Jesse Rhodes

We know alot about why democracy declined in some U.S. states over the last two decades. But why did democracy IMPROVE dramatically in other states? As I show in this PSRM article, strong labor unions played an important role in strengthening state democracy.

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Trump’s Epstein problem is real: New poll shows many in his base disapprove of his handling of the files, and some supporters are having second thoughts about electing him The MAGA base is not happy. Trump’s handling of the Epstein controversy has done significant damage to his standing, particularly among his core supporters.

New from the UMass Poll, we show the Epstein scandal is hurting Trump, particularly among Trump voters:
theconversation.com/trumps-epste...

The New Racial Spillover: Donald Trump, Racial Attitudes, and Public Opinion Toward Accountability for Perpetrators and Planners of the January 6 Capitol Attack Abstract. Since the violent January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, federal authorities have sought to hold participants and organizers accountable for their

Great paper! Tatishe Nteta and I similarly found that negative racial attitudes were associated with greater opposition to the prosecution of planners and perpetrators of 1/6.

academic.oup.com/psq/article-...

They should be available here: www.umass.edu/political-sc...

Please let me know if you can't access them!

Most Americans Don’t Want Authoritarian Immigration Policies By Jesse Rhodes

Hi everyone,
New from the UMass Poll Substack, we do a deep dive on American attitudes toward immigration policy and find that most Americans don't support Trump's authoritarian measures.

umassamherstpollreport.substack.com/p/most-ameri...

Americans Voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 Presidential Election. That Doesn’t Mean They Like His Policies By Jesse Rhodes

The UMass Poll is launching a Substack! Check out our first post, on Trump's declining popularity, and subscribe!

open.substack.com/pub/umassamh...

What MAGA means to Americans Ten years after Donald Trump launched the Make America Great Again movement, a poll offers some insight into what the slogan means to Republicans and Democrats.

Ever wondered what MAGA means to ordinary Americans? The UMass Poll asked, and what we found was fascinating.

theconversation.com/what-maga-me...

Antagonism to transgender rights is tied to the authoritarian desire for social conformity – not just partisan affiliation Authoritarian attitudes – the desire for social conformity and an aversion to difference – play an important role in Americans’ willingness to restrict transgender rights.

Using UMass Poll data, Tatishe Nteta, Adam Eichen, Lane Cuthbert, and I show that opposition to transgender rights is associated with authoritarian attitudes, above and beyond partisanship, ideology, and religiosity. In The Conversation:
theconversation.com/antagonism-t...

New research shows the American public continues to support diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.
(Doug Rice @jesserhodesumass.bsky.social Tatishe Nteta @eichen.bsky.social @umasspoll.bsky.social‬)
More, via Opinion Today:
opiniontoday.substack.com/p/250606-top...

Please consider donating to the UMass Poll Undergraduate Fellows program. This program provides outstanding Undergraduate students with opportunities to build their survey analysis skills and undertake survey research. 100% of funds go to supporting students.

umass.scalefunder.com/gday/giving-...

Harvard sues Trump administration over funding freeze - The Boston Globe The legal challenge comes a week after Harvard's leaders rejected an extraordinary set of demands from the Trump administration.

Harvard’s lawsuit against the Trump administration sets an example for our educational institutions.

We call on colleges and universities around the country to use every tool available to protect academic freedom.

www.bostonglobe.com/2025/04/21/m...

One feature of Harvard's defiance of Trump that might be slightly underappreciated is that it indicates that Harvard's wealthy alumni and donors think it is okay to defy Trump. And this sends the signal to other wealthy and powerful people it is socially acceptable to defy Trump.

Today our organizing team at UMass Amherst reached out to faculty at universities and colleges across the state asking them to join us in a Massachusetts Higher Education Compact.

1. Condemn the attacks on higher education, even if your own institution has not yet been singled out. 2. Legally contest and refuse to comply with unlawful demands from the federal government. 3. Work with other universities to mount a coordinated opposition of administrators, faculty, and alumni to combat these anti-democratic attacks.

Harvard University - link to sign - 840 signatures so far Stanford University - link to sign 1096 signatures so far Yale University - link to sign - 970 signatures so far Cornell University - link to sign - 505 signatures so far Boston University - link to sign - 502 signatures so far Northwestern University - link to sign - 329 signatures so far Emory - link to sign - 276 signatures so far Tufts - link to sign - 179 signatures so far Brandeis - link to sign - 110 signatures so far Suffolk University - link to sign - 91 signatures so far UW Madison - link to sign - 84 signatures so far University of North Carolina - link to sign - 70 signatures so far Washington University in Saint Louis - link to sign - 33 signatures so far SUNY Albany - link to sign - just started collecting

PROFESSORS ARE INSISTING THEIR CAMPUSES STAND UP FOR DEMOCRACY AND HIGHER EDUCATION.

Today, we are releasing letters - most organized in under a week - with over 5000 signatures calling on campus leadership to stand up to Trump & fight for our values & our students.

bit.ly/CampusLettersTally

UMass faculty calls on land grant universities to join in fight against Trump administration; McGovern, AG also weigh in AMHERST — Faculty at the University of Massachusetts are calling on Chancellor Javier Reyes and President Martin Meehan to form a compact with the 250 land grant and public universities across the cou...

This is how you do it.

The "Mutual Academic Defense Compact".

The moral imperative may be to fight...

but the strategic imperative is to not fight alone:

www.gazettenet.com/UMass-Amhers...

If only someone could have foreseen this.

'Don't fight alone': Universities band together to defend against Trump attacks Rachel Maddow highlights the efforts by Big Ten schools and others to join forces in a "mutual defense compact" against Donald Trump's attacks on higher education.

Rachel Maddow covers emergent plans for universities to bad together to defend higher ed, and mentions our resolution at UMass!

www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

Musk and Trump Are Increasingly Unpopular, New Polling Finds Elon Musk and Donald Trump are more unpopular nearly three months into Trump's second term as president.

Our new UMass Poll shows that both Trump and Musk are increasingly unpopular and untrusted on key issues.

www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

Universities like Rutgers and UMass Amherst have faculty senates calling for this. Here is UMass's faculty senate resolution, which was adopted last week:
drive.google.com/file/d/1TNDl...

UMass Amherst's faculty senate endorsed a mutual academic defense compact to band together with other institutions to fight attacks on higher ed!

drive.google.com/file/d/1TNDl...

I hope other universities will pursue similar initiatives.

We simply had to intentionally destroy the world’s strongest economy while dismantling our scientific and educational infrastructure to ensure that a team with a trans girl would never finish second place in the Mountain West volleyball standings again

Screenshot of a letter. Full text here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WFgiczX6J1VYtVnSLzvaX3L02WuxCuLn/view?usp=drivesdk

I'm supposed to be at
Sweet Briar College, where I was so excited to meet with the amazing students, faculty, and staff who organized my visit & made Mobility their Common Read. Hours before my flight I learned about their Board's exclusion of trans & nonbinary people. So now I'm not going.

Apr. 2: Can Trump’s opponents organize? Feds freeze Princeton grants. Who loses in a world with federal graduate-loan limits? Michigan dean walks back his DEI proclamation. And more.

Thanks Rick @chronicle.com for talking with @daniellaurison.bsky.social and I about We Are Higher Ed and the groundswell of faculty resistance to attacks on Higher Ed. Here’s what we talked about—which includes a link to our letter and website.

This is why we need more R1s and Land grants following Rutgers' call for collective defense and aggressive public outreach

Yes, but that is precisely why it can’t just be the Princetons alone. This is not a substitute for loud, public, collective action by all the R1s, public & private, who have these schools & whose entire business model/budgets therefore do depend on stopping the madness.

Better rationale for Liberation Day.

This is a sign Princeton intends to fight. We need more of this.

On DEI, Massachusetts leaders are following public sentiment Why are Massachusetts’s most prominent statewide officials challenging President Trump over DEI policy? It is what residents of the Commonwealth want their elected officials to do.

Massachusetts officials say they will defend DEI. Why? Because their constituents support it. My latest with Tatishe Nteta and Adam Eichen.
commonwealthbeacon.org/opinion/on-d...