This week is the 10th anniversary of this blog, LSE US Politics and Policy – USAPP, which launched on September 2nd, 2013. As part of our anniversary, we asked some of USAPP’s past contributors to reflect on this milestone, and on academic blogging and the importance of public engagement by academics.
Lauren C. Bell – James L. Miller Professor of Political Science, Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, Virginia, US
Having worked in both the US Congress and for the US federal courts, I know that policymakers rarely look at peer-reviewed journals or scholarly books; they simply do not have time to read and interpret densely written prose nor do they or their staffs usually have the statistical background to understand much of the heavily quantitative academic literature on American politics. The same goes for politically interested people across the globe. So much of what scholars of American politics write is in dialogue with colleagues and is inscrutable to those without specialized academic training.
This is why outlets for public scholarship like the USAPP blog are so important; by giving scholars an opportunity to write for a broad but informed audience, the blog allows them to bring knowledge to bear on the important political questions of the day. These opportunities are all too rare. The USAPP blog fulfils an important niche by allowing these scholars to share their research and commentary with a far broader audience than they could otherwise, while also supporting scholars to test out new ideas, to publicize their scholarship, and to contribute to conversations about important issues.
Dan Cassino – Professor of Government and Politics; Executive Director of FDU Poll, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Teaneck, New Jersey, US
As a political scientist, I’ve been teaching undergrads about linkage institutions for decades. The idea is that the government is supposed to respond to what the public wants: but aside from the blunt instrument of elections, it doesn’t have any direct way of gauging the preferences of the polity. This gap gets filled by pollsters and interest groups and journalists, who aggregate the desires of the public in a way that policymakers can see and respond to.
As researchers, we’re very good at finding out things that elected and government officials should know, but generally very bad at getting them that information. And that’s where platforms like the LSE USAPP blog come in.
On the whole, this system functions pretty well, but just because we know that it can work doesn’t mean that we’ve put it into effect for our ourselves. Political science needs its own linkage institutions. As researchers, we’re very good at finding out things that elected and government officials should know, but generally very bad at getting them that information. And that’s where platforms like the LSE USAPP blog come in. We need platforms that help us turn technical, sometimes jargon filled articles into plain English, and present them to an educated and interested audience, because we have insights to offer.
Political science is, by its nature, a hybrid discipline of psychology and economics and sociology and philosophy applied to political issues, and the “applied” part of that statement is key. Our work is designed to help citizens and journalists and officials navigate the difficult waters that modern politics forces them into, but only if they see and understand it. It’s our job to help; but we need linkage institutions like the LSE USAPP blog to do it.
Peter Finn – Lecturer in the Department of Criminology, Politics and Sociology, Kingston University, Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey, UK
Over the last decade the USAPP blog of the US Centre has carved out an important place for those seeking insight about US politics and policy, in both the UK and beyond. As a series curator for almost half a decade, and a contributor for longer, I have been lucky enough to work with Managing Editor Chris Gilson extremely closely. As such, I have witnessed first-hand how his high standards and thirst for knowledge have driven the success of the platform. I am constantly referring people to the blog (and not just to pieces I am involved with!), and aware that many use it to keep up to date with developments in US politics. The range of people who have contributed, often multiple times, to the blog mean it has a depth of content on national and local level US politics that is hard to find elsewhere.
Chris Goodman – Assistant professor in the Department of Public Administration, School of Public and Global Affairs, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois, US
Congratulations to LSE USAPP blog on your 10th anniversary! As I reflect back on the half a dozen posts I have contributed over the last five years, I realize that the USAPP blog is an indispensable resource in helping me translate my own, sometimes dense, empirical work to a broader audience. My current academic home at Northern Illinois University places a large emphasis on translating theory into practice to help local government managers make better decisions and improve their communities. We do this via our teaching; however, bringing our research to a broader, more policy or practice-oriented audience is a force multiplier.
Local governments in the US are incredibly important but are sometimes overlooked as interesting places to examine policy-relevant questions. USAPP provides an incredibly useful space to reach a diverse audience of academics and practitioners to speak to interested readers and reach new audiences who may not understand the inner workings of local governments. The reach of USAPP is something I could not achieve on my own.
Chapeau to the LSE USAPP blog and to editor Chris Gilson, specifically. Here’s to another ten years and many more successful collaborations.
Julie M. Norman, Associate Professor in Politics and International Relations and Vice Dean of Advancement and Alumni for the Faculty of Social & Historical Sciences, Co-Director, Centre on US Politics (CUSP), University College London, London, UK
The LSE USAPP blog is an invaluable resource for evidence-based commentary, explainers, reviews, and reflections on US politics and US foreign policy. Drawing readers and contributors from around the world, it includes a diverse range of topics, voices, and perspectives, providing an unparalleled international forum for informed insights on American issues, policies, and current events.
As an early reader, and now frequent contributor, I view the USAPP blog as a go-to model for advancing public scholarship.
As an early reader, and now frequent contributor, I view the USAPP blog as a go-to model for advancing public scholarship. In a time of widespread misinformation and media politicization, academic blogs like USAPP provide a much-needed public service by offering a platform for rigorous but accessible political analysis. For those of us who view public engagement as central to our scholarly work, it’s a joy and a privilege to write for a blog as informative and professional as USAPP.
Congratulations to USAPP for ten excellent years, and here’s to many more!
Ron Pruessen, Professor Emeritus, Department of History, Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto, Canada
Warm congratulations to USAPP on reaching its 10th anniversary – and even warmer thanks. Over the past decade, you’ve offered a mint of finely curated opportunities to read informed comments on significant aspects of US and global affairs. When I’ve contributed myself, I’ve greatly appreciated the way the site and its staff have enriched my own work: allowing me to move my teaching efforts beyond the classroom (something which should be a vital responsibility for social scientists in troubled times); allowing my concerns as a historian to (hopefully) add a measure of depth to debates about current challenges; allowing me to feel confident of a welcome when I’ve wanted my writing style to stretch beyond formal academic conventions.
Bravo – and looking forward to the next decade!
Melissa M. Smith, Professor of Communication and Gibbons Chair of Journalism, Department of Communication, Mississippi University for Women, Columbus, Mississippi, US
Before I became a professor, I had a career in media. Nothing spectacular or amazing, but I was tasked daily with providing information to the public. At first it was in print media, and then I segued into broadcast news. Writing for the public is very different from academic publishing, as the main focus in academia is not always on imparting information but often explaining a process or a model, and, if we are honest, promoting our own ideas.
That is one reason public scholarship is important. I appreciate that LSE USAPP provides a way for those of us who work in fields of research that often become siloed to share our scholarship across a digital platform. That allows us to move beyond our own boundaries of study and even spark public discussion. Sharing our research with the public has become ever more important as many Americans have begun to doubt the value of a college education and have become suspicious of academic research. People who want to learn about uncovered knowledge, new theories, and absorb information on a variety of topics can turn to USAPP and see the amazing amount of research that is shared on the site every day.
Patriann Smith, Associate professor, Literacy Studies, College of Education, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, US
In 2019, six years after completing my dissertation and returning to the University of South Florida as an Associate Professor, I was struck by one critical conundrum: my research was being impactful but didn’t often get to reach the public. Like many scholars I know, I was doing a lot of writing, but it remained behind paywalls, often inaccessible to those who mattered most – the general public. I resolved then in my annual goals for the upcoming academic year to be a scholar whose service to the public became as important as my commitment to intellectualizing.
I was fascinated by the ways in which researchers used the blog to make their insights personal, practical, palatable
To accomplish this goal, one of the outlets that I intentionally subscribed to back then was LSE USAPP. I was fascinated by the ways in which researchers used the blog to make their insights personal, practical, palatable. And though I had a tendency to be what many refer to as a ‘complex’ writer (go figure!), I was determined to learn how to write for the public.
Fast forward to the celebration of this 10th anniversary of LSE USAPP, I am super grateful for the opportunity provided by this outlet to write three blogs so far, all of which have put me in direct connection with diverse publics: Why Eurocentric literacy measures may be creating the illusion that Black students are underperforming (2020); Why for Black speakers, despite what they are told, using ‘Standard English’ will not lead to acceptance (2020); and How Black immigrant literacies can reinstate Black language and transcend the global myth of invented illiteracy and Black brokenness (2023). So happy to celebrate LSE USAPP’s 10th anniversary and looking forward to continued support of this commitment to public scholarship!
Shyam Sriram – Assistant Professor, College of Arts & Sciences, Canisius University, Buffalo, New York, US
I have a special place in my heart – and CV – for LSE’s USAPP blog. Between 2021 and 2023, Chris Gilson has edited and helped me publish seven articles/posts about all sorts of different political issues in the United States: Donald Trump’s refugee policy; his rhetoric on Jewish people and Jewish refugees; Wyoming’s refusal to host refugees; state taxation and pink taxes; state trigger laws related to Dobbs; COVID-related anti-masking statutes in historical perspective; and why some Asian Americans are opposed to Syrian refugees.
But what makes this effort so special is that most of my coauthors are current and former students, 15 of 17 to be exact. These remarkable undergraduates, ranging from first- to fourth-year students, represent the best of Canisius University, Butler University, Gonzaga University, and the College of Charleston. Twelve of them are women and a few of the 15 are first-generation students.
There is a greater emphasis now on the need for academics to make their work more accessible and I encourage other professors to think about co-authoring with undergraduate students who are often neglected in academia.
All were new to the idea of a research and writing collaboration, but the USAPP blog is perfect for this venture because it allows for embedded links (over traditional in-text citations). There is a greater emphasis now on the need for academics to make their work more accessible and I encourage other professors to think about co-authoring with undergraduate students who are often neglected in academia. Inviting a student to participate in research is a great way to help a young person feel valued and it also meets the needs of a more inclusive society.
Joseph Uscinski, Professor of Political Science, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, US
It has been an honor to write for the LSE USAPP blog. My first post was in 2013 when the blog – and academic blogging itself – was still in its infancy. As an academic, the thrust of my training was in creating new knowledge to share with other knowledge creators, i.e., other academics. I was given little instruction in how to communicate my research findings with broader audiences or how to design research topics with the public interest in mind. For me, the academic literature was for the academic literature. Over the last decade, this insular view has changed drastically, and public facing scholarship has become more of a norm than an outlier. This has been to everyone’s benefit.
Concerned members of the public now have access to research findings in a way that is digestible for non-experts. Government officials and policy makers have also benefitted from this access. Certainly, it has raised the quality of our public discussions. The LSE USAPP blog has played a large role in this paradigm shift by giving researchers a voice to communicate with the public. Here is to another 10 years!
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Note: This article gives the views of the author, and not the position of USAPP – American Politics and Policy, nor the London School of Economics.
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