Patrick Schoettmer
@pschoettmer.bsky.social
Associate Teaching Professor of Political Science @SeattleU. I teach a bit of everything, but interested in things like elections, religion & politics, and societal collapse. You know, the fun stuff.
I'm looking for an example exercise for the class I am teaching this summer to frame our conversation about voter knowledge. I found a practice naturalization exam from 2008 and decided to check it out.
Got stuck on question 8. Is A the correct answer now or not? Asking for a current president.
Got stuck on question 8. Is A the correct answer now or not? Asking for a current president.
June 20, 2025 at 12:40 PM
I'm looking for an example exercise for the class I am teaching this summer to frame our conversation about voter knowledge. I found a practice naturalization exam from 2008 and decided to check it out.
Got stuck on question 8. Is A the correct answer now or not? Asking for a current president.
Got stuck on question 8. Is A the correct answer now or not? Asking for a current president.
Reposted by Patrick Schoettmer
From my undergraduate lecture notes on the Weimar Republic's collapse
June 10, 2025 at 8:36 PM
From my undergraduate lecture notes on the Weimar Republic's collapse
A sad day. May God have mercy on this poor sinner who tried to do good while he was here.
Pope Francis Dies at 88: Latest News
His groundbreaking pontificate worked to make the Catholic Church more inclusive. Cardinals will now decide whether to continue his approach or restore more doctrinaire leadership.
www.nytimes.com
April 21, 2025 at 9:13 AM
A sad day. May God have mercy on this poor sinner who tried to do good while he was here.
The cybertruck is the biggest automotive bomb in decades in more ways than one...
Elon Musk’s Epic Cybertruck Fail
Elon Musk’s polygonal pickup is a polarizing sales flop that's missed the billionaire’s volume goal by a staggering 84%. And there’s no sign that things are improving.
www.forbes.com
April 5, 2025 at 2:38 AM
The cybertruck is the biggest automotive bomb in decades in more ways than one...
Reposted by Patrick Schoettmer
"A terrified young student, snatched off the street by a masked police force taken thousands of miles across the country without anyone knowing. It is as flatly authoritarian as anything we have ever seen in this country," says @chrislhayes.bsky.social on Tufts student Rumeysa Ozturk's detention.
March 27, 2025 at 12:53 AM
"A terrified young student, snatched off the street by a masked police force taken thousands of miles across the country without anyone knowing. It is as flatly authoritarian as anything we have ever seen in this country," says @chrislhayes.bsky.social on Tufts student Rumeysa Ozturk's detention.
Reposted by Patrick Schoettmer
Trump administration to cut vaccination funds. "The loss of U.S. support may mean 75 million children do not receive routine vaccinations in the next five years, with more than 1.2 million children dying as a result," reports @stephanienolen.bsky.social Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/03/26/h...
U.S. to End Vaccine Funds for Poor Countries (Gift Article)
A 281-page spreadsheet obtained by The Times lists the Trump administration’s plans for thousands of foreign aid programs.
www.nytimes.com
March 26, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Trump administration to cut vaccination funds. "The loss of U.S. support may mean 75 million children do not receive routine vaccinations in the next five years, with more than 1.2 million children dying as a result," reports @stephanienolen.bsky.social Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/03/26/h...
"The political reality is that objective events and facts, like what really happened on January 6, 2021, are contested and denied impeding accountability....January 6th becomes another event in which African Americans perceive that there are different rules for them."
The January 6th Insurrection and the Triggering of African Americans’ Racial Resentment | Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics | Cambridge Core
The January 6th Insurrection and the Triggering of African Americans’ Racial Resentment
www.cambridge.org
March 2, 2025 at 10:03 PM
"The political reality is that objective events and facts, like what really happened on January 6, 2021, are contested and denied impeding accountability....January 6th becomes another event in which African Americans perceive that there are different rules for them."
This has a very, "I am altering the deal. Pray I do not alter it any further," vibe.
Israel Halts Aid to Gaza and Proposes New Cease-Fire Framework
Israel has called for Hamas to accept a temporary extension of the existing cease-fire deal, and to release more hostages.
www.nytimes.com
March 2, 2025 at 9:59 PM
This has a very, "I am altering the deal. Pray I do not alter it any further," vibe.
There is a long tradition in the US of accusing presidents you don't like of wanting to be a king. There's no real tradition of the incumbent president agreeing with them.
February 20, 2025 at 2:42 AM
There is a long tradition in the US of accusing presidents you don't like of wanting to be a king. There's no real tradition of the incumbent president agreeing with them.
Reposted by Patrick Schoettmer
Urban–rural cleavages are seen as a defining political divide. But does this polarization hold worldwide? My new working paper tests this question using an original dataset of granular, geocoded election returns from 106 countries (polling station-level in 70). (1/8)
February 14, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Urban–rural cleavages are seen as a defining political divide. But does this polarization hold worldwide? My new working paper tests this question using an original dataset of granular, geocoded election returns from 106 countries (polling station-level in 70). (1/8)
Solid thread
A political party worthy of the name is the only entity capable of resolving the kind of collective action problems the programmatic constituencies will surely face. Because the Democratic Party has been the vehicle for loosely organizing these group interests in the past, one might imagine... /5
February 2, 2025 at 11:47 PM
Solid thread
Thinking about it this morning as I did the dishes, this debate might be a good example to use in order to teach the Prisoners' Dilemma with repeated iterations. You can see Republican legislators walking through the logic in this article.
Calif. Republicans weigh in on Trump allies’ calls for fire aid conditions
The unusual debate puts California’s Republican lawmakers in a potentially perilous position stuck between suffering constituents and the president-elect’s desires. And it presents another test of con...
www.washingtonpost.com
January 17, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Thinking about it this morning as I did the dishes, this debate might be a good example to use in order to teach the Prisoners' Dilemma with repeated iterations. You can see Republican legislators walking through the logic in this article.
National championship bound!
January 10, 2025 at 4:18 AM
National championship bound!
Historically cities have used great fires (Chicago 1871, Seattle 1889) to rethink what they have been doing. Hopefully Los Angeles will do the same and rebuild as inclusively and affordably as possible. Move away from SFHs and towards MFHs.
But it's going to really suck trying to get by in LA.
But it's going to really suck trying to get by in LA.
Los Angeles Wildfires Will Make a Serious Housing Shortage Worse
With so many people displaced and looking for rentals, the region’s housing options could grow even scarcer and more expensive.
www.nytimes.com
January 10, 2025 at 3:16 AM
Historically cities have used great fires (Chicago 1871, Seattle 1889) to rethink what they have been doing. Hopefully Los Angeles will do the same and rebuild as inclusively and affordably as possible. Move away from SFHs and towards MFHs.
But it's going to really suck trying to get by in LA.
But it's going to really suck trying to get by in LA.
Reposted by Patrick Schoettmer
Occasional reminder that there’s no, “it’s too late, its over” for anthropogenic climate change. Every molecule of CO2 that doesn’t go into the atmosphere makes a difference. Preventing 0.1 degree of warming makes a difference. Every bit of climate resilience we build together makes a difference.
January 9, 2025 at 1:18 AM
Occasional reminder that there’s no, “it’s too late, its over” for anthropogenic climate change. Every molecule of CO2 that doesn’t go into the atmosphere makes a difference. Preventing 0.1 degree of warming makes a difference. Every bit of climate resilience we build together makes a difference.
Reposted by Patrick Schoettmer
The insanity of being a fire ecologist in the epicenter of a major fire event, bags packed and ready to evacuate, watching active fire from my window, while taking media requests and explaining to the public, for the 100,000th time how climate change is largely responsible for this
January 8, 2025 at 7:52 PM
The insanity of being a fire ecologist in the epicenter of a major fire event, bags packed and ready to evacuate, watching active fire from my window, while taking media requests and explaining to the public, for the 100,000th time how climate change is largely responsible for this
Definitely sympathize. I don't fault voters stuck in an A-B choice where A represents a very dissatisfying status quo rolling the dice on B. I mean, I think it's a bad bet but when you are feeling squeezed you're more willing to take long odds.
"low-income Americans who voted for Trump say they are counting on him to keep their benefits intact"
Do you laugh? Cry? Mock? Sympathize? I genuinely don't know.
Do you laugh? Cry? Mock? Sympathize? I genuinely don't know.
After backing Trump, low-income voters hope he doesn’t slash their benefits
Voters in the struggling Pennsylvania city of New Castle backed Donald Trump hoping he’d curb inflation. But he’ll be under pressure to cut federal spending.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 26, 2024 at 10:51 PM
Definitely sympathize. I don't fault voters stuck in an A-B choice where A represents a very dissatisfying status quo rolling the dice on B. I mean, I think it's a bad bet but when you are feeling squeezed you're more willing to take long odds.
Reposted by Patrick Schoettmer
🚨This is the full letter being distributed around Lincoln County Oregon👇
December 20, 2024 at 12:33 AM
🚨This is the full letter being distributed around Lincoln County Oregon👇
Reposted by Patrick Schoettmer
We shouldn’t accept that a CEO killer must get a national manhunt when cops don’t solve most murders at all. A migrant teenager was just murdered in NYC, cops just killed a guy here — the lives of these other people are worth just as much as that CEO.
December 8, 2024 at 2:20 PM
We shouldn’t accept that a CEO killer must get a national manhunt when cops don’t solve most murders at all. A migrant teenager was just murdered in NYC, cops just killed a guy here — the lives of these other people are worth just as much as that CEO.
Seattle University is growing again as it looks to absorb the Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. Which, of course, means that Brendan Fraser will become a Seattle University alum once the merger is complete.
As 2 Seattle colleges merge, leaders say it’s a boon for both schools
Amid a contraction of the higher education sector nationally, the two longtime Seattle private schools announced Thursday that they plan to join forces.
www.seattletimes.com
December 5, 2024 at 9:17 PM
Seattle University is growing again as it looks to absorb the Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. Which, of course, means that Brendan Fraser will become a Seattle University alum once the merger is complete.