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Ben H. Ansell

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Ben W. Ansell is Professor of Comparative Democratic Institutions at Nuffield College, University of Oxford and, with David Samuels,… more

H-index: 22
Political science 47%
Economics 40%
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by Ben H. Ansell

benansell.bsky.social
Well indeed…
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by Ben H. Ansell

benansell.bsky.social
I was on a barging holiday with apolitical friends who were entirely radicalised by the end of the weekend.
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by Ben H. Ansell

benansell.bsky.social
Imagine waiting til the end of the budget for the obvious counterbalance in spending cuts or other tax increases that never comes and realising that you now don’t have enough drink left
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by Ben H. Ansell

benansell.bsky.social
Yeh as an occasional neoliberal I think some of the tax reforms in it were individually fine. But collectively it was insane.
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Reposted by: Ben H. Ansell, Scott L. Greer, Jonathan Hopkin , and 2 more

carlquintanilla.bsky.social
Good lord.

@apnews.com
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by Ben H. Ansell

benansell.bsky.social
You'd think there would be more interest from the UK media too tbh
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by Ben H. Ansell

benansell.bsky.social
It was after all 'at last a true Tory budget' according to the papers the day after...
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by Ben H. Ansell

benansell.bsky.social
I think there were some parts of the Truss budget that might have made sense in a better fiscal environment or *not all at once* that could be traced to right-wing think tank thought. But rot had already set in and the whole debacle has now got cargo cult status.
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Reposted by: Ben H. Ansell, Will Jennings, Tom Shakespeare , and 8 more

govpritzker.illinois.gov
If you come for my people, you come through me.
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Reposted by: Ben H. Ansell, James Q. Wilson, Patrick A. Jansen , and 25 more

govpritzker.illinois.gov
I will not back down.

Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power.

What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?
Donald Trump Truth Social Post: Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers! Governor Pritzker also.
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by Ben H. Ansell

benansell.bsky.social
I guess 26 out of 83 unfulfilled pledges ;)
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Reposted by: Ben H. Ansell, Rosemary A. Joyce, Mirya R. Holman , and 3 more

taniel.bsky.social
JUST IN: The Republican Mayor of Fairbanks, Alaska’s second biggest city, lost re-election last night to a Democrat.

Mayor David Pruhs is a conservative who fought protections for LGBTQ+ residents; he made comments this year drew condemnation this year from Alaska Natives. He lost to Mindy O'Neall.
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by Ben H. Ansell

benansell.bsky.social
If I were the leader of the opposition a year after an election, facing an unpopular government, I would simply focus my energy on criticising the current government's policy record rather than constantly bemoaning the last fifteen years of policymaking, in which I was intimately involved.
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Reposted by: Ben H. Ansell, Will Jennings, Tim Bale , and 5 more

stephenkb.bsky.social
Something grimly predictable about the way that the conversation about 'ripoff degrees' in the UK is always about degrees that aren't rip-offs, but are instead fairly obvious 'this student has chosen something unlikely to pay off economically' rather than the short tail of crap business degrees:
Everyone needs educating in the fight over university degrees
Political confusion over the purpose of these institutions means the obvious fixes are being neglected
www.ft.com
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by Ben H. Ansell

benansell.bsky.social
Sure agreed. Though the irony is ‘majority sports’ are… well… sports, which are mostly very multiracial in the UK.
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by Henry Farrell — Reposted by: Ben H. Ansell, Dani Rodrik, Marc Lynch , and 12 more

himself.bsky.social
"It wanted to signal strength. Instead, it’s revealing its weakness. The administration’s need to break the academy is forcing it to make a desperately risky gamble." www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/o...
Opinion | You Beat Trumpism by Banding Together. It’s as Hard and as Simple as That.
www.nytimes.com
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by Ben H. Ansell

benansell.bsky.social
Have achieved a life goal of mentioning Salako in an article.

by Ben H. Ansell

benansell.bsky.social
Just as an example, imagine talking about English literature since 2000 without mentioning Kazuo Ishiguro, Zadie Smith, Monica Ali, Salman Rushdie, Neel Mukherjee, Kaliane Bradley etc etc.
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by Ben H. Ansell

benansell.bsky.social
Something I touched on in my @prospectmagazine.co.uk piece the other day.
benansell.bsky.social
Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 2d
Me in @prospectmagazine.co.uk following up on a Substack I wrote earlier this summer. Come for the unnecessary discussion of Crystal Palace in the 1990s, stay for the reference to Jesse Plemons.
Who’s ‘white British’? Who cares?
Politicians seem to be fuelling racist debate about what it means to be British, rather than calling it out
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
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by Ben H. Ansell — Reposted by: Jonathan Portes, Steve Peers

benansell.bsky.social
Spot on from @stephenkb.bsky.social. And the other aspect of this nasty turn is the eliding of British ‘culture’ with ‘white British’, which will shock anyone who has watched TV or football, or listened to music, or read a book, or indeed breathed since 1980.
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Reposted by: Ben H. Ansell, Michelle Everson

thehistoryguy.bsky.social
We have built a society in which people of different skin tones, religious backgrounds & cultures get along, share power, work alongside each other, procreate with each other, recognise the each other’s humanity and democratic rights. It is a STUNNING ACHIEVEMENT OF WORLD HISTORIC PROPORTIONS.
omaromalleykhan.bsky.social
Omar Khan @omaromalleykhan.bsky.social · 1d
I know statistics are poorly understood and are misused. But facts matter

Between the 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2021 Census *every* ethnic group in the UK has become *less* geographically segregated and *all* groups, majority and minorities, are more likely to interact with people not like them
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by Ben H. Ansell

benansell.bsky.social
Oh ok well fair enough, that produces the injuries I’d come to expect.
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by Ben H. Ansell

benansell.bsky.social
What’s with all the coloured plastic tho. Only eighties kids will remember entirely wooden apparatus
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by Ben H. Ansell

benansell.bsky.social
So, France? But without a President.
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by Ben H. Ansell

benansell.bsky.social
And even then stuck at heart ascension level 19.
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by Ben H. Ansell

benansell.bsky.social
Guys it only took circa 800 hours of my life
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Reposted by: Ben H. Ansell

politicshome.bsky.social
The Tories are focusing too much on culture wars, according to former long-serving Conservative MP Sir Nick Gibb

In an interview with PolHome, the former schools minister also said the UK should lead efforts to reform the ECHR, not grab at the “most immediate superficial solution" of leaving it
Nick Gibb: The Tories Are Focusing Too Much On Culture Wars
Former schools minister Sir Nick Gibb has accused the Conservatives of focusing too much on culture wars and not enough on “the real lives of peopl...
www.politicshome.com
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by Ben H. Ansell

benansell.bsky.social
Give them time dammit!
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by Ben H. Ansell

benansell.bsky.social
I for one am looking forward to the cringe Robert Jenrick apology tour where he visits various ethnic groups in Britain and tries to integrate.
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by Ben H. Ansell

benansell.bsky.social
Looks like quite a few silent generation in there too
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References

Fields & subjects

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