on creating my own personal army that Parliament didn't authorize."
This was fought out, 350 years ago.
4/
This was fought out, 350 years ago.
4/
September 12, 2026 at 2:09 PM
The king says "ah, but I'm creative and can extract revenue that isn't called a tax. And, neat trick, now I can spend it on creating my own personal army that Parliament didn't authorize."
This was fought out, 350 years ago.
4/
This was fought out, 350 years ago.
4/
It's a basic thing that no one even bothers to talk about anymore. But he's simply never understood what trade deficits are. Never. When you are getting net investment into your country, you have a trade deficit. But that's good!
Trade deficits and surpluses are not inherently good or bad.
Trade deficits and surpluses are not inherently good or bad.
Trump says he will cut off all trade entirely with "some nations" unless the Fed lowers interest rates
September 13, 2026 at 8:17 PM
It's a basic thing that no one even bothers to talk about anymore. But he's simply never understood what trade deficits are. Never. When you are getting net investment into your country, you have a trade deficit. But that's good!
Trade deficits and surpluses are not inherently good or bad.
Trade deficits and surpluses are not inherently good or bad.
Reposted by Jonathan Ladd
Now online: AI, Politics, and Political Science edited by @persily.bsky.social and @jatucker.bsky.social with many chapters by great folks, including ours on the effects of AI on the online info ecosystem
Full PDF: drive.google.com/file/d/1Cd1g...
Our chapter: preprints.apsanet.org/engage/apsa/...
Full PDF: drive.google.com/file/d/1Cd1g...
Our chapter: preprints.apsanet.org/engage/apsa/...
September 13, 2026 at 5:16 PM
Now online: AI, Politics, and Political Science edited by @persily.bsky.social and @jatucker.bsky.social with many chapters by great folks, including ours on the effects of AI on the online info ecosystem
Full PDF: drive.google.com/file/d/1Cd1g...
Our chapter: preprints.apsanet.org/engage/apsa/...
Full PDF: drive.google.com/file/d/1Cd1g...
Our chapter: preprints.apsanet.org/engage/apsa/...
Reposted by Jonathan Ladd
Money that comes into the United States government is government revenue. It is part of the public fisc. There's not "taxpayer money" and then "extra bonus money outside the rules." It's all taxpayer money. And spending *any* of it requires Congressional authorization.
2/
2/
September 12, 2026 at 2:09 PM
Money that comes into the United States government is government revenue. It is part of the public fisc. There's not "taxpayer money" and then "extra bonus money outside the rules." It's all taxpayer money. And spending *any* of it requires Congressional authorization.
2/
2/
Reposted by Jonathan Ladd
America will continue punching itself in the face until morale improves.
The Drop in International Students Last Year Was Worse Than We Thought
Visa issuances nosedived 36 percent, possibly reflecting weakening global interest in studying in the United States.
www.chronicle.com
March 12, 2026 at 5:37 PM
America will continue punching itself in the face until morale improves.
Billionaires don't have to be evil.
A $50 million gift will fund Native student scholarships for the next five years and create a permanent endowment to support Indigenous students for generations.
A $50 million gift from MacKenzie Scott is being dedicated entirely to Native students, with $10 million funding scholarships over the next five years and $40 million placed in a permanent endowment to support Native students for generations to come.
A $50 million gift from MacKenzie Scott is being dedicated entirely to Native students, with $10 million funding scholarships over the next five years and $40 million placed in a permanent endowment to support Native students for generations to come.
nativenewsonline.net
September 12, 2026 at 7:04 PM
Billionaires don't have to be evil.
Reposted by Jonathan Ladd
@michellegoldberg.bsky.social's appreciation for Gloria Steinem reminds us that one of Steinem's big beliefs about social change was the importance of in-person social groups. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/04/o...
September 7, 2026 at 5:38 PM
@michellegoldberg.bsky.social's appreciation for Gloria Steinem reminds us that one of Steinem's big beliefs about social change was the importance of in-person social groups. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/04/o...
Reposted by Jonathan Ladd
Historian here. Let me explain how in the past far-right parties in Germany have caused problems not only for their own country, but for other countries as well: (1/?)
September 7, 2026 at 2:59 AM
Historian here. Let me explain how in the past far-right parties in Germany have caused problems not only for their own country, but for other countries as well: (1/?)
Reposted by Jonathan Ladd
Great study!
1) It illustrates how media effects tend to be larger in lab/survey experiments than in field experiments and observational data. A consistent pattern for over 80 years.
2) It also illustrates the weak power of nonpartisan messages compared to messages from partisan opinion leaders.
1) It illustrates how media effects tend to be larger in lab/survey experiments than in field experiments and observational data. A consistent pattern for over 80 years.
2) It also illustrates the weak power of nonpartisan messages compared to messages from partisan opinion leaders.
Extremely impressive field experiment by @nmalhotra.bsky.social et al. had few effects on election attitudes among conservatives in TX despite being "exposed to an average of 20 online videos, 18.5 cable TV videos, 23.9 display ads, 3 text messages, and 3 postcards" www.science.org/doi/full/10....
September 10, 2026 at 3:14 PM
Great study!
1) It illustrates how media effects tend to be larger in lab/survey experiments than in field experiments and observational data. A consistent pattern for over 80 years.
2) It also illustrates the weak power of nonpartisan messages compared to messages from partisan opinion leaders.
1) It illustrates how media effects tend to be larger in lab/survey experiments than in field experiments and observational data. A consistent pattern for over 80 years.
2) It also illustrates the weak power of nonpartisan messages compared to messages from partisan opinion leaders.