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7 Jan, 7 tweets, 3 min read
Rather than share an "IR Book of the Week", here are 5 political science books (and 1 history book) shaping how I'm processing and understanding this moment in America (largely from a Comparative politics perspective)

[THREAD]
Sarah Birch on violence as an instrument for manipulating election outcomes.

press.princeton.edu/books/paperbac…
@monika_nalepa's work on transitional justice. Addresses how societies (namely new governments) come to terms and address the wrongs committed by the previous government.

cambridge.org/core/books/ske…
This edited volume on election forensics by Alvarez, Hall, and @dshyde

amazon.com/dp/B007OWHLQ8/…
Ashley Jardina on the role of "white identity" in politics

cambridge.org/core/books/whi…
@robmickey's book on how the Deep South only became democratic relatively recently in American history

press.princeton.edu/books/hardcove…
And then there is one very important history book that is extremely relevant (prescient?): @kathleen_belew's book on how the white power movement foments domestic violence.

hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?is…

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More from @ProfPaulPoast

Paul Poast Profile picture
8 Jan
According to The Polity Project, the US is no longer a democracy.

Why does that matter? Why is the Polity Project wrong?

[THREAD] Image
Why does the Polity score matter?

There are a host of other democracy measures out there, such as @freedomhouse or @vdeminstitute.

But the Polity Project offers what is probably the most widely used social science measure of a country's regime type.
The Polity Project assigns to every country in the world from 1800 to the present an annual "Polity score" from -10 to 10.

10 = Purely Democratic
-10 = Purely Autocratic
Read 28 tweets
Paul Poast Profile picture
6 Jan
Political Scientist here:

Yes, that is political violence.

Yes, this is an attempted coup.

Yes, the US Polity score will take a hit.
To elaborate:

- "electoral violence" to be exact.

- military wasn't involved (canonical case), but *attempt* is key (and that it was incited by commander in chief is significant).

- I say it goes to 6. Democracy held, but we ain't "consolidated"
Though (h/t @_ChristinaBoyes) it appears that the Polity Project had already downgraded the US to a 5 (systemicpeace.org) Image
Read 14 tweets
Paul Poast Profile picture
1 Jan
When teaching Intro to International Relations, I love referencing "IR Movie Easter eggs": explicit international politics lessons/references from movies NOT overtly about international politics.

For those teaching IR classes this coming term, here are my 10 favorite!
A quick note on the rankings: They basically go from #10 "Not subtle and sort of critical to the plot" to #1 "very subtle and not essential at all to the plot at all"

But all were probably unexpected when you sat down to watch the movie for the first time !
#10 Captain America: Civil War

Was NOT expecting a super hero movie to offer a one-scene master-class in the meaning of sovereignty, power, and legitimacy in international politics

Read 13 tweets
Paul Poast Profile picture
29 Dec 20
Folks have discovered my various "IR and Movies" threads from 2020. Therefore, I'm breaking my "end of 2020 Twitter break" to post a thread of these threads.

If you want to bring popular movies into the IR classroom, this thread is for you!
Independence Day

Frozen

Read 8 tweets
Paul Poast Profile picture
19 Dec 20
DIE HARD is the perfect Christmas Movie...for understanding how Americans view international politics

[THREAD] Image
To be clear: the movie doesn't capture ALL aspects of international politics (especially IR theory)

For that, you need to watch ID4!

But the movie expertly captures the anxieties associated with US "global leadership" during the late Cold War era.

Those are

-- relative economic decline

-- Vietnam syndrome

-- Terrorism

Let's look at each one (and what DIE HARD has to say about them)
Read 35 tweets
Paul Poast Profile picture
14 Dec 20
Is it true that democracies don't go to war with each other?

Sort of. But I wouldn't base public policy on the finding.

Why? Let's turn to the data.

[THREAD]
The idea of a "Democratic Peace" is a widely held view that's been around for a long time.

By 1988, there already existed enough studies on the topic for Jack Levy to famously label Democratic Peace "an empirical law"
The earliest empirical work on the topic was the 1964 report by Dean Babst published in the "Wisconsin Sociologist"
Read 42 tweets

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