Wendy Y. Li
@wendyyli.bsky.social
Sociologist studying the political workforce, lobbying, regulation, and democracy. Postdoc at SNF Agora Institute, Johns Hopkins University. Based in DC. Philly at heart.
www.wendyyli.com
www.wendyyli.com
Pinned
Wendy Y. Li
@wendyyli.bsky.social
· Sep 2
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
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journals.sagepub.com
Very excited to share my new paper in Socius, "Unicorns and Hacks": Revolving Door Lobbyists and the Cultivation of Political Credibility ! And it's open access!!
Many thanks to my respondents, research assistants, and colleagues for making this paper possible.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Many thanks to my respondents, research assistants, and colleagues for making this paper possible.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Trying to come up with pseudonyms for my research participants and I really wish we still had phone books.
December 2, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Trying to come up with pseudonyms for my research participants and I really wish we still had phone books.
Reposted by Wendy Y. Li
Planning a two week trip to Japan, mostly based out of Tokyo and Osaka. First time in the country. Please share food & drink recs, travel tips, other suggestions! We eat everything & will do some history/sightseeing, but prioritizing wandering and experiencing local cultures.
December 1, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Planning a two week trip to Japan, mostly based out of Tokyo and Osaka. First time in the country. Please share food & drink recs, travel tips, other suggestions! We eat everything & will do some history/sightseeing, but prioritizing wandering and experiencing local cultures.
Reposted by Wendy Y. Li
Lane Kiffin's LSU contract will pay him the equivalent of my Louisiana public university annual salary every two days
December 1, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Lane Kiffin's LSU contract will pay him the equivalent of my Louisiana public university annual salary every two days
Planning a two week trip to Japan, mostly based out of Tokyo and Osaka. First time in the country. Please share food & drink recs, travel tips, other suggestions! We eat everything & will do some history/sightseeing, but prioritizing wandering and experiencing local cultures.
December 1, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Planning a two week trip to Japan, mostly based out of Tokyo and Osaka. First time in the country. Please share food & drink recs, travel tips, other suggestions! We eat everything & will do some history/sightseeing, but prioritizing wandering and experiencing local cultures.
Reposted by Wendy Y. Li
New: A grad student at Johns Hopkins has been stranded in Canada for months after his visa was canceled at the border. He’s been incurring thousands in expenses without being paid by the university, which says it won’t petition officials for six months:
www.thebanner.com/education/hi...
www.thebanner.com/education/hi...
Visa canceled at the border, a Hopkins grad student has been stuck in Canada for months
Ehsan Rajabi said the university declined to advocate for him.
www.thebanner.com
December 1, 2025 at 1:23 PM
New: A grad student at Johns Hopkins has been stranded in Canada for months after his visa was canceled at the border. He’s been incurring thousands in expenses without being paid by the university, which says it won’t petition officials for six months:
www.thebanner.com/education/hi...
www.thebanner.com/education/hi...
Reposted by Wendy Y. Li
Cowboys Eagles is coming down to who kicks themselves in the groin last
November 24, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Cowboys Eagles is coming down to who kicks themselves in the groin last
I also know a thing or two about the American elite, ahem, and they are very good at ignoring, compartmentalizing, and overlooking the bad behavior of others to advance their own careers
Someday you, too, could have the moral fortitude to look upon a years-long rape circus organized by the nation's most powerful elites and declare, "The people upset about this are speaking about it the wrong way."
November 21, 2025 at 10:15 PM
I also know a thing or two about the American elite, ahem, and they are very good at ignoring, compartmentalizing, and overlooking the bad behavior of others to advance their own careers
Reposted by Wendy Y. Li
Reporter: Are you affirming that you think the president is a fascist?
Mamdani: I've spoken about --
Trump: Just say yes, it's easier than explaining.
Mamdani: I've spoken about --
Trump: Just say yes, it's easier than explaining.
November 21, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Reporter: Are you affirming that you think the president is a fascist?
Mamdani: I've spoken about --
Trump: Just say yes, it's easier than explaining.
Mamdani: I've spoken about --
Trump: Just say yes, it's easier than explaining.
Reposted by Wendy Y. Li
Will be interested to see the bill text, but worry this may focus too narrowly on rulemaking. The most insidious forms of influence often come from informal lobbying outside of rulemaking, while less resourced groups rely on rulemaking for info, access, etc. As one of my respondents stated:
NEW: @warren.senate.gov and I just introduced our EXPERTS Act — legislation to ensure that bills passed into law actually work for Americans and don’t get warped by corporations working for their own bottom lines.
We’re taking the fight to Trump’s corruption. jayapal.house.gov/2025/11/19/j...
We’re taking the fight to Trump’s corruption. jayapal.house.gov/2025/11/19/j...
Jayapal, Warren Introduce Legislation to Curb Corporate Influence on Federal Regulation, Restore Deference to Experts - Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) and U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (MA) are introducing the Experts Protect Effective Rules, Transparency, and Stability (EXPERTS) Act to r...
jayapal.house.gov
November 21, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Will be interested to see the bill text, but worry this may focus too narrowly on rulemaking. The most insidious forms of influence often come from informal lobbying outside of rulemaking, while less resourced groups rely on rulemaking for info, access, etc. As one of my respondents stated:
Will be interested to see the bill text, but worry this may focus too narrowly on rulemaking. The most insidious forms of influence often come from informal lobbying outside of rulemaking, while less resourced groups rely on rulemaking for info, access, etc. As one of my respondents stated:
NEW: @warren.senate.gov and I just introduced our EXPERTS Act — legislation to ensure that bills passed into law actually work for Americans and don’t get warped by corporations working for their own bottom lines.
We’re taking the fight to Trump’s corruption. jayapal.house.gov/2025/11/19/j...
We’re taking the fight to Trump’s corruption. jayapal.house.gov/2025/11/19/j...
Jayapal, Warren Introduce Legislation to Curb Corporate Influence on Federal Regulation, Restore Deference to Experts - Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) and U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (MA) are introducing the Experts Protect Effective Rules, Transparency, and Stability (EXPERTS) Act to r...
jayapal.house.gov
November 21, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Will be interested to see the bill text, but worry this may focus too narrowly on rulemaking. The most insidious forms of influence often come from informal lobbying outside of rulemaking, while less resourced groups rely on rulemaking for info, access, etc. As one of my respondents stated:
Reposted by Wendy Y. Li
I spoke with the Boston Globe about the Summers situation
TLDR: other professors like myself can no longer trust Summers to perform a key duty of a university professor, which is to advise & mentor students
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/18/m...
TLDR: other professors like myself can no longer trust Summers to perform a key duty of a university professor, which is to advise & mentor students
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/18/m...
Long a coveted voice, Larry Summers withdraws from a half-dozen groups amid Epstein ties. Harvard’s not among them. - The Boston Globe
Former Harvard president Larry Summers is no longer affiliated with a series of centers and think tanks with which he’s long been involved, officials confirmed Tuesday.
www.bostonglobe.com
November 19, 2025 at 2:01 PM
I spoke with the Boston Globe about the Summers situation
TLDR: other professors like myself can no longer trust Summers to perform a key duty of a university professor, which is to advise & mentor students
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/18/m...
TLDR: other professors like myself can no longer trust Summers to perform a key duty of a university professor, which is to advise & mentor students
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/18/m...
Reposted by Wendy Y. Li
People are holding administrative burden parties to collectively take on tasks
www.wsj.com/lifestyle/re...
www.wsj.com/lifestyle/re...
Essay | How to Turn the Bureaucratic Grind of Life Into a Party
We all feel it: the growing stream of administrative tasks sapping our time, spirits and social lives. Admin Night represents a tiny, nerdy resistance.
www.wsj.com
November 19, 2025 at 12:54 PM
People are holding administrative burden parties to collectively take on tasks
www.wsj.com/lifestyle/re...
www.wsj.com/lifestyle/re...
“All misdeeds are not the same, and there is a real difference between the unseemly revolving door between business and government […] and a new status quo in which business leaders and heads of state give the president actual tribute in order to put themselves in the good graces of the White House”
wrote about the president’s flagrant and destructive corruption in a column that references street fighter, the simpsons, machiavelli, and a host of revolutionary-era americans (gift link)
Opinion | The White House Gold Rush Is On
www.nytimes.com
November 19, 2025 at 12:16 PM
“All misdeeds are not the same, and there is a real difference between the unseemly revolving door between business and government […] and a new status quo in which business leaders and heads of state give the president actual tribute in order to put themselves in the good graces of the White House”
Reposted by Wendy Y. Li
Is national policy more responsive to the preferences of white Americans than to those of people of color? When Republicans control the presidency and/or the Senate, yes. White voters are more likely to see legislation they support become law than are Black, Latino, or Asian American voters.
#OpenAccess from @apsrjournal.bsky.social -
Race, Responsiveness, and Representation in U.S. Lawmaking - https://cup.org/47BDxm1
- G. AGUSTIN MARKARIAN, @jacobhacker.bsky.social, @maclockhart.bsky.social & ZOLTAN HAJNAL
#FirstView
Race, Responsiveness, and Representation in U.S. Lawmaking - https://cup.org/47BDxm1
- G. AGUSTIN MARKARIAN, @jacobhacker.bsky.social, @maclockhart.bsky.social & ZOLTAN HAJNAL
#FirstView
November 13, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Is national policy more responsive to the preferences of white Americans than to those of people of color? When Republicans control the presidency and/or the Senate, yes. White voters are more likely to see legislation they support become law than are Black, Latino, or Asian American voters.
Reposted by Wendy Y. Li
"academic publishing is dominated by profit-oriented, multinational companies for whom scientific knowledge is a commodity to be sold back to the academic community who created it... The dominant four collectively generated... $12 billion in profits between 2019 and 2024."
November 18, 2025 at 6:48 AM
"academic publishing is dominated by profit-oriented, multinational companies for whom scientific knowledge is a commodity to be sold back to the academic community who created it... The dominant four collectively generated... $12 billion in profits between 2019 and 2024."
I literally thought this was an excerpt from a romantasy novel at first
November 17, 2025 at 3:17 PM
I literally thought this was an excerpt from a romantasy novel at first
Reposted by Wendy Y. Li
To negotiate a trade deal with the President of the United States, the Swiss government arrived with a "special Rolex desktop clock" and "a 1-kilogram personalized gold bar"
www.axios.com/2025/11/14/t...
www.axios.com/2025/11/14/t...
How to lobby Trump with Swiss precision: gifts, gold and gab
How the Swiss broke a diplomatic logjam on tariffs by arriving with tributes fit for a king.
www.axios.com
November 15, 2025 at 7:07 PM
To negotiate a trade deal with the President of the United States, the Swiss government arrived with a "special Rolex desktop clock" and "a 1-kilogram personalized gold bar"
www.axios.com/2025/11/14/t...
www.axios.com/2025/11/14/t...
Reposted by Wendy Y. Li
Yes. This is another reason why public funding is what we want - why the government should support science with democratic mechanisms of oversight.
Public support means not having to beg toxic billionaires for money.
Public support means not having to beg toxic billionaires for money.
the professors in the emails being all chummy with epstein is pathetic and enraging.
There are so many professors/scientists y'all
November 16, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Yes. This is another reason why public funding is what we want - why the government should support science with democratic mechanisms of oversight.
Public support means not having to beg toxic billionaires for money.
Public support means not having to beg toxic billionaires for money.
Reposted by Wendy Y. Li
“The prohibited activities would include joint research, co-authorship on papers, and advising a foreign graduate student or postdoctoral fellow. The language is retroactive, meaning any interactions during the previous 5 years could make a scientist ineligible for future federal funding.”
U.S. Congress considers sweeping ban on Chinese collaborations
Researchers speak out against proposal that would bar funding for U.S. scientists working with Chinese partners or training Chinese students
www.science.org
November 14, 2025 at 1:03 AM
“The prohibited activities would include joint research, co-authorship on papers, and advising a foreign graduate student or postdoctoral fellow. The language is retroactive, meaning any interactions during the previous 5 years could make a scientist ineligible for future federal funding.”
Reposted by Wendy Y. Li
The new rules require presidential approval for courses that "advocate" race or gender ideology and ban material outside approved syllabi. Students can use a hotline to report course content. bit.ly/3XxszrC
November 13, 2025 at 11:17 PM
The new rules require presidential approval for courses that "advocate" race or gender ideology and ban material outside approved syllabi. Students can use a hotline to report course content. bit.ly/3XxszrC
Reposted by Wendy Y. Li
I think the banal answer is: he’s very rich and powerful and good at networking and this how people act around very rich and powerful people.
November 13, 2025 at 3:52 AM
I think the banal answer is: he’s very rich and powerful and good at networking and this how people act around very rich and powerful people.
If the shutdown disrupted your life, everything that happened this year was likely also incredibly turbulent and unsettling for you, and it unfortunately, probably will continue to be. Thinking that things could go back to "normal" (whatever that means) is an exercise in denial and delusion.
Quick — someone tell the New York Times that the situation in early October, when the shutdown began, was not “normal.”
November 13, 2025 at 2:20 PM
If the shutdown disrupted your life, everything that happened this year was likely also incredibly turbulent and unsettling for you, and it unfortunately, probably will continue to be. Thinking that things could go back to "normal" (whatever that means) is an exercise in denial and delusion.
Reposted by Wendy Y. Li
Quick — someone tell the New York Times that the situation in early October, when the shutdown began, was not “normal.”
November 13, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Quick — someone tell the New York Times that the situation in early October, when the shutdown began, was not “normal.”
Looking for reading recs on the sociology/political economy of college football.
(Went to the Alabama/LSU game this weekend; marveling at how much the university feels like a professional football team with academics attached. The stadium & tailgate setup is bigger/better than a lot of NFL teams)
(Went to the Alabama/LSU game this weekend; marveling at how much the university feels like a professional football team with academics attached. The stadium & tailgate setup is bigger/better than a lot of NFL teams)
November 10, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Looking for reading recs on the sociology/political economy of college football.
(Went to the Alabama/LSU game this weekend; marveling at how much the university feels like a professional football team with academics attached. The stadium & tailgate setup is bigger/better than a lot of NFL teams)
(Went to the Alabama/LSU game this weekend; marveling at how much the university feels like a professional football team with academics attached. The stadium & tailgate setup is bigger/better than a lot of NFL teams)