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Katherine Bersch @kbersch.bsky.social · Jul 24

@eltaliawi.bsky.social @sog-rc27.bsky.social
@amangla.bsky.social
@michellefernandez.bsky.social

Katherine Bersch @kbersch.bsky.social · Jul 24

Sincere thanks to this year’s Levine Prize Committee: Akshay Mangla (chair), Diego Salazar-Morales, and Michelle Fernandez. Stay tuned for the official award announcement and book summary in Governance, the journal of RC27.

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Katherine Bersch @kbersch.bsky.social · Jul 24

The committee was especially impressed by its rigorous multimethod design and original use of Latin American archival sources in Spanish and Portuguese. A must-read for scholars of state building and war.

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Katherine Bersch @kbersch.bsky.social · Jul 24

This powerful book rethinks state formation in 19th-century Latin America, showing how external threats and war shaped state capacity—offering new insights with broad comparative and historical resonance.

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Katherine Bersch @kbersch.bsky.social · Jul 24

On behalf of IPSA’s Research Committee 27 (sponsor of @govjournal.bsky.social), I’m pleased to share that the 2025 Levine Prize Honorable Mention goes to Bringing War Back In by Luis Schenoni @llschenoni.bsky.social
@universitypress.cambridge.org.👏

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Katherine Bersch @kbersch.bsky.social · Jul 24

@eltaliawi.bsky.social @sog-rc27.bsky.social
@amangla.bsky.social
@michellefernandez.bsky.social

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Katherine Bersch @kbersch.bsky.social · Jul 24

Sincere thanks to this year’s Levine Prize Committee: Akshay Mangla (chair), Diego Salazar-Morales, and Michelle Fernandez. Stay tuned for the official award announcement and details in Governance, the journal of RC27.

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Katherine Bersch @kbersch.bsky.social · Jul 24

The committee especially praised its theoretical contributions, deep fieldwork in Jordan & Lebanon, and strong commitment to epistemic justice—amplifying Global South voices and offering actionable policy insights.

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Katherine Bersch @kbersch.bsky.social · Jul 24

This timely and transformative book confronts the paradox of refugee governance in the Global South, where states host 83% of the world’s refugees despite limited capacity and resources. It offers an innovative, generalisable framework for analyzing refugee policy.

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Katherine Bersch @kbersch.bsky.social · Jul 24

On behalf of IPSA’s Research Committee 27 (sponsor of
@govjournal.bsky.social), I’m pleased to announce that the 2025 Levine Prize has been awarded to The Politics of Refugee Policy in the Global South by Ola G. El-Taliawi (@mcgillqueensup.bsky.social). 🏆

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Katherine Bersch @kbersch.bsky.social · May 22

I spoke recently with Knowable Magazine about how to strengthen bureaucracies. The lessons are even more urgent now.
👉 We need merit-based public service, not politicization.
👉 Reform must build capacity, not undermine it. 5/5
🔗https://t.co/xQ73hPHjJS

Katherine Bersch @kbersch.bsky.social · May 22

📢 There are 17,078 comments.
We need hundreds of thousands.
Why?
• Agencies must consider public comments
• Mass input sends a clear signal
• This is a real way to defend democracy
✍️ Add your comment today:
🔗 regulations.gov/commenton/OP... 4/5

Regulations.gov

regulations.gov

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Katherine Bersch @kbersch.bsky.social · May 22

Building a merit-based bureaucracy is one of the hardest—but most vital—achievements of democratic governance.
It improves:
✔️ Economic growth
✔️ Public trust
✔️ Health and service delivery
This rule would undo that. 3/5

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Katherine Bersch @kbersch.bsky.social · May 22

✅ Yes, civil service reform is needed.
But it must be:
• Thoughtful
• Evidence-based
• Done through Congress, not executive action
Weakening protections risks politicization, corruption, and capacity loss. 2/5

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Katherine Bersch @kbersch.bsky.social · May 22

Denmark: ~25 political appointees
U.S.: ~4,000
Brazil: ~25,000

A proposed rule could push the U.S. over 50,000—gutting career protections for civil servants.

This is how democracies erode.
You can help stop it.

🗓️ Comment by Friday (May 23):
🔗 regulations.gov/commenton/OP...
1/5

Regulations.gov

regulations.gov

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Reposted by Katherine Bersch

Gabriela Lotta @gabilotta.bsky.social · Feb 9

This paper examines how political control evolves over time as polit refine their methods to manage the bureaucracy, adopting and testing instruments to determine their effectiveness. These tools foster an environment of fear and control. @kbersch.bsky.social +
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

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Katherine Bersch @kbersch.bsky.social · Feb 4

We’ve seen this before. And, unfortunately, we know how it ends. For more on why radical reforms often backfire and how sustainable reform can succeed, check out Ch. 1 and the conclusion of When Democracies Deliver. 6/6

Katherine Bersch @kbersch.bsky.social · Feb 4

Institutional reform is possible—but only if pursued carefully, preserving capacity. Big bang reforms feel effective in the moment, but they often degrade the very systems they aim to fix. 5/6

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Katherine Bersch @kbersch.bsky.social · Feb 4

Musk’s DOGE overhaul is a textbook case of a powering reform: flashy, fast-moving, and aimed at breaking things. But that approach risks long-term instability. Governance isn’t about short-term wins—it’s about sustained institutional capacity. 4/6

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Katherine Bersch @kbersch.bsky.social · Feb 4

Why do powering reforms fail? They promise quick fixes and radical change, but they often generate political backlash, performance failures, and eventual reversals. Incremental, sequenced reforms are more sustainable. 3/6

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Katherine Bersch @kbersch.bsky.social · Feb 4

“The most ambitious overhauls of the state … have resulted in serious, long-lasting problems. Overhauls have in some cases sparked cycles of institutional deterioration, with one set of radical changes begetting another, in pendular fashion.” (Ch. 1) 2/6

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Katherine Bersch @kbersch.bsky.social · Feb 4

When I published When Democracies Deliver, people asked if the theory applied to the US. Could “powering” reforms—like those reshaping Latin American states—happen here? The answer, as Musk’s DOGE overhaul shows, is yes. And we know how this ends. 🧵
www.cambridge.org/core/books/w...

When Democracies Deliver

Cambridge Core - Latin American Government, Politics and Policy - When Democracies Deliver

www.cambridge.org

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