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Nico Napolio @nicholasnapolio.bsky.social · 17d

Here's a video explaining Pivotal Politics that's appropriate for anyone with some familiarity with basic spatial models that I made for my honors "Theories of American Political Institutions" class this fall

Let me know if you find it useful!

youtu.be/Ofn6ueuNkSo?...

Pivotal Politics: Simulating the US Congress

YouTube video by Animated Politics

youtu.be

Nico Napolio @nicholasnapolio.bsky.social · 29d

The full video with explanations and audio is coming soon!

Nico Napolio @nicholasnapolio.bsky.social · 29d

I've had a lot of fun this summer animating classic (but technical) political science theories for a class I'm teaching this quarter

These two figures confused me a TON when I first saw them in Pivotal Politics as a first year grad student

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Reposted by Nico Napolio

Good Authority @goodauth.bsky.social · Sep 8

Hurricanes can bring disaster. Presidents can help – or not.

Are we playing politics with disasters?

Read the latest from @nicholasnapolio.bsky.social: goodauthority.org/news/hurrica...

Hurricanes can bring disaster. Presidents can help – or not.

The White House has weakened FEMA’s ability to respond to natural disasters.

goodauthority.org

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Reposted by Nico Napolio

UCR Political Science @ucrpolisci.bsky.social · Sep 2

Check out this new @bjpols.bsky.social article from Asst. Prof. @nicholasnapolio.bsky.social: “Executive Policymaking Coalitions, Veto Activation, and Collective Action Problems.” The article explores how agency coalitions activate veto points and leverage congressional collective action problems.

Nico Napolio @nicholasnapolio.bsky.social · Aug 29

The final paper from my dissertation is now out in
@bjpols.bsky.social!

I argue that federal agencies collaborate in the policymaking process in order to induce collective action problems in Congress and to pit oversight committees against each other so that agency policies stick.

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Nico Napolio @nicholasnapolio.bsky.social · Aug 29

Here's the link: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Executive Policymaking Coalitions, Veto Activation, and Collective Action Problems | British Journal of Political Science | Cambridge Core

Executive Policymaking Coalitions, Veto Activation, and Collective Action Problems - Volume 55

www.cambridge.org

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Nico Napolio @nicholasnapolio.bsky.social · Aug 29

Instead, they can amplify gridlock between electorally induced changes in partisan and ideological coalitions by collaborating with other agencies to create ideological divisions among existing overseers

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Nico Napolio @nicholasnapolio.bsky.social · Aug 29

Existing theories of multiple principals overseeing the bureaucracy have ignored strategies agencies can use to exploit legislative collective action problems. Bureaucrats do not always have to wait for gridlock in Congress resulting from biannual elections.

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Nico Napolio @nicholasnapolio.bsky.social · Aug 29

I use a simple spatial model to show the conditions under which agency coalitions allow agencies to induce collective action problems.

I then test the implications of the model with decades of data and dozens of federal agencies.

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Nico Napolio @nicholasnapolio.bsky.social · Aug 29

The final paper from my dissertation is now out in
@bjpols.bsky.social!

I argue that federal agencies collaborate in the policymaking process in order to induce collective action problems in Congress and to pit oversight committees against each other so that agency policies stick.

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Reposted by Nico Napolio

British Journal of Political Science @bjpols.bsky.social · Aug 27

NEW -

Executive Policymaking Coalitions, Veto Activation, and Collective Action Problems - cup.org/3UNAjok

- Nicholas G. Napolio

#OpenAccess

BJPolS abstract discussing the influence of federal agencies on collaborative oversight and legislative actions in the U.S., analyzing agency cooperation problems, the role of veto points, and the impact on policy-making. The background is light green with the text highlighted in white.

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Nico Napolio @nicholasnapolio.bsky.social · Aug 7

They'll be featured at @goodauth.bsky.social too!

bsky.app/profile/good...

Good Authority @goodauth.bsky.social · Aug 6

🚨 RESOURCE ALERT! 🚨

We have a new teaching resource for you: Animated Politics.

This video series explains the logic, math, and science behind politics.

Watch and share: goodauthority.org/news/animate...

Animated Politics, a new teaching resource.

This video series explains the logic, math, and science behind politics.

goodauthority.org

Nico Napolio @nicholasnapolio.bsky.social · Aug 7

I've spent part of my summer working on a series of videos designed to introduce students to the workhorse spatial model of politics.

If you teach spatial models of politics, feel free to use! Any suggestions on content or presentation are very welcome as I haven't tested these with anyone yet.

One Dimensional Spatial Politics: The Median Voter Theorem

YouTube video by Animated Politics

www.youtube.com

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Reposted by Nico Napolio

Good Authority @goodauth.bsky.social · Aug 6

🚨 RESOURCE ALERT! 🚨

We have a new teaching resource for you: Animated Politics.

This video series explains the logic, math, and science behind politics.

Watch and share: goodauthority.org/news/animate...

Animated Politics, a new teaching resource.

This video series explains the logic, math, and science behind politics.

goodauthority.org

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Nico Napolio @nicholasnapolio.bsky.social · Jul 17

🚨New publication in JPIPE🚨

I scale executive agencies along a liberal –conservative dimension using LLMs to produce dynamic measures of ideology spanning 1949–2020.

Estimates and pre-print available on my website, linked here: nicholasnapolio.com/research

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Nico Napolio @nicholasnapolio.bsky.social · Jun 30

Really happy to share my paper "Executive Policymaking Coalitions, Veto Activation, and Collective Action Problems" has been conditionally accepted at the BJPS!

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Nico Napolio @nicholasnapolio.bsky.social · May 20

Thanks, Mike!

Reposted by Nico Napolio

Christian Grose @christiangrose.bsky.social · May 16

Photo from this year's USC graduation! 2025 PhD graduates @alcocerjj.bsky.social & @rcenteno.bsky.social alongside 2023 Phd @nicholasnapolio.bsky.social, who was visiting campus! Jose is off to Harvard, Raquel is off to Caltech, and Nico is tenure-track at UC, Riverside! #USCgrad
@usc.edu

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Nico Napolio @nicholasnapolio.bsky.social · May 16

In the paper, I develop a formal theory of legislator preferences for enforcing the separation of powers, describe theoretically derived measures of those preferences, and estimate them using ~1.3 million individual legislator decisions between 1973-2024.

Please DM if you'd like to see the draft :)

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Nico Napolio @nicholasnapolio.bsky.social · May 16

Very excited to share a new project I've been working on.

MCs have a statistically detectable preference for enforcing the separation of powers, but it is rarely big enough to dominate their policy preferences and affect their roll call vote choices.

Very early project - open to all feedback!

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Reposted by Nico Napolio

Bill Resh @billresh.bsky.social · Apr 8

Looking fwd to Jeff Jenkins' PIPE workshop on 4/15 at @priceschool.usc.edu w/ @nicholasnapolio.bsky.social as discussant.

I'll present a new @usc-clear.bsky.social paper on the impact of genAI on the U.S. fed civil service (arxiv.org/abs/2503.09637).

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Reposted by Nico Napolio

UCR Political Science @ucrpolisci.bsky.social · Apr 8

Congratulations to all the graduate students who presented work at #MPSA2025! We had an amazing showing from our department. #polisky

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Nico Napolio @nicholasnapolio.bsky.social · Apr 3

My inaugural Good Authority post!

Good Authority @goodauth.bsky.social · Apr 2

President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s frontal assault on the federal bureaucracy is a particularly intense manifestation of a strategy Republican presidents have pursued since at least the 1980s.

However, Trump has supercharged the GOP playbook.

Read the latest: goodauthority.org/news/trump-r...

Presidential assertions of power over the bureaucracy are nothing new

Trump has supercharged the GOP playbook, however.

goodauthority.org

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Nico Napolio @nicholasnapolio.bsky.social · Mar 11

Coming to MPSA 2025!

I've organized a conference-within-a-conference on the separation of powers. We've got a great lineup of scholars working at the intersection of legislative and executive politics.

And I'm very grateful to the @dfadcoalition.bsky.social for sponsoring the CwC!

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Nico Napolio @nicholasnapolio.bsky.social · Feb 27

Excited to join the team! I’ll be writing about one post a month on American political institutions and current events.

Good Authority @goodauth.bsky.social · Feb 27

New voices join Good Authority!

We welcome nine political scientists to our team of experts in our latest cohort of Good Authority fellows.

Learn more here: goodauthority.org/news/new-voi...

Meet our 2025-2026 Good Authority fellows!

We welcome nine new Good Authority fellows for 2025-2026! Meet the new team here.

goodauthority.org

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