Ariel R. White
arielrwhite.bsky.social
Ariel R. White
@arielrwhite.bsky.social
Political science 54%
Sociology 23%

Proud to take a break from our conference to join the virtual action with colleagues!
New editorial from me and @keithschnak.bsky.social.

“Why Washington University must not sign Trump's 'compact'”
Opinion: Why Washington University must not sign Trump's 'compact'
Washington University in St. Louis has built its reputation on a simple ideal: excellence wins. For decades, our researchers have competed for and won federal grants based on the quality
www.stltoday.com
Breaking News: Brown University became the second college to reject a White House deal offering preferential treatment for federal grants.
Brown University Rejects White House Deal for Special Treatment
Brown was the second university to turn down the deal, which would have given a funding preference to universities that agreed to certain requirements.
nyti.ms
interesting!

Here's what I said about @MIT's decision to decline the compact, and why others should join us:
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
MITAAUPremarks_GSUpressconf101025
AAUP remarks at Friday 10/10 press conference w/GSU I’m Ariel White, associate professor of political science and vice president of MIT’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors....
docs.google.com

This afternoon I was proud to represent our MIT @aaup.org chapter at a student-organized press conference about the proposed "compact"

Reposted by Ariel White

AAUP @aaup.org · Oct 3
Finally, check out AAUP-Penn’s statement that clearly frames the compact as a “threat, not an invitation.”

No to partisan interference in higher education!

@aaup-penn.bsky.social

Statement here👇
Statement by the AAUP-Penn Executive Committee on the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education | AAUP–Penn
October 2, 2025 (updated 4:15pm) All members of the Penn community are invited to sign this petition urging the administration to say no to the Compact. We were alarmed to read reports that Penn has b...
aaup-penn.org

Reposted by Ariel White

Mai Hassan, associate professor of @mitpolisci.bsky.social and faculty director of the MIT-Africa Program, co-authored a guest essay in @nytimes.com discussing the consequences of the international community recognizing Sudan’s juntas.
Read here: nytimes.com/2025/09/21/o...
nytimes.com
My quote to the AP: "What we’re seeing is an unprecedented attempt to silence disfavored speech by the government... Donald Trump is trying to dictate what Americans can say."
www.yahoo.com/news/article...

Reposted by Ariel White

Call for applications! The MIT Center for International Studies (CIS) is seeking two Postdoctoral Associates for the 2026–27 academic year. We are looking for scholars demonstrating exceptional scholarly achievement and promise for policy-
relevant research. Please visit: tinyurl.com/33d2veuf

yeah, other systems def wasting money on "safety" and "not crashing" and "building the rails the correct distance apart," should probably take a page from mbta 😇
There's a new issue of the section newsletter out! This one's on sample considerations in experiments: professional survey-takers, LLM usage, rural contexts, and more!

connect.apsanet.org/s42/newslett...
I think it's a mistake to think of the firing of Lisa Cook primarily in terms of Central Bank Independence, and its impact on the inflation rate.

The most significant issue is also more basic: it's the rule of law.
Reminder: It does not matter if Lisa Cook filled out a form wrong or if the raid finds some document in a file folder in John Bolton's house. These actions are wrong no matter what because they selectively target opponents of the government. The rule of law is under attack.
NEW: The 9th Circuit permits the Trump admin to terminate TPS for Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal for now.

This population includes 50,000 people who have been here legally since 1998 and will now have to leave the US or risk deportation. Many have no path to permanent status.

Yes, my main reaction was "how am I filling out this survey TWO YEARS AFTER THE CEILING FELL IN," literally choose any plan and DO IT before my kid ages out of the damn school
Our paper introducing the "American Local Government Elections Database" is online at Scientific Data. The data includes 78,000 candidates in 57,000 electoral contests in races for seven distinct local political offices in most medium and large cities and counties over the last three decades.
American local government elections database - Scientific Data
Scientific Data - American local government elections database
www.nature.com
My overwhelming memory from Hebrew school is being young and seeing images of ancestors starving in the camps. “Never again” was our religion. Here is the paper of record today. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/24/w...
Gazans Are Dying of Starvation
www.nytimes.com
I hope Suresh Naidu is wrong, but I’m pretty sure he’s right—Columbia’s settlement with Trump is unlikely to stick: www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/o...

Reposted by Ariel White

The latest winners of the Journal of Experimental Political Science best article awards have been announced -

- Rebecca Morton Best Article Award
- Best Article with a Pre-Registration
- Best Replication

cup.org/451FCFa

cc @jepsjournal.bsky.social
MIT Political Science is hiring this fall, with junior lines in both American Politics (members.apsanet.org/CAREERS/eJob...) and IR. Please share widely!
American Political Science Association > Sign In
members.apsanet.org

Reposted by Ariel White

My third demo in four days, this one with awesome colleagues at MIT at the Boston courthouse at the AAUP versus Marco ("[W]e don’t need these people in our country") Rubio trial.

"Up, up with education, down, down with deportation!"

Reposted by Ariel White

I'm writing this post in high dudgeon because what the Court endorsed today is unamerican and contemptuous not just of the role of the judiciary but also of the responsibility we have as a nation to those in our custody and those we subject to punishment.

I'm mad as hell. You should be too.

Reposted by Ariel White

We worked w/ #NJISJ to test effective ways of making newly enfranchised people aware of their rights. We combine ethnographic work with organizers w/ a field test of the strategies and tactics they viewed as successful
Sen. Alex Padilla, who was just forcibly removed from a DHS press conference, is the ranking member of Judiciary’s subcommittee on immigration, citizenship, and border safety, which has “oversight of federal agencies with citizenship, asylum, refugee, and immigration enforcement responsibilities.”

Reposted by Ariel White

The U.S. has long led the world in research. But under Trump’s policies, that leadership is slipping.

As federal support collapses, scientists are forced to choose b/t staying & fighting for the work they love - or leaving the country to keep their careers alive.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/03/u...
U.S. Scientists Warn That Trump’s Cuts Will Set Off a Brain Drain
www.nytimes.com
The Experimental Research section of the American Political Science Association (@experimentsapsa.bsky.social) invites research proposals from post-prospectus PhD students for its Experimental Research Early-Career Fellowship program. Share this post! @apsa.bsky.social, @poscresearch.bsky.social
This framing is all wrong

Our international students are not a “crucial funding source”

They are our STUDENTS

They are the reason we EXIST

We teach STUDENTS