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James Lindley Wilson

@jameslwilson.bsky.social

950 followers 140 following 340 posts

Political Science prof at University of Chicago. Democratic theory, egalitarianism, global justice. Will hammer like button on any dog pics.

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James Quinn Wilson was an American political scientist and an authority on public administration. Most of his career was spent as a professor at UCLA and Harvard University. He was the chairman of the Council of Academic Advisors of the American Enterprise Institute, member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (1985–1990), and the President's Council on Bioethics. He was Director of Joint Center for Urban Studies at Harvard-MIT. .. more

Political science 59%

Sociology 22%

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Reposted by James Q. Wilson

Faine Greenwood @faineg.bsky.social · 1d

“This heckin’ pupperino fucking hates La Migra,” to paraphrase from @weratedogs.com

Rate Dogs & • Follow
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2h •
This is Chop. He was shot and killed by masked assailants in plain clothes who go by ICE. They showed up at his door "looking for migrants after receiving a tip." The son of the family asked if they could wait before entering the home while he put Chop away in the bathroom, as the dog can be aggressive with strangers.
According to the family, it is at this point that the son went to his pickup truck to retrieve his ID and a Border Patrol agent entered the home, opened the bathroom door, and shot Chop. None of the agents helped the family, who desperately tried to render aid to Chop, as he bled to death on the kitchen floor. Unsurprisingly, the agent who shot their dog then hid from them and refused to give his name. Even more unsurprising, they did not find any evidence of the migrants they were there to terrorize in the first place.
Do not open your door for these fucking losers. Rest easy Chop
14/10
CBP Office of Professional Responsibility:
202-344-1808
JointIntake@cbp.dhs.gov
El Paso Border Patrol Sector:
915-834-8400
fpfelpaso@cbp.dhs.gov
Rep. Veronica Escobar (El Paso):
915-541-1400
veronica.escobar@mail.house.gov
https://kfoxtv.com/news/local/el-paso-family-claims-border-patrol-killed-their-dog-during-search-cbp-

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Reposted by Kim L. Scheppele, Elizabeth Saunders, James Q. Wilson , and 5 more Kim L. Scheppele, Elizabeth Saunders, James Q. Wilson, Richard S.J. Tol, Eric Goldman, Juan Cole, Matthew Bodie, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · 1d

Unless and until some kind of compelling legal and moral argument is presented as to why this is a legitimate use of deadly force, this is just…mass murder.

Amarnath Amarasingam @amaramarasingam.bsky.social · 1d

The military has now killed 27 people as if they were enemy soldiers in a war zone and not criminal suspects. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/14/u...

U.S. Military Kills Another 6 People in 5th Caribbean Strike, Trump Says

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Cas Mudde, Kim L. Scheppele, James Q. Wilson , and 8 more Cas Mudde, Kim L. Scheppele, James Q. Wilson, Eric Goldman, Fabián Muniesa, Juan Cole, Melanie C. Green, Samantha Brennan, Matthew Bodie, Karen O’Leary, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Amarnath Amarasingam @amaramarasingam.bsky.social · 1d

The military has now killed 27 people as if they were enemy soldiers in a war zone and not criminal suspects. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/14/u...

U.S. Military Kills Another 6 People in 5th Caribbean Strike, Trump Says

www.nytimes.com

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James Lindley Wilson @jameslwilson.bsky.social · 1d

You do have to deal with the "prerogative" stuff (in 15, I think?), which allows the executive wiggle room for the "public good," but yes, executives taking the legislative's power is peak "what Locke hated" territory.

James Lindley Wilson @jameslwilson.bsky.social · 1d

Yep, it was the best part of an outstanding segment.

Reposted by James Q. Wilson, Brendan Nyhan, Karen Benjamin Guzzo , and 4 more James Q. Wilson, Brendan Nyhan, Karen Benjamin Guzzo, Rebecca Tushnet, Aurélien Mondon, Nicole Guenther Discenza, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Victor Ray @victorerikray.bsky.social · 1d

I know it is beside the point because this administration simply wants resegregation but conferences for Black professional associations have always been open to everyone. Typically, the started as a response to white exclusion, and did not replicate that.

Benjamin McKean @blmckean.bsky.social · 1d

Very bad: OSU unilaterally cancelled the registration of grad students attending the joint conference of the National Society of Black Physicists and the National Society of Hispanic Physicists. And OSU won't fund recruiting at the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science.

Ohio State changes policy on group conferences after Trump administration threats

A federal investigation into potentially discriminatory practices at Ohio State prompted the university to change its policies regarding conferences.

www.dispatch.com

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Reposted by James Q. Wilson

Bonnie Honig @bonniehonig.bsky.social · 1d

Hamas agreed to this same deal by Dec 2024. But “Baskin would soon learn that the Israelis had no intention of striking any agreement before a change of administration in Washington…”
Reminiscent of Reagan/Carter and a different hostage release…

The Times & Sunday Times @thetimes.com · 5d

Gershon Baskin says he got the plan on to the president’s desk but then learnt the Israelis were waiting for a change of administration in Washington

Biden and Netanyahu were offered same deal a year ago, says negotiator

Gershon Baskin says he got the plan on to the president’s desk but then learnt the Israelis were waiting for a change of administration in Washington

www.thetimes.com

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James Lindley Wilson @jameslwilson.bsky.social · 2d

I agree that the story has to be about people's fundamental interests. It's a good suggestion about amour-propre/self-respect. But I think all the things he says about the self-respect/honor of peoples involve how others treat them, not their own actions abroad. So it would be a real amendment.

James Lindley Wilson @jameslwilson.bsky.social · 2d

"They were at risk of dying *with* starvation, not *from* starvation."

James Lindley Wilson @jameslwilson.bsky.social · 2d

(This is probably obvious, but the bigger issue is that the easiest way to account for universal human rights is with reference in the original position to the interests of individuals in non-liberal, non-decent societies. But that way lies cosmopolitan justice!)

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James Lindley Wilson @jameslwilson.bsky.social · 2d

Rawls clearly says human rights are "intrinsic to the Law of Peoples" and that the "political (moral) force [of human rights] extends to all societies" (80), but how can this be, since the Law of Peoples itself only applies to liberal/decent societies? Where does the force come from?

James Lindley Wilson @jameslwilson.bsky.social · 2d

The best my students could come up with is that Rawls says human-rights-abusing states are internationally dangerous, so liberal peoples have an interest in pro-human-rights reforms in outlaw states. That is well supported by the text. But there isn't much I've found to support direct concern.

Reposted by James Q. Wilson

Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 4d

Why isn’t every Democrat holding a press conference with this video, talking about the criminal army of thugs invading Chicago and the rest of the country, and the need to bring these criminals to justice? React as you would if this really was MS13 or something

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James Lindley Wilson @jameslwilson.bsky.social · 6d

That might be the right answer to the intervention-type questions--though if so, it's interesting that human rights protection abroad is totally discretionary!

And this would still leave us the question of what grounds obligations to respect the human rights of individuals in non-decent peoples.

James Lindley Wilson @jameslwilson.bsky.social · 6d

Rawls experts are thin on the ground here on Blue Sky, but I'm curious about any thoughts from @blmckean.bsky.social @abizadeh.bsky.social @alasianuti.bsky.social @martinoneill.bsky.social or anyone who wants to chime in.

James Lindley Wilson @jameslwilson.bsky.social · 6d

I don't think he says they're required, but he clearly says they're permitted (p. 81), and I think he expects they will. They are also supposed to respect the human rights of outlaw-state foreigners (eg in war), but what in the OP requires that? Just pragmatic concerns about peace later?

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James Lindley Wilson @jameslwilson.bsky.social · 6d

He even says a few times that liberal peoples would not be willing to tolerate any sacrifice of their own interests in order to benefit other peoples. (Sort of a "separateness of peoples" argument.) So why would they ever pay any cost to promote human rights abroad?

James Lindley Wilson @jameslwilson.bsky.social · 6d

To be clear, I get Rawls' idea that if a people respects human rights, it's entitled to respect, non-interference, etc. What I don't get is the idea that failure to observe human rights licenses (even non-military) intervention, nor what would motivate a liberal state to intervene.

James Lindley Wilson @jameslwilson.bsky.social · 6d

Rawls experts: what, in the Law of Peoples, licenses a liberal people to do any human rights enforcement at all (even against an "outlaw state")? Why in the original position would they ever agree to do that? They don't seem to have any OP-relevant interest that would warrant enforcement.

James Lindley Wilson @jameslwilson.bsky.social · 6d

All the Greatest Generation, World War II talk in Rawls' "Law of Peoples" hits different when almost all the people, military and civilian, who fought Nazism are gone, and we have, so far, not adequately lived up to our collective duty to replace them.

A photo of a passage from Rawls' Law of Peoples, with the underlined passage reading: "The lesson of the Holocaust is, rather, that a charismatic leader of a powerful totalitarian and militaristic state can, with incessant and rabid propaganda, incite a sufficient number of the population to carry out even enormously and hideously evil plans. The Holocaust might have happened anywhere such a state came to be."

Reposted by James Q. Wilson, Brendan Nyhan, Nelson Flores , and 2 more James Q. Wilson, Brendan Nyhan, Nelson Flores, Andrew Rudalevige, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò

Lisa Fazio @lkfazio.bsky.social · 6d

"American civil society has more than enough financial and organizational muscle to stop this authoritarian offensive. But it requires collective resolve. And it requires leadership, which has been in painfully short supply."

www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

Harvard Must Take a Stand Against Trump’s Compact | Opinion | The Harvard Crimson

Harvard, rather than quietly pursuing its own appeasement strategy, should lead the way to preserve academic freedom and democracy.

www.thecrimson.com

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Reposted by James Q. Wilson, Rosemary A. Joyce, Scott A. Imberman , and 2 more James Q. Wilson, Rosemary A. Joyce, Scott A. Imberman, Nathan P. Kalmoe, Southern Africa

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 6d

yeah, trump has made very clear that he doesn’t think black people deserve to be in jobs of influence! www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/u...

Trump Fires Black Officials From an Overwhelmingly White Administration

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Meredith Broussard, Lisa W. Fazio, James Q. Wilson , and 38 more Meredith Broussard, Lisa W. Fazio, James Q. Wilson, Suresh Venkatasubramanian, Dorothy Bishop, Anna Nagurney, Brigitte Nerlich, Ben Bond‐Lamberty, Gavin A. Schmidt, Jesse H. Kroll, Julie L. Lockwood, Patrick A. Jansen, Joshua S. Weitz, Nicole Dubilier, Jason Stajich, Simon J. Greenhill, Michael A. Clemens, Hugo Mercier, Megan L. Ranney, Rosemary A. Joyce, Philip N. Cohen, Michael J. Allen, Andrew Curry, Jacob Montgomery, Juan Cole, Kris Inwood, Smith, Robert C. Richards, Rebecca Tushnet, Alan Richardson, Lauren Hersch Nicholas, Victor Galaz, Scott A. Imberman, Sebastian Karcher, Brian Keegan, Ann Bartow, Jack Stilgoe, Ted Temzelides, Christina Pagel, Annalee Newitz, David Darmofal

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 7d

Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE

nyti.ms

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Reposted by James Q. Wilson

𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘦 & 𝘌𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭: A Journal of Ethics and Public Affairs @freeandequal.bsky.social · 7d

In “Money as 𝘙𝘦𝘴 𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢,” @aaronjames.bsky.social proposes a conception of money as “common credit.” Private banks‘ powers of lending (and hence money creation/allocation) must be held in trust and subject to regulations in the service of public purposes to be legitimate.

#poliphil #PolTheory

Money as <em>Res Publica</em>

Our current monetary system is a public-private banking hybrid dominated by private interest, often at the expense of public purpose. This article proposes a conception of money as a “common credit” r...

doi.org

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Reposted by Kim L. Scheppele, Lisa W. Fazio, Elizabeth Saunders , and 11 more Kim L. Scheppele, Lisa W. Fazio, Elizabeth Saunders, James Q. Wilson, Will Jennings, Gavin A. Schmidt, Simon Chapman, Juan Cole, Karen Benjamin Guzzo, David R. Miller, Scott A. Imberman, Brian Keegan, Nathan P. Kalmoe, Clark Gray

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 7d

The elimination of USAID is a moral atrocity and all involved made a choice to enable, and then lie about, ending the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in the world.

MAE SOT, Thailand (AP) - Mohammed Taher clutched the lifeless body of his 2-year-old son and wept. Ever since his family's food rations stopped arriving at their internment camp in Myanmar in April, the father had watched helplessly as his once-vibrant baby boy weakened, suffering from diarrhea and begging for food.
On May 21, exactly two weeks after Taher's little boy died, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio sat before Congress and declared: "No one has died" because of his government's decision to gut its foreign aid program. Rubio also insisted: "No children are dying on my watch."
That, Taher says, "is a lie."

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James Lindley Wilson @jameslwilson.bsky.social · 7d

The governor is correct that Trump's behavior is clearly authoritarian, and we all, including members of the press, should feel comfortable saying so.

Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 7d

I will not back down.

Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power.

What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?

Donald Trump Truth Social Post: Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers! Governor Pritzker also.

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Reposted by Ben H. Ansell, James Q. Wilson, Patrick A. Jansen , and 25 more Ben H. Ansell, James Q. Wilson, Patrick A. Jansen, Nicole Dubilier, Steve Peers, Carl Henrik Knutsen, Michael A. Clemens, Efrén O. Pérez, Juan Cole, John Collins, Jussi T. Eronen, Laurent Pech, David R. Miller, Ben Tonra, Michael D. McDonald, Philipp Sarasin, Henry Jones, Greg Linden, Matthew P. McAllister, Cullen S. Hendrix, Nancy M. Wingfield, Aviel Roshwald, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, Nathan P. Kalmoe, Francesco Nicoli, Colin Woodard, Andrew Kydd, David Darmofal

Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 7d

I will not back down.

Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power.

What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?

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James Lindley Wilson @jameslwilson.bsky.social · 8d

My memory is fuzzy, and I'm open to correction, but I recall Blumenthal being pretty poor in the Kavanagh hearings.

Reposted by Jonathan Portes, James Q. Wilson, Nandita Sharma , and 12 more Jonathan Portes, James Q. Wilson, Nandita Sharma, John F. McCarthy, Tom Clark, Daniel W. Drezner, Stacy D. VanDeveer, Michael Jones‐Correa, Mark Rice, Cullen S. Hendrix, Blair Fix, Daxton R. Stewart, Magda Teter, Nathan P. Kalmoe, Annalee Newitz

Gillian Brockell @gbrockell.bsky.social · 9d

Claim: 10 cars rammed ICE
Truth: No cars rammed ICE

Claim: She boxed ICE in
Truth: ICE boxed her in

Claim: She shot a rifle at ICE
Truth: She did not have a rifle

Claim: ICE returned fire
Truth: Only ICE fired

Claim: She drove herself to the hospital
Truth: Paramedics found her

Chicago Sun-Times @chicago.suntimes.com · 9d

Body-camera video appears to contradict the government’s claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorney claimed.
trib.al/9Sxu9IN

Attorney for woman shot by Border Patrol claims officer said 'Do something b-----' before shooting

Body-camera video appears to contradict the government's claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorney claimed. A judge ordered Martinez and a co-defendant released pending trial.

trib.al

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Reposted by James Q. Wilson, Steve Peers, Anne Norton , and 4 more James Q. Wilson, Steve Peers, Anne Norton, David Rosnick, Magda Teter, Kate Jackson, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Old White Nepo Hat @kenwhite.bsky.social · 9d

It’s important to flood social media and news channels with news about how ICE lies, so that potential jurors see it.

Chicago Sun-Times @chicago.suntimes.com · 9d

Attorney for woman shot by Border Patrol claims officer said 'Do something b-----' before shooting

trib.al

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