Erica Chenoweth
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chenoweth.bsky.social
Erica Chenoweth
@chenoweth.bsky.social

Political scientist & part-time farmer. Books: 'On Revolutions' (2022), 'Civil Resistance' (2021), & 'The Politics of Terror' (2019). Coming soon: 'Bread & Roses' & 'The End of People Power.' https://www.ericachenoweth.com. What a time to be alive. .. more

Erica Chenoweth is an American political scientist and professor of public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. They are known for their research work on nonviolent civil resistance movements. .. more

Political science 53%
Sociology 35%
Pinned
Lately I've seen many references to the 3.5% rule. A few years ago I pulled together this Q&A on potential uses and misuses of this statistic. www.hks.harvard.edu/sites/defaul...

@harvardkennedy.bsky.social is hiring for a number of faculty lines at multiple ranks. See more info here: www.hks.harvard.edu/more/about/l....
Faculty Appointments
The Academic Deans' Office recruits new faculty members who have strong teaching and research records and are intellectual leaders in their field.
www.hks.harvard.edu

From Milton Mayer, “They Thought They Were Free,” p. 197.

“…wherever there was a ‘deserving’ Party member and no other place could be found for him, he would be dumped into education.…Putting ignorant ‘reliables,’ from politics or business, over the educators was also part of the Nazi way of humiliating education and bringing it into popular contempt.”
📣 Job alert! 📣 Harvard Kennedy School is running 2 open-rank faculty searches in technology & public policy. One position is specifically for scholars using data science to address public problems. Please help us spread the word! academicpositions.harvard.edu/postings/15561
Technology and Public Policy Search (open rank)
Harvard Kennedy School invites applications for two open rank appointments in technology and public policy. We seek applications from scholars whose research and/or practice focuses on the intersectio...
academicpositions.harvard.edu

Reposted by Thomas J. Hayes

Join @stevelevitsky.bsky.social & me online, Monday 11/24 at 3:30pm ET, to talk about where we are in the US struggle for democracy. ash.harvard.edu/events/the-b...
The Breakdown with Erica Chenoweth and Steve Levitsky – Ash Center
Join Erica Chenoweth and Steven Levitsky for The Breakdown, a webinar series on the ongoing struggle for American democracy. Each month, Chenoweth and Levitsky will break down key developments, reflec...
ash.harvard.edu
When Border Patrol showed up across Charlotte, parents and neighbors rushed to Berryhill to meet kids at the bus stop. They stood watch, linked arms, and made one thing clear: if the city gets targeted, its children will not face it alone.
This is what community looks like.💙
U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis just handed down the written opinion version of her preliminary injunction order, regarding use of force by federal agents in Chicago.

It's the one already put on hold by the 7th Circuit.

It's 233 pages.

Here you go: cst.brightspotcdn.com/49/34/daecfb...

Reposted by Erica Chenoweth

My report on Nonviolent Action against Democratic Erosion is finally out today @harvardash.bsky.social!

I try to put the US democracy movement into global comparative perspective.

For the tl;dr crowd, see below for some key takeaways:

ash.harvard.edu/resources/no...
Nonviolent Action Against Democratic Erosion: The United States in Comparative Perspective – Ash Center
ash.harvard.edu
We want to speak directly to members of the Military and the Intelligence Community.

The American people need you to stand up for our laws and our Constitution.

Don’t give up the ship.
Looking for what you can do to make you voice heard? This campaign is gaining traction.

The enablers have to feel it.

weaintbuyingit.com
We Ain’t Buying It! - Economic Pressure on Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday - We Ain’t Buying It!
We Ain’t Buying It is an economic action and solidarity campaign designed to defend democracy and reclaim community power.
weaintbuyingit.com
As Trump again ramps up attacks on judges as biased, consider: his own appointees rule against his admin 49% of the time. Republican appointees 65%. Reporters should ask: If the judiciary is biased, why do the judges he picked keep ruling against him?
“Maybe somebody thought ‘Oh it’s a small place, it’s rural, they’re probably quiet, we can overpower them,” said City Councilor Steve Hickman.

“We’ve been underestimated.”

www.newsfromthestates.com/article/fede...
Federal defense contractor backs out of potential Oregon Coast ICE facility
A defense contractor with a history of providing housing for military operations withdrew its inquiry seeking land at the Newport Municipal Airport, a city official said Wednesday, as growing evidence...
www.newsfromthestates.com
2/🧵 New piece with @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social in @NewRepublic: We analyzed 60,000+ respondents in the 2024 Cooperative Election Study. Gen Z has the lowest racial resentment of any generation. The generational shift overwhelms the education divide that supposedly defines modern politics.
The Shocking Truth About Gen Z Voters Is That They’re Pretty Great
Stop panicking: They are the most progressive generation ever, especially on race. If that surprises you, you’ve been listening to the wrong story.
newrepublic.com
Sixty-five years ago today, four first-graders desegregated New Orleans's public schools: Ruby Bridges at William Frantz Elementary School, and Leona Tate, Tessie Provost, and Gail Etienne at McDonogh 19 Elementary School. They faced violent mobs and threats to their lives. They were 6 years old. 🗃
Good statement from the US conference of Catholic Bishops
BREAKING: Mark Wolf, appointed to the federal bench by Ronald Reagan, writes that he is resigning as a judge to have the freedom to speak out against the president's assault on the rule of law.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Universal swing in action: "What we saw last night was a directional shift toward Democrats in 99.8% of counties that held partisan elections." www.gelliottmorris.com/p/seven-data...
Came here to say this, but Jamelle Bouie has this covered. 👇
When the Democratic tent includes candidates like Spanberger and Mamdani, there is no crisis, or fight, for the party. IT’S A COALITION, NOT A POINT ESTIMATE.
i want to repeat this: mamdani and spanberger have run similar campaigns tailored to their respective electorates and it is maddening to watch political journalists attempt to create some broad contrast where none exist
the other thing about this is that there is no reason to pit these candidates against each other? each are good fits for their respective electorates and each shows the value of vigorous campaigns focused on the stated material problems of voters.
Great discussion between @staceyabrams.com & @chenoweth.bsky.social on the power of peaceful resistance.
Stacey Abrams on No Kings Day and the Power of Civil Disobedience Against Trump
YouTube video by Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams
youtu.be
Donald Trump's approval rating in our tracker has fallen to -18, the lowest it has ever been (lower than any point in his first term) www.economist.com/interactive/...
Two Illinois National Guard members speak out: "I won't turn against my neighbors."
2 Illinois National Guard members speak out: "I won't turn against my neighbors"
Staff Sgt. Demi Palecek and Capt. Dylan Blaha say they'll defy federal orders regarding Trump's immigration enforcement operation in Chicago.
cbsn.ws
The ex-prosecutor also said this:

“I have a lot of close contacts in law enforcement, and almost to a person, none of them support these actions. As a lawyer, someone who adamantly believes in the rule of law, watching it in open sight in front of my house just be completely eroded…it’s upsetting.”

Reposted by Erica Chenoweth

Is the big tent approach to strengthening US democracy working? Yes! Check out how The Horizons Project approaches the task--in the latest Democracy Without Exception piece ⬇️

democracywithoutexception.substack.com/p/the-big-te...
The Big Tent is Working
Julia Roig on why building relational infrastructure takes time
democracywithoutexception.substack.com
NEW: Cardinal Blase Cupich, the Archbishop of Chicago, has issued a new statement declaring that Chicago "communities are shaken by immigration raids and detentions. These actions wound the soul of our city. Let me be clear. The Church stands with migrants."
My response to the NYT’s “moderate to win” argument: The data shows the strategy is tapped out. Being seen as moderate by voters doesn’t boost votes, replacing every progressive with moderates would net 0 seats, and the graveyard of defeated D incumbents if full of moderates, not progressives.
The New York Times Argues “Moving to the Center Is the Way to Win.” But the Data Shows the Strategy Is Tapped Out.
Democrats already run moderates in nearly every swing district. It's not enough. A data-driven response to the case for centrism as a core electoral strategy.
data4democracy.substack.com

Very good @shteyngart.bsky.social piece illuminating below.
Happening today - 4pm ET. Register below.

From a 2022 piece by Gledhill, Shay, & @allardduursma.bsky.social: "campaigns that are more creative, humorous, cathartic, and/or fun are also more likely to be large-scale" civil resistance campaigns bc of the "feelings of empowerment, solidarity, catharsis, or glee that accompany these events."
Glee and Grievance: Emotive Events and Campaign Size in Nonviolent Resistance
While scholars of nonviolent resistance recognize that large-scale campaigns are more likely to be successful campaigns, scholars and policymakers currently have little understanding of why some nonvi...
www.belfercenter.org
Incredible. What a true patriot sounds like.
Retired Army Sgt. Brian Wofford spoke to me this morning at the Oklahoma City #NoKings protest. Didn’t expect him to be carrying his DD214 so I asked some warmup questions like when he got out and whether his injury was service-related.

He paused while describing the car bomb in Iraq to say this:

Reposted by Erica Chenoweth

Just saw an extremely dumb post about how this is not what democracy
looks like because only 2% of the population turned out, it's what freedom of assembly looks like, and what the bleep do people even think democracy is? Freedom of assembly being part of democracy is elementary school civics.