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mattjmartin.com
Matt Martin
@mattjmartin.com
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Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of South Carolina. Associate Director of Comparative Constitutions Project. Outside of work: mutual aid, lofi hip-hop, and three cats. Website: https://mattjmartin.com
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Matt Martin @mattjmartin.com · 11d
The latest issue of Comparative Politics is out now and features my article "From Citizen Input to Elite Legitimation: The Logic of Will-Confirmation in Constitution-Making," based on my interviews with drafters in Chile and Cuba.
comppol.bsky.social Comparative Politics @comppol.bsky.social · 12d
📣 New Issue Release | Vol. 59 No. 1

Check our new issue featuring: Anne Della Guardia, Milli Lake, Irene Morlino, Matthew Martin, Pablo Valdivieso-Kastner, Santiago Basabe-Serrano, Emily Rains, Mari Aburamoto, Masatomo Torikai, and Kevin Wei Luo

📖 Read: www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cuny...
mattjmartin.com
Procrastinating lecture prep by working on something new 🤫
Abstract text for working paper "Show Your Work (for My Sake and Yours): AI Disclosure as a Transparency Norm in Undergraduate and Graduate Courses" by Matthew Martin. The text reads as follows: "Universities are signing enterprise contracts with generative artificial intelligence (AI) companies faster than instructors can adapt. Most course policies default to one of two positions, a total ban or total silence, and neither prepares students to account for when and how they use these tools. I argue that AI disclosure should be taught as a research-transparency norm, with a documentation burden that scales with the depth of use. I draw on my experience developing AI policies for an undergraduate course on world constitutions and a graduate seminar on qualitative methods. Both courses shared one rule: generative AI may refine thinking but not generate it, and substantive use must be documented. Yet they diverged in the mechanism: undergraduates completed a structured pre-prompt template, and graduate students wrote a journal-style disclosure statement. Semester-long conversations with both groups, including an anonymous undergraduate survey and a graduate seminar discussion, suggest that the norm travels across levels, but the mechanism must be tuned to its students, who are the best source of that tuning. Treating disclosure as a habit to learn lets instructors foster accountability without surveillance, and teaches students how to show their work while professional standards are still evolving."
October 2, 2026 at 5:11 PM
Reposted by Matt Martin
tepski.tech
This happened to me recently. We need scholarly norms around workshops reinforcing that we share drafts to solicit human feedback; we’re not giving our colleagues permission to upload our drafts to AI systems.
mlobelart.bsky.social Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 5d
I've talked to a few journal editors who are concerned about similar problems re: anonymous reviewers. If a peer reviewer wants a little help & feeds your unpublished submission into an AI system, they've just shared your proprietary work & broken confidentiality. A nightmare to think about
carlzimmer.com Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 5d
Four days ago, a scientist was surprised by the news that Anthropic discovered new virus genes for making DNA. He says he’s been studying them for years—and feeding his data to Anthropic’s AI as part of his own research. Coincidence? Here’s my story. nyti.ms/3VSWayc
September 28, 2026 at 5:29 PM
mattjmartin.com
My sense is that the anthropomorphizing language used to describe generative AI grows more exculpatory with each new hype cycle (e.g., "rogue" agents)
September 28, 2026 at 3:40 PM
mattjmartin.com
Last weekend I drove 460 miles from Columbia, SC to Danville, VA to get this desk for my home office/studio for more than 60% off sticker price. I'd say it was worth it
September 27, 2026 at 6:23 PM
Reposted by Matt Martin
eoinhiggins.bsky.social
AI isn't going "rogue" because it can't—and we won't get a grip on how companies like OpenAI are playing with fire until we have the language right
There are no “rogue” AI agents
Identifying them as such only lets companies like OpenAI off the hook.
eoinhiggins.substack.com
September 27, 2026 at 1:32 PM
Reposted by Matt Martin
carlquintanilla.bsky.social
WSJ: The AI build-out is on track to become the biggest economic bet in US history, dwarfing the investments made to fund other huge US infrastructure projects — such as the railroads, the highway system and the plumbing for the internet.”

(via Jefferies)
September 24, 2026 at 12:23 PM
Reposted by Matt Martin
comppol.bsky.social
Constitution-making is cast as a state-society dialogue, with public consultation sustaining the legal fiction that "the people" write the social contract.

Matthew Martin introduces will-confirmation and how it operates amid crises of representation.

📖 Read: www.ingentaconnect.com/contentone/c...
September 23, 2026 at 2:02 PM
mattjmartin.com
The latest issue of Comparative Politics is out now and features my article "From Citizen Input to Elite Legitimation: The Logic of Will-Confirmation in Constitution-Making," based on my interviews with drafters in Chile and Cuba.
comppol.bsky.social Comparative Politics @comppol.bsky.social · 12d
📣 New Issue Release | Vol. 59 No. 1

Check our new issue featuring: Anne Della Guardia, Milli Lake, Irene Morlino, Matthew Martin, Pablo Valdivieso-Kastner, Santiago Basabe-Serrano, Emily Rains, Mari Aburamoto, Masatomo Torikai, and Kevin Wei Luo

📖 Read: www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cuny...
September 21, 2026 at 2:43 PM
Reposted by Matt Martin
medievaliste.bsky.social
Once again, the median pay for an adjunct professor in the United States of America is $3,500 per course. Not per month, per course.
jedbrown.org Jed Brown @jedbrown.org · 16d
Oh. That's a heck of a subsidy.
September 17, 2026 at 2:18 AM
Reposted by Matt Martin
dcbigjohn.bsky.social
Today is the 152nd anniversary of the worst terrorist attack in New Orleans history, when 5,000 members of the Crescent City White League overthrew the Louisiana government in an armed assault that left at least 35 dead. The attack was a turning point in Reconstruction

www.nola.com/gambit/comme...
John Stanton: Marking the anniversary of the 1874 terrorist attack on New Orleans
Sept. 14 marks the 152nd anniversary of the terrorist attack on New Orleans by the Crescent City White League, the white nationalist organization made up of former Confederate soldiers and led by weal...
www.nola.com
September 14, 2026 at 1:55 PM
mattjmartin.com
Mauritius has launched its most wide-ranging effort at constitutional review since independence in 1968. The Constitutional Review Commission recently invited written submissions, but how it plans to analyze public input remains unclear. constitutionnet.org/news/voices/...
The Republic of Mauritius Takes Another Look at Its Constitution
As Mauritius opens its most significant constitutional review in decades, the country faces a familiar question: how can a constitution built on stability evolve without losing democratic legitimacy?
constitutionnet.org
September 13, 2026 at 9:29 PM
Reposted by Matt Martin
thaliagerzso.bsky.social
Our Fall 2026 lineup is here! 🎓 5 sessions on courts, corruption & comparative judicial politics — Sept 16 through Nov 11, Wednesdays 12–1pm ET. Join us! @sivcheruvu.bsky.social
September 10, 2026 at 4:54 PM
Reposted by Matt Martin
moreperfectunion.bsky.social
Anthropic Is building a surveillance system to monitor activists using a “pre-crime” approach that tries to predict incidents before they happen.

The extensive monitoring system that the AI company is building is aimed primarily at keeping tabs on activists who oppose the rapid development of AI.
Anthropic Is Building a Predictive Surveillance System to Monitor Activists - The American Prospect
New hires and comments in interviews show that the AI giant is using its capabilities against dissenters.
prospect.org
September 9, 2026 at 1:16 PM
mattjmartin.com
I have quite a bit of fun messing around with my personal website these days, and I wish more junior academics who are website-curious would give it a shot mattjmartin.com
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mattjmartin.com
September 1, 2026 at 1:31 PM
mattjmartin.com
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August 31, 2026 at 5:43 PM
Reposted by Matt Martin
workingclasshistory.com
#OtD 23 Aug 1927 Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, anarchist workers and Italian immigrants, were executed in Boston, Massachusetts for a murder which neither committed – the real perpetrator had even admitted the crime. Learn more: stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9543...
August 23, 2026 at 6:25 PM
Reposted by Matt Martin
andrew.heiss.phd
My latest attempt at an AI/LLM policy in my intro to social science stats class. Basically two rules:

1. Everything human-facing must be human-generated
2. You are responsible for understanding, verifying, and citing everything an LLM generates

quantf26.classes.andrewheiss.com/syllabus.htm...
Generative AI and LLMs In this class, I have two general rules regarding LLMs: Everything human-facing must be human-generated. You are responsible for understanding, verifying, and citing everything an LLM generates. I’ll explain what these mean below, but first, an important warning! LLMs and learning Phew, I can talk about the relationship between learning and LLMs for hours (see this for a more formal explanation of my thinking). LLMs and generative AI can be useful for statistical programming, but only when you already know what you are doing. They can be dangerous and counterproductive for beginners. Additionally, using LLMs and generative AI to write does not lead to deeper learning. The point of writing is to help crystalize and organize your thinking. Pasting LLM-generated words into an assignment to make it look like you read and understood the content will not help you learn. Pasting LLM-generated code into an assignment and hoping that it works will not help you learn. Rule 1: Everything human-facing must be human-generated Generative AI tools like Gemini, ChatGPT, and Claude can be helpful for generating ideas or topics for your assignments and can even help you find existing research about topics you’re interested in. They are useful for debugging and troubleshooting code. These uses are permitted in this course. If you want to use LLM tools to document your code, clean up your notes, look up error messages, search for research related to your topic, and so on, cool. Do it. That’s fine. It’s unavoidable nowadays anyway, since every R-related Google search will give you a Gemini-generated answer at the top with mostly working R code. Any writing and revisions, however, must be your own. You may not use AI tools to write any of the text you submit to me. AI text adds nothing to my understanding. I have no interest in engaging with it at all. There is nothing more disheartening for me than spending my time grading something that ChatGPT spat out in 10 seconds. I want to see good engagement with the readings. I want to see your thinking process. I want to see you make connections between the readings. I want to see your personal insights. I don’t want to see a bunch of words that look like a human wrote them. That’s not useful for future-you. That’s not useful for me. That’s a waste of time. Thus, anything human-facing (i.e. not stuff done just for yourself, like your own personal notes, research, etc.) must be human-generated (i.e. written by you). You may not use AI tools to write any portion of your assignments. Using AI tools in this way, or failing to disclose the use of AI tools, will be treated as a case of plagiarism and referred to the Honor Council. Rule 2: You are responsible for understanding, verifying, and citing everything an LLM generates These tools are really good at working with code, but again, only if you know what you’re doing. Without guidance and expertise, LLMs love making lots of extraneous, convoluted, and weird code by default. The code ostensibly works, but it’s often strange and unnecessary and uses uncommon syntax and packages. If you use LLMs for help with code, you must understand and verify what’s going on with your code and you must cite where it came from. This means that you need to know what each line is doing. If the LLM uses a function or gives you an argument that you don’t understand or haven’t seen before, figure out why and figure out if it’s necessary. Look at the documentation for the function. Search Google for other examples. Ask the LLM about it, and then add comments to the code explaining what’s going on. The citation doesn’t need to be anything formal (i.e. don’t worry about Chicago or APA guidelines)—it just needs to (1) say which LLM you used, and (2) mention what you asked the LLM. You should do this by using code comments—inside your code chunk, add a # to the beginning of a line so that it’s treated as a comment (or text) instead of actual code. Here’s an example of what this can look like: Here’s an example of what this can look like: # This calculates the average GDP per capita in each region in the dataset, # for all countries after 2015. I couldn't remember how to use group_by() and # summarise() together, so I asked Gemini: # # "I'm using tidyverse. I have a dataset named my_dataset and I'm filtering it # to include all countries after 2015. I want to calculate region averages with # group_by and summarise but cannot remember the syntax" my_dataset |> filter(year > 2015) |> group_by(region) |> # Gemini here included na.rm = TRUE, which omits any rows with missing values # when calculating the average. That's okay and necessary here because # South Sudan is missing some years of GDP data summarise(avg_gdp = mean(gdp_per_cap, na.rm = TRUE)) # Gemini also included an extra ungroup() function at the end, but I don't need # that because there are no groups leftover after summarising here ↑ That’s a lot of extra comments and you won’t always see stuff like that in real life code, but I want to see it here, and future-you will want to see it too.
August 18, 2026 at 1:55 PM
Reposted by Matt Martin
ella-writes.bsky.social
I interviewed the co-directors of the new docuseries The Elements of Mutual Aid about the trajectory of the mutual aid landscape in the U.S and their theory of change for transcending capitalism & the state for @truthout.org truthout.org/articles/mut...
Mutual Aid Isn’t a Handout — It’s a Framework for Resistance
The co-directors of a new docuseries offer their theory of change for transcending capitalism and the state.
truthout.org
August 17, 2026 at 3:28 PM
mattjmartin.com
Office with a window ‼️‼️
August 17, 2026 at 3:42 PM
mattjmartin.com
Tomorrow is my first day as an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of South Carolina. Absolutely wild to say out loud.
August 16, 2026 at 2:21 PM
Reposted by Matt Martin
carlbergstrom.com
These gloves don't cause neuromuscular incapacitation the way that a taser does. In fact, they only work when applied directly to bare skin.

These aren't made for apprehending anyone. These have one and only one use: causing extreme pain to already-restrained captives.

In plain language: torture.
carlbergstrom.com Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · Aug 14
Zero surprise that these are explicitly designed to cause pain without leaving a mark, not to incapacitate.

Yes, we're spending $20M to buy ICE agents torture devices.
August 15, 2026 at 4:38 AM
Reposted by Matt Martin
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
The post-purge Board of Immigration Appeals, in its effort to take a wrecking ball to every precedent that might allow an immigrant to receive a benefit, effectively ends "advance parole," a pathway for some DACA recipients and others to get green cards without risking a decade of banishment abroad.
Cite as 29 I&N Dec. 830 (BIA 2026) Interim Decision #4233 Matter of Milagro DELCARMEN-LARA, Respondent Decided August 13, 2026 U.S. Department of Justice Executive Office for Immigration Review Board of Immigration Appeals A departure from the United States pursuant to a grant of advance parole is a “departure” within the meaning of section 212(a)(9)(B)(i)(II) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(9)(B)(i)(II). Matter of Arrabally and Yerrabelly, 25 I&N Dec. 771 (BIA 2012), overruled. FOR THE RESPONDENT: Idalis Perez, Esquire, Miami, Florida FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY: Milor D. Perdomo, Counsel BEFORE: Board Panel: GORMAN, Deputy Chief Appellate Immigration Judge; MONTANTE and GALLOW, Appellate Immigration Judges. GORMAN, Deputy Chief Appellate Immigration Judge:
August 13, 2026 at 1:22 PM
mattjmartin.com
I am just now learning that today is International Cat Day, so here are some photos of our three babies (Fancy Pants, Huck, and Yucca) begging for, and then eating, dinner in our new home
August 8, 2026 at 11:32 PM
mattjmartin.com
We have been in SC for one (1) week, and we have been almost been hit by cars in a clearly marked crosswalk three (3) times, two (2) of which the drivers flipped us off
August 8, 2026 at 6:48 PM
Reposted by Matt Martin
taniel.bsky.social
NEW: Republicans tried to get Missourians to effectively kill direct democracy and ballot initiatives.

Last night, Missourians literally laughed in their face — rejecting the measure by a massive 80% to 20%.

Here’s what to know:
Missourians Reject Measure That Threatened to Kill Citizen-Led Ballot Initiatives - Bolts
Missourians on Tuesday overwhelmingly voted against a measure to restrict direct democracy, while state officials are trying to block even more citizen-led reforms from the November ballot.
boltsmag.org
August 5, 2026 at 5:09 PM