Steven W. Webster
@stevenwwebster.bsky.social
2.2K followers 190 following 59 posts
Political scientist and Director of the Center on American Politics at IU Bloomington.
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stevenwwebster.bsky.social
The fiercest squirrel hunter in all of Bloomington.
stevenwwebster.bsky.social
One month to go! Very excited for this event.

www.iu-cap.com
stevenwwebster.bsky.social
This is so, so cool.
aalrababah.bsky.social
🚨 New working paper alert 🚨
Missing summer — and the Tour de France? Don’t worry, we got you covered. 🚴‍♂️🚴‍♂️🚴‍♂️
In this paper, we show that being on the route of Tour de France reduces far-right voting. osf.io/preprints/so...
stevenwwebster.bsky.social
It was a cool paper. Affective nationalism helps reduce negative emotions in all countries; alliance reassurance only worked in the Taiwanese sample.
stevenwwebster.bsky.social
Paper 2 is Eric Hamilton, presenting on research focusing on depolarization and methodological advancements in the study of political rhetoric and “dysfunctional discourse”
stevenwwebster.bsky.social
APSA panel 1: Affect and Emotions. First up is Fu and Lee, presenting on emotional reactions to foreign threats

Three experiments from Taiwan, Lithuania, and Latvia. Threats elicit anxiety, anger, and fear. Can be attenuated by presence of allies and a shared sense of national identity.
stevenwwebster.bsky.social
Cool paper.
benjaminsnoble.bsky.social
FirstView day for my PSRM article, “Presidential Negative Partisanship.” 🥳

I show presidents attack the opposition most (not persuade) when legislating is least likely to succeed—and those attacks mobilize their own side.

cambridge.org/core/journal...

Read on for the 🧵 version...
Presidential negative partisanship | Political Science Research and Methods | Cambridge Core
Presidential negative partisanship
cambridge.org
stevenwwebster.bsky.social
What's odd is that the Democratic Party is more underwater with Independents than either Trump or the GOP in that poll.
stevenwwebster.bsky.social
Staring down the new semester.
stevenwwebster.bsky.social
Meaningful null findings!
elizabethcconnors.bsky.social
Can embarrassment of one's party dampen partisanship and polarization? One would think.

In a forthcoming paper at @poqjournal.bsky.social, Taylor Carlson, @stevenwwebster.bsky.social, and I examine what we call "partisan embarrassment," including looking at the ramifications of these feelings...
stevenwwebster.bsky.social
Excited to announce the speaker lineup for the first ever IU Center on American Politics conference! October 31, 2025, Bloomington, IN. Guests welcome!

More info available here: www.iu-cap.com/conference.h...
stevenwwebster.bsky.social
A sad update: our colleague, Ted Carmines, has passed. He will be sorely missed.
stevenwwebster.bsky.social
Trying to keep up with world events.
stevenwwebster.bsky.social
Accepted at POQ: "You’re Making Us Look Bad: Can Partisan Embarrassment Dampen Partisanship and Polarization?" w/ Liz Connors and Taylor Carlson
elizabethchaseconnors.com/images/Embar...
stevenwwebster.bsky.social
Ignoring the context here, I know, but this gif is legitimately funny.
stevenwwebster.bsky.social
"As we start to see violence overtaking American political life, the transition is more like a sunset than a light switch."
stevenwwebster.bsky.social
Sunday, 8 AM panel for APSA. 🫣
stevenwwebster.bsky.social
It’s not easy to work around here.