Seva
@seva.bsky.social
Seva Gunitsky, associate professor of political science, University of Toronto. http://individual.utoronto.ca/seva/. book: http://amzn.to/2oRD2yG
Pinned
Seva
@seva.bsky.social
· 13d
Prosecuting the Powerful
Historical data shows putting leaders on trial is a healthy democratic practice.
foreignpolicy.com
Sarkozy is going to jail but he’s not the first one. In our new dataset we track modern leaders who have been prosecuted by their own states. There are 215 of them. Turns out leader prosecution is a common & healthy practice in democracies. Full access link: foreignpolicy.com/2025/10/28/d...
Reposted by Seva
As the situation in Pokrovsk becomes critical, and AFU reinforces the pocket to stabilize the flanks, there's considerable attention now to how this battle is unfolding. A few thoughts on the situation. 1/ (DeepStateMap)
November 7, 2025 at 9:14 PM
As the situation in Pokrovsk becomes critical, and AFU reinforces the pocket to stabilize the flanks, there's considerable attention now to how this battle is unfolding. A few thoughts on the situation. 1/ (DeepStateMap)
Reposted by Seva
The highly skilled, downwardly mobile members of the working class tend to be the leaders of social democratic movements, yes.
Can Zohran Mamdani's largely educated, middle-income support base be explained - or even justified - from a Marxist perspective?
@dmk1793.bsky.social presents five (5) conflicting ways in which it can:
@dmk1793.bsky.social presents five (5) conflicting ways in which it can:
Is DSA the class party of the PMC?
Five Marxist perspectives on Zohran Mamdani’s electoral coalition
renewal.org.uk
November 7, 2025 at 11:29 PM
The highly skilled, downwardly mobile members of the working class tend to be the leaders of social democratic movements, yes.
I just don't get professors who use AI detectors. congratulations you have arsonists doing fire inspections
November 6, 2025 at 3:06 PM
I just don't get professors who use AI detectors. congratulations you have arsonists doing fire inspections
if you enjoy seeing politicians going to jail, I discuss our findings in more detail here:
hegemon.substack.com/p/off-with-t...
hegemon.substack.com/p/off-with-t...
November 6, 2025 at 2:56 PM
if you enjoy seeing politicians going to jail, I discuss our findings in more detail here:
hegemon.substack.com/p/off-with-t...
hegemon.substack.com/p/off-with-t...
congratulations to Dr. Lawther for successfully defending his dissertation today. very happy to have supervised this excellent work
October 31, 2025 at 9:29 PM
congratulations to Dr. Lawther for successfully defending his dissertation today. very happy to have supervised this excellent work
Reposted by Seva
𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀? In our new dataset, we track these prosecutions with @seva.bsky.social @sahibjafarov.bsky.social. It's more common than you might think. Check out our @foreignpolicy.com op-ed for the findings.
foreignpolicy.com/2025/10/28/d...
@idos-research.bsky.social
foreignpolicy.com/2025/10/28/d...
@idos-research.bsky.social
Prosecuting the Powerful
Historical data shows putting leaders on trial is a healthy democratic practice.
foreignpolicy.com
October 30, 2025 at 4:03 PM
𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀? In our new dataset, we track these prosecutions with @seva.bsky.social @sahibjafarov.bsky.social. It's more common than you might think. Check out our @foreignpolicy.com op-ed for the findings.
foreignpolicy.com/2025/10/28/d...
@idos-research.bsky.social
foreignpolicy.com/2025/10/28/d...
@idos-research.bsky.social
reading about "LLM grooming" and i'm pretty sure we're done here
October 30, 2025 at 4:16 PM
reading about "LLM grooming" and i'm pretty sure we're done here
Reposted by Seva
New Substack post: surprising everyone, Milei won big in the midterms yesterday. Not surprising anyone, the economy is still kind of a mess. What happened and what comes next?
someunpleasant.substack.com/p/burning-do...
someunpleasant.substack.com/p/burning-do...
Burning Down The House?
Scott Bessent, I want my 20 billion
someunpleasant.substack.com
October 27, 2025 at 2:02 PM
New Substack post: surprising everyone, Milei won big in the midterms yesterday. Not surprising anyone, the economy is still kind of a mess. What happened and what comes next?
someunpleasant.substack.com/p/burning-do...
someunpleasant.substack.com/p/burning-do...
Sarkozy is going to jail but he’s not the first one. In our new dataset we track modern leaders who have been prosecuted by their own states. There are 215 of them. Turns out leader prosecution is a common & healthy practice in democracies. Full access link: foreignpolicy.com/2025/10/28/d...
Prosecuting the Powerful
Historical data shows putting leaders on trial is a healthy democratic practice.
foreignpolicy.com
October 28, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Sarkozy is going to jail but he’s not the first one. In our new dataset we track modern leaders who have been prosecuted by their own states. There are 215 of them. Turns out leader prosecution is a common & healthy practice in democracies. Full access link: foreignpolicy.com/2025/10/28/d...
Reposted by Seva
future grandchild: like shit, from an ass?
me in 30 years: Swear to God. Then he demolished the White House
me in 30 years: Swear to God. Then he demolished the White House
October 20, 2025 at 9:59 PM
future grandchild: like shit, from an ass?
me in 30 years: Swear to God. Then he demolished the White House
me in 30 years: Swear to God. Then he demolished the White House
oh you like international relations? name all of them
October 20, 2025 at 10:43 PM
oh you like international relations? name all of them
Reposted by Seva
Nuclear states:
US
Russia
UK
France
China
India
Pakistan
Israel
North Korea
Nuke states with personalist regimes:
US
Russia
China
India
Israel
North Korea
UK, France could get there depending on the next election & power consolidation afterwards. Pakistan has been in the past, not presently.
US
Russia
UK
France
China
India
Pakistan
Israel
North Korea
Nuke states with personalist regimes:
US
Russia
China
India
Israel
North Korea
UK, France could get there depending on the next election & power consolidation afterwards. Pakistan has been in the past, not presently.
probably the first time in history since the 18th century where the leaders of all the major powers -- trump, xi, putin, modi, erdogan etc -- are all personalist regimes. not sure what this means but worth noting
October 20, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Nuclear states:
US
Russia
UK
France
China
India
Pakistan
Israel
North Korea
Nuke states with personalist regimes:
US
Russia
China
India
Israel
North Korea
UK, France could get there depending on the next election & power consolidation afterwards. Pakistan has been in the past, not presently.
US
Russia
UK
France
China
India
Pakistan
Israel
North Korea
Nuke states with personalist regimes:
US
Russia
China
India
Israel
North Korea
UK, France could get there depending on the next election & power consolidation afterwards. Pakistan has been in the past, not presently.
probably the first time in history since the 18th century where the leaders of all the major powers -- trump, xi, putin, modi, erdogan etc -- are all personalist regimes. not sure what this means but worth noting
October 20, 2025 at 4:54 PM
probably the first time in history since the 18th century where the leaders of all the major powers -- trump, xi, putin, modi, erdogan etc -- are all personalist regimes. not sure what this means but worth noting
Reposted by Seva
If democracy and the rule of law are to survive then their fate needs to be carried by several great powers rather than just depending on a single hegemon that defines a unipolar order
don't care what anyone says, I'm glad I got to witness the unipolar order. to watch a country completely waste its hegemonic status? we will never see anything like it again
October 20, 2025 at 4:35 PM
If democracy and the rule of law are to survive then their fate needs to be carried by several great powers rather than just depending on a single hegemon that defines a unipolar order
don't care what anyone says, I'm glad I got to witness the unipolar order. to watch a country completely waste its hegemonic status? we will never see anything like it again
October 20, 2025 at 4:14 PM
don't care what anyone says, I'm glad I got to witness the unipolar order. to watch a country completely waste its hegemonic status? we will never see anything like it again
one drawback of having a personalist regime where no one interrupts your insane rants about Prince Rurik is completely derailing your ability to relate to even sympathetic interlocutors like tucker or trump
October 17, 2025 at 8:57 PM
one drawback of having a personalist regime where no one interrupts your insane rants about Prince Rurik is completely derailing your ability to relate to even sympathetic interlocutors like tucker or trump
we should have paid attention to the dangers of cyberspace as predicted by Lawnmower Man (1992)
October 16, 2025 at 5:31 AM
we should have paid attention to the dangers of cyberspace as predicted by Lawnmower Man (1992)
Reposted by Seva
working on a new unified theory of american reality i'm calling "everyone is twelve now"
September 8, 2025 at 12:37 AM
working on a new unified theory of american reality i'm calling "everyone is twelve now"
new post: we are all deep in hell, each moment of which is a miracle. open.substack.com/pub/hegemon/...
We are all deep in hell, each moment of which is a miracle.
Review: The Trouble With Being Born (1964)
open.substack.com
October 2, 2025 at 4:09 PM
new post: we are all deep in hell, each moment of which is a miracle. open.substack.com/pub/hegemon/...
Reposted by Seva
I asked friends of the newsletter for book recommendations. There were no restrictions, so these books are old and new, fiction and non-fiction. If you like to read, take a look:
(And if you have recommendations yourself, add them in the comments)
thehundred.substack.com/p/the-hundre...
(And if you have recommendations yourself, add them in the comments)
thehundred.substack.com/p/the-hundre...
The Hundred 2025 Winter Reading List
Books, Books, Books
thehundred.substack.com
October 2, 2025 at 1:23 PM
I asked friends of the newsletter for book recommendations. There were no restrictions, so these books are old and new, fiction and non-fiction. If you like to read, take a look:
(And if you have recommendations yourself, add them in the comments)
thehundred.substack.com/p/the-hundre...
(And if you have recommendations yourself, add them in the comments)
thehundred.substack.com/p/the-hundre...
for too long we've been relying on a strategic reserve of stanislav petrovs in the bunker
he's got the nuclear codes! those are real things that actually exist! he retweeted a fake ai video of himself announcing that he was rolling out magic medbeds across america!
Maybe it’s just me, but I find it *incredibly* disturbing that the president of the US is very clearly losing his goddamned mind, but most of the media steadfastly refuse to even mention it.
September 29, 2025 at 2:17 PM
for too long we've been relying on a strategic reserve of stanislav petrovs in the bunker
"I am sitting with a philosopher in the garden; he says again and again "I know that that’s a tree", pointing to a tree that is near us. Someone else arrives and hears this, and I tell him: "This fellow isn't insane. We are only doing philosophy.”
September 29, 2025 at 2:10 PM
"I am sitting with a philosopher in the garden; he says again and again "I know that that’s a tree", pointing to a tree that is near us. Someone else arrives and hears this, and I tell him: "This fellow isn't insane. We are only doing philosophy.”
classic gopnik pose here, putin has some explaining to do
the suspected Charlie Kirk shooter has been identified as 22 year old Tyler Robinson from Utah
very little in his family socials other than that Tyler was very online and dressed up on Halloween specifically to emulate this meme
knowyourmeme.com/memes/cultur...
very little in his family socials other than that Tyler was very online and dressed up on Halloween specifically to emulate this meme
knowyourmeme.com/memes/cultur...
September 12, 2025 at 6:32 PM
classic gopnik pose here, putin has some explaining to do