Michael Nelson
mjnelson.bsky.social
Michael Nelson
@mjnelson.bsky.social

Political Scientist and Dept. Head @ Penn State. Courts, judicial legitimacy, state politics.

Michael Nelson is an American political scientist, noted for his work on the Presidency and elections. He is a Fulmer Professor of Political Science at Rhodes College.

Source: Wikipedia
Law 40%
Economics 27%

This is a great opportunity for someone passionate about connecting students to careers in politics, policy, and public service. The position combines teaching, mentorship, and program leadership.

Reposted by Sona Golder

Penn State Political Science is launching a new Semester in Washington program and we’re hiring a full-time on-site coordinator for the program, based permanently in Washington, D.C.

SPPC 2026 will be held in Chicago and has a website: www.luc.edu/politicalsci.... Hope to see you there!
: Loyola University Chicago
www.luc.edu

Reposted by Michael J. Nelson

NEW -

Trust in the Judiciary and Partisan Reactions to Judicial Checks: Evidence from Argentina - https://cup.org/42BRe1j

"judicial checks expose citizens to information that is primarily instrumental"

- Martín Gandur

#FirstView

Reposted by Michael J. Nelson

#OpenAccess from @apsrjournal.bsky.social -

The Path of Law: Legal Uncertainty and Issues of First Impression in the U.S. Courts of Appeals - https://cup.org/42XsrF0

- @anthonytaboni.bsky.social

#FirstView

(To do the magic trick, start with a regular deck and have different students draw samples and talk about sampling variation. Then switch decks at the podium to the all red deck)

That’s Day 2! Weeks ago!

Reposted by Jon H. Fiva

Taught intro to hypothesis testing today in undergrad stats for the first time in a while and this activity is undefeated for giving the intuition for hypothesis testing: jse.amstat.org/v2n1/eckert..... Plus you can do it as a magic trick which makes it fun.
Journal of Statistics Education, V2N1: Eckert
jse.amstat.org
colleagues in political science. the formal update to the Garand and Giles journal ranking survey is now live. many of you will receive an email momentarily inviting you to participate. in the event you do NOT receive an invitation, please see this website to self-enroll. thanks! sharing = caring!
Participating
The Evaluation of Publication in Political Research study is open to serious producers and consumers of political research, including faculty in institutions of higher education, doctoral students,…
eppr.study

More than you've ever wanted to know about the consequences executives face for defying courts, available for 20% off with discount code TEJR2025 at www.cambridge.org/core/books/e...!

Reposted by Michael J. Nelson

We welcome candidates whose research and teaching address topics including public opinion, electoral behavior, the role of AI in democracy, democratic principles, representation, political participation, political psychology, partisanship, polarization, gender, or race/ethnicity.
Penn State is searching at the Assistant Professor level in in American political behavior, broadly defined. We are seekign someone who can offer undergraduate and graduate courses in political methodology or social data analytics.
Assistant Professor, Political Science
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS: CURRENT PENN STATE EMPLOYEE (faculty, staff, technical service, or student), please login to Workday to complete the internal application process. Please do not apply here, a...
psu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com

We welcome candidates with expertise in any geographic region whose research and teaching address topics, including but not limited to, authoritarianism, democratic backsliding, state repression, contentious politics, and intrastate conflict.

Reposted by Justin H. Kirkland

Penn State is searching in Comparative Politics or International Relations for someone with a focus on non-democratic politics who can offer undergraduate and graduate courses in political methodology.
Assistant Professor, Political Science
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS: CURRENT PENN STATE EMPLOYEE (faculty, staff, technical service, or student), please login to Workday to complete the internal application process. Please do not apply here, a...
psu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com

Reposted by Michael J. Nelson

📢 @davidkosar.bsky.social & Patrick Leisure introduce the concept of judicial overstay ⚖️ and argue that we should pay more attention to this transnational phenomenon 🌍.

📖 Read their new article on the IACL blog ✍️📰
🔗 blog-iacl-aidc.org/2025-posts/2...

It is that time of year where the handout I made about how to read a social science article comes in useful for faculty and students. In case it is helpful for you: mjnelson.org/Teaching/How....
mjnelson.org

Reposted by Michael J. Nelson

Really pleased to announce that my paper "The Path of Law: Legal Uncertainty and Cases of First Impression in the U.S. Courts of Appeals" has been accepted at the APSR. The paper can be found here: anthonytaboni.com/wp-content/u...

Reposted by Michael J. Nelson

Everything is awful, but a new paper with @profjvross.bsky.social provides new evidence that state court chief justices are much more like academic department chairs than ideologically-driven seekers of policy outcomes.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Opinion Self-Assignment on State Supreme Courts - Meghan E. Leonard, Joseph V. Ross, 2025
The assignment of a majority opinion author is a pivotal moment in the judicial decision-making process, yet nearly all our understanding of the assignment deci...
journals.sagepub.com
Attention #polisky! Apply for
@utaustin.bsky.social LBJ School of Public Affairs with a focus on American Political Institutions. I'm on the committee, so please reach out with questions. See below: apply.interfolio.com/170943
Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
apply.interfolio.com

The gist (as we've seen over the past few months) is that courts don't have the magic wand to constrain executives that so many often hope.

We draw upon survey data from the U.S., Germany, Poland, and Hungary and find that executives only face pushback from people citizens when those people value the rule of law and when the court is independent.
Thrilled that this book, with Driscoll and Krehbiel, is out this week. Its topic that become surprisingly relevant: under what conditions does the public punish presidents who ignore court decisions?

Reposted by Michael J. Nelson

@abbymatthews.bsky.social & Rachael Hinkle's analysis of judicial citations demonstrates that diversity in race, gender, *and* partisanship plays a critical role in the evolution of legal doctrine, with judges sharing all 3 salient traits experiencing a 25% increase in citation probability.
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
journals.sagepub.com
Historian friends: tell me about your favorite research & writing tools.

As a bonus, would love to know where you learned how to use them & if you'd be interested in sharing your knowledge w/ others.

Reposted by Michael J. Nelson

Explains when, where, and how constitutional courts help citizens hold executives to account and protect the rule of law

The Efficacy of Judicial Review by Amanda Driscoll, Jay N. Krehbiel (@ubuffalo.bsky.social‬), & @mjnelson.bsky.social‬, Out Now

#LawSky 💙📚 #Politics

https://cup.org/4fbNxVd