Natalie Wenzell Letsa
@natalie-letsa.bsky.social
Assistant Professor, PhD political science, Department of International & Area Studies, University of Oklahoma. African Politics - Political Behavior - Authoritarianism - Historical Legacies
Reposted by Natalie Wenzell Letsa
Your regular reminder that you can’t leapfrog a working state: www.npr.org/sections/goa...
April 19, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Your regular reminder that you can’t leapfrog a working state: www.npr.org/sections/goa...
Very excited to announce that in the Fall I will be joining the Political Science Dept. at the University of South Carolina as an Associate(!!) Professor! 🎉
April 15, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Very excited to announce that in the Fall I will be joining the Political Science Dept. at the University of South Carolina as an Associate(!!) Professor! 🎉
Reposted by Natalie Wenzell Letsa
More in No, Other People:
New poll:
“America would be better off if more people worked in manufacturing.”
• 80% of Americans agree
• 20% disagree
“I would be better off if I worked in a factory.”
• 25% of Americans agree
• 73% disagree
• 2% currently work in a factory
New poll:
“America would be better off if more people worked in manufacturing.”
• 80% of Americans agree
• 20% disagree
“I would be better off if I worked in a factory.”
• 25% of Americans agree
• 73% disagree
• 2% currently work in a factory
April 13, 2025 at 5:06 PM
More in No, Other People:
New poll:
“America would be better off if more people worked in manufacturing.”
• 80% of Americans agree
• 20% disagree
“I would be better off if I worked in a factory.”
• 25% of Americans agree
• 73% disagree
• 2% currently work in a factory
New poll:
“America would be better off if more people worked in manufacturing.”
• 80% of Americans agree
• 20% disagree
“I would be better off if I worked in a factory.”
• 25% of Americans agree
• 73% disagree
• 2% currently work in a factory
Reposted by Natalie Wenzell Letsa
Very happy to see that my paper with Ken Scheve and @stasavage.bsky.social is online! it's about democracy, inequality and antitrust: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
University of Chicago Press Journals: Cookie absent
www.journals.uchicago.edu
April 8, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Very happy to see that my paper with Ken Scheve and @stasavage.bsky.social is online! it's about democracy, inequality and antitrust: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Reposted by Natalie Wenzell Letsa
The latest crazy just proves what we all know. They are discussing everything on Signal to avoid any discovery or FOIA or archival laws. So illegal but here we are.
March 24, 2025 at 6:56 PM
The latest crazy just proves what we all know. They are discussing everything on Signal to avoid any discovery or FOIA or archival laws. So illegal but here we are.
Reposted by Natalie Wenzell Letsa
Maybe stuffing university board of directors with businesspeople was not a great idea.
March 22, 2025 at 1:20 AM
Maybe stuffing university board of directors with businesspeople was not a great idea.
Reposted by Natalie Wenzell Letsa
Unchecked discretion in spending money appropriated by Congress transforms the Executive into a pipeline of patronage:
Drastic cuts in services, then exceptions in exchange for loyalty.
Which is precisely why the framers, with care and vision, guarded the power of the purse for Congress.
Drastic cuts in services, then exceptions in exchange for loyalty.
Which is precisely why the framers, with care and vision, guarded the power of the purse for Congress.
March 8, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Unchecked discretion in spending money appropriated by Congress transforms the Executive into a pipeline of patronage:
Drastic cuts in services, then exceptions in exchange for loyalty.
Which is precisely why the framers, with care and vision, guarded the power of the purse for Congress.
Drastic cuts in services, then exceptions in exchange for loyalty.
Which is precisely why the framers, with care and vision, guarded the power of the purse for Congress.
Reposted by Natalie Wenzell Letsa
The "End of History", but in the end it's not liberal democracy but Russia's oligarchy-kleptocracy that wins.
March 5, 2025 at 2:09 AM
The "End of History", but in the end it's not liberal democracy but Russia's oligarchy-kleptocracy that wins.
Reposted by Natalie Wenzell Letsa
Excited to share my new article in the American Journal of Political Science (@ajpseditor.bsky.social)! "Endogenous Opposition: Identity and Ideology in Kuwaiti Electoral Politics" explores how authoritarian elections generate opposition to incumbent autocrats. Link: www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ukrer...
February 21, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Excited to share my new article in the American Journal of Political Science (@ajpseditor.bsky.social)! "Endogenous Opposition: Identity and Ideology in Kuwaiti Electoral Politics" explores how authoritarian elections generate opposition to incumbent autocrats. Link: www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ukrer...
Reposted by Natalie Wenzell Letsa
Institutions are not self-executing. Enough people must be willing to do the right thing by the rules.
February 11, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Institutions are not self-executing. Enough people must be willing to do the right thing by the rules.
Reposted by Natalie Wenzell Letsa
Imagine if @aoc @sanders.senate.gov , every dem, SIMULTANEOUSLY held Town Halls where they allowed grant and contract recipients to explain to the country what it is they do and why it's important
Invite all media. Including RW podcasters. @spaces Flood the zone
Call it a Day Of Transparency
Invite all media. Including RW podcasters. @spaces Flood the zone
Call it a Day Of Transparency
February 11, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Imagine if @aoc @sanders.senate.gov , every dem, SIMULTANEOUSLY held Town Halls where they allowed grant and contract recipients to explain to the country what it is they do and why it's important
Invite all media. Including RW podcasters. @spaces Flood the zone
Call it a Day Of Transparency
Invite all media. Including RW podcasters. @spaces Flood the zone
Call it a Day Of Transparency
Reposted by Natalie Wenzell Letsa
Reposted by Natalie Wenzell Letsa
PUBLISHED! Forget talk of a coup or self-coup, Musk's siege of America's vast federal bureaucracy is a form of state capture. It fits seamlessly with Trump's authoritarianism.
I suspect this will be the most important thing I ever say about American politics.
theconversation.com/is-elon-musk...
I suspect this will be the most important thing I ever say about American politics.
theconversation.com/is-elon-musk...
Is Elon Musk taking over the US government? Here’s how ‘state capture’ works – and why we should be concerned
Elon Musk has been accused of attempting a coup or hostile takeover of the US government. His actions could better be described as a form of ‘state capture’. Here’s what that means.
theconversation.com
February 12, 2025 at 3:01 AM
PUBLISHED! Forget talk of a coup or self-coup, Musk's siege of America's vast federal bureaucracy is a form of state capture. It fits seamlessly with Trump's authoritarianism.
I suspect this will be the most important thing I ever say about American politics.
theconversation.com/is-elon-musk...
I suspect this will be the most important thing I ever say about American politics.
theconversation.com/is-elon-musk...
Reposted by Natalie Wenzell Letsa
Fabulous 🇺🇸💥
February 10, 2025 at 1:47 AM
Fabulous 🇺🇸💥
Getting mighty close to a full-throated endorsement of apartheid...
Not the most important news of the day (though not unimportant, given the harm it will do to the South African HIV/AIDS effort), but this is fascinatingly insane and a real insight into just how captured this administration is by far right white supremacist ideologues.
Addressing Egregious Actions of The Republic of South Africa
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section
www.whitehouse.gov
February 8, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Getting mighty close to a full-throated endorsement of apartheid...
Reposted by Natalie Wenzell Letsa
Research universities are often the largest employers in their region. They are often the primary health care providers to communities. This funding shift will not only reduce US research leadership, it will put working people out of work and reduce healthcare access.
Excellent 🧵 on this evening's NIH announcement of a dramatic reduction in indirect rates for research institutions, which amounts to a generational restructuring of the US research and development ecosystem. These cuts are effective immediately, not just for new grants but for existing ones.
6. The policy does not just affect funding going forward. All existing NIH grants will have their indirect rates cut to 15% as of today, the date of issuance.
For a large university, this creates a sudden and catastrophic shortfall of hundreds of millions of dollars against already budgeted funds.
For a large university, this creates a sudden and catastrophic shortfall of hundreds of millions of dollars against already budgeted funds.
February 8, 2025 at 1:40 AM
Research universities are often the largest employers in their region. They are often the primary health care providers to communities. This funding shift will not only reduce US research leadership, it will put working people out of work and reduce healthcare access.