There is nothing unique about Fair Fares or NYC governance as far as the failures of means-tested programs to reach the most disadvantaged recipients - it is a universal feature of this policy approach.

It's not a different point.

The means-testing is inherently bureaucratic and inefficient, and public transit being free at the point of service is a good idea both because it achieves the distributional goals which both designs (supposedly) aspire to and because it's more efficient.

Yes, and it's no surprise fair fares immediately runs into massive uptake problems as most of the eligible poor are unable to navigate the bureaucracy of accessing a means-tested service.

It's both more just and more efficient to offer a universal service and correct inequality on the tax side.

Thanks, I already downloaded it, courtesy of the Danish national library!

You're too kind! Thanks very much Marta, and your book looks fascinating- I'll be sure to check it out!

Thanks Cas, much appreciated!!

to clarify, there's a confusing typo here (and unfortunately in Bluesky font l, as in lion, looks like a capital I, meaning me). This fantastic paper was all @liesbethooghe.bsky.social and Gary Marks, I claim no credit!

Thanks for the shout-out, Ruth! Your (fantastic) book on cross-pressured voters was really useful in thinking through the puzzles/challenges in our introductory piece.

Thanks so much, Alex, looking forward to continuing the conversation in Dublin!

Stay tuned for upcoming SI publications (which we'll post about) by @jacobgunderson.bsky.social, intro-ing new measures of cleavage strength and stability and a Bloc Fragmentation and Volatility Dataset (BFVD)... and potentially more 👀

10/ @annakurella.bsky.social & @milenarapp.bsky.social find party positions follow a 2D structure, but public opinion is far less structured. Voter attitudes on nationalism fit into the longstanding moral conflict dimension, but those on gender and environmentalism do not.

bsky.app/profile/weps...

9/ @siljahausermann.bsky.social and co-authors analyze vote preferences within the broader Right electorate, showing the blurring of the divide between preferences for center-right and far-right parties- and the far right’s marked rise among the youngest cohort.

bsky.app/profile/silj...

8/ Education anchors contemporary cleavage politics, but what *kind* of education? @nspmartin.bsky.social @ralphscott.bsky.social ‬ and @rolandkappe.bsky.social show the specific subjects British adolescents take in secondary school shape their voting behavior as adults.

bsky.app/profile/ralp...

7/ @arminschaefer.bsky.social and @nilssteiner.bsky.social show how gender & generation condition the educational divide in green & radical right voting. Education divides widen among recent cohorts, and – for green voting- especially among younger women.

bsky.app/profile/nils...

6/ @mierkezat.bsky.social, @eborbath.bsky.social, and @swenhutter.bsky.social argue that civil society still shapes contemporary cleavage formation, but with a more varied, volatile, and external pressure-based orientation to parties than the membership orgs of old.

bsky.app/profile/mier...