Kenny Lowande
@lowande.bsky.social
270 followers 140 following 49 posts
Associate Professor at the Univ. of Michigan https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/lowande/
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lowande.bsky.social
The DOD has billions in military hardware circulating among state and local police. Pleased to announce a tool developed to visualize and track this equipment, along with clean, historical data on all controlled items circulated between 2014-2025.

police.executivepolicy.org
Police Map - EPRG
Interactive map showing Department of Defense equipment on loan to local law enforcement
police.executivepolicy.org
lowande.bsky.social
This isn't just a Trump thing. The presidency has been moving in this direction for decades. This is just the logical conclusion.
lowande.bsky.social
in order to adequately assess your submission and do our annual editorial reports we will now need your ssn and five years of residency history; plz post
lowande.bsky.social
i see your bat signal and respond by throwing a book
lowande.bsky.social
Link to full study and more info: myumi.ch/W6Pz7
lowande.bsky.social
The Trump admin owns the public narrative by taking executive action, over and over. Our new study shows this strategy has detectable impacts on Google search traffic for the incumbent president. Ballpark est. similar to pop artists when they release a new album.
lowande.bsky.social
This study is joint work with some smart undergraduates at the University of Michigan, all of whom, would make great White House staffers -- for any president!

6/6
lowande.bsky.social
White House alumni lean correlates with 2025 investigations and funding cuts, after accounting for observables. We aren't saying this is causal. But it is a good illustration of how Trump actions reflect deeper, political divisions in higher ed itself.

5/6
lowande.bsky.social
Highly ranked (i.e., by US News) university alumni are overwhelmingly Dem-leaning, while large publics and small colleges are more diverse...

(I am having fun with my alma mater in this figure. Sic'em.)

4/6
lowande.bsky.social
Republican leaning majors:

3/6
lowande.bsky.social
Even within credentials, staffers were polarized by degree field. Democrat leaning majors:

2/6
lowande.bsky.social
NEW STUDY: White House staff hiring over 1996-2024 shows the diploma divide is in the White House. Elite universities sent far more alumni to work for Democratic presidents. Full paper: myumi.ch/pVMM5

Details:

First --> Overall, Democratic presidents tend to value more credentials...

1/6
lowande.bsky.social
This plots data from the DOD's 1033 program -- there are other programs, of course, and we'll be adding them as we process what we've obtained through FOIs.
lowande.bsky.social
Policymakers and the public need to understand how/if these programs are working. We'll soon release some of our own findings, but we hope the underlying data will help others who want to study domestic law enforcement -- and how it has been changed by shift toward homeland security.
lowande.bsky.social
We'll be updating these data as they become available, and eventually adding the billions more in homeland security subsidies that have gone out since 2007.
lowande.bsky.social
The DOD has billions in military hardware circulating among state and local police. Pleased to announce a tool developed to visualize and track this equipment, along with clean, historical data on all controlled items circulated between 2014-2025.

police.executivepolicy.org
Police Map - EPRG
Interactive map showing Department of Defense equipment on loan to local law enforcement
police.executivepolicy.org
lowande.bsky.social
Counterpoint: there's never been more data available about what the government actually does. Most political scientists just have a soft spot for what happens between peoples' ears.
jakemgrumbach.bsky.social
I’m as guilty as anyone, but it’s sad that we study voters and behavior because that’s where the data is. I want to be bold and study the real small N causes of policy, like Thiel or Musk or smartphones or the libs who boosted JD Vance to stardom
lowande.bsky.social
Especially on Sundays in Ann Arbor, where street parking only costs a small portion of your soul.
lowande.bsky.social
and if you're considering it for a course, are a journalist, or a student of any kind, please write to me. I'll send you a copy. For free.
lowande.bsky.social
My book won the 2025 Neustadt award for best book on the American presidency.

Presidents enact bad policies, on purpose, because it helps them define their brand & gives the impression they're in charge. If that basic message resonates, please give it some of your reading time: lnkd.in/dVPsriXt
lowande.bsky.social
are these hemingway chapters or shelby foote chapters