This partisan finger-pointing is based on falsehoods. To fix crime, we should focus on evidence-based strategies to address crime, rather than engaging in a distracting blame-game.

Our open-access research in @ScienceAdvances shows that the partisanship of mayors has no causal effect on crime rates. Nor does it affect police spending, staffing, or arrest rates.

Yet again, Trump is falsely claiming that Democrat-controlled cities like DC are letting crime get out of control. Our research – from cities across the US – shows that this just isn't true (@cwarshaw @Matthew00117310)

🔥🧯 Excited to announce the program of our 2025 MIT workshop on polarization, norms & trust (co-organized w/ @DG_Rand, @ylelkes @AdamBerinsky @kati_kish)! Speakers incl. @BrendanNyhan @jdbk @dhopkins1776 et al. Info: https://t.co/9DPMsDkqDL To attend: https://t.co/Dd7K3tWKoF

📢 It’s time to nominate for the 2025 Urban & Local Politics Section Awards! We’re recognizing outstanding work in urban politics across multiple categories, including best dissertation, book, and career contributions. 🏆 Deadline: March 15, 2025

Well said, from @ProfDavidDeming: "If government funding goes away, so will much of the research. The long-run cost will be staggering. We’ll have fewer medical breakthroughs, the progress of lifesaving medical treatments will stall, and America may fall behind"

Ideological claims from both sides of the aisle about crime and policing aren't facing the facts: what's happening in cities across the country has little to do with partisanship. Reducing crime should focus on evidence-backed strategies rather than partisan finger-pointing.

Nor do we find consistent evidence that Democrats are making police leadership or police forces substantially more diverse than Republicans.

Nor are Democrats "defunding the police" relative to Republicans. Neither party is reducing the size of the police force, or its funding.

Implicit in this argument is that Democratic leaders are making crime worse, and Republicans would make it better. That's a causal question, and exactly what we wanted to answer. Our results show that Dems are no worse OR better at reducing crime than Reps

Leaders on both sides of the aisle have said that Democrats need to change their approach on crime–often pointing to elections where progressive politicians have been unseated after widespread frustration with their handling of crime

Are Democratic leaders making cities more dangerous than Republicans? Trump + others have repeatedly made claims like this. New paper @ScienceAdvances w/ @cwarshaw @daniel_b_jones @Matthew00117310 shows that, in short, the answer is no.

Great to hear @JerusalemDemsas (a fellow @williamandmary @wmgovtdept alum!) talk about her book on cities and the housing crisis today @BUonCities. Hot take we agree on: local institutions make doing good things in cities too hard!

great example of overlapping jurisdictions leading to muddled accountability: city of LA is asking state costal agency to block homeless housing that council approved on city-owned land. can say they tried to address homeless but avoid backlash from it being built

Check out this cool @AJPS_Editor paper from @jengaude. She uses both observational data and a survey experiment to show the electoral effects of endorsements from police unions — a powerful interest group in local politics.

More info on the in-progress book manuscript on my website:

Local politics is and will be more important than ever in the next few years. Crucial to figure out how we can improve governance and accountability to make cities better. Thanks to @SZonszein for the invite + everyone at @UCBerkeley for the great feedback!

New housing policy research fresh off the presses 🏡🏙️💸

Can developers compensate nearby residents to win support for their housing projects? In a new @JPublicPolicy article, @jdbk and I unpack how compensation works, when it fails, and what that teaches us about symbolic attitudes and housing policy. 1/11

Loved hearing @ProfNickStephan talk about his new book, Aligning Election Law, tonight! It’s a must-read for people who think about election law, politics, and the (arguably unhealthy) state of democratic representation in the US.